I had left Thin Lizzy probably 8 months or so,when one day I got a phone call from Noel Redding. " Hello matey 'ow are you?" He told me he was forming a band aand needed a guitarist and got my phone number from some guy that wrote for some music magazine in Ireland.

I was living in Dublin at this time and Noel told me he had a house near a village called Clonaakilty(about 35 miles from Cork City). So,a few days later I got the train to Cork and Noel met me, he was standing on the platform as the train pulled in.(he looked like he had just walked out of a Jimi Hendrix album cover) Really curly huge afro hair, purple jacket, red trousers,and pink John Lennon granny glasses. " Hello matey,do you play darts?" Well,yes,sometimes, I replied. "Right,your'e in the band".

Then we went into the bar on the platform, he bought me a pint of Guinness and there was a dartboard there, and we had a few games of darts. when we went outside we got in his car. It was bright yellow with a black roof and he drove very fast down winding country roads,until we eventually reached Clonakilty. we visited a few pubs,had a few drinks and Noel introduced me to people,he seemed to know everyone in the village.After this we drove to his house,which was about 6 miles away. His house was amazing, a really huge farmhouse and cottage and outhouses around the back and 24 acres of land.

 I met his girlfriend Carol, his 5 dogs,7 cats and lots of baby geese. After we had rested he showed me around the house,and I noticed lots of gold albums on the walls, and a great collection of guitars and amps in the music room. Later,after we'd eaten, the other members of the band arrived. Les Sampson(drummer) and Dave Clarke(keyboards,vocals,and songwriter. I was the only Irish guy,the rest were English.

We went into the music room,drank and smoked quite a bit then Noel played a tape of the songs the band had wrote and worked on. I listened to them, but couldn't really get any ideas where my guitar style would fit in. I had thought Noel was forming a 3 piece band playing blues rock music, and was very dissapointed in the type of songs I was listening to...also I really didn't want keyboards either.

Anyway,I stayed in Noel's house for another 4 days, and we rehearsed the songs(it all felt very strange to me and Noel at that time wasn't easy to work with. He was drinking quite a lot and smoking a lot of strong dope,and could become quite nasty.We kept driving to Clonakilty and drinking in lots of different pubs.....I had just been through all of this stuff with Thin Lizzy and now I felt it was starting all over again. (part one)

We kept working on these same 14 or so songs every day,for our first album. Noel's American girlfriend Carol,kept mentioning to Noel that he should get a manager to look after the band.."I dont need a fuckin' manager" Noel would say,but a few weeks passed and Noel started getting in touch with London and various managers would turn up at Cork airport and be driven down to Noel's house to meet us all. Noel hated managers and didn't trust them ,because he was badly ripped off by Hendrix's manager. So,about 6 managers later,2 managers turned up together..they worked together..and they were very,very rich. let's call them Bert and Bob. They wore the very best of clothes and had a white Rolls Royce. and had a huge office in central London. So,Noel dicided to trust them,and soon we were in London to record our first album.We stayed in the best hotel's,and went to show-biz parties,and then went into the studio to record.the producer was a famous name,(he played bass once in a famous pop group from the late 60's..and as soon as we met I didn't get on with him.

At one point in the studio,I was about to record a guitar solo for one of the songs "are you ready,Eric? his voice spoke through my headphones. "just give me a few minutes,I'm trying to come up with something fresh," I answered. "don't kid yourself,it's all been played", came this reply. I thought.."fuck this" put my guitar down,walked out of the studio,found the nearest pub,and started to get drunk.(I can't remember much after that)

Anyway,we kept recording,and a few days later,Noel got in touch with Steve Mariott..the singer guitarist from The Small Faces. Steve had a studio in his house,and we all drove there...It was a beautifiul country house with a thatched roof and oak beams everywhere. We took some of the recordings we had done,and Noel wanted to re-mix them on Steves mixing desk. I found Steve a really nice guy..he gave me a fender guitar neck,as soon as i first met him. We re-mixed about 3 songs,and then later in the night we said goodbye,and went back to our hotel. Next day,Noel phoned Steve,to ask him what time could we call over to work more on the songs. then,about 20 minutes later,Les,Dave, Noel and myself met down in the hotel bar. When i got there ,Noel was pacing up and down,looking really angry." What's wrong?" I said. "What's wrong" Noel replied. The fuckin idiot got up in the middle of the night,out of his head,started to mix the songs and wiped the tape clean...weve lost 3 or more songs