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Lemmy

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Lemmy

Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister on December 24, 1945, also known as Ian Willis, Lemmy Kilmister, and Lemmy von Motörhead), is an English singer and bass guitarist, most famous for being the founding member of the heavy metal band Motörhead. His appearance, facial moles, mutton chops (sideburn-moustache combination), and gravelly voice, have made him an instantly recognizable cult figure. Lemmy is considered one of the great heavy metal musicians.[1]

Biography

Childhood

Lemmy was born in Burslem,[2][3] Stoke-on-Trent, England and raised in Anglesey, North Wales. His father, a clergyman, left the family when Lemmy was three months old. Whereas the notes in the Motorhead Videography claim his nickname is meaningless and was acquired from his Welsh friends as a child,[4] the press have reported that it is because he "was always trying to cadge money from family and friends" as in "Lemme a fiver" (misquoted as "Lemme borrow a tenner".[5])

Early career

Lemmy spent the 1960s as a guitarist in a number of obscure bands (such as Rainmakers, Motown Sect, Opal Butterfly, Sam Gopal, and The Rockin' Vickers) as well as working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix in 1967,[4] and also as a roadie for The Nice, where he gave Keith Emerson his trademark knife.

In 1971, Lemmy joined the space rock band, Hawkwind, who were based in Ladbroke Grove, London. He had little experience as a bass guitarist, but quickly developed a distinctive style that was strongly shaped by his early experience as a rhythm guitarist, often using double stops and chords rather than the single notes preferred by most bassists. Lemmy's bass work was a fundamental part of the Hawkwind sound during his tenure, perhaps best documented on Space Ritual. He also provided lead vocals on a number of songs, including the band's biggest UK chart single, "Silver Machine", which reached No.3 in 1972.

Motörhead

Main article: Motörhead

In 1975 Lemmy was fired from Hawkwind after he was arrested at Canadian customs on possession charges; he spent five days in prison.[3][6] Lemmy went on to form a new band with guitarist Larry Wallis (former member of the Pink Fairies, Steve Took's Shagrat and UFO) and drummer Lucas Fox. Lemmy's connection with Took (formerly of T Rex) was not limited to Wallis, as they were personal friends and Took was the step-father to Lemmy's son, Paul. This new band was originally called Bastard. When his manager informed him that a band by that name will never get a slot on "Top of the Pops", Lemmy changed the band's name to Motörhead - the title of the last song Lemmy wrote for Hawkwind.[7]

Lemmy playing bass live.

Soon after, both Wallis and Fox were replaced with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, and with this line-up the band began to achieve success. The band's sound appealed to both Lemmy's original heavy metal fans, as well as to fans of the nascent punk rock scene. In fact, Lemmy asserts that he generally feels more kinship with punks than with heavy metal; he even played with The Damned for a handful of gigs when they had no regular bassist[8] — and Lemmy's guttural vocals were unique in the world of rock at that time. The band's success peaked between 1980 and 1981 with a number of UK chart hits, including the classic single "Ace of Spades" (still a crowd favourite today) and the #1 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. Motörhead have since gone on to become one of the most influential bands in the heavy metal music genre, and although Lemmy is the only constant member, are still performing and releasing records to this day. Despite Motörhead's many member changes over their 30 year history, the current lineup of Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee has remained constant since 1995.

Lemmy has also worked with a number of other musicians over his career, and occasionally guests with Hawkwind. He was brought in as a songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's 1991 No More Tears album, providing lyrics for the tracks "Hellraiser", (which Motörhead later released on their "Hellraiser" single) "Desire", "I Don't Want to Change the World", and the massive hit "Mama I'm Coming Home". Lemmy has noted in several magazine and television interviews that he made more money from the royalties of that one song than he had in his entire time with Motörhead. In 2005 Motörhead won their first Grammy, beating out such modern contemporaries like Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, and Cradle of Filth, in the Best Metal Performance category with their cover of Metallica's "Whiplash".

He has made a number of appearances in film and television, including the 1990 science fiction film Hardware and the 1987 comedy Eat the Rich, for which Motörhead also recorded the soundtracks. In the 1994 comedy Airheads (in which he is credited as "Lemmy von Motörhead"), he shouts (truthfully) about being the editor of his high school newspaper. He has also appeared in several movies from the Troma studio. Having a predilection for self-deprecating parody, he once appeared in an advertisement for Kit Kat chocolate bars, miming a piece of chamber music on the violin, in an upper-class tea-room. [1] Lemmy published his autobiography, White Line Fever in November 2002. Motörhead performed the entrance theme song "The Game" for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Triple H (who at one point wore his mustache and sideburns like Lemmy as a tribute), as well as "Line in the Sand" for Triple H's now defunct wrestling stable, Evolution. In 2006, they once again provided theme music for WWE as they recorded the song "King of Kings" for Triple H on the Wreckless Intent CD.

