Lemmy - White Line Fever: Die Autobiographie. Erweiterte und aktualisierte Neuausgabe

by Lemmy Kilmister

Medically speaking, Lemmy should be dead. After years of notorious excess, his blood would kill another human being. This is the story of the heaviest drinking, oversexed speedfreak in the business.Lemmy quickly outgrew his local bands in Wales, and tripped through his early career with the Rocking Vicars, backstage touring with Jimi Hendrix, and his time with Hawkwind. In 1975 he went on to create speedmetal and form the legendary band Motorhead.During their thirty-plus year history, Motorhead have conquered the rock world. The Motorhead line-up has seen many changes, but Lemmy has always been firmly at the helm.White Line Fever offers a sometimes hilarious, often outrageous, but highly entertaining ride with the frontman of the loudest rock band in the world.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir, Music Biography, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, was an English musician who was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member.

A foundational force in the genre following the advent of the new wave of British heavy metal, Lemmy was known for his appearance, which included his signature friendly mutton chops, his military-influenced fashion sense and his gravelly rasp of a voice. It was once declared "one of the most recognisable voices in rock". He was also noted for his unique way of singing, which was once described as "looking up towards a towering microphone tilted down into his weather-beaten face". He was also known for his bass playing style and using his Rickenbacker bass to create an "overpowered, distorted rhythmic rumble". Another notable aspect of his bass sound was that he often played power chords using heavily overdriven tube stacks by Marshall.

Lemmy was born in Stoke-on-Trent and grew up between there, the nearby towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley, and later the Welsh village of Benllech, at a later point, Lemmy remembers living briefly at Gwrych Castle, Abergele. He was influenced by rock and roll and the early works of the Beatles, which led to him playing in several rock groups in the 1960s, such as the Rockin' Vickers. He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and The Nice before joining the space rock band Hawkwind in 1971, singing lead vocals on their hit "Silver Machine". In 1975, he was fired from Hawkwind after an arrest for drug possession. That same year, he founded Motörhead. The band's success peaked around 1980 and 1981, including the hit single "Ace of Spades" and the chart-topping live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith.

Lemmy continued to record and tour regularly with Motörhead until his death on 28 December 2015 in Los Angeles, where he had lived since 1990. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer two days before his death. Alongside his music career, he had minor roles and cameos in film and television. He was known for his hard-living lifestyle, which included chain-smoking and daily consumption of large amounts of alcohol and amphetamine.

Reviews

[James Specht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a whole bunch of trashy rock star autobiographies, and this one stands above the rest. While you do get liberal doses of drugs, fucking, and other rock antics, what separates this one from the pack is Lemmy genuinely seems like a good guy. Sure, he's a bad ass and he can out drink/snort anyone, but he doesn't act like he needs to prove it to you. Also, he forgoes a lot of the trash talk a lot of these books have. Lemmy doesn't need to put others down to make himself look good. Even when he talks shit about working with other bands he is quick to point out their good points too. The book is a whole lot of fun and I recommend it to people who don't even dig his music. It reads just like someone's cool uncle telling crazy stories over a few pints.

[Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Full of humour. Reads like a transcription of an extended interview but that's not a bad thing as you can hear Lemmy's voice in your head as you read.

All in all I enjoyed it. RIP Lemmy!

A must read for Motörhead fans! ♤

[East Bay J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lemmy rules. This book is incredible. I devoured it. Read it in no time because it’s interesting as hell. It’s well told. I wish it were twice as long. Lemmy’s story in Lemmy’s words is brilliant. It’s true folklore, history being passed down by oral tradition.

The man has a knack for story telling and he has some fine stories to tell. Of course there are tales of drugs, girls, clubs, promoters, constabulary officials, recording engineers, record labels, defections, new recruits, crashes, burns and miraculous recoveries. Of COURSE this book is FULL of that. That’s the story of Motorhead. What makes it grand is the way Lemmy dishes it out. You love it. You eat it up. You can’t get enough.

I’m always a big fan of yarns about the formative days of bands I like. I do wish the book were twice as long and most of that was about The Sundowners/DeeJays, Sapphires, Rainmakers, Motown Sect, Reverend Black & The Rocking Vicars and Hawkwind. Not to mention his days as a Hendrix Experience roadie. It’s safe to say there’s a book in there alone. Take note, Mr. Kilmister.

