Dave Flett

Not to be confused with Dave Flett, Australian musician, who played withCaptain Matchbox Whoopee Band

Dave Flett
Birth name	David Flett
Born	Aberdeen,Scotland
Genres	Rock,progressive rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument	Guitar
Years active	1970–present
Website	Official Dave Flett website

David Flettis a Scottish rock guitarist, best known for performing withManfred Mann's Earth BandandThin Lizzy.

Career

Early years and Manfred Mann

Flett began his career with local groups in Aberdeen such as Cat Squirrel, Once Upon a Band and Pinto. He later moved to London and joined an all-Aberdeen group called Jock. While he was living in London, he was recommended toManfred Mannand subsequently joined Manfred Mann's Earth Band, with whom he made his debut on their 1975 autumn tour of America.He performed on two Earth Band studio albums,The Roaring SilenceandWatch,which featured two hit singles in "Blinded by the Light"and" Davy's on the Road Again "respectively.

Thin Lizzy

After leaving Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1978, he briefly toured as a temporary member ofThin LizzyafterGary Mooreleft the group following a concert on 4 July 1979.AfterMidge Ureinitially replaced Moore, Flett was recruited in early September 1979 as lead guitarist alongsideScott Gorhamfor a tour of Japan, while Ure switched to keyboards. Playing his first show with Thin Lizzy inOsakaon 24 September, Flett performed at five shows before the band returned home.During this tour, he and the band performed a number of songs that later surfaced on theChinatownalbum the following year, such as "Didn't I" and "Sweetheart". In December he played a few Thin Lizzy shows that were arranged to compensate for missing the Reading Festival earlier in the year, and he left the group shortly before Christmas. He had wanted to remain with Thin Lizzy, but insteadSnowy Whitewas chosen as his permanent replacement, who went on to record two albums with the band. Flett described his short tenure with Thin Lizzy as "Great times with extremely talented, generous guys."

After leaving Thin Lizzy, Flett formed a short lived band called Special Branch, withMatt Irving.On 11 August 1981, Flett joined Thin Lizzy onstage at a concert in his hometown of Aberdeen, as part of theRenegadetour. He said, "I did guest on a few numbers with them... [it] showed there were no hard feelings."

Later life

Flett is now an addictions counselor in central Florida, and in 2004, spoke out to prove his identity amid false stories spread by a man impersonating him.

Prompted by this experience, Flett wrote the song "Stolen Identity", and was subsequently inspired to record an album. With the help of a number of musicians includingManfred Mannand John Lingwood, Flett's first solo album,Flying Blind,was released in April 2014 for download.Official Dave Flett website