Personal life

Sexuality

In 2006 an article for BraveWords.com stated that Lemmy supposedly claimed to have engaged in bisexual behaviour. This was proven to be a hoax. Lemmy said he called up the journalist who claimed he was bisexual, and informed him that "it would be difficult for him to kneel down and get his floppy disk with a screwdriver through both knees."[9] The article was entirely removed from the website shortly after its appearance. Online music news site Blabbermouth.net credit themselves with being the informants of the article's inauthenticity.[10]

In a Channel 4 documentary called "Motörhead: Live Fast, Die Old", broadcast on August 22, 2005, it was claimed that Lemmy "had bedded" in excess of 2,000 women. In the documentary Lemmy explained that while in school he noticed a pupil who had brought a guitar to school and had been "surrounded by chicks". Lemmy's mother had a guitar, which he then took to school, even though he could not play, and was himself surrounded by girls: "In those days just having a guitar was enough...that was it".

Lemmy at age 60

Drugs

During Lemmy's time with Hawkwind, he developed an appetite for speed and acid and was to become renowned for his use of speed. Before joining Hawkwind, Lemmy recalled Dik Mik, a former Hawkwind sound technician, visiting his squat in the middle of the night and taking speed with him. They became interested in how long "you could make the human body jump about without stopping", which they did for a few months, until Mik ran out of money and wanted to return to Hawkwind, taking Lemmy with him.[4]

I first got into speed because it was a utilitarian drug and kept you awake when you needed to be awake, when otherwise you'd just be flat out on your back. If you drive to Glasgow for nine hours in the back of a sweaty truck you don't really feel like going onstage feeling all bright and breezy... It's the only drug I've found that I can get on with, and I've tried them all — except smack and morphine: I've never fixed anything.

— Lemmy[4]

In November 2005, Lemmy was invited to the Welsh Assembly as a guest speaker by Tory Welsh assembly member William Graham. He was asked to express his views on the detrimental effects of drugs. However he shocked the Assembly Members and Welsh public when he called for the legalisation of heroin.

"I have never had heroin but since I moved to London from north Wales in '67 I have mixed with junkies on a casual and almost daily basis," he said. "I also lived with a young woman who tried heroin just to see what it was like. It killed her three years later. I hate the idea even as I say it, but I do believe the only way to treat heroin is to legalize it."

He stated that legalization would eradicate the drug dealer from society.[11]

Collector

Lemmy collects Nazi memorabilia, and has an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, which has led to accusations of right-wing extremist tendencies; however, Lemmy considers himself an anarchist,[12] saying that "government causes more problems than it solves"[13] and that he is "anti-communism, fascism, any extreme."[12] According to Keith Emerson as written in his autobiography, two of Lemmy's Hitlerjugend knives were gifted to Keith Emerson himself during Lemmy's time spent as a roadie for The Nice. Emerson used these knives many times as "keyholders" during his famous wrestling sessions with the Hammond Organ during the shows with The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Equipment

Lemmy in his usual singing stance, with his microphone in its high position.

Lemmy positions his microphone in an uncommonly high position, angled so that he appears to be looking up at the sky rather than at the audience. He said that it was for "personal comfort, that's all. It's also one way of avoiding seeing the audience. In the days when we only had ten people and a dog, it was a way of avoiding seeing that we only had ten people and a dog".[14]

Lemmy has used Rickenbacker 4001 and 4003 bass guitars almost exclusively since the Hawkwind days, though some of these instruments were modified with the installation of Gibson Thunderbird pickups in the neck position. Rickenbacker produced a 50-bass run of Lemmy Kilmister signature basses, the 4004LK, which is fitted with three pickups, gold hardware, and elaborate wood carving in the shape of oak leaves.[15] Lemmy himself has been using a customised 4004.

For amplification he uses Marshall amplifiers, specifically hot-rodded Marshall JMP Superbass IIs from the later 1960s/early 1970s. Each amp, with a nominal output of 100 watts, is used with a 4x12 speaker cab and a custom-made 4x15 cab. Lemmy uses two such stacks, one on each side of the drum riser. For many years the amps were nicknamed "No Remorse", "Killer" (left side amp) or "Murder One" (right side amp) with appropriate nameplates. "No Remorse" was subsequently replaced by a new amp nicknamed "Marsha" when, as Lemmy observed in an October 2004 interview, it "blew up". "Killer" and "Murder One" were destroyed in Argentina when all the other equipment was stolen. They were not seen for many years, but in 2006 "Murder One" got on stage again.

The phrase "everything louder than everyone else" sums up Lemmy's sonic approach, as he plays at the loudest possible levels. He uses the neck pickup exclusively (giving his bass sound more definition) and turns all the tone and volume knobs on the bass up full. On the amplifiers, he turns the bass and treble off, and the midrange up all the way, with the volume and presence up to the 3:00 position. The result is a biting midrange sound which is somewhat distorted but not "fuzzed out" or "blurry", a formula well-suited to Lemmy's use of open-string drones and power chords, all of which is played at hell-bent-for-leather tempos.