I’ve had the opportunity to see Motorhead live only very few times. Lemmy is an astounding, intense, earthy performer. His rapport with the audience is visceral and often personal. He has certainly transcended what many consider to be his genre (hard rock/heavy metal) and has become something akin to a mythical figure. Of course he’s a regular guy but what he’s done and seen in his time to date sets him apart from the average joe, even the average famous musician joe.

The striking thing is that, as Lemmy tells his stories, he seems to speak highly or at least civilly even of those who have done him wrong. He is gracious with his associates, professional in his dealings and true to himself to a fault. As much as he is a legend and a killer vocalist, singular songwriter, identifiable bassist and all around head case, he is also a good human being. Cheers to Lemmy.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, honest autobiography with intimate insights about the music industry and life on the road.

My preface:

Even though I was a big heavy metal and hard rock fan in the 1980s, I wasn't into Motorhead. The closest to them that I was a fan of was Saxon and Metallica, both of which I saw in concert in the 1980s. I thought Motorhead was a very hardcore thrash metal band. I preferred the more melodic metal with dynamic vocalists like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

I didn't know about Lemmy's wicked sense of humor until I watched The Lord of the Rings fans documentary "Ringers". I got such a kick out of Lemmy's sharp comments; he began to grow on me. (Well, as Lemmy might have written, that's a longer preface than you probably bargained for).😁

The book:

I had a hard time keeping up with the musicians he worked with in the 1960s, and the revolving door of managers, especially tour managers and producers. They seemed to change as often as drummers in Spinal Tap! But some weren't exactly in it for helping the band. Some elements of the rock music business, as described by Lemmy, don't sound much different than organized crime - embezzling and such. Lemmy didn't have any love loss for Sony Music, but it didn't sound that Sony did much if anything for them and preferred to sweep the band under their rug. Living in Germany in the 1980s, I was appreciative to read that a German music outfit was a big help for them in the 1990s. I knew that Motorhead was big in Germany when I saw many of their patches on denim jackets and vests! 🇩🇪

I wonder how Motorhead, including Lemmy, made it through without killing themselves, e.g., amplifiers falling on them, falling off of stage rafters and such, and Lemmy in an apparent comatose state a few times. Well, Lemmy doesn't really make any excuses for anything. If reading about illicit drug use and/or colorful language bothers you, this isn't your read. Hey, but it's only Rock 'n' Roll! 😎

I didn't only appreciate Lemmy's biting sense of humor but also his encyclopedic knowledge of Rock 'n' Roll (and war, checkout the song 1916*). He saw Buddy Holly in concert. How impressive is that! He also had some unique opinions about the Beatles and Rolling Stones. There's a lot of insightful vignettes about working with fellow rock stars such as Lita Ford and Ozzy Osborne. I didn't know that Lemmy wrote songs for Ozzy and other artists. 🎹

In closing, Lemmy wrote a no-holds barred account of a hard living rock n roll star, and an especially revealing account of the trips and travails of life on the road. I wish that he would have shared more in it about his unique approach to bass playing, but he did offer some tidbits into his amplifier setup and settings. 🎸

RIP Lemmy, and long live Rock n Roll! 🏴‍☠️🎙

*Sad that David Letterman apparently didn't take the time to introduce himself to Lemmy and Phil Campbell during their appearance on his show and correctly identify Motorhead's 1991 album as "1916" not "Motorhead". I lost some respect for Dave from that, but gained more respect for Paul Schaffer after watching The Late Show Band perform with Lemmy and Phil!

