Eric Robin Bell the Belfast born guitarist will always be associated with one particular song… ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ by the then little know Irish rock/blues band Thin Lizzy with whom he recorded three albums, Thin Lizzy (1971), Shades Of The Blue Orphanage (1972) and Vagabonds Of The Western World (1973) which also included the classic track ‘The Rocker’. Less well known is the fact that since parting company with Lizzy he has not only played with former Jimi Hendrix Experience bass player Noel Redding’s band but since the 1990’s he has forged a solo career entertaining crowds across the UK and Europe. An ideal accompaniment to his autobiography, “Remembering” published in 2022 by Gonzo Multimedia this 5CD set brings together two studio and one live album from the Eric Bell Band beside his two later solo albums.
Despite being a constant throughout his long career the “Whiskey” track only appears once on this set, with the live version appearing on the, Live Tonite… Plus! set, the PLUS being the extra three bonus tracks which were included on the 2001 version but not on the original 1996 version. Live Tonite… Plus! is a great place to start as it finds Bell in his natural environment… live on stage fronting a band, exhibiting a mix of mainly classic blues covers including ‘Hold That Plane’ from Buddy Guy, ‘The Stumble’, ‘Three O’ Clock Blues’ and ‘Oh! Pretty Woman’ from the King’s (Freddie, B.B. and Albert respectively) and old colleague Van Morrison’s folky ‘Madam George’ along with memories of his previous lives. From his tenure with Them we get Muddy Waters ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ and Morrison’s ‘Gloria’ as a bonus track and he closes the main set with the inevitable extended jam on ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ including Bond Theme and the ultimate encore, ‘The Rocker’ from his time with Lizzy. There is space for a few originals the best of which is the Neil Youngish ‘Walk On Water’. Within the bonuses alongside ‘Gloria’ we also get the ‘Just To Get By’/’Two Ships’ pairing which went on to appear on studio follow up Irish Boy. All in all a good mix of old, new, borrowed and blues. Bell was far from idol over the intervening years but it would be another 12 years before his next release. The self produced Irish Boy was The Eric Bell Band’s studio debt and was dedicated to the memory of fellow Irishman Rory Gallagher. It is good to see the guitarist coming up with twelve original cuts but from it’s low key start ‘Days Of Innocence’ dedicated to Phil Lynott it definitely sounds like Bell is searching of a personal style. He tries everything, even attempting faux reggae on ‘Priest Of Love’ and swing on ‘Standing In The Middle’. There are a couple of tracks which fall into the Gallagher mould, ‘2 Ships’ and the autobiographical ‘Irish Boy’, but despite his distinctive and overall outstanding guitar playing, too much leans on the R & B of the Morrison/Them (‘Just To Get By’, ‘Sweet Mystery’, ‘You Smiled’) years or occasional traditional Celtic sound (‘Ballad By The Irish Sea’, ‘You Were The One’) and he doesn’t find that extra gear as he seems to lack the confidence in his voice that he has in his unique guitar sound. The best is left to last however with the slow emotional blues of ‘Wrong Side Of Town and ‘Newcastle Bay’ unlocking more potential. Two years later and with former Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé onboard as producer, Lonely Nights In London is studio album number two from the EBB. This time supplying a mix of covers (Willie Dixon – ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, Johnny Winters – ‘Dallas’, Elmore James – ‘Shake Your Money Maker’) amongst a further collection of original songs. This time out not only does he use the live in the studio approach to good effect, but he also drapes his real life experiences over a set of storming blues tunes making this a much more cohesive collection and showing that he can stand tall alongside his prestigious antecedent songwriting partners. The title tracks slow ‘Hey Joe’ style blues deals with his reservations on moving to the capital, the acoustic/electric ‘Me And Technology’ confesses his fears of an internet/social media dependant world with its humorous “turn it off, turn it back on again” line along with the finger picking ‘Belfast Blues’ which revisits his youth and starting out in his home-town. Topped off by the romantically traditional ‘Taimse Im’ Chodladh’ this is the side of Eric Bell we want to see. To my dismay that is unfortunately as good as it gets. Exile (2015) and Standing At A Bus Stop (2017) seem to be a duo cut from similar cloth. With Andy Quinn’s production it loses that live ambience and with Bell handling all instruments bar the drums the pair present a mish mash of average Rolling Stones simulations, ‘Don’t Love Me No More’ choppy Stones, ‘Thank God’ country Stones, ‘One Day Too Early’ acoustic Stones surround by the soft shuffle of ‘Gotta Say Bye Bye’ (great if this was a Nina Simone album), politician bashing ‘Vote For Me’ (Trump had just announced he was standing for election), a poor cover of Junior Parker’s ‘Mystery Train’ and the cha cha cha of the aptly titled ‘Frustration’. It’s not all bad news and there are a few redeeming moments across the two discs in the form of original guitar freak-out ‘Concrete Jungle’, upbeat renditions of ‘Rip It Up’ and Willie Dixon’s ‘Back Door Man’ complimented by the twin homages, ‘Song For Gary’ (Moore) and the far to brief ‘In Memory Of Django’ (Reinhardt). My conclusion from listening to this set is that Eric Bell is a bluesman and the blues is where he excels and the more live the better. I’m sure it will be discs one and three that I will be returning to and I suggest that that is where others start.
Bell was recently honoured with a plaque on his childhood home in East Belfast as well as a mural of the Vagabonds Of The Western World album cover at the end of the street. He currently has a new album in progress and continues to tour across the UK an mainland Europe when possible. Original bluesmen are becoming a rare thing so if he swing by your area be sure to grab a ticket. In my experience it will be a worth while decision and who knows you might even get to hear ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ and ‘The Rocker’ one more time. Eric Bell is unlikely to disappoint.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- Remembering Anthology 1996-2027 is released via Cherry Red Records/HNE Recordings On 27th September 2024
- Eric Bell – Co-founder of Thin Lizzy – Of The Edge Productions
Track List:
Disc One – Live Tonite…Plus! (1996)
1. The Stumble!
2. Oh, Pretty Woman
3. Things I Used To Do
4. Baby, Please Don’t Go
5. Madam George
6. Walk On Water
7. Three O’Clock Blues
8. Hold That Plane
9. Whiskey In The Jar
10. The Rocker
BONUS TRACKS
11. Just To Get By
12. Two Ships
13. Gloria
Disc Two – Irish Boy (2008)
1. Days Of Innocence
2. 2 Ships
3. Ballad By The Irish Sea
4. Just To Get By
5. Sweet Mystery
6. You Smiled
7. Irish Boy
8. Priest Of Love
9. Standing In The Middle
10. You Were One
11. Wrong Side Of Town
12. Newcastle Bay
Disc Three – Lonely Nights In London (2010)
1. You’re My Only Woman
2. Hoochie Coochie Man
3. Dallas
4. On The Road Blues
5. Lonely Nights In London
6. Me And Technology
7. Nitrous Oxide
8. Belfast Blues
9. Shake Your Money Maker
10. Taimse Im’ Chodladh
Disc Four – Exile (2015)
1. Deep In Your Heart
2. Don’t Love Me No More
3. Gotta Say Bye Bye
4. Vote For Me
5. Exile
6. Little Boy Running
7. Rip It Up
8. Concrete Jungle
9. Thank God
10. Song For Gary
Disc Five – Standing At A Bus Stop (2017)
1. Back Door Man
2. Changing Room
3. In Memory of Django
4. Frustration
5. Golden Days
6. Mystery Train
7. One Day Too Early
8. Pavement Paved with Gold
9. Reality
10. Standing At A Bus Stop
11. Walking in the Park
