Live and Dangerous

Live and Dangerous
Live album by Thin Lizzy
Released	2 June 1978
Recorded	1977
Genre	Hard rock
Length	1:16:27
Label	Vertigo Records (UK) Warner Bros. Records (USA)
Producer	Thin Lizzy and Tony Visconti
Professional reviews
Allmusic live Rolling Stone (Mixed) link
Thin Lizzy chronology
Bad Reputation (1977) Live and Dangerous (1978) Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979)

Live and Dangerous is a live double LP by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1978. It was recorded in London and Toronto in 1977, during the tours accompanying the albums Johnny the Fox and Bad Reputation.

Live and Dangerous was originally intended to be a studio album. Together with Tony Visconti they had a huge success with their previous album Bad Reputation, and the group wanted to work with him again. But since Visconti had a very tight schedule Phil Lynott came up with the idea that they spend two weeks together compiling a live album instead.

After they had decided which tracks they were going to use, Lynott asked if they could re-record some vocals due to technical issues. After spending some time overdubbing various bits, noticing the impact on the result, they ended up re-recording all the vocals, guitars and bass. So the only real live elements of Live and Dangerous are the drums and the audience. Visconti justified this by stating that every track was performed before a live audience. The exception being Southbound which was taken from a sound check onstage in Philadelphia. Tony Visconti has stated that the album is "75% recorded in the studio." ^[1]

Other sources state that although the finished album contains overdubbing, it is claimed that it is "75% live".^[2]

Overdubs and mixing were done at Good Earth Studios in London, England.

It was also the last album to feature Brian Robertson who went on to form Wild Horses with ex-Rainbow bassman Jimmy Bain. On this album, the band segues immediately from “Cowboy Song” into “The Boys Are Back in Town”, on the line “a cowboy’s life is the life for me”. This technique was revisited with the same pair of live tracks in subsequent performances, and showcased more professionally on further live albums - examples being Thin Lizzy’s later concert in Sydney with Gary Moore, and also on Thin Lizzy’s Greatest Hits.

It was reissued on CD in 1996.

A DVD was released on October 16, 2007 which contains all the recorded video from the Live and Dangerous concert, including: (in order) "Rosalie", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Emerald", "Dancing In The Moonlight", "Massacre", "Still In Love With You", "Don't Believe A Word", "Are You Ready", "Sha-La-La", "Baby Drives Me Crazy", and "Me And The Boys" (Not included on the album). It also includes various other Thin Lizzy performances, such as a recorded show from their farewell tour.

It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die^[3].

Material from the same tour was used for the 2009 live album, Still Dangerous. Some tracks are shared between the two albums, though the latter uses pure live recordings with no overdubs. ^[4]

Track listing

1. "Jailbreak" (Phil Lynott) – 4:31
2. "Emerald" (Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Lynott, Brian Robertson) – 4:18
3. "Southbound" (Lynott) – 3:44
4. "Rosalie/Cowgirl's Song" (Downey, Lynott, Bob Seger) – 4:00
5. "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" (Lynott) – 3:50
6. "Massacre" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott) – 2:46
7. "Still in Love With You" (Lynott) – 7:40
8. "Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott) – 3:32
9. "Cowboy Song" (Downey, Lynott) – 4:40
10. "The Boys Are Back in Town" (Lynott) – 4:30
11. "Don't Believe a Word" (Lynott) – 2:05
12. "Warrior" (Gorham, Lynott) – 3:52
13. "Are You Ready" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott, Robertson) – 2:40
14. "Suicide" (Lynott) – 5:00
15. "Sha La La" (Downey, Lynott) – 4:18
16. "Baby Drives Me Crazy" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott, Robertson) – 6:36
17. "The Rocker" (Eric Bell, Downey, Lynott) – 3:58

Singles

• "Rosalie/Cowgirl's Song" / Me and the Boys" - 28 April 1978

Personnel

• Brian Downey - drums, percussion
• Scott Gorham - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Phil Lynott - bass guitar, lead vocals
• Brian Robertson - lead guitar, backing vocals

with

• John Earle - saxophone on "Dancing in the Moonlight"
• Huey Lewis - harmonica on "Baby Drives Me Crazy"

At the time of the recording, John Earle was in Graham Parker & the Rumour, and Huey Lewis was in Clover. Both of these groups were support acts for the tours that made up this album. John "Irish" Earle died on 7 May 2008 in his native Dublin.

References