[Knjigoholičarka]

Lemmy Kilmister, gospodin Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Roll lično, proživeo je za svojih 70 godina bar jedno devet ljudskih života. Zato će se svakome ko bude čitao ovu (auto)biografiju ona činiti pomalo šturom. Na momente, ona i deluje tako - kao da se pretrčalo preko nekih događaja (i slinih godina). Nema tu naročitog detaljnog analiziranja ličnosti koje je pokojni Lemmy susreo, situacija u kojima se obreo ili stavova koje gaji prema određenim pojavama. Ali zapravo, to nije minus - Lemmy je duhovit, koncizan i vrlo direktan pripovedač, koji priča svoju životnu priču, osvrćući se povremeno sa (samo)kritikom na pojedine scene iz prošlosti, pronicljivo, ali sa nekom toplinom, bez distanciranosti. Sve vreme se osećate kao da sedite u dnevnoj sobi sa omiljenim ujakom koji vam priča dogodovštine iz svoje burne mladosti (znate onaj prototip ujaka kog familija obično iseca iz porodičnih albuma sa slikama, krije u ormaru i očajnički peni i koluta očima kada ovaj dođe sa nekog suludog putovanja, pa krene da priča klincima o penjanju na Kilimandžaro, sukobima sa zakonom u Argentini ili privođenju ženskih negde na Hokaidu). Baš kao i sam Lemmy, ova knjiga je krajnje jednostavna - otvorena i poštena prema čitaocu, bez naročitog palamuđenja i naknadne pameti u pokušaju da se događaji iz prošlosti pravdaju ili predstavljaju kakvima nisu bili. Ne zaboravite, Lemmy je bio mlad u vremenima kada je svet bio jednostavnije mesto, a ljudi nisu bili tolike pizde kao danas i vređali se za svaku sitnicu.

Sa druge strane, osvrnula bih se na izdanje... tačnije na prevod. Shvatam da prevodilac nije imao lak zadatak, zbog često teško prevodivog slenga, ali ovakav slengovski blast from the past nisam očekivala - gilje, opako, pomijara (labrnja, prim. Knjigoh.), vezara (nešto kao nemač pojma, jebem li ga), pa onda, kada ste poslednji put čuli reč "dućan"? Nepoznavanje materije u prevodu reči "label" kao "etiketa" (u pitanju je izdavačka kuća)... mada mi je vrhunac bio kad Tom Araya (Slayer) za publiku kaže "To je moja raja". (Valjda raja-Araya, šteta da se prilika propusti.)

U svakom slučaju, udobno se zavalite u fotelju, sipajte sebi Jack Daniels, prospite malo Lemmyju za pomen i uživajte u ovoj knjizi, bez obzira na izdanje, jer ćete ionako nakon svake stranice zamišljati taj viskijem ošmirglani glas koji vam govori "If you think you are too old for rock'n'roll, then you are".

[Nosmo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: "So I meet this geezer, not a sissy like they are nowadays, and we do a bunch of speed together while I'm shagging his bird (but back to rock and roll eh?). The longbox CD trend was a bad idea. Here are my thoughts on 9/11."

I love Lemmy, I love Motorhead and I love music autobiographies, but this reads like a compilation of Penthouse letters sent to Kerrang! magazine.

[Zorro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Άγιος Lemmy, βοήθεια μας!

[Florin Pitea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it back in August 2009. Loved it to pieces. Recommended.
Re-read it in June 2022. Still recommended.

