Lemmy: The Definitive Biography

Have some very mixed feelings about this book. It mainly focuses on the early history of the band, the Kilmister/Clarke/Taylor era. He basically dismisses any other lineup as poor imitations and I don't appreciate it. No interviews with Phil Campbell or Mikkey Dee and that's pretty much criminal. Like that lineup or not, it was the longest lasting and deserved at least a few pages, after all they spent more time with the man than anyone else. But he interviews Doug Smith extensively as well as some other characters not heard from before (like Brian Robertson), and that was very interesting and a new point of view I hadn't heard before. He definitely makes it a point to show Lemmy as a person and not the larger than life character he was portrayed as the last 10 years or so.

I'm a big motor head fan so this really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know that being said I did enjoy this book it captured the man himself lemmy as he really was

Well wriiten story of Lemmy's life written by a third party. Nicely complements his autobigraphy White Line Fever. Clears up some of the stories and mainly casts a more realistic light on Lemmy's life as a whole.

Was given as a gift, at the recipients request...was told the author, Mick Wall, experienced it all and is blunt with his writings.

I don’t write reviews . Enough said.

Sorry, but just not well written. Like he pieced together a dozen snippets of conversation and drew them out into a book. Lazy attempt to cash in on Lemmy after his death. Very poorly put together with little insight that you could not have garnered from an old Hit Parader/Circus magazine, except that those targeted a more well read audience than this book seems to have. I like biographies in general, but this one was the worst since Steven Tyler's

Another great book by Mick Wall. If you are a Motorhead fan and still miss Lemmy, then this a must have.

Great inside look with plenty of info from those who worked and played close with Lemmy thru the years. Loved it.

This is not the review I wanted to write. I've been a reader of Wall's since he wrote for Kerrang in the 80's then I rediscovered him via his blog about 11/12 years ago, and since then have been a regular reader of that, and most of the books he has written in the last 8/9 years. His books on Led Zeppelin, Metallica & Black Sabbath I would say with no hyperbole are definitive, bordering on the magisterial. If you haven't read "When Giants Walked the Earth", "Enter Night" and "Symptoms of the Universe" then look them up. They are, bar none, the best works on those bands extent today. His (semi)fictionalised memoirs "Paranoid: Black Days with Sabbath & Other Horror Stories" & "Getcha Rocks Off" are simultaneously hilarious, depressing riveting, and required reading for anyone getting into the music business. Suffice it to say: I am a fan.One other thing I wanted to address is an accusation I have seen levelled in a couple of these reviews is that this was a rushed (and tasteless) cash in on Lemmy's death. Not so. The book was announced in January last year as a biography of Motörhead, but in Mick's own words:"Originally, when I first proposed the idea to my book publishers back in 2014, it was going to be a Motörhead biography. Then when Lemmy died over Christmas it seemed churlish and just somehow wrong not to rethink the idea and make the book a Lemmy biography. Of course, a Lemmy biography and a Motörhead biography are essentially one and the same. And so it has proved. Approaching it, though, as Lemmy biography, per se, has enabled me to write what I now believe to be the definitive account of both. Motörhead was always essentially a dream Lemmy had that he shared with other people. And the most important of those people are fully represented here."So whilst not a cash in on Lemmy's death, it most certainly does feel, if not rushed, then certainly brisker than I would like. The style, as you would expect, is both authoritative, incisive and never, ever, cloyingly sycophantic. That said you can't help but feel that whilst the earlier period of his life is covered in almost forensic detail, the final 15 or so years of his life feel like a rough sketch, as if the author were viewing his subject from the wrong end of a telescope. A clue to this may well be in one of Wall's blog entries where reading between the lines it seems that from the mid-late 90's contact between him and his subject were a lot more sporadic and less close than they had been previously. I'm fully prepared to be corrected, but the text certainly gives this impression. So in summary if the entire book were of the standard of the first two thirds to three quarters then this would be an easy 5 star review, as it is it is still without question a solid four stars. The book is never less than an entertaining and well researched biography of the man and his band, but it lacks the consistency of his other biographies. Whether that was due to the rewrites that were done after Lemmy's death, and time pressures that this may have caused, or from a lack of material available covering the latter years of his life, or maybe even a combination of both. Almost there, but not quite.

