Brian Robertson

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Brian Robertson
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Alias = "Robbo"
Born = Birth date and age|1956|2|12|df=y
Clarkston, Scotland
Died =
Instrument = Guitar
Genre = Heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation = Guitarist, songwriter
Years_active = 1974 – present
Label =
Associated_acts = Thin Lizzy
Motörhead
Wild Horses
URL = http://www.robbo.info/
Notable_instruments = Gibson Les Paul

Brian "Robbo" Robertson was born on February 12 1956 in Clarkston, Renfrewshire (now part of East Renfrewshire), where he was educated and became a musician.Byrne, Alan "Thin Lizzy, Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly Publishing, November 2005 pp. 51 & 56 ISBN 0-946719-81-0] He studied cello and classical piano for eight years before switching to the guitar and drums. He played in gigs around his local area with bands like Dream Police, who later evolved into the Average White Band.

Career

In June 1974, Thin Lizzy were auditioning for a new guitarist and a try-out for Robertson was arranged. Aged 18, Robertson was taken on - and with Scott Gorham on the other lead guitar, formulated the twin-guitar harmony that made Thin Lizzy one of the most influential "guitar bands" in the music industry. During his time in the band "Thin Lizzy" scaled the heights of success, releasing albums such as "Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation" and "Live and Dangerous". In 1978 Robertson finally left the band for good, after reportedly being fired twice Fact|date=June 2008; he was replaced by guitarist Gary Moore whom he incidentally replaced in 1974.Robertson's blues-influenced, classic rock style is distinctly melodic. In Thin Lizzy, the unique twin, harmony lead guitar sound, provided by Robertson and Scott Gorham, contributed much to the distinctive sound of the band and influenced subsequent bands, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and The Darkness. Robertson's unconventional use of the wah-pedal as an extension of the instrument during soloing rather than as a purely rhythmic effect, as described in the Total Accuracy video [http://www.licklibrary.com/ProductDetail.aspx?Product=eXbfNLTIUJw%3d "Still in Love with the Blues"] (featuring Brian Robertson & Stuart Bull), is generally regarded as a pioneering, perhaps unique use of the effect. The video includes Robertson's explanation of his approach to guitar playing, along with a mixture of classic Thin Lizzy lead solos, blues licks and some sublime blues improvisations. In 1980 he was featured on an album by Eric Burdon, Darkness Darkness.

Following his dismissal, Robertson formed Wild Horses along with another big name outcast, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain. Achieving only partial success in the UK, the band split up after releasing two albums, 1980's the "First Album" and 1981's "Stand Your Ground". Robertson appeared on stage for a night during Thin Lizzy's final tour in 1983, alongside most of their former guitarists.

After this brief appearance with Thin Lizzy he was telephoned to see if he was interested in replacing Motörhead's "Fast" Eddie Clarke, who had left the band during their US tour. After five days rehearsing, he appeared with them on May 21, 1982, at Harpo's in Detroit. He appeared with the band on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and recorded the "Another Perfect Day" album with them, staying until 1983, his last last gig with them was at the Metropol, Berlin on Nov 11. [Burridge, Alan and Stevenson, Mick "The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead" Collector's Guide Publishing, 1994 pp. 17 & 40-43, ISBN 0-9695736-2-6] After this time, he joined Statetrooper. This lasted up until their breakup. Robertson made a special guest appearance with the band Ash at the "Oxegen" music festival in Ireland, 2004, playing guitar on the song "The Boys Are Back in Town".

In August 2005 Robertson was reunited with his old Lizzy band mates, under the leadership of Gary Moore, for a tribute show in memory of Phil Lynott. Robertson and Moore played along with Lizzies Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Eric Bell and Jethro Tull bassist Jonathan Noyce on a number of Thin Lizzy classic cuts.

