Article from the June 1999 edition of Vintage Guitar magazine. By Tony Nobles. Reprinted with permission.
John Sykes joined Lizzy in '83 for the final studio album, Thunder and Lightning and the live album culled from the following farewell tour. He later joined Whitesnake and played on Slide it In and the mega-selling '87 album Whitesnake. He was then joined by Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin in Blue Murder. He now fronts Sykes, which has three Japanese releases and a greatest hits package in the works.
Sykes can play very aggressively and very melodically - he's one of those guitarists who makes lesser-skilled want to sell their guitars, and on top of has taken on duites of lead vocalist with his own band and on recent Thin Lizzy tours of Japan and parts of Europe.
Vintage Guitar: Tell me about your black Les Paul.
John Sykes: It's a part of my life, like one of my kids. I think it's a '72. It's a black Custom. I've played basically every gig and every album with it.
Vintage Guitar: What albums did you do with the Tygers of Pan Tang?
John Sykes: I did Spellbound and Crazy Nights. I also played on a couple tracks on The Cage. I joined Lizzy after that.
Vintage Guitar: How did that happen?
John Sykes: I knew the producer from working with the Tygers. I kept asking, "Why don't you turn me on to Phil?" Actually as a commitment to the record company when I left the Tygers I had to deliver a single to be released from my contract. I asked Chris Tsangerides, the producer if he'd ask Phil to be a part of it. He agreed and after two days working on it he asked if I wanted to join Lizzy. I lept at the chance. I did the Thunder and Lightning and the double Live Life album after that.
Vintage Guitar: What did you write on Thunder and Lightning?
John Sykes: "Cold Sweat." I came in late. They pretty much had the material together for the album. It was literally, "...start recording." We wrote that in the studio.
Vintage Guitar: You played most of the solos?
John Sykes: A lot are me, some are Scott. On some songs we took one each.
Vinatge Guitar: What equipment did you use to record the album?
John Sykes: I think there was an old Peavey knockin' around. It was definitely the Peavey. I didn't even have an amp at the time. When I left the Tygers, I left all my gear with them. I just had my axe. I guess the amp was left there by Snowy White, so I just cranked it up, got the best sound we could and started nailing it. Later, I got some Marshalls.
Vintage Guitar: What do you like best about Thunder and Lightning?
John Sykes: There's a lot I like. The whole experience of doing that album was a real treat. Being there and doing it was great.
Vintage Guitar: That was you playing the solo on"Still In Love With You" on Life?
John Sykes: I played the solo but it's pretty much note from [Brian Robertson's]. The first part anyway, and kind of played around with. I think Robbo got what he did from Gary Moore. I think initially Frank Miller did it with Phil. I don't know if they co-wrote it or not. Gary Moore was playing guitar on it. I think the feel and vibe ended up being the one Robbo used and ultimately the one I played on Life was cultivated from the original one Gary played.
I always liked the Robbo one. The recording of the one on Live and Dangerous is really good.
Vintage Guitar: As was yours on Life.
John Sykes: It's got a bit of fire, but the melody points are still there.
Vintage Guitar: Did I see a Three Muskateers bootleg?
John Sykes: Yeah. Some of the board tapes must have been put on a CD. When you go to Japan they have everything-stuff I didn't know existed. I know the one you're talking about. That particular night wasn't one of the greatest nights because of Phil's asthma. Some of those nights were really happening. I might have tapes of it back in England. I just remember we had a really good time and played our asses off.
Vintage Guitar: What is the story with the video of you guys playing "Cold Sweat" in the bar?
John Sykes: That was done in an English pub. It was one of those deals - a comedy of sorts. Someone said, "Here come Thin Lizzy," and we're up against the bar playing. We said, "Where are we gonna go?" And they're like, "Stand over there!"
Vintage Guitar:What would you like to say about Phil?
John Sykes: He was a great guy. I loved him and still think about him a lot. He was an amazing talent. If you listen to those songs, the weight of the lyrics, the arrangement and music - the guy deserves a lot of credit and to me he's every bit as good as the classics like Jimi Hendrix, if not better in some cases. To sit down and try and write a song like some of those songs, it's like "#@!*" it!."
Vintage Guitar: What are your favorites?
John Sykes: So many...obviously "Jailbreak", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Still In Love With You". I love stuff like "Suicide" and pretty much the whole of Live and Dangerous right off the bat. I also like a lot of his solo stuff. "Sarah" and some of that.
Vintage Guitar: So how did you get to Whitesnake afterward?