Lemmy has occasionally played electric or acoustic guitar, notably on the acoustic song "Ain't No Nice Guy" from Motörhead's March Ör Die album, the title track on 1996's Overnight Sensation, "Limb from Limb" on Overkill, "Boogeyman" on Rock 'n' Roll, and "Whorehouse Blues" from the Inferno album.

In September 2006, Lemmy's Rickenbacker bass was featured in the Bang Your Head exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.[16]

Voice Acting

Lemmy will lend his voice to the upcoming video game Brütal Legend as "Kill Master", the name being a play on his last name, Kilmister.

Discography

For releases with Motörhead see the Motörhead discography

Videography

VHS

DVD

Books

  • 1981 Motörhead - Author: Alan Burridge, published by Babylon Books, ISBN 0-86001-935-7
  • 1994 The Illustrated Collector's Guide To Motörhead - Authors: Alan Burridge and Mick Stevenson, published by Collector's Guide Publishing, ISBN 0-9695736-2-6
  • 2002 White Line Fever - Authors: Lemmy Kilmister and Janiss Garza, published by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-85868-1
  • 2002 Lemmy: In His Own Words - Author: Harry Shaw, published by Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-9109-X
  • 2002 Motorheadbangers Diary Of The Fans Volume 1 - Author: Alan Burridge, published by e-booksonline(uk)ltd, ISBN 1-903949-14-9

Trivia

  • In the book The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star, Nikki Sixx refers to Lemmy as Lemuel Pillmeister.
  • In one scene of the movie Airheads starring Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, and Steve Buscemi, Brendan Fraser's character, "Chazz" Chester Darvey, is talking to an undercover cop who is pretending to be a record executive. Chazz asks him, "Who'd win in a wrestling match, Lemmy or God?", the cop replies, "Lemmy", to which Rex, played by Steve Buscemi, imitates a game show buzzer and the cop quickly changes his answer to "... God!". Rex replies saying, "Wrong, dickhead, trick question. Lemmy is God".[17] Lemmy makes an appearance in the film and shouts out (truthfully) that he edited his school newspaper as other people in the crowd admit geeky pastimes in their youth.[18]
  • Lemmy also appeared on an intro scene on The Drew Carey Show in which Motörhead plays outside Drew's home, startling him awake.
  • Lemmy is one of very few musicians to have been mentioned on Beavis and Butt-Head who was not made fun of. Upon seeing him appear in a video for a group that was not Motörhead, Butthead exclaimed, "He's Lemmy. He can be in any damn video he wants to!"
  • Sid Vicious is said to have asked Lemmy to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass." Lemmy's reply was (according to himself) "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died, I mean, fucking hell. Well, and everybody knows that, just listen to the Sex Pistols record that he was on, you know, you can tell it's Steve standing in for him. In fact I'm not sure if Sid was ever on the record, I think it was Steve who played bass."[19]
  • Lemmy plays the voice of the weapons dealer in the game Scarface: The World Is Yours.
  • In the webcomic Achewood Lemmy is referred to as "The Mayor of Drinkin' Island".

References

  1. ^ "Motorhead interview with Lemmy". Heavy Metal News. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  2. ^ Kilmister, Ian Fraser and Garza, Janiss, White Line Fever, Simon & Schuster, 2002 ISBN 0-684-85868-1 p.5
  3. ^ a b Lemmy: White Line Fever - from, er, Stoke BBC News Stoke and Staffordshire article. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  4. ^ a b c d Motorhead Videobiography (Double DVD with 48 page book) Edgehill Publishing Ltd., June 2007 ISBN 978-1-905954-38-4
  5. ^ "Motorhead's Lemmy". Sunday Star Times. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  6. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Motörhead > Biography". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  7. ^ "Motörhead Chronology". Official Motörhead site. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  8. ^ see the notes for Smash it Up - The Anthology 1976 - 1987
  9. ^ "Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister Talks About Heroin, Rumors And Viagra". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  10. ^ "MOTÖRHEAD Frontman LEMMY Is NOT Bisexual". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  11. ^ "MOTÖRHEAD's LEMMY Tells Welsh Assembly: Legalize Heroin". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  12. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (1997). "Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead". Motörhead Forever. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  13. ^ Samudrala, Ram (October 29, 1996). "Born to Raise Hell". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  14. ^ McIver, Joel (2000). "MIL-LEMMY-UM". Record Collector (245): 46. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |quotes= and |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Rickenbacker Model 4004LK". Björn Eriksson's Rickenbacker site. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
  16. ^ "Bang Your Head". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame article. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  17. ^ "Memorable Quotes from Airheads". IMDb Airheads article. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
  18. ^ "Full Cast and Crew for Airheads". IMDb Airheads article. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
  19. ^ "It's only Rock & Roll but he likes it!". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
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