Metallica released their Garage Inc. covers album in 1998, which in part featured their rendition of the Irish traditional song "Whiskey In The Jar". The song became a live staple for Metallica over the years, though it wasn't the first time "Whiskey In The Jar" had a presence in the rock world – Thin Lizzy had a successful cover of it way back in 1972. So what better way to celebrate than with Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell joining Metallica on stage to play it together? A perfect collision of the worlds!
The joint cover took place in 1999 during a Dublin show, and Bell's fondness of the performance is… completely absent. In an interview with Guitar World, Bell said he had no idea who Metallica was at the time and felt a certain arrogance coming from the band.
"I didn't know anything about Metallica," said Bell. "Not a thing. I'm not into that type of music. So when someone told me they'd recorded 'Whiskey in the Jar' I was like, 'Oh, who are they?'
"And then they asked me to do the gig, which was chaos. I don't know why they called me. I think the impression they had was that I knew who they were. I didn't. They thought I was in awe of them – not true. One of the roadies drove me to their hotel, and I stood in the hall waiting. And one by one, they came down, shook my hand, and they expected me to be impressed. But I didn't know who they were, I'd never heard their music, and I wasn't bothered. That took them by surprise."
Bell continued, saying he straight up did not enjoy the performance: "It wasn't enjoyable. There was no chemistry. They tuned a whole step down, which is typical for them. I, however, didn't. So now I'm hearing 'Whiskey in the Jar' in F, which was very odd. From that point forward, my brain wasn't into it. I just played it my way, and we went our separate ways."
At least Bell is being honest, right? You can watch some remaining footage of the live cover below, though I'm warning you now – this video has like, eight pixels total and sounds pretty bad.
