The warts-and-all autobiography of Lemmy Kilmister, the vicar's son who grew up to front Motorhead, arguably the loudest and most outrageous heavy metal band ever. The group remains at the top of their profession with a new album and tour scheduled for the year 2002.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
White Line Fever: Lemmy - The Autobiography
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In White Line Fever, Lemmy, the thinking person's Ozzy Osbourne, provides a completely unreconstructed, warts and all account of his excessive life--well, the bits he can, or cares to, recall of it anyway. "That was a great time, the summer of 71", he wistfully muses at one point, "I can't remember it, but I'll never forget it!" Leader of Motorhead for close to 30 years, Lemmy has had more drugs, drinks and girls than hot dinners. His mechanism really has gone--in 1980 his blood was officially diagnosed as toxic to other human beings.
Lemmy, born in 1945 and christened Ian Fraser Kilmister, was a vicar's son. His dad, however, didn't stay around long and he was raised, predominantly, by his librarian mother in Wales. A teenager at the birth of rock 'n' roll, Lemmy first took an interest in music after discovering, as he forthrightly puts it, "what an incredible pussy magnet guitars were". After spells in local beat combos he headed off to Manchester and then London. Here he became a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, played in Opal Butterfly, before pretty much ambling into space rockers Hawkwind's line-up during 1971. This was, of course, an era when the group "would get high in the park and talk to the trees--sometimes the trees would win the argument". Sometimes it sounded as if the trees wrote the songs, too. Four years later speedfreak Lemmy was sacked for "doing the wrong drugs".
Vowing to form the "dirtiest rock 'n' roll band in the world", he put together Motorhead, arguably the heaviest (and according to the Guinness Book of Records for about five years, the loudest) heavy metal band ever to grace a stage. Thrilling buzzsaw songs such as Ace of Spades, Bomber, Killed by Death and Hellraiser (as deep as their names suggest) gained them a legion of headbanging fans. And while Lemmy may spend a little too long berating his former record label Sony and griping about recent albums being overlooked, this sex, drugs and metal memoir certainly goes all the way up to 11. --Travis Elborough --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Chris Weston
Format:Hardcover
Lemmy is the kind of rock star that makes you proud to be British. He doesn't take himself too seriously, he just wants to play in a rock and roll band and get laid after the show. In this book (called an autobiography, but it reads like an interview) he recounts his long career in rock, powered by amphetamines and bourbon, and it is a risible ride indeed. Stories of drink-and-drug-induced foolishness abound, along with interesting pen sketches of his fellow band members over the years. I laughed out loud a lot whilst reading this book, you know you're always going to have a good time, all the time, with Motorhead.
It's the life that you're glad somebody led, just to prove that it can be done.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By AMK
Format:Paperback
Sure, lots of celebs enter extremely late middle age as well preserved national treasures; few do so on their own terms. Ian Kilmister--boomer, Capricorn, sometime loudest man on the planet--has lived his life like that Jimi Hendrix song: 'let me live my life, the way I want to'. Superficially, that might seem to add up to forty years of professional excess and little more, but as this work shows, it is actually a case-study in what it meant to grow up working class in the North of England immediately after the war. Nobody did a damn thing for him; he carved out what he did, despite a business that has ignored him, mispackaged him and exploited him pretty much since day 2.
Superficially, the book is about sex, drugs and the rest of it; in reality, its about the way in which popular culture has provoked profound social change in the UK and what it means to live through that social experiment--to live your life as an individual in an increasingly collective society.
Lemmy is at pains to emphasize that this is a life that has worked for him but would not work for everyone. He's quite happy to acknowledge that his libertarian views can translate into some un-PC attitudes--and mostly he's just *happy*, which is quite an accomplishment. Ever notice how successful people tend to be like elephants, reciting every grievance and every professional slight--despite a career full of them, Mr. Kilmister remains philosophical and phlegmatic about being thrown out of Hawkwind, the debacle of 'Another Perfect Day' and getting tossed aside by more record labels than he's had Malboros.
To repeat, this is neither philosophy nor literature, but if you want to know why folk like Dave Grohl seek out Lemmy to work with, then listen to 'Damage Case', read this book and you shall have insight.