[Toralf Saffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

F U C K

Ich hab schon die ein oder andere Biografie gelesen – aber diese war anders. Lemmy rotzt von der ersten Seite an los, springt durch die Zeiten, schimpft, flucht, verzettelt sich und schockt den Leser erstmal. Es gibt keine klare Chronologie, man wird überschüttet mit Namen, Ereignissen, Zitaten und Wutausbrüchen. Mein Bild beim Lesen des Buches war ein Lemmy, mit nem Drink, ner Kippe und genug Speed im Blut um gleichzeitig einen, in seinen Augen unfähigen, Produzenten anzuschnauzen, einen genialen Song zu machen und nebenher ein paar Kapitel für das Buch zu schreiben.
Das Buch hält sich an keine Konventionen, Alkohol und Drogen sind genauso normal wie ständig wechselnde Bettbekanntschaften, es wird nichts beschönigt und es wird sich für nichts entschuldigt. Es ist das Leben eines Jungen aus Wales, der früh rebellierte und keine Regeln akzeptierte, der zur Musik kam, weil man da Bräute aufreißen konnte und alles einwarf, was er kriegen konnte – außer Heroin, das Zeug hat er gehasst.
Schon in seiner Anfangszeit begegnete er den Großen der Branche, war als Roadie für Jimi Hendrix tätig, spielte in diversen Bands und gründete schließlich 1975 Motörhead. Das diese Band 40 Jahre existierte, ständig auf Tour war und fast jährlich ein Album rausbrachte ist schon verwunderlich, aber das der kaputte stets besoffene Kerl der ständig auf Speed war in der Lage ist geniale Songs zu schreiben und immer wieder mit verschiedensten Leuten aus dem Musik Business erfolgreich zusammen zu arbeiten verwundert um so mehr, wenn man den abnormen Verschleiß an Managern, Produzenten und vor allem Plattenfirmen – niemanden hasste Lemmy mehr – betrachtet. Es ging stets auf und ab, die Besetzung wechselte, denn mit Lemmy konnte keiner ewig mithalten, aber Motörhead war immer Motörhead, Metal pur und letztendlich hat sich das immer wieder durchgesetzt.
Das Buch ist voller Anekdoten, Erinnerungen an die vielen Begegnungen mit anderen Musikern und auch da ist Lemmy ehrlich und zeigt Kante, wenn ihm jemand nicht passte. Für mich erstaunlich, dass auch die Frau von Ozzy ein paar Monate versuchte die Band zu managen, das Lemmy mit Nina Hagen zusammenarbeitete oder Lars Ulrich von Metallica als jugendlicher Fan der Band es vollgekotzt auf ein Plattenbooklet schaffte.
„White Line Fever“ ist keine Biografie, es hat keinen Stil, keinen roten Faden, es ist nicht jugendfrei, aber es ist sowas von geil, Lemmy pur mit seinen Lebensweisheiten und seiner ehrlichen, kompromisslosen Art. 2002 endet die Geschichte, 2016 ergänzte Steffen Chirazi die restlichen Jahre – deutlich nüchterner und professioneller. Der Höhepunkt 2015 – 40 Jahre Motörhead, 70 Jahre Lemmy und 4 Tage später sein Abgang – lass es krachen, wo auch immer Du jetzt bist!

[Ryan Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, quick read for anyone interested in the music of Hawkwind or Motorhead, White Line Fever is Lemmy Kilmister being as honest and goofy as one would think.

Lemmy hates the longbox packaging of CDs from the early 90s. He brings it up three times over the course of his 2002 autobiography White Line Fever (Citadel, 0806525908), and while he’s not as scatterbrained and God-sized as David Lee Roth (Crazy From the Heat) or as into faux-debauchery as Motley Crue (The Dirt), it’s these repeated complaints that remind the reader why Lemmy made it in the first place: he’s just a nerd.

Oldies but Goodies

The fact that drugs will never kill him helps, but the nerd thing just seals it. His ramblings about the Liverpool scene in the 50s and 60s are a carbon copy of any record store dude’s experience of living through Seattle in the early 90s, the Sunset Strip in the late 80s, or Washington DC in the early 80s.

However, unlike the parade of delusion the numerous former grunge or metal or hardcore scenesters march in, Lemmy isn’t stuck in that era. He shows an obvious affinity for his roots, but he stays the same throughout his entire life. While a static personality might not be the best attribute in a person, Lemmy comes off as charming, a true rock and roll soul in a world full of irony and posing.

A Great Read, but Only for the Initiated

Picking this up as a fan of Hawkwind or Motorhead – or rock biographies in general – is a fantastic idea. The tone is laid back, the text is huge, and the details are there. That said, there may not have much appeal to those who don’t follow Lemmy and his projects (as opposed to a book like Motley Crue’s autobiography The Dirt, which is dumb and ridiculous enough to warrant a read by anyone).

Sure, there are lots of pills, lots of girls, and lots of pranks, but nothing is so over the top that a person will read it and immediately recommend it to her buddy who enjoyably listens to Top 40 radio and has no interest in music. This is certainly geek-food.

For the initiated, this story is stripped down and forward moving, occasionally senseless and always honest. The tone is pub-talk, as if Lemmy’s buying the reader shots and letting loose a gem of a story.

Lemmy leads a life filled with women, songs, and stories, and he treats them all the same. If there is one thing we learn about Lemmy from his book, it’s that he like it fast and loose. And, of course, that he hates the longbox.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amphetaminized, distorto-blast of Lemmy’s autobiography is up there with Mingus’. What is it with bassists and books? Contains Lem’s version of Categorical Imperatives—including why short-shorts must be all or nothing.

