In a new interview with Classic Rock History, Grand Slam’s Laurence Archer remembered when he knew Phil Lynott was dying.
When asked about the time he realized that Lynott was having some health issues, the guitarist responded:
“We had changed many of the regular crew and put in some people to discourage the obvious partying as soon as we started gigging and touring. As I was a clean boy and a keep-fit nut back then, Phil was happy to have me around and made a big effort to stay away from temptation. I first thought Phil was having issues when I was in the US with Huey Lewis recording.”
He recalled how Phil was having trouble with his vocals:
“Phil eventually came over to do two tracks for Grand Slam demos, as we were going to have Huey produce the album. It was sometime in early ’85. We were recording at the plant in Mill Valley, San Francisco, and I noticed Phil’s health and breathing had become short, and it was affecting his voice at the sessions.”
Phil Was An Important Figure For Archer
In 1984, Lynott started Grand Slam with Archer, Doish Nagle, Robbie Brennan, and Mark Stanway. Still, the band broke up by the year’s end due to financial struggles and Phil Lynott’s worsening heroin addiction. In a previous conversation with Metal Talk, Laurence talked about the late rocker’s influence on him:
“I’ve said this many times that Phil influenced me a lot. Not that I was that much different in my approach to writing, recording, rehearsing. Phil certainly was a sergeant when it came to rehearsing and also every live gig. We used to record every live gig off the desk. We would stick it on in the bus or the limo or whatever we were in going back to the hotel and analyze it. Every single part of it. That was because we wanted it to be perfect.”
Lynott’s health declined due to drug and alcohol addiction. He collapsed at home in December 1985 and was found by his mother, unaware of his heroin use. His wife Caroline rushed him to a clinic for treatment, but he was later diagnosed with septicemia at Salisbury Infirmary. Despite briefly regaining consciousness, his condition deteriorated, and he passed away on January 4, 1986, at age 36, from pneumonia and heart failure caused by septicemia.