Wenn relativ schnell nach Lemmys Tod Ende Dezember eine erste Biografie erscheint, die gar noch mit „The definitive“ betitelt ist, scheint Skepsis angebracht. Haben wir es mit einem hingerotzten Machwerk, bestehend aus zusammengeklautem Material zu tun?Mick Wall gilt als renommierter Autor, der bereits Biografien über die Foo Fighters, Black Sabbath, Metallica und viele weitere verfasst hat.Er sah 1972 Hawkwind mit Lemmy am Bass und lernte ihn Ende der Siebziger persönlich kennen - Gut genug, um von ihm mit dem namensstiftenden „lend me (lemme) a quid“ konfrontiert zu werden.Tatsächlich entstand das Buch aus zahlreichen Gesprächen bei Begegnungen über die Jahre, sowie umfangreichen Interviews mit Lemmy. Gleichermaßen kommen (Mit-) Musiker, Manager und andere Weggefährten in aktuellen Statements zu Wort, die aus seinem Leben und von ihren eigenen Eindrücken berichten.Aus Kindheit und früher Jugend erzählt nur der Meister selbst, ab den ersten professionellen Gehversuchen mit den Rockin' Vickers und Sam Gopal wird was Spektrum der Interviewten dann breiter. Die Jahre mit Hawkwind werden noch ausführlicher gewürdigt und da Lemmy Motörhead war, besteht der Rest aus – Motörhead.Natürlich werden viele der schönsten Anekdoten nochmal erzählt, die man bereits aus seiner Autobiografie "White Line Fever" oder aus dem Film kannte. Deren Wahrheitsgehalt wird jedoch zum Teil in Frage gestellt, wie überhaupt, oft zwischen den Zeilen, durchaus auch weniger schmeichelhafte Seiten von Lemmys Persönlichkeit angedeutet werden.Die letzte Zeit vor seinem Tod ist dann so bewegend geschildert, dass auch der härteste Metaller eine Träne im Augenwinkel zerdrücken wird und die Frage im Raum steht, ob es klug war, einfach so weiterzumachen wie immer. Aber Lemmy war eben „The last man standing.“Den Schwachpunkt des Buches macht für mich aus, dass die meisten Interviewten aus dem Musikbereich stammen. Zusätzliche Eindrücke von Freunden oder Familienmitgliedern hätten möglicherweise ein differenzierteres Bild von Lemmys Persönlichkeit ergeben.Leider wurde er zeitlebens auf Drogen, das Sammeln von Nazimemorabilia und „die lauteste Band der Welt“ reduziert. Und natürlich auf „Ace of spades“. Was seiner Bedeutung für die Musik und dem Einfluss auf das Leben vieler Menschen keineswegs gerecht wird. Aber was macht man, wenn einem immer nur dieselben Fragen gestellt werden?Ob Mick Walls Biografie für alle Zeiten „the definitive“ bleiben wird, sei mal vorsichtig bezweifelt, sie ist jedoch definitiv ein flüssig geschriebenes Werk, das Spaß macht, auch beinharten Motörhead-Fans noch einiges Neue zu bieten hat, und das man ungern aus der Hand legt.

The great thing about Lemmy is that he told some tall stories and so there is undoubtedly some pockets of fiction in this non-fiction biography. I remember reading in an interview with Lemmy that he went to see a Harley Street doctor and was told not to give up drinking and drug taking by this medical expert because it’d kill him. Since I read this as a teenager I’ve had this tale recounted to me many, many times in pubs and at gigs. It might be shaggy dog stuff but it added to the myth of Lemmy. I am happy to myth(ologize) Lemmy but very sad to miss Lemmy.So, The Definitive Autobiography. Definitive, eh? With authority and conclusively? Actually yes, that’s how it reads. Wall spoke to Lemmy himself repeatedly and to a lot of those close to Lemmy. Sometimes the things you say in response to a question from a trusted friend are not things you’ve ever directly thought about yourself and so Wall’s information from those close to Lemmy is often enlightening.Mick Wall covers the areas less well covered in other Lemmy tomes (he’s clearly very familiar with White Line Fever by Lemmy and Janiss Garza). Wall covers the Hawkwind years and Motörhead’s career in detail but he avoids the trap of long dull lists of tour dates and technical information that some rock and metal biographies fall into. Quotes from Lemmy are sprinkled throughout which makes you feel he’s still around, dispensing his wisdom.My favourite parts of the book are;Lemmy calling Eddie Clarke “Fancy Bollocks”.Lemmy complimenting Colleen Nolan on her tits in a totally non-sleazy way.Lemmy claiming Motörhead had the power to make lawns die (neatly skewering and satirizing suburban preoccupations in one sentence).Lemmy quoted as saying “I live my life as decent as I can, you know, I never made…I hardly ever made a promise I didn’t keep”.My least favourite part of the book was;I cried on page 288. Yeah, I knew he was going to die but Lemmy is woven into a lot of metal fans lives, including mine. I last saw him live in 2014 at Wacken Open Air. Now I like to think of Lemmy as being in the big backstage area in the sky.In summary, Wall’s book is a splendid read that captures Lemmy’s unique philosophy of life. You’ll be able to ask yourself after reading “What would Lemmy do?” and be able to answer yourself. The answer is probably stay determined, stick to your guns, have a drink and don’t let the bastards grind you down. Thank you, Mick Wall for a chunky book of warm Lemmy tales.

If you like to know more about the life of Lemmy, the beginning of his music etc.

Not sure were to start really, Mick's back catalogue is immense, Sabbath / Led Zeppelin/ AC/DC just to name a few excellent books that really got inside the subject and asked questions, pondered the what if's etcThat WAS Mick Wall's style...Not anymoreI found that with this book he just took the pieces from the transcribed interviews and put them together, no questions, no mulling over no nothing [Sorry Mick]This started off as a book that was to be about Motorhead, then Lemmy died.........and all of a sudden it was to be about Lem. No problem I was still on board and looking forward to it. Upon reading it the first thing I get the sense of was that it does feel very rushed and I guess with Lem dying and the publishers putting pressure of a title change and also a change of focus in the subject matter [Motorhead to Lemmy] then I guess it was 'rushed'Some huge omissions that were left out1] Where was the info on the legendary 50th birthday party with Metallica.2] Where was the info on the 1st Lemmy movie by Peter Sempel in the late 1990's?3] I could go on but it would get embarrassing.....I felt there was no passion from Mick about his subject which is strange when I believe him when he says he loved the man.Mick's AC?DC book 448 pages, Metallica 496 pages, Led Zeppelin 544 pages, Black Sabbath 400 pages, LEMMY The Definitive Biography 320!For someone who has had access to for the past 36 years or so, this is very poor. Lemmy deserves more, WE deserve more than this!A few months back Mick was telling everyone about the midnight poetry faxes he used to get sent from Lemmy, It would have been nice if he could shared a little of this side of the man with his fans, There are many more missed opportunities like this throughout this book.Please Mick I hope you do not insult us further by bringing out one of your 'Unexpurgated Editions' of this book in the future just to cash in again.I can only sum up by saying if this was a Motorhead LP from the classic line up then this would be 'Iron Fist' and even that is a stretch.