Eric Robin Bell (born 3 September 1947) is a Northern Irish rock and blues musician, best known as a founding member and the original guitarist of the rock group

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

, of which he was a member from 1969 to 1973. After his time in Thin Lizzy, he briefly fronted his own group before joining

the Noel Redding Band The Noel Redding Band (also known as The Clonakilty Cowboys after the title of its first album, ''Clonakilty Cowboys'') was an English-Irish folk rock Supergroup (music), supergroup that was formed in Clonakilty, County Cork, in 1974. Comprising ...

in the mid-1970s. He has since released several solo albums and performs regularly with a blues-based trio, the Eric Bell Band.

Career

Early career

Bell was born in England on 3 September 1947 and brought up as a young child in Belfast,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, by his adoptive sibling-parents Harold and Ivy Bell.'Eric Bell on founding Thin Lizzy, how big hit Whiskey in the Jar was recorded as a joke, being booed off stage in Birmingham... and having to leave the band to get off drink and drugs'
''Belfast Telegraph'', 10 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2024 From Jocelyn Avenue, Woodstock Road, in the east of the city, he attended

Orangefield High School Orangefield High School was a secondary school in east Belfast, Northern Ireland. Formerly Orangefield Boys' Secondary School and Orangefield Girls' Secondary School, it became coeducational before it closed in 2014. Notable alumni of the Boys' ...

. As a boy he was enthralled by the music of

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

and "mesmerised" by the guitars in the

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

. He began his career with local groups around the Belfast area, including the last incarnation of

Them Them or THEM, a third-person singular or plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fict ...

to feature

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, between September and October 1966.Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004. He also played with a number of other bands including Shades of Blue, The Earth Dwellers and The Bluebeats, before joining an

Irish showband The Irish showband () was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the 1950s to the 1980s, with its peak in the 1960s. These bands typically had seven to ten members, including a rhythm section and a brass section with various combinations o ...

named The Dreams. He left in 1969, having tired of the showband format, and at the end of that year formed a band with Irish musicians

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

, Eric Wrixon and Brian Downey. Bell suggested the name

, after Tin Lizzie, a robot character in ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oc ...

'' comic.

Thin Lizzy

Organist Eric Wrixon left Thin Lizzy after a few months and the remaining trio later secured a contract with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

.Mark Putterford, "Philip Lynott: The Rocker", Castle, 1994 As lead guitarist, Bell played on Thin Lizzy's first three albums ''

'', '' Shades of a Blue Orphanage'' and '' Vagabonds of the Western World'', as well as their hit single "

Whiskey in the Jar "Whiskey in the Jar" ( Roud 533) is an Irish traditional song set in the southern mountains of Ireland, often with specific mention of counties Cork and Kerry. The song, about a rapparee (highwayman) who is betrayed by his wife or lover, is ...

". He co-wrote a number of songs with Lynott and Downey, including " The Rocker" which became a live favourite throughout the band's career. He also composed one song on his own, "Ray Gun", from their first album, ''Thin Lizzy''. Although Thin Lizzy gained in popularity during the early 1970s, the pressures of recording, touring and the excesses of the rock star lifestyle began to take their toll. He left the band after a New Year's Eve concert in 1973, after throwing his guitar into the air in the middle of the concert, pushing the

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

s into the audience and storming off stage. He stated later that he had no regrets about leaving: "I really had to leave because of ill-health. It was exhaustion, and the majority of things that were available to me... I couldn't really handle it." He was temporarily replaced by

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

The Noel Redding Band

In 1974, after a brief period fronting his own Eric Bell Band, Bell was recruited by ex-

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

sideman

Noel Redding Noel David Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...

, along with guitarist/singer Dave Clarke and drummer Les Sampson, to form

. Bell was unsure of the musical direction Redding was taking, but went on to record two albums with the group before they split in 1976. A third album of unused tracks was released in 1995. Bell composed the song "Love and War" for the second album, '' Blowin'''.