Robertson's more recent work with the Clan shows a glimpse of a harder, more modern, metal rock tone & style. While contemporaries such as Gary Moore have mellowed back into the blues, Robertson continues play hard rock - albeit with a distinctive melodic blues flavour. As of February 2008, Robertson has returned to the studio and has been working on new material. [cite web |url=http://www.komodorock.com/latest-news/latest-news/former-thin-lizzy-guitarist-brian-robertson-back-in-the-studio-200802124228/ |title=Former Thin Lizzy Guitarist Brian Robertson Back In The Studio |accessdate=2008-02-13 |format= |work=komodorock article]

Influences

Robertson's influences include American blues giant Freddie King (Freddy King), English guitar legends Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton & Peter Green. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons is also mentioned as a later influence.cite web |url=http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/bios/Robbo.shtml |title=Brian Robertson |accessdate=2007-04-03 |format= |work=Dinosaur Rock Guitar article]

Guitars

Robertson is often associated with the Black 1973 Les Paul Custom, with white/"parchment" (rather than black) coloured pick guard, featured heavily in photographs on the Live and Dangerous album and subsequent video. However, in an interview with Stuart Bull on the video "Still in Love with the Blues", Robertson explains that his main guitar remains his original Thin Lizzy Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe, albeit re-fretted (from wear) and with rare and highly desirable original 1959 Gibson Seth Lover PAF Humbucker pickups fitted roughly by his guitar technician. The pickups are sans the normal German-silver pick-up covers, a popular modification. The worn, bracelet-scarred and character-rich guitar features throughout the aforementioned video.

Other guitars seen played by Brian Robertson include a white Fender Stratocaster (Dedication video), 1970's Travis Bean aluminium neck guitar (Dedication video), red Les Paul with trapeze bridge and soap bar pick ups [Cover of "Still in Love with you video"] . At the time of Scott Gorham's "Thin Lizzy" audition, Robertson was playing an SG Junior.

Although strongly associated with British Marshall amplifiers (100 watt non-Master Volume Superlead heads & 25W Celestion Greenback speakers), Robertson has been known to use Mesa Boogie (100W Dual Rectifier head) and Soundman amplifiers. The Jailbreak album was recorded using Carlsbro combo. Robertson's original wah-pedal is a UK made Colorsound (rather than the CryBaby or Vox, which were more expensive at the time), although he sometimes used a Cry Baby wah wah in the 1990s and a borrowed Vox Wah in the "Still in Love with the Blues" video. [cite web |url=http://guitargeek.com/rigview/603/ |title=The guitar and bass rig database record for Brian Robertson in Thin Lizzy in 1974.|accessdate=2007-04-03 |format= |work=Guitar Geek article]

Robertson's use of the WEM Copycat tape echo unit was later replaced by a modern rack mounted digital delay unit. He used a Black Les Paul custom and mentions he experimented with "Boss Analog Chorus Delay, an MXR Pitch Transposer, Yamaha analog delays, and MXR 32 band Graphic EQ" during his Motörhead days.

Record producer Tony Visconti mentioned that for "Killer Without A Cause",

... Robertson plays guitar through the strange talk box, the simple gizmo that Peter Frampton made famous on his successful live album." [cite web |url=http://www.tonyvisconti.com/artists/thinlizzy/bad.htm |title=Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation |accessdate=2007-04-03 |format= |work=Tony Visconti article]

Discography

Thin Lizzy

* "Night Life" (1974)
* "Fighting" (1975)
* "Jailbreak" (1976)
* "Johnny the Fox" (1976)
* "Bad Reputation" (1977)
* "Live and Dangerous" (1978)

Wild Horses

* "First Album" (1980)
* "Stand Your Ground" (1981)

Motörhead albums

* "Another Perfect Day" (1983)
* "Motorhead - Live 1983" (1991)
* "Motorhead Live At Manchester Apollo 10.6.83" (1994)
* "Motorhead Live on the King Biscuit Flower Hour 1983" (1998)

Motorhead singles

* "I Got Mine" (1983)
* "Shine" (1983)

Interviews on DVD

* Motorhead Videobiography double DVD - 2007.
* Motorhead Overkill double DVD - 2008.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.robbo.info Official Brian Robertson Web Site]
* [http://www.thinlizzylive.com/gallery.php?g=13&
]
* [http://www.thinlizzylive.com/gallery.php?g=13&
]
* [http://guitargeek.com/rigview/603/ Brian Robertson's Thin Lizzy era rig]