Miss ya, Lemmy. Miss the 3-fingered barre-cum-power chord (add that octave to the root when strumming the contrabass, aspiring POWER trios) of your perennial Rickenbacker through a wall of overdriven Marshall JCM’s. Your shred voice and winking duplicity. You making fun of the Stones. And this, always this:

‘…and we play Rock and Roll.’

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very offensive (not sure what's worse, the anti-feminist & -vegetarianism sentiments or the astrology talk!), but hugely entertaining. One of the best autobiographies I've read. It's like he's sitting across from you and just talking and joking away. You don't have to be a big Motörhead fan to enjoy this one, just being interested in music and people would be enough.

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Since I was about twenty-five, nothing changed, except I got smarter and wiser and things have an effect on you. But I never thought I was any older, really. It was just a very long twenty-five! I can't imagine being fifty.'


Well, there you go. That tough and rock n' roll/ punky energy that goes on and on and never stop, the louder than everything else -'born to loose, live to win'- and raw attitude that Lemmy incarnated just stemmed from that: an over the top passion for everything hedonistic about life, and a refusal until the end to surrender to the rank and file. And why should he have? Motorhead was rank and file in its own way, like an army (even if an army of one at time!) crushing it all when on march. No matter how old, just listen, no but LISTEN to their unique sound: Motorhead was rock n' roll drunk and on speed! If you don't like it, well, sorry to say, but you have no taste - or, as Lemmy would have asserted: 'f.uck you!'. Sure, they weren't much original, and, album after album, what you got is was what you'll get. And so?

Now, I confess: I love Motorhead (they contributed to define metal for Pete's sake!) but I don't think drugs and alcoholism are edgy, and, as tolerant as I can be, 'sex, drugs and rock n' roll' is not the type of life I look up to. I don't care; just not for me. Lemmy having been the rock star we all know, I worried: would I get here a long and stupid brag of all of the above excesses? I am glad to say: not at all. Or rather: yeah, of course, there's that too; but not only. In fact, when it comes to booze-drugs-shags (gosh! the guy even lusted on teenage girls in Thailand, how sick is that!?) you can easily skip over, because the music always takes precedence. And the music...

I got lost when he details all the scene before joining Hawkwind; but it's not my generation, so... I was happy to see the usual metal cast popping all around: John Lord (personal opinion: to me, no Deep Purple = no metal; there you go), Ozzy, Randy Rhoads, Lars Ulrich and Metallica, Dave Mustaine, Slayer, Slash, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sisters and Dee Snider (that he keeps calling Dee Schneider, that must have been a private joke between them two!)… What's striking is that, apart from the people who tried and screwed his band, he never has a bad word for anybody. Lemmy might have been a killer onstage, but he seemed to have been a fairly friendly geezer indeed... Apart to the people who tried and screwed his band! Following the change of line-up is rocambolesque. Being human, he also allows himself a good rant against the music industry (Sony in particular):

'Those Neanderthals corporate executives at Sony are all stupid, ignorant, fucking elitist twats… they've got no idea about music at all... They're the most inept bunch of motherfuckers I've ever seen in my life. Oh, yes.'

'These people treat music purely as commodity, like selling cans of beans. Most people that promote bands have never heard of the bands they promote. Nobody seems to believe in the music any more. The industry's building all the time, but they're killing the music.'

Well, what did he expect? Most importantly, he obviously talks about his music too! The loss of a guitarist?

'...when they are two guitars, you can never get things worked out completely because somebody won't agree with it. With one guitar player the bass can do anything.'

His recording process?

'We go in with nothing and just hammer it out. It costs less that way, and obviously it works.'

'Look at Jeff Beck, Clapton and Page - they played a lot of their early classic work in one take.'

His albums?

-'1916': 'one of the best records of our career'
-'Bastards': 'one of the best album Motorhead has made so far. Every song on it is strong.'
-'Ace of Spades' (duh!): 'one thing that will always puzzle me are those people who, for some bizarre reason, think our career ended with 'Ace of Spades'... 'Yo, dude, "Ace of Spades", - that's the famous cry that has come to plague me. Occasionally I get really pissed off.'

