* En anglais uniquement
Eric Bell may not have been present for
Thin Lizzy's best-known and most successful era (the mid- to late '70s), but he was there for the group's formation as a founding member. Born on September 3, 1947 in Belfast, Ireland, Bell played guitar throughout the '60s for several local bands (including
Them and John Farrell & the Dreams), but paid the bills by working as a street gas-lamp lighter, and in both pickle and shirt factories. One night in 1969, Bell caught a gig by another local Irish outfit,
Orphanage, which featured bassist/singer
Phil Lynott and drummer
Brian Downey. Soon after, Bell relocated to Dublin, where he joined up with the others to form
Thin Lizzy.
Bell's bluesy,
Hendrix-esque leads were perfect for the hard rock direction that both
Lynott and
Downey sought for their new outfit, which led to a recording contract with the Deram label. Three albums followed in as many years -- 1971's self-titled debut, 1972's
Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and 1973's Vagabonds of the Western World -- the latter of which contained a pair of early
Lizzy classics, "Whiskey in the Jar" and "The Rocker." Bell,
Lynott, and
Downey also issued an additional recording in 1973 under the alias of Funky Junction, the self-explanatory
A Tribute to Deep Purple. But Bell became unhappy with
Lizzy's more streamlined musical direction (he longed for the early days of free-form jamming). After single-handedly sabotaging an important hometown Dublin gig with unpredictable and drunken behavior, the guitarist was sacked.
The fast-paced life of being in a rock band had taken its toll on Bell, who had to take a break from being in a band for several years. But a few years later (by which time
Lizzy had become a worldwide hit with a pair of replacement guitarists,
Brian Robertson and
Scott Gorham), Bell was ready to play music again. When ex-
Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist
Noel Redding launched a solo career during the middle of the decade, Bell signed on as the project's guitarist, playing on such releases as 1975's
Clonakilty Cowboys and 1976's Blowin' before moving on. For the remainder of the '70s, Bell appeared on such obscure recordings as a self-titled release by Brush Shiels and a
Phil Lynott-produced single for Ron McQuinn. With his differences between his former
Lizzy bandmates long settled, Bell reunited with
Lynott and
Downey for a one-off flexi-single for a Euro magazine, "Song for Jimi," and even joined
Lizzy on-stage for a night during the group's final tour in 1983 (documented on the double-disc set
Life).
The early '80s also saw Bell attempt to launch his own group,
the Eric Bell Band. But aside from a four-track EP in 1981, the group failed to get off the ground. Bell then joined up with blues-rockers Mainsqueeze (playing on their 1983 release, International Blues Rock Revue), who also briefly backed
Bo Diddley during a European tour in 1984, and appeared on the subsequent live
Diddley recording, Hey Bo Diddley/In Concert (aka "Bo Diddley/Screamin' Jay Hawkins"). Bell began performing again under the name of
the Eric Bell Band during the late '90s, eventually issuing such recordings as 2001's
Live Tonite...Plus!, 2008's Irish Boy, and 2010's Lonely Nights in London. In 2016, he returned with the studio effort Exile, which featured original material alongside a cover of
Little Richard's "Rip It Up." The following year, Bell was back with Standing at a Bus Stop, which featured more originals as well as covers of
Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man" and
Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train." ~ Greg Prato