Thin Lizzy’s classic 1978 ‘Live And Dangerous’ double album is still revered more than 45 years after it first appeared. But had the band’s US label had their way, the album might never have seen the light of day.

“We’d just signed a new US record contract with Warners,” guitarist Scott Gorham told Rock Candy Mag editor Howard Johnson in an exclusive interview that makes the magazine’s cover of issue 43. “But when we said the first release would be a double live, the label people weren’t at all happy. They told us live recordings didn’t sell and they wanted a studio record.” Gorham claims that the directive came from the very top of the company, but even so the band and their managers dug their heels in and insisted on a live release first.

“Looking back I believe that decision put us in the sh*t with Warner Bros.,” says Gorham. “They decided we were a difficult act to work with, and I don’t think they ever wanted to really get behind a Thin Lizzy live album because we’d defied their orders.”

Given that Live And Dangerous only reached number 84 on the US album charts, while it went all the way to number two in the UK and sold over half a million copies there, suggests there is some truth in Gorham’s assertion. Plus the fact that the album is still revered to this day both as a rock classic, and as a perfect example of the double-live genre, shows that the US label may shoulder some of the blame for the relatively poor commercial performance of Live And Dangerous in the States.

“I’m so lucky that I was in a band that was able to do something that had such a long-lasting impact,” says Gorham. “It’s very cool.”

You can read the 16-page Thin Lizzy Live And Dangerous special featuring exclusive interviews with Scott Gorham, Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, and manager Chris O’Donnell in issue 43 of Rock Candy Mag, together with many other fascinating stories about Judas Priest, Great White, Riot, Saxon, and more. For more details visit rockcandymag.com.