Well...

Sadly, that wave of rock n' roll/punky energy which was supposed to go on and on (who thought such a guy could even die?!) stopped for good in 2015, when his cancer finally got him. Here's an updated edition of his original autobiography (which was first published in 2003) so it has a couple of tributes added in the end. It's a nice touch. All in all, 'White Line Fever' is not as trashy as you may have expected. Lemmy was Lemmy, and all the way through, dark sense of humour and all, you can hear him in here chatting his life away with that unmistakable voice tarred by whiskey and cigarettes. And who doesn't want a chat with Lemmy? The king is dead, but long live metal!

[Cristina Frîncu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cinci steluțe pentru că a schimbat ceva în mine. Fie și numai faptul că mi-am propus să mă întreb mereu, înaintea unei alegeri dificile, "ce-ar face Lemmy în locul meu?"

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemmy is smarter than you'd expect, and pretty funny at times. He doesn't exactly paint himself in the most positive light but he's also self-confident and unapologetic. He's also brutally honest about other musicians, and his own struggles with drugs and alcohol. I was surprised by how open he was about his use of speed.
Lemmy pretty much did it all in his career and somehow lived to tell the tale.

{updating this since his death was just announced}

I heard an interview with him a bit earlier in 2015 and he sounded rather frail, his voice scratchy, but he still had the same 'fuck the world' attitude you see in the book and I have to think that, now that he's gone, we can say he was happy.

[Chris King · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most half-assed autobiography I've ever read. You get as much out of it as you would sitting around drinking with the guy. And it's written just about that coherently. Avoid.

[Peter McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps not the best rock bio I've read, but all the same a fascinating and highly entertaining insight into the life of a legend.

[paper0r0ss0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chase is better than the catch... per intenditori e palati fini :) ......tirate le somme, un filo noioso.

[Godzilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was left slightly disappointed by this autobiography - I expected more tales of on the road experiences than lemmy recounts in this book.

A recurring theme was the fact that no-one is able to maintain the pace for Motorhead, which I can believe, but gets a bit dull after several repetitions.

There are some interesting insights, particularly in the way that Motorhead record, and the tribulations of record contracts and labels doing the dirty on them.

I guess I expected more salaciousness than the book delivered, and the book is couched in terms of half apologising and half criticising: not something I expected from Lemmy, I'd rather that he'd let rip and told it how he really saw it.

[Christina Delia · Rating 4 out of 5]

God rest ye, Mister Killmister. Felt like a conversation with a friend, and now I just wanna listen to some Motorhead!

[KK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lemi je bio i ostaće veliki car i mislim da svaki poštovalac rokenrola treba da pročita ovu knjigu ali na ENGLESKOM ako je to ikako moguće!
Čovek koji je "radio" prevod nije veliki poznavalac britanske muzičke i pop kulture, tako da bolje da se drži nekih drugih žanrova, a knjige ovakvog karaktera da prepusti ljudima koji uživaju sve sto rok kultura pruža.
Takodje, koliko god mislili da je prevod nakaradan, e pa lektura je još gora!

Svakako, knjiga je sjajna, jer nisam ni očekivala da ce Lemijev život ikako moći da bude dosadan. Svaka preporuka!

[Xon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring! If you're really into Motörhead then maybe some of this stuff will interest you. I personally didn't care about the revolving door of guitarists, drummers, producers, managers and labels.
I always like hearing of how someone began or made there breakout but, like most readers, I picked this up for some wild stories on tour. Lemmy skims the surface on several different debacles and then abruptly ends them. Once he starts Motörhead he just babbles on and on, it's like reading an index of names and songs.
He also likes to philosophize a little too much.
Whoever wrote the book description that says this rivals "motley crue's: the dirt" owes me 5 hours of my life back. Should've stuck to the sex and drugs.