The 1980s and Mainsqueeze

In 1980, Bell reunited with Thin Lizzy to record a tribute song to Jimi Hendrix, "Song for Jimmy" ic which was released as an orange

flexi disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable. ...

and given away with ''

Flexipop ''Flexipop'' (stylized as ''Flexipop!'') was a British pop music magazine that ran from 1980 to 1983, which featured a flexidisc in each issue. The magazine was launched in 1980 by ex-''Record Mirror'' journalists Barry Cain and Tim Lott. One of ...

'' in August 1981. It was later included on Thin Lizzy's '' Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels'' box set in 2002, although much of Eric Bell's lead guitar work was missing from this version as the relevant master tapes could not be found. Bell also appeared as a guest on Thin Lizzy's final tour in 1983 and the accompanying live album, ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

''. Bell had also reactivated his own band in the late 1970s and released an EP in 1981. Bell subsequently joined saxophonist

Dick Heckstall-Smith Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pr ...

's eight-piece blues rock ensemble Mainsqueeze. They toured Europe, recorded a live album in 1983 and later toured as

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

's backing group, recording the '' Hey... Bo Diddley: In Concert'' album in 1986.

Later career

Bell has continued to perform and record with the Eric Bell Band throughout the 1990s and 2000s, releasing several albums. He has also recorded with the Barrelhouse Brothers. In 2005, he joined Gary Moore onstage to perform "Whiskey in the Jar" at the Phil Lynott tribute concert "The Boy Is Back in Town" in the

Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...

, Dublin. This was released on a DVD called '' One Night in Dublin: A Tribute to Phil Lynott''. Bell lived in Dublin, then London before moving to

West Cork West Cork () is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Du ...

, Ireland, then to Carrodore in the

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on t ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Bell later blasted heavy metal band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

for failing to pay him £2,000 for a live show in Dublin in 1999. In November 2024 Bell was presented with the Legend Award at the Northern Ireland Music Prizes.

Discography

Thin Lizzy

*''

'' (1971) *'' Shades of a Blue Orphanage'' (1972) *'' Vagabonds of the Western World'' (1973) *"Song for Jimmy" – Flexipop single (1981) *''

'' (1983) (1 track)

The Noel Redding Band

*'' Clonakilty Cowboys'' (1975) *'' Blowin''' (1976) *''

The Missing Album ''The Missing Album'' is the third and final album by the English-Irish folk rock band, The Noel Redding Band, released in 1995 after their break up. Reception Greg Prato's review in allmusic said little about the album's content, noting only t ...

'' (1995)

Eric Bell Band

*"The Eric Bell Band E.P." (1981) *"Lonely Man / Anyone Seen My Baby" – single version of the E.P. (1981) *''Live Tonite'' (Sweden, 1996) *''Irish Boy'' (Spain, 1998) *''Live Tonite Plus'' (Extra tracks, 2001) *''A Blues Night in Dublin'' (2002) *''Lonely Nights in London'' (2010) *''Belfast Blues in a Jar'' (2012) *"Lonely Man " – 10inch vinyl (2021)

Eric Bell

*''Exile'' (2015) *''Standing at a Bus Stop'' (2017)

Mainsqueeze

*''Live at Ronnie Scott's Club'' (France, 1983) *'' Hey... Bo Diddley: In Concert'' – as backing group for

(1986)

Others

*The Dreams – ''The Best of Dreams'' (1969) *Whistler – ''Ho Hum'' (1971) *

Brush Shiels Brendan Francis "Brush" Shiels (born 24 October 1945, Phibsborough, Dublin, Ireland) is a musician best known for being the frontman of Gary Moore's first rock band, Skid Row. He had a show on RTÉ Television called ''Off yer Brush'' and was tw ...

– ''Brush Shiels'' (1977) *Smiley Bolger – ''Ode to a Black Man'' (1991) *Honeyboy Hickling – ''Straight from the Harp'' (2000) *Barrelhouse Brothers – ''Pick It Up, Pass It On'' (2002) *

The Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

and Friends – ''Instinct'' (2004)

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Eric Bell in Concert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Eric 1947 births Living people Musicians from Belfast Rock guitarists from Northern Ireland Male guitarists from Northern Ireland Thin Lizzy members The Noel Redding Band members 20th-century guitarists from Northern Ireland 21st-century guitarists from Northern Ireland 20th-century male musicians from Northern Ireland 21st-century male musicians from Northern Ireland