''Diamonds and Dirt'' is the first solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Scottish guitarist Brian Robertson, released in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. Robertson was previously a member of

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

and

Wild Horses Wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'' that includes domesticated and undomesticated subspecies. * Przewalski's wild horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), a rare and endangered subspecies of wild ...

. Robertson recruited several experienced musicians for the recording of this album, including Treat bass guitarist Nalle Påhlsson and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

drummer

Ian Haugland Jan-Håkan "Ian" Haugland (born 13 August 1964) is the drummer in the Swedish rock band Europe. When he was eight months old, he and his family moved to the Stockholm suburb of Märsta, Sweden. He joined Europe in the summer of 1984, replacing ...

, who Robertson described as "the best rhythm section I've played with since

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

and Brian Downey". Ex-

Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) are a guitar-oriented hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenke ...

vocalist

Leif Sundin Leif Arne Sundin (born 22 March 1971) is a Swedish rock vocalist and songwriter who has performed and recorded with Michael Schenker, John Norum and Brian Robertson among others. Career Starting his career as vocalist with Swedish rock band G ...

performed most of the vocals, but the album also features Robertson himself and

Riverdogs The Riverdogs is a rock band, founded in Los Angeles in 1989. Band members ;Current members *Rob Lamothe - vocals, guitars, keyboards (1989–present) *Nick Brophy - bass, guitars, keyboards (1989–present) *Vivian Campbell - guitars (1989-1992 ...

singer Rob Lamothe singing on one track each. The album includes some tracks by Robertson's old group Thin Lizzy: "It's Only Money" from the 1974 album ''

Nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...

'', two versions of "Running Back" from the 1976 album ''

Jailbreak A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...

'', and "Blues Boy", a track recorded by the band but never officially released until it appeared as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the ''Jailbreak'' album. "Blues Boy" was co-written by Robertson and Phil Lynott, while the other two songs were composed by Lynott alone. Robertson has stated, "I think Phil would be proud of what I've done with those Lizzy songs." Robertson also recorded three songs written by his friend

Frankie Miller Francis John Miller (born 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor. Miller wrote for and performed with many recording artists and is best known for his 1977 album ''Full House'', the singles "Be Good To Yourself", " D ...

, including a bonus track, "Ain't Got No Money". Robertson initially sang the song himself, but Miller suggested it would suit a different vocalist, so Rob Lamothe was brought in.

Track listing

Personnel

* Brian Robertson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

on "10 Miles to Go on a 9 Mile Road" *

– vocals *Nalle Påhlsson –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Liny Wood – backing vocals *Rickard Jakobson – percussion with *Chris Antblad –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Running Back" *Rob Lamothe – vocals on "Ain't Got No Money" *Ola Gustafsson –

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

on "Running Back" (Slow version) *Ellinor Asp – backing vocals on "Ain't Got No Money" *Håkan Persson – drums on "Ain't Got No Money"

References

External links

Diamonds and Dirt at AllMusic
{{Authority control 2011 debut albums Brian Robertson albums