[Fabricio Fernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Lemmy, I'm a huge fan. But I got to say that this book was really disappointing. The stories are dull and repetitive, there's a lack of order that sometimes make the reading very confussing. I was expecting more data about his personal life and more insightfull notes - not that there aren't any, but I wish they would be more and more interesting. I've read it in spanish (my natural language) and I can tell that it isn't a good translation; but it was enough to catch the quality of the text. I give it 2 stars cause it's Lemmy, and I recommend the book to the fans. Nothing more. Sorry for my english, I'm still learning.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemmy was a man who lived the rock-n-roll lifestyle through and through. He is the earliest innovator of the genre of music that has shaped my love of music-speed metal. He lived his life exactly the way he wanted and as I don’t agree with all his choices you have got to respect his dedication to living life to the fullest even if it isn’t the life I would choose. It truly was a great read and a journey through the challenges of trying to make it in the music business.

[Jessica T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

R.I.P. Lemmy.

[Jonathan Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts well and is entertaining but gets quite wearing by the end.

[Jesukowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

De menos a más. Me ha gustado más desde la parte en que los empecé a conocer y a ver en concierto. Todo un personaje, políticamente incorrecto, moralmente incorrecto, resbalandole la opinión de los demás. Me ha gustado conocer a Lemmy un poco más. Una pena no haber podido disfrutarle un poco más de tiempo. Long live rock'n'roll.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Lemmy’s rock n roll story. I’m sad that he is no longer with us. But no surprises here. Some funny stories though.

[RoXXie | The Art of Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Line Fever ♦ Lemmy Kilmister | Rezension

Lemmy Kilmister war der Frontmann der britischen Rockband Motörhead und in seiner Autobiographie Lemmy: White Line Fever - Die Autobiographie gibt er nähere Einblicke in seine Kindheit in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Der Hauptteil seines Buches bezieht sich aber auf seine musikalische Karriere, die ich mit einem lachenden und einem weinenden Auge gelesen habe.
Denn ich werde wohl nie die Nacht vergessen, als die Nachricht in die Backstage Area sprudelte, Lemmy hätte das zeitliche gesegnet. Dies konnten wir damals nur auf eine Weise begießen und betrauern, mit ordentlich Whiskey. 🥃



White Line Fever ♦ Lemmy Kilmister

Meinung

Ich habe schon die eine oder andere Auto-/Biographie von Rockstars gelesen, aber White Line Fever ist den meisten dieser Bücher weit überlegen. Obwohl es reichlich Drogen, Schamlosigkeiten und andere Rock-Possen gibt, hebt Lemmys offensichtliche Herzensgüte diese Biographie von den anderen ab. Klar, er konnte wirklich jeden unter den Tisch trinken, aber er geht damit nicht hausieren. Teils vermisst man sogar die üblichen Beleidigungen gegenüber anderen Musikern, die Lemmy einfach nicht über die Lippen kommen wollen.

Denn Lemmy hatte es einfach nicht nötig, andere auf diese Weise zu kritisieren, um sein eigenes Image damit auf irgendeine Weise aufzuwerten. Natürlich ist nicht immer alles eitel Sonnenschein, wenn es um die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Bands geht. Da äußert er sich auch schon negativ. Doch was ihn hier ausmacht, er vergisst nicht auch die positiven Aspekte der anderen Künstler hervorzuheben.

Zu diesem Buch könnte ich sicher noch so viele Worte finden, wenn ich nur lang genug danach suche. Doch wie soll man eine Legende, wie Lemmy noch besser beschreiben, als er es bereits mit eigenen Worten getan hat? Als ich das Buch das erste Mal im Jahre 2010 gelesen habe, war ich bei all dem Alkohol-/und Drogenkonsum wirklich verwundert, dass er damals noch am Leben war. Im Februar dieses Jahres habe ich das Buch nach 12 Jahren noch einmal zur Hand genommen und es ist erstaunlich, dass er die 70 Jahre wirklich noch voll machen konnte.

Für diejenigen, die sich nicht unbedingt als Fans seiner Musik bezeichnen oder auch sonst nicht viel über ihn wissen, lege ich White Line Fever trotzdem ans Herz. Denn dieses Buch macht Spaß. Wer einen Eindruck von seiner Person bekommen will, darf sich auch gerne das Interview 100 Fragen an … Lemmy Kilmister erst einmal durchlesen.

Fazit

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lemmy rockt! Dieses Buch ist unglaublich. Beide Male habe ich es nicht aus der Hand legen können. Es ist unglaublich faszinierend und vollgepackