1641 - Thin Lizzy Running Back 1976

1976 was the year that Thin Lizzy finally broke through commercially and critically, and they did so in a big way. For Jailbreak, Lynott crafted a suite of songs that had a vague thematic linking. Clear antecedents to his verbose (and grandiose) compositional style include Bruce Springsteen. Like the Boss, Lynott set out to create songs of power and grandeur. In doing so he and his bandmates (Downey plus dual lead guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson) made one of the most influential hard rock albums of the decade. In terms of instrumentation, Jailbreak’s sonic approach is fairly basic and no-frills: guitar, guitar, more guitar, bass and drums. But on Lynott’s “Running Back,” the song is built upon a foundation of (session overdubbed) electric piano, and adorned with sax lines redolent of Springsteen or fellow Irishman Van Morrison. Percussion accoutrements even include handclaps(!), making “Running Back” the most pop-oriented number on the record.