ERIC BELL WAS RECENTLY THE RECIPIENT OF A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE ARDS INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL IN IRELAND ...... WHICH BASICALLY SUMS UP WHAT HE HAS BEEN UP TO THESE PAST YEARS ..... PLAYING GUITAR IN HIS OWN INIMITABLE STYLE AND ENTERTAINING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE RIGHT ACROSS THE GLOBE .... SOME WOULD SAY .. A LIVING LEGEND !!!
HIS STORY STARTS MANY MOONS AGO IN BELFAST, WHERE, AS A YOUNG LAD HE DREAMT OF PLAYING GUITAR ......
AFTER A FEW LACKLUSTRE ATTEMPTS HE SAVED UP FOR A SHINY RED ELECTRIC GUITAR WHICH HE PRACTISED ON, IN BETWEEN A 9-5, FOR HOURS AND HOURS EVERY DAY................
HE WAS SOON A MEMBER OF THEM WITH VAN MORRISON ... MOVED ON TO PLAY WITH JOHN FARRELL AND THE DREAMS ..BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING .. HE HANKERED AFTER PLAYING THE BLUES WITH A HENDRIX EDGE ..... ON A NIGHT OFF IN DUBLIN HE CAME ACROSS TWO MUSICIANS WHO WOULD CHANGE HIS LIFE AND HIS FORTUNE FOREVER ... PHIL LYNOTT AND BRIAN DOWNEY ... FROM THAT FIRST MEETING THIN LIZZY WAS BORN ... THEY SOON GAINED AN AWESOME REPUTATION IN IRELAND AS A RED HOT BAND AND RELOCATED TO LONDON AND THEIR REPUTATION GREW THERE ...... THEY TOURED RELENTLESSLY ACROSS ENGLAND ... ANY VENUE WOULD DO AS LONG AS THEY COULD PLAY ... HONE THOSE SKILLS ..
THEY RECORDED THREE ALBUMS - IN 1971 CAME THE SELF TITLED 'THIN LIZZY' - IN 1972 ... 'SHADES OF A BLUE ORPHANAGE' AND IN 1973 ... 'VAGABONDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD' FROM WHICH CAME THEIR FIRST MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH .... THE ANTHEMIC CLASSIC ‘WHISKEY IN THE JAR’ ..NOT LONG AFTER CAME ‘THE ROCKER’ ... THE STAKES GOT HIGHER AND THE TOURING BECAME MORE INTENSE AND EVENTUALLY ERIC LEFT THE BAND DUE TO EXCESSES AND ILL HEALTH ....... HE SAYS THAT HAD HE STAYED WITH THE BAND HE WOULD HAVE PROBABLY DIED A YOUNG MAN !!!!
WHEN NOEL REDDING FROM THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE EMBARKED ON A SOLO CAREER IN THE MID SEVENTIES HE CALLED UPON ERIC TO PLAY GUITAR ...... THIS HE DID ... RECORDING THREE ALBUMS AND TOURING ACROSS AMERICA, EUROPE, SCANDINAVIA AND BRITAIN .....
THE LATE SEVENTIES SAW ERIC PLAYING WITH VARIOUS ARTISTS .. BRUSH SHIELS AMONGST MANY OTHERS ... IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES ERIC FORMED HIS OWN BAND .. AGAIN TOURED RELENTLESSLY AND RECORDED AN E.P. ... NOW SOMETHING OF A COLLECTORS ITEM ...
THE MID EIGHTIES SAW HIM BECOME A MEMBER OF MAINSQUEEZE WITH JOHN O'LEARY & DICK HECKSTALL-SMITH .... TWO ALBUMS - ONE WITH BO DIDDLEY - AND SEVERAL TOURS LATER HE WAS AGAIN EXHAUSTED AND MOVED TO IRELAND FOR A WHILE ..
HE RETURNED AND REFORMED THE ERIC BELL BAND AND AGAIN THE TOURING STARTED .... HE RECORDED 'LIVE TONITE' IN SWEDEN IN 1995 - THEN CAME 'IRISH BOY' - NOW BEING RELEASED WORLD WIDE ..... SOON AFTER CAME 'A BLUES NIGHT IN DUBLIN' SWIFTLY FOLLOWED BY 'THE BARREL HOUSE BROTHERS - PICK IT UP & PASS IT ON' ........
BETWEEN 2004 & 2006 THE TOURING SLOWED DOWN AND ERIC CONFINED HIS LIVE APPEARANCES TO SPECIAL ONE-OFF SHOWS WITH THE LIKES OF METALLICA, GARY MOORE AND SOME T.V. APPEARANCES.
IN EARLY 2007 ERIC MET ROMEK PAROL AND RONNIE GARRITY AND DECIDED TO PUT A NEW, FRESH BAND, TOGETHER WHICH BRINGS US UP TO THE PRESENT .....
2007 SAW ERIC RAISE THE PACE OF LIVE APPEARANCES AND HE HAS DISCOVERED NEW TERRITORIES .. ONE OF THEM BEING THE UKRAINE .... 2008 LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE A BUSY YEAR ...... 'IRISH BOY' WILL BE RELEASED IN MID JANUARY CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY THE RELEASE OF 'LIVE TONITE - PLUS' AND AGAIN, OF COURSE, MORE TOURING TAKING IN POLAND, UKRAINE, RUSSIA, EUROPE, SCANDINAVIA, IRELAND AND THE U.K.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
cheers for the add, can you put irish boy on that song really has passion i heard it for the first time in derry when you played at rochesters it was great
Hi thanks for the add. I remember your gigs with Lizzy, at Wincanton Racecourse back in the early 70's as if it were yesterday! I've always enjoyed your playing. And I thank you for all the pleasure I have had listening to your unique style. long may it continue.
Eric! I have a picture of the two of us having a drink in the street at the night of the PL statue unveiling. Thanks for years of inspiration! MWJ BLEAKWATER
Online Now!
