Hear Philip Lynott’s Unreleased ‘Parisienne Walkways’ Demo
The 1978 ‘Parisienne Walkways’ recording features a Huey Lewis harmonica part absent from the hit version.
A previously unreleased demo of “Parisienne Walkways” by Philip Lynott has been released as the second advance track from the forthcoming eight-disc collection The Story of My Life. The recording, which arrived late last week, dates from 1978 and presents an early version of the song that became a top 10 hit for Gary Moore the following spring.
The demo was recorded at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London, and Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. It includes a harmonica part by Huey Lewis that did not appear on the final recording. Moore and Lynott had a long musical association stretching back to Thin Lizzy, while Lewis first became friends with Lynott after his band Clover supported Thin Lizzy in 1976. Lewis later contributed harmonica to a number of Lynott recordings and demos.
The Story of My Life marks 40 years since Lynott’s death and brings together his solo and collaborative work. The collection includes the albums Solo In Soho and The Philip Lynott Album, recordings with Moore, Midge Ure and John Sykes, and 29 previously unreleased tracks. Among them is Fatalistic Attitude, an earlier version of Lynott’s second solo album that had originally been scheduled for January 1982 before the project was substantially revised. The set reconstructs its intended running order from Lynott’s personal acetate and includes material later removed or reworked for The Philip Lynott Album.
The first preview from the collection, “Can’t Get Away,” also documents Lynott’s connection with Lewis. One of Lynott’s final recordings, it was made at the Record Plant in Sausalito in December 1985, weeks before his death in January 1986, as work continued on an unfinished third solo album. Another song from those sessions, “Still Alive,” also appears on the box set for the first time. The Story of My Life was compiled by Thin Lizzy expert Nick Sharp and includes new sleeve notes by Mark Blake, along with archival photographs and memorabilia.
