DAVID ELLEFSON: 'LEMMY Played The Bass Like An Acoustic Guitar'

In a new interview with Oran O'Beirne of Bloodstock TV, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked when he was first introduced to the music of MOTÖRHEAD and how he was influenced by MOTÖRHEAD's iconic frontman Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So I was probably 15, maybe 16, and that was a really pivotal time. I had a little band in Minnesota, where I grew up, and there was a guitar player in the town north of us that he was the guy who could play. So he joined our band and he turned me and my band on to DIAMOND HEAD, MOTÖRHEAD, TANK, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, the first DEF LEPPARD record where [DEF LEPPARD drummer] Rick Allen was, like — I don't know — 15 or 16 years old. And quite honestly, that album is what made me and my friends go, 'We can do this,' 'cause we were the same age. DEF LEPPARD was so young. And then, of course, along with it, I think probably 'Ace Of Spades' was the first MOTÖRHEAD record that came in the band rehearsal room, and then immediately followed by 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith' and then 'Bomber', of course. So those were the — kind of that whole era. And then the SCORPIONS, BLACK SABBATH with Ronnie James Dio. So that was my era — kind of '78 to '80, those records in that era. And I got turned on to them probably around '80 or '81. That was it, man."

Offering his opinion of Lemmy as a bass player, Ellefson said: "METAL ALLEGIANCE, another group that I have, we had a run of dates in early January of '16. And [Lemmy] passed the day after Christmas [of 2015] or something. Yeah, it was very kind of unexpected, 'cause they had a big [birthday] party for him at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood]. Everybody was there. Then he passed right after Christmas. And then our shows were like 10 days later. And so the Whisky, which also own the Rainbow, they called us and they said, 'Hey, would you guys be the tribute-to-Lemmy band?' like the house band. So we kind of flipped our setlist with METAL ALLEGIANCE to basically be mostly a MOTÖRHEAD set. So, [MOTÖRHEAD drummer] Mikkey Dee came, [SLIPKNOT's] Corey Taylor, a bunch of people came and joined us. And what I realized learning a bunch of MOTÖRHEAD songs in a way that I never knew as a kid learning them is that Lemmy played the bass like an acoustic guitar. 'Cause he was a singer/bass player, similar to [THIN LIZZY's] Phil Lynott. Bass players that were singers as well as bass players, they played with the plectrum… But Lemmy really played more like an acoustic guitar player… And it was the way he strummed and his up strokes on things was much more like how an acoustic guitar player would play. And it really changed my whole scope about him. When you learn songs from somebody, you kind of try to find where's the heart of who they are. What is their thing? And that, to me, that's when it clicked. And then every MOTÖRHEAD song after that, I kind of just clued in to that, and it became a lot easier to learn because I didn't just think about the bass part, I thought about what he's singing over top of it. Paul McCartney, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, Lemmy, these iconic bass players, they're also lead singers. So for them, the bass isn't just the only thing that they do. So, to me, you kind of have to take the whole package. So Lemmy is a singer as well as just a bass player."

When METAL ALLEGIANCE paid tribute to Lemmy during the band's January 9, 2016 concert at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, they were joined by special guests from SLIPKNOT and SEPULTURA, along with Dee, who asked for a moment of silence in honor of Lemmy.

Eight and a half years ago, Ellefson spoke to About Heavy Metal about the Lemmy tribute. He said: "As it would turn out, Lemmy passed suddenly and unexpectedly just after Christmas, and we got the call from the venue saying, 'Hey, we would love it if METAL ALLEGIANCE would accommodate a tribute to Lemmy. You're kind of set up for it with the lineup of the band. There's going to be a lot of guests, and other celebrated metal musicians around,' and we said, 'Absolutely we should do it.' It's a no-brainer. It's pretty easy for us. They had the funeral at Forest Lawn. They had the memorial up at the Rainbow, and we held the wake down at the Whisky."

Asked if it was pretty emotional when MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee got up there to play a song with METAL ALLEGIANCE, Ellefson said: "It was. Mikkey's such a terrific guy, and such a great drummer. In fact, I remember just before we were releasing the [MEGADETH] 'Peace Sells' record back in 1986, we did a tour leading up to that with KING DIAMOND in the summer of 1986, and Mikkey Dee was the drummer. That was when we in MEGADETH first got to meet Mikkey, then, of course, watching him move over to be the MOTÖRHEAD drummer."

He continued: "MOTÖRHEAD drumming and the MOTÖRHEAD lifestyle is not for the faint of heart, and he survived both very well. Just such a monster player, and such a cool guy. He held a moment of silence for Lemmy. It was really a moving moment when you get a bunch of loud, raucous, metal heads into a room who are respectfully, honestly giving a moment of silence. It was really a moving moment for sure, and followed by, 'Okay, now let's go make some noise.' Then he hopped behind the kit, and we blazed out a tune.

"We had some of the best guys there, obviously. Mike Portnoy [DREAM THEATER], Mikkey Dee, Dave Lombardo [SLAYER] came down to play drums. Corey Taylor [SLIPKNOT] flew over from Las Vegas just to be a part of that, and jumped up and sang some songs with us. Everybody joined in with the best intentions, and really with a big heart in all the things in honor of Lemmy."