Posted on 01/30/2022 9:01:10 PM PST by nickcarraway
Huey Lewis named Thin Lizzy classic “The Boys Are Back in Town” as the song that makes him cry in a tribute to his late friend Phil Lynott.
Lewis played harmonica on Lizzy’s 1978 album Live and Dangerous, billed as “Bluesy Huey Lewis” and appearing on the track “Baby Drives Me Crazy.” His band at the time, Clover, opened for Lynott’s group on the subsequent tour.
Asked by Classic Rock to identify the song that reduces him to tears, Lewis made the unexpected selection because of the memories it evoked. “The reason I say that is because I miss my pal Phil Lynott, and that’s what makes me cry," he said. "Phil was important to me. He helped me in many different ways. He taught me what popularity was going to be like, how to be a bandleader, how to deal with press, fans, record companies, the whole bit. He was a mentor to me, and I think about him still. He was one of the greats.”
In 2020 Lewis recalled how the pair became friends after Clover suffered a difficult opening slot ahead of a Lizzy performance, which was witnessed by Lynott. “It was awful,” Lewis said. “Phil was standing there [when we came off], and he said, Let me help you. You gotta go after them.”
Elsewhere in the new interview, Lewis said the most recent album by Huey Lewis and the News, 2020’s Weather, was the best record he's made. He also said the hearing failure he suffered four years ago left him “basing all of this on memory because I can’t hear music.” That meant he wasn’t able to finish a song that he’d like to have played at his funeral. “I think I’m going to go with ‘Sow a Little Kindness,’ which … hasn’t even been recorded yet: 'Sow a little kindness, reap a little love.' I love it, but we somehow never got it right, and then I lost my hearing. I have a demo of it, so we’ll play that at my funeral.”
😂 Whole heartily agree.
Geez, we are on the internet; https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hueylewisthenews/theheartofrockroll.html
“The Heart Of Rock & Roll”
New York, New York, is everything they say
And no place that I’d rather be
Where else can you do a half a million things
All at a quarter to three
When they play their music, ooh that modern music
They like it with a lot of style
But it’s still that same old back beat rhythm
That really really drives ‘em wild
They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from what I’ve seen I believe ‘em
Now the old boy may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beating
LA, Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip
Is something everyone should see
Neon lights and the pretty pretty girls
All dressed so scantily
When they play their music, that hard rock music
They like it with a lot of flash
But it’s still that same old back beat rhythm
That really kicks ‘em in the....
They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from what I’ve seen I believe ‘em
Now the old boy may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beating
DC, San Antone and the Liberty Town, Boston and Baton Rouge
Tulsa, Austin, Oklahoma City, Seattle, San Francisco, too
Everywhere there’s music, real live music, bands with a million styles
But It’s still that some old rock and roll music
that really really drives ‘em wild
They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from what I’ve seen I believe ‘em
Now the old boy may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beating
In Cleveland
Detroit!!
Huh, heart of rock and roll
I grew up in the 80’s so HL and the News was pretty popular. Always liked the upbeat music and positive image the band had. Heard Adam Carolla interview him in the last year or so. Pretty cool dude.
We heard him/them here in Memphis a few years back, and he took a minute to say that dozens of people he knew asked him why in the world he didn’t mention the home of Elvis. He seemed genuinely apologetic, explaining that the song had already been recorded before it was noticed. Lots of good stuff came out of here. Oh well.
It was a GREAT concert, by the way. He said about “The Power of Love”: I really liked this song and it was cool that they used it for Back to the Future, but nobody ever told me I would be singing it EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE...!
LOL! I’ll probably never play it out anywhere but I will work on it here. My buddies are like E A B. Toss in a 4th chord and they get all sweaty. When I was still playing in Florida the band I was in used to end with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7_NAElaYR0&list=RDF7_NAElaYR0&index=1
Not exactly like McCartney but the fans loved it. LOL!
I wish he would bury the hatchet with Ray Parker Jr. They could both win.
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