LEMMY: 'It Is A Well-Known Mystery That Guitar Players Suddenly Get Better Once They Are Dead'

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD frontman and rock icon Lemmy Kilmister. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock Revisited: You really are getting more popular. Why do you think that is?

Lemmy: It seems to be. It is good for the band too, you know. It's okay. It's just that I am too old now to chase all the women involved; which just seems a shame. I think [the filmmakers behind the "Lemmy" documentary] did a really good job with the film. It wasn' t too showbiz and it wasn't too ordinary. The guys who did the movie were all fans, or at least they were when they started it. I don't know if they still are now [laughter].

Classic Rock Revisited: You are not outspoken, but when people ask you something, you tell them the truth. I think people appreciate that.

Lemmy: I have done interviews in the past and they cut everything out except for the outrageous line and then they take it out of context. I think that is just about as dishonest as a person giving a bad interview. I despise people like that; they don't get two tries. It's all just sensation. It is always bullshit. How many times can a rock star go over the top on drugs? How many times can a rock star be unfaithful to his old lady? It is really fucking boring and that is what they do over and over and over. They just print the same shit.

Classic Rock Revisited: At this stage of our life, looking back, was the drug use a positive or negative experience?

Lemmy: It was both, you know. Eric Clapton wrote "Layla" when he was coked out of his mind. Later on it nearly killed him. You've got to try to figure out which is the bigger benefit and which is the bigger loser. It nearly killed him; he was in a very, very bad way for a long time but he came through it. Most people don't come through it because they don't have the money to buy the people to look after them. Most people die a miserable and lonely death because they don't have the people to nurse them and get them through it all.

Classic Rock Revisited: Why have you survived?

Lemmy: Pure dumb luck. Also, I never did heroin.

Classic Rock Revisited: Which was your favorite decade…the '60s, the '70s or the '80s?

Lemmy: Probably the '60s because there were hardly any rules and heroin hadn't shown up so people hadn't started dying. It was incredibly upbeat and we almost did change the world. I guess that was the best one…the '70s were pretty good, too. I have been lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.

Classic Rock Revisited: Did THE BEATLES really influence MOTÖRHEAD?

Lemmy: THE BEATLES had an influence on everybody. They changed the way you looked at things. You have to realize what an incredible explosion THE BEATLES were. You really had to be there but I will try to tell you. They were the first band to not have a lead singer in the band. They were the first band to write their own songs in Britain because we always just covered American songs before that. Everybody was singing at the same time and the harmonies were great. THE BEATLES really turned the whole thing on its head. Daily papers in England used to have an entire page of the paper dedicated to what THE BEATLES had done the day before. When George died, the guards at Buckingham Palace played a medley of George's songs during the changing of the guard; that sort of thing never happens.

Classic Rock Revisited: MOTÖRHEAD were the support act for Ozzy [Osbourne] back on the "Blizzard Of Ozz" tour. I am a huge fan of Randy Rhoads. What was he really like?

Lemmy: He was really a good guy. I never could get over how incredibly little he was. He was little like Ronnie James Dio, they were little guys but they had a lot of heart. You would never believe that voice came out of Ronnie James' s body. It was the same way with Randy because he had small hands because he was a little fellow. Boy, could he play guitar. He became an even better guitar player after he died. It is a well-known mystery that guitar players suddenly get better once they are dead. Buddy Holly was the first. Stevie Ray Vaughan is known by a lot more people than had ever heard of him when he was alive.

Read the entire interview from Classic Rock Revisited.