The first trailer for the upcoming Phil Lynott documentary Songs For While I’m Away has been released on what would have been the Irish musician’s 71st birthday.
The trailer from Break Out Pictures and Eagle Rock Films features footage of Thin Lizzy on stage, archive clips from Phil’s younger years and commentary from some of the contributors which includes Scott Gorham, Eric Bell, Darren Wharton, Metallica’s James Hetfield, U2’s Adam Clayton, Huey Lewis and Suzi Quatro.
The synopsis for the film reads: “Phil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away is a feature documentary on the life and music of Phil Lynott, telling the story of how a young black boy from working class 1950's Dublin, became Ireland's greatest rock star.
“As lead singer of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott was a songwriter, a poet, a dreamer, a wild man. Told extensively through the words of Phil himself and focusing on some of his iconic songs, the film gets to the heart of Philip, the father, the husband, the friend, the son, the rock icon, the poet and the dreamer.”
The film will be released in cinemas soon, with a release date set to be announced in due course.
It’s also been revealed today that a massive Thin Lizzy box set will be released on October 23 through UMC.
Rock Legends will celebrate 50 years of Thin Lizzy spread across 6CD/DVD and include a total of 99 tracks – 74 of which are previously unreleased and will be the first instalment in a career-spanning release programme.
The collection has been overseen by Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham and Lizzy expert Nick Sharp from a collection of newly discovered tapes. Rock Legends has also been newly mastered by Andy Pearce and will include demos, radio sessions, live recordings and rare edits.
The DVD will contain the BBC documentary Bad Reputation and Thin Lizzy’s 1976 performance on Rod Stewart’s A Night On The Town TV special.
Aside from the music, the collection will also come with tour programme replicas, Lynott poetry books, four prints by Lizzy cover artist Jim Fitzpatrick and a book with quotes by all members of the band about their time playing with Lynott .
A statement adds that it’ll also contain “a selection of famous fans such as Slash, Lemmy, Joe Elliot, Geddy Lee, James Hetfield, Ian Gillan, Henry Rollins, Billy Corgan, Bobby Gillespie, Craig Finn, John McEnroe and Pat Cash talking about the band.”
Phil Lynott is also the cover star of issue 279 of Classic Rock magazine, which is on sale now, with the mag looking back at the history of Thin Lizzy through the eyes of Scott Gorham and Brian Downey.
The mag also features Peter Green, Blues Pills, Fantastic Negrito, Kiss, James Dean Bradfield, an Icons Of Rock’N’Roll book, a look back at Monsters Of Rock and much more.