Superficially, the book is about sex, drugs and the rest of it; in reality, its about the way in which popular culture has provoked profound social change in the UK and what it means to live through that social experiment--to live your life as an individual in an increasingly collective society.
Lemmy is at pains to emphasize that this is a life that has worked for him but would not work for everyone. He's quite happy to acknowledge that his libertarian views can translate into some un-PC attitudes--and mostly he's just *happy*, which is quite an accomplishment. Ever notice how successful people tend to be like elephants, reciting every grievance and every professional slight--despite a career full of them, Mr. Kilmister remains philosophical and phlegmatic about being thrown out of Hawkwind, the debacle of 'Another Perfect Day' and getting tossed aside by more record labels than he's had Malboros.
To repeat, this is neither philosophy nor literature, but if you want to know why folk like Dave Grohl seek out Lemmy to work with, then listen to 'Damage Case', read this book and you shall have insight.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
As Virgil lead Dante through Hell and out the other side, so Lemmy is ourguide on this blast through his life - from his childhood to (almost) thepresent day. Along the way he takes in a large slice of rock-n-rollhistory, all of which he was personally involved in at one time oranother, including Hendrix, Hawkwind, The Damned and his own legendaryband, Motorhead.
We are treated to many and varied stories of sexual and chemical excess,intermingled with his personal thoughts on the music industry, producers,managers, musicians and groupies, all told in his forthright andhillarious style.
Despite - or perhaps because of - everything he's been through, and hasput himself through, Lemmy remains a thoughtful, philisophical character,displaying a deep understanding of the human spirit. He leaves the readeron a high, with the tantalising prospect that there's a lot more yet tocome.
If you are at-all into rock'n'roll or metal and you only ever read oneautobiography, this should be it.
We are treated to many and varied stories of sexual and chemical excess,intermingled with his personal thoughts on the music industry, producers,managers, musicians and groupies, all told in his forthright andhillarious style.
Despite - or perhaps because of - everything he's been through, and hasput himself through, Lemmy remains a thoughtful, philisophical character,displaying a deep understanding of the human spirit. He leaves the readeron a high, with the tantalising prospect that there's a lot more yet tocome.
If you are at-all into rock'n'roll or metal and you only ever read oneautobiography, this should be it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Page 1 - full throttle engaged
If this book was a speedometer it'd be stuck at 1 million miles an hour.
This isnt a diarised account of his life, he spends very little time on his childhood other than to... Read more
This isnt a diarised account of his life, he spends very little time on his childhood other than to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Keenerstill
4.0 out of 5 stars
I very good book - inspired me to drag my old albums out
Lemmy has created a very "down to earth" book, which is quite funny. I am now considering him in a total different light. Read more
Published 2 months ago by RMcc
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lemmy a quid till .......
First half of this is really cool,the second half feels like it just wants to race as fast as it can to the finishing line. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steve Redman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting ???
It was an enjoyable read I didn't get board,I thought it was great Lemmy was & still is a legend so glad I got this book,would recommend this read to anyone .
Published 2 months ago by Mike Haywood
5.0 out of 5 stars
White line fever by lemmy
I have enjoyed reading this book kept me entertained once you pick it up you don't want to put it down
Published 4 months ago by Rooster
4.0 out of 5 stars
A little louder please, Lemmy
I was pleasantly surprised by this book - it is a good laugh, and Lemmy comes across as quite a normal bloke - for a hard-as-nails rocker, which he clearly is. Read more
Published 4 months ago by GillianEliza
5.0 out of 5 stars
lemmy white line fever
this was an excellant read. i gave it a five star rating because i thoroughly enjoyed this book and could happily read it again.
Published 5 months ago by claire salter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christmas gift
This is to go with Alice Coopers book for my son in law,maybe I will have a look at it after Christmas.
Published 5 months ago by Sue Garcia
3.0 out of 5 stars
not bad
Not a bad book. Not as gripping as some bio's i've read but good all the same. A good read for all Motorhead fans.
Published 6 months ago by SMac
3.0 out of 5 stars
okay and just that
This was an okay read; better than the Iommi and Mustaine autobios that I have read recently. Better written than Iommi's. Lemmy comes over quite well as an affable chap. Read more
Published 7 months ago by katyn1940
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