At the age of nine, young Scott Gorham received his first guitar from his father, though it wasn’t until he was 13 that he put it to good use. The day after seeing a band rip up a junior high dance, Gorham and two of his friends formed a group called The Jesters. Only one of the boys in the band knew how to play, but he showed the others enough to get started — and that was it for Gorham. As the decade drew on and he soaked in the influences of predominantly blues-based guitar music coming out of England in the ’60s, including Peter Green, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, Gorham became an accomplished fretburner in his own right. In 1974, Gorham took a leap of faith with his good friend (and brother-in-law) Bob Siebenberg, a local drummer who had decided to fly to London to try out for an open slot in Supertramp. Siebenberg knew there were multiple openings in the band and encouraged Gorham to tag along to see if he could catch on with Roger Hodgson and company, as well. He didn’t, and after nearly six months in the U.K., it appeared Gorham’s visa would fritter away without him landing any gig at all.
Then came word that a transplanted Irish band, working in London, was looking to fill two guitar slots. Gorham hadn’t heard of the band Thin Lizzy — and he hated the name — but he loved the music they made together at the audition, and he took the £30/week gig the moment they offered it to him. He also connected almost immediately with the band’s frontman, Phil Lynott.
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