𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 21, 1977 — Motörhead released their self-titled debut studio album via Chiswick Records. (Listen)
It is officially regarded as the band's debut album, though an album was recorded in 1975 for United Artists which was shelved, and was only released in 1979 after the band had established themselves commercially.
This would be the first album to feature what would become the "𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌" Motörhead lineup of Lemmy Kilmister, "Fast" Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal Taylor and their only release under Chiswick, as they were signed to the larger Bronze Records by early 1978.
More About Motörhead (1977):
Motörhead hired lead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke in early 1977, and he was originally to serve as the band's second guitarist along with Larry Wallis in what was intended to be a four-piece lineup, but Wallis left shortly after for his own reasons. Sensing that the fledgling band had dim prospects for success, Motörhead decided to disband after playing one final show at the Marquee Club in London that year. Ted Carroll, founder of the upstart Chiswick Records label, knew Lemmy well from his rare 45 Record's store in London of which Lemmy was a frequent customer.
Carroll decided to give the band a break and hosted what was to be their final performance at the Marquee on April 1, 1977. The decision was made to record the gig. As Clarke recalls in the documentary The Guts and the Glory;
"𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚒𝚐. 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝙻𝚎𝚝‘𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗' 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗' 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝟻𝟶𝟶 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜."
Feeling that the band had already seen its share of adversity, Carroll offered the band two days of studio time at Escape Studios in Kent, England, to record a single with producer John "Speedy" Keen. As Clarke explained to John Robinson of Uncut in 2015, the band finished the gig at the Marquee and drove straight to the studio in Kent for a weekend of recording:
"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚆𝚎‘𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝, 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝙸𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙿𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙱𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗. 𝙵𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚜 – 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚠𝚎‘𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝."
As biographer Joel McIver recalls in his book Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead;
"𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟷𝟷 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜. 𝙸𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝟷𝟿𝟽𝟿‘𝚜 𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑."
The recording of Motörhead (1977):
Due to the very limited studio time afforded to the band, the decision was made to re-record the unreleased United Artists album almost in its entirety; only Fools and Leaving Here weren't re-recorded at the Kent sessions.
In addition, two new self-penned compositions, White Line Fever and Keep Us on the Road, were added, as well as a cover of John Mayall's Train Kept A-Rollin.
Three tracks on the album were actually composed by Lemmy while he was still a member of Hawkwind, Motorhead, Lost Johnny, and The Watcher, the latter a psychedelic acoustic piece.
Like the band name itself, the song Motörhead is a reference to speed (Lemmy's drug of choice at that time) and was coupled with the non-album track City Kids (a Larry Wallis composition from his Pink Fairies' days) for release as 7" and 12" singles.
(𝙼𝚘𝚝ö𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝟽“ 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋-𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚜)
In his autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy recalls working with producer Speedy Keen and engineer John Burns and the challenges arising from a lack of time;
"(𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢) 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 – 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚘𝚝ö𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎!"
The band members were less than pleased with the finished product, and guitarist Clarke has referred to the album's muddled sound as "𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚏𝚞𝚕".
Four remaining tracks from the session were shelved until 1980, when they were released as the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers EP.
(𝙱𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝙴𝙿. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝙿 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚝ö𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎)
In his memoir Lemmy noted;
"𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚑-𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 – 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚜, 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙸‘𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎! 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚃𝚎𝚍 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 – 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍."
(𝙶𝚊𝚢𝚎 𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚢, 𝟷𝟿𝟽𝟽)
The B-side and the EP tracks were later added as bonus material on the CD release of Motörhead's self-titled debut.
About the Cover Art:
The sleeve artwork featured the debut of Snaggletooth, the War-Pig, the fanged face that would become an icon of the band and would appear on most of the band's album covers. Snaggletooth was created by artist Joe Petagno, who had earlier worked with Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and had designed the Swan Song Records logo for Led Zeppelin. According to its creator, Snaggletooth represents a combination of a bear, a wolf and a dog skull with boar tusks. The original Motörhead album cover contained a swastika on the spike of the helmet, though it was removed from future copies of the album.
Watch the Official Music Video for Motörhead.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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