SKID ROW (Gary Moore & Phil Lynott) – Live and On Song [the very first recordings], MP3+FLAC

After posting here in exclusive the recent reissue of Irish rock band SKID ROW featuring a young Gary Moore on guitar and vocals, here’s the group very first recordings, when future Thin Lizzy Phil Lynott was part of the band.

Titled ”Live and On Song”, this official (not bootleg) compilation release includes Skid Row’s 4 ultra-rare singles from 1969 released on ‘Song Records’, and a 1971 concert recorded at ‘Paris Theatre’, London
for BBC Radio 1 “In Concert”, aired 11.01.1971.
While sound quality isn’t first rate – the original tapes were erased to record other band next, yes, they used to do that – it’s amazing to hear a very young Phil Lynott, and even a younger Gary Moore; 17-year old.

At the end of the 1960s, Skid Row were the kings of the Irish ‘underground’ – a power trio capable of astonishing virtuosity, powered by the Brubeck / Coltrane / Hank Williams influences of madcap visionary Brendan ‘Brush’ Shiels on bass and firing on the guitar / vocal cylinders of teenage guitar hero Gary Moore.
Touring America within months, they flashed and burned out after two albums for CBS.

But, all but forgotten until now, they had actually debuted in 1969 with four period-drenched singles sides on a small Dublin label called Song Records – running the gamut from plaintive whimsy to blistering pop/rock, and one track featuring early member Phil Lynott on a sublime lead vocal, his earliest and rarest recording.
Alongside an incendiary BBC concert from 1971, recorded shortly before Moore departed and the band bowed to the inevitable, here then is the mighty Skid Row at their best: 1969 – 71, from conception to destruction.

The studio single sides were taken directly from vinyl, from the only 7” single found after intense searching among collectors. It’s nice to hear early versions of “Felicity” and “Saturday Morning Man;” they’re much more laid-back and ‘innocent’ than the later album versions. In fact, a couple of the studio singles have a vibe not all that far removed from America (the band).

Skid Row was recorded live twice for BBC broadcasts. One has been lost, and the other is presented here.
Sound quality is fair. But that doesn’t really matter because the performance is heavy, raw and furious. “Christian Blues Brother,” after getting off to a ferocious start, goes on for a total of 13:39 and I should warn you that a full eleven minutes of it is a Noel Bridgeman drum solo. Fortunately, it’s an excellent drum solo; it’s nearly right up there with Ian Paice’s solos in Deep Purple.

The band really stretches out on a very uptempo version of “Felicity,” and parts of it – especially during the final seven minutes – are incredibly heavy; even through the hazy old tape you can hear how powerful (and loud) Skid Row must have been in person.
The disc ends with a thunderous, stomping (albeit severely edited) live version of “Un Co-Up Showband Blues” which clocks in at a mere 2:51.

If you are a rabid Gary Moore, Phil Lynott and Skid Row fan and own everything else they released and were wondering if there was anything of merit left in the vaults – this is definitely a treasure.
Highly Recommended

01 – New Places, Old Faces (Lead Vocals – Phil Lynott)
02 – Misdemeanour Dream Felicity
03 – Saturday Morning Man
04 – Mervyn Aldridge
05 – Christian Blues Brother
06 – Felicity
07 – Unco-op Showband Blues

Tracks 1 & 2 originally released as single A and B-side in 1969 on Song Records
Tracks 3 & 4 originally released as single A and B-side in 1969 on Song Records
Tracks 5 to 7 recorded at Paris Theatre, London for BBC Radio 1 “In Concert” 1971

Phil Lynott – lead vocals on 1
Gary Moore – guitar, lead vocals
Brush Shiels – bass, vocals
Noel Bridgeman – drums, vocals

MP3 FLAC