“He said, ‘Have you heard Metallica’s version of Whiskey in the Jar?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘What planet are you living on?’” Thin Lizzy’s Eric Bell on reinventing an old Irish standard as a rock track and performing it with the “cartoon” Metallica

Although Whiskey in the Jar originated as a traditional Irish folk tune, once founding Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell got ahold of it in 1973 – transforming it into a rocker with an iconic guitar solo – it took on a life of its own.

Since then, the song has been covered by numerous artists, the most notable of whom is Metallica, who released their version of Whiskey on 1998’s Garage Inc. And while Metallica’s version is great, there’s just something inescapably cool about Thin Lizzy’s version and – of course – its one-of-a-kind Eric Bell guitar solo.

“I think a solo should complement the song, rather than just jerking off,” Bell says. “I still play that solo. I suppose people expect it. But it took a long time. It wasn’t blues and it wasn’t rock. I was used to playing blues and rock, but when Whiskey came along, there was this huge question mark over my head, going, ‘What the fuck am I going to play?’”

How did you come up with the solo?

I remember humming it, you know? That’s the way I made most of my solos. I’ll play the chords, and I’ll sing or hum it over and over again. It might take quite a long time to get the solo I want to hear, but it seems to work.

So it took a long time?

I was trying to get the phrase, that little hook, for about two or three weeks. I was going everywhere – on the toilet, the bath, the taxi and walking down the street – going, “What do I hear coming in there after those chords?” It took forever, but it’s stood the test of time.

Did you need multiple passes to get the solo down in the studio?

No, because Phil [Lynott, Thin Lizzy vocalist/bassist] did a rough vocal, and then we went to listen to it and I hadn’t a clue. I had no idea whatsoever. I just didn’t know anything about it.

At first it took me a long time, so they gave me a cassette of the rough song, and I worked on it day and night.

Eventually, I came up with the whole song – the intro, the little phrase and the solo. So when they put me in to play in the studio, I had every single note worked out. I knew it was going to work.

Your tone throughout the song is noteworthy. How did you craft it?

I used an HH Electronics transistor amp. Thin Lizzy’s manager went out, got it and brought it to the rehearsal space to let me try it. I liked the tone, but there was no volume, which I needed. So I went out and got a [WEM Watkins Copicat] echo chamber, and I used the volume on that. Then I used the volume on a [Sola Sound] Tone Bender fuzz as well. So I was getting quite a loud sound.

What portion of the Whiskey in the Jar solo was the toughest to master?

I find the phrase to be a real challenge. Even today, more than the solo, the phrase has a skip-over part that I find quite hard. But the solo works because I spent such a long time on it.

Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar (Official Music Video) - YouTube

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Metallica covered Whiskey in 1998. Did you like how they approached it?

I didn’t know anything about Metallica. I’m not into that kind of music, really. But it was funny; they got in touch with me. Someone from their setup phoned me and said, “I work with Metallica. We’re doing a world tour. Would love to have you come along to play with us in Dublin and do Whiskey in the Jar.”

Were you open to the idea?

I said, “Can you email me what’s going on?” He said, “Have you heard Metallica’s version of Whiskey in the Jar?” I said, “No.” He said, “What planet are you living on?” I said, “Jupiter.” [Laughs] Anyway, this courier arrived on a motorbike about two days later, and he had quite a few records, cassettes and DVDs of Metallica doing Whiskey in the Jar.

Did you like what you heard?

“It was okay. But once we got to Dublin, the thing that threw me was, I was trying out this Marshall amp, and Metallica walked in sort of like cartoons. They said, “Hey, man, when we do this, we tune our guitars a whole tone down.” I thought, “A whole tone? The guitar is going to sound like a fucking banjo…” But I don’t know; I didn’t really know them.

Eric Bell Song For Gary - Official Video - YouTube

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Did you enjoy performing with Metallica?

No. I mean, it was okay. I just felt a bit out of place, especially as my guitar was in standard tuning and I was playing along in F instead of G. That’s the only thing that was in my head because I didn’t tune my guitar a whole tone down. If I had the chance again, I’d tune it down because it was tricky playing it in F!

Phil Lynott often said none of Thin Lizzy’s guitarists could play Whiskey in the Jar quite like you. Why do you think that is?

I think that’d apply to anybody, to be honest. You could get Ringo Starr’s drums off the record and get some other guy to come in, and no matter how hard he tried, I don’t think he could get the same feel.

There are these little subtleties when I play Whiskey in the Jar, because I made it up – it’s my original idea. If anyone else plays it, even if they get very close, it’s not exactly the same. I see people who get very close, but there’s just little things I do that they don’t.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.