John Sykes: Thin Lizzy ended up doing a farewell tour. It started as a gimmick. They were doing okay business and one of the managers suggested it. I couldn't believe it, we had just done this great album. And I think in Phil's mind it was like, "Okay, we'll say it initially and then we'll say, "#@!* it, it's going good."
Phil was cool - he wanted to keep working. Scott needed some time off. That was when we did the Three Musketeers solo tour. It kind of all ground to a halt, we did Europe and it was time to do America. Phil and I wanted to, but Scott wasn't up for it. By that point it was like he had beaten himself up too much. Phil was no angel, but he was one of those guys with the constitution of a bull. He could keep working and you really wouldn't noice much difference when he'd catch a buzz or whatever. He'd always be on the case. Phil wanted to do America and it was a real disappointment we couldn't get over here. Scott wanted to bow out and Brian was tired of touring.
So we pulled the plug. The first few dates were with Whitesnake in Germany - festival dates. I never thought much about it. About three weeks later David (Coverdale) called and said, "Thin Lizzy is kind of finished."
Phil was gonna do some solo stuff, so Iwent to Germany and hung out with them for about a week. They made me an offer and I turned them down, they made a second offer and I turned it down and by the third it was too good to turn down. In a way I wanted to move on and do something, but a lot of my soul was saying, "Stay with Phil," and keep that going. Without Scott and Brian that was pretty much done. I ended up doing the Whitesnake thing and blew some quick overdubs on Slide It In.
Vintage Guitar: What did you play on Slide It In?
John Sykes: I basically beefed up the rhythms. I don't even know if I did any soloing. Basically me and Neil Murray blew over and had two days to do some overdubs. I was thinking, "We'll be here for a week," and Neil is in to day two of doing bass stuff. "I'm like, "How long we got?" They said, "Til the end of the day." And I'm like, "Get this bass board outta here and plug in the Marshall."
Most of it was done, Micky Moody and Mel Galley had already recorded the album. After that, we toured. We had a great band with Cozy Powell. Then we went and toured a while then Cozy got fired and then we found Ansley Dunbar after we had written the '87 album.
I finshed that up, got fired actually before I finished the guitars. I was about halfway through the solos when the producer and I got fired. I thought, "If I don't finish this someone else will." I finshed the solos and got out of Dodge.
Vintage Guitar: What didn't you play?
John Sykes: The only thing I didn't play on that was "Here I Go Again."
Vintage Guitar: It's obvious.
John Sykes: That one's all thumbs. Thumbs and toes. The other thing that pissed me off is they buried the damn solos so low. You're really straining to hear the playing. The vocals are way out front.
Vintage Guitar: Then Blue Murder.
John Sykes: We did the Blue Murder thing after that with Tony [Franklin] and it originally was going to be Cozy, but he was busy with Sabbath. Then I brought Carmine [Appice] in and we recorded that with Bob Rock.
Vintage Guitar: On that tour you played "Still Of The Night." Was that supposed to get back at David?
John Sykes: Yeah, I figured I should have something to play after writing it, and that was one of the heaviest ones.
Vintage Guitar: Did you ever get proper pay for writing it?
John Sykes: I got half of what I should have. In the end it was okay. That's better than the whole of nothing. It only took a couple of weeks to write the album.
Vintage Guitar: Then "Jelly-Roll" was a hit.
John Sykes: Yeah, it was doing really well. It looked like it was going to do something until the label dropped the ball. I think they were trying to get me and David [Coverdale] back together. They wanted me to get back with the "winning formula". But the wounds were too fresh. I stayed with the same label. In hindsight I would have done better with a different label.
Vintage Guitar: They didn't push Nothing But Trouble.
John Sykes: They didn't do anything.
Vintage Guitar: What's up with the Lizzy gigs you do now?
John Sykes: We go out and do some Lizzy stuff. It's like a load of old war veterans getting together and telling lies and playing some music. It's a lot of fun and we play some of the video stuff with Phil and it's a great opportunity to get out and play those great old songs.
Vintage Guitar: What do you have out now?
John Sykes: I have a ballad album called Loveland and a rock album called 20th Century. It has Tommy Aldridge, Simon Phillips and Marco Mendoza on bass.
Vintage Guitar: Did you ever get into it with Phil?
John Sykes: Nothing bad. It was usually me bitchin' about partying. He would go on so much and so hard. I would tell him to look after himself. It's like when someone is trying to quit smoking, all you need is someone in your ear. It becomes an annoyance. I lived in his house and I saw all these so-called friends come and go. I used to say for #@!*'s sake, give him some rest. He had a lot of friends and they just kept coming.
I wish he was still here, he was such a great guy - a real hero. He's still my hero.