“He had definite ideas about how he wanted to do certain songs. I’m similar, so we clashed”: Brian Robertson sets the record straight on his Thin Lizzy exit

Brian Robertson has opened up on his Thin Lizzy departure, setting the record straight on why he really left the band.

Robertson, who joined the band with Scott Gorham in 1974, became one of Thin Lizzy’s foundational electric guitar players, helping to co-pioneer the twin Les Paul attack and two-part guitar harmonies that became such a cornerstone of the Irish rockers' style and sound.

Forming a formidable partnership with his guitar foil, Robertson was responsible for writing some of Thin Lizzy’s most notable hooks and riffs, and contributed to what is widely regarded today as the band’s premier lineup.

Despite leaving the band in 1976, he remained closely connected to the group, serving as a session hand on 1977’s Bad Reputation. But a permanent return to Thin Lizzy was never on the cards, and a year later he was out again.

Gorham recently told Guitar World this was because of Robertson’s well-documented conflict with frontman Phil Lynott, and in a new interview with Guitar World, Robertson himself had his say on the matter.

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“There was no big blow-up. It might have been a build-up of little things,” he admits with a laugh. “It just fizzled out. It was time to go back to [Robertson’s post-Lizzy outfit] Wild Horses. It was never arguments for argument’s sake. It was always to do with the music. He had definite ideas about how he wanted to do certain songs, and I'm similar, so we clashed.”

Gorham wanted his old co-guitarist back in the group. But Robertson – who had sustained a hand injury that sped up his Thin Lizzy departure – had his heart set on other projects. He was putting together Wild Horses with Jimmy Bain and Jimmy McCulloch.

“I went out there as a session [player], because I'd already put wheels in motion to put Wild Horses together,” Robertson adds. “When I got there, there was a basic structure to everything. It was all very rough, but there were sparks. There were no harmonies, it was all just Scott's guitar. Not, 'We'll leave this for Robbo' – nobody had bothered to fill the space.”

Robertson’s full interview with Guitar World will be published in the coming weeks.