This post has Amazon affiliate links but since I’m not making some expected quota I’m about to lose that designation. So whatever.

I have a vinyl collection. Hell, I had a really good cassette tape collection too back in the day. And I’ve been known to own a few 8-track tapes but those were on their way out when I was hitting my teenage years and so I bought vinyl for the house and cassette tapes to play in the car. Alas I only have one cassette tape left, the first Rush album. I had a cassette tape carrier that stayed in my Chevy Monza (maroon colored hatchback) and I would blast my music through a self-installed Pioneer cassette deck mounted right under my glove compartment. It fed two Jensen speakers that were mounted in wooden enclosures (again all self-installed) via long speaker wire. The speakers would sit in the far back of my hatchback car and whenever we were out partying at the lake, empty field or the drive-in, I would pull them out of the car and set on my roof. If you’ve ever seen the movie Dazed and Confused, that was us in Texas as teens.

I made the mistake of selling off a bunch of my vinyl (the Great Vinyl Purge) when CDs came out and I started replacing my albums. Stupid stupid stupid. Now I’m rebuilding what I lost or gave away. It’s not easy like it was in the “old days”. You probably don’t remember the Columbia House record club. There were others similar. You would pick out 10 to 13 albums for “free” with the promise to buy 6 to 9 more at regular (inflated) prices over 2 or 3 years. I did this numerous times. I’d get the free albums, buy the promised albums quickly and then cancel my membership. Then I would then sign up under a different name or join a different club. That is how I built up my initial record collection. I still have many of those free and purchased albums. Sad I dumped so many of my good (and highly valued now) albums.

But I digress. This months PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Month is Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. I’ve mentioned this album before when I was in a quandary over whether to buy Ted Nugent‘s first album or Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. At the time I chose Ted but later when I got more money I went back for Jailbreak. Alas I gave/sold this album in the great vinyl purge and just recently bought a reissued version.

I’d read about Thin Lizzy in Creem magazine. I learned about all the latest bands through Creem and later Circus magazine. Jailbreak did not disappoint. Released in March 1976, Jailbreak was Lizzy’s 6th album release. Everyone has heard The Boy’s are Back in Town but my favorite song off this album is the Cowboy Song. Every band I’ve played in since High School has performed this song and many times I was the singer. In addition to that song there is Jailbreak, Warriors and Emerald that all stand out as excellent songs. The twin guitar leads that Thin Lizzy is notorious for are all over this album. Think Lizzy put out 6 more albums and then broke up. Sadly a few years later Phil Lynott (bass player and driving force from the beginning) died from sepsis brought most likely from his heroin addiction.

For being the first Thin Lizzy album and gateway to further TL albums, and opening the door to the twin harmony guitar leads, Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak is PawPaw’s Vinyl Album of the Month.