Returning to our examination of live versus studio versions of famous songs, we have to look at the phenomenal love song by Thin Lizzy, which became an absolute standard at their gigs, often held back to the the encore. But the original version of “Still in love with you” is far, far different to the live version we all know and love. Taken from the album “Night life”, which I have to say I find one of their weakest recordings, the original is more a jazz/blues song, played at a faster pace than it was on stage, and though the guitar solo is still there, I find something missing about the studio version: it just doesn't sound as
emotional as it did when they played it live.
Okay, so Gary Moore is on the guitar (as indeed he should be: he was the only one in my opinion who can really put the heart and soul into the song, though John Sykes was a decent replacement, if Moore could ever be replaced), but you have additional vocals by Frankie Miller, which I think take from the song, and there's no fast part at the end, as there is on the live version. For me, it's live or nothing --- I never listen to the studio version. Would “Still in love with you” have become the classic it is, requested/demanded/expected at every Lizzy performance, if they had played it live the way it was recorded originally? You have to wonder... But I'm glad they beefed it up for the live set.
Here are the two versions for you to compare them. The live version, one of many, comes from the very last live appearance of Thin Lizzy, at the Reading Festival in 1983, as transmitted by BBC Radio One.