Goodbye Philo

I wrote about Philip Lynott when it was his birthday. Today is the 24th anniversary of his death and every year on this date, an Irish rock concert is put on in his memory called "Vibe For Philo."

Long live Philip Lynott!

PS Someone just posted this video of the song "Honesty Is No Excuse" from Thin Lizzy's first and eponymous album in 1971. It's an amazing song with lyrics that seem far beyond the mind of a young man, but Phil couldn't have been more than 22 years when he wrote it.



This is "Old Time" from one of Phil's solo records. The Corrs remade it a few years ago and had a hit with it.



Phil gets some help from Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler with his tribute to Elvis Presley in "King's Call." Incidentally, Elvis would have been 75 on 8 January 2010.



This video cuts off abruptly but it's special because it's his last interview from a few weeks before his death. He does not look good. (Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose. His beloved mother Philomena did not find out about his years-long addiction to heroin until he was dying in the hospital. I remember from Thin Lizzy's episode of Behind the Music on VH1, Philomena said that he'd hidden his drug use by injecting into his feet.)



This video also cuts off but it's a fun one. It was for an Irish show and Philomena is there. Phil is 30 here (he gives his age in the interview; he died at the age of 36). My favorite part is when his mother confirms that her son bought her a house and Phil tells the interviewer that he was trying to keep that quiet so the "relations" won't be after him.



And check out the songs that Phil wrote about some of his great loves: his hometown Dublin, his mom Philomena, and his daughters Sarah (the fella at the end is Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham) and Cathleen (you can hear a snippet of the song here if you scroll down a bit and here are the lyrics).

"Merciful Jesus, what have I done to ya?" Philomena recalled her son spoke these words to her as he lay dying in hospital (again, Behind the Music). This Thin Lizzy song from the album Black Rose says it all, I'm afraid.



We're still in love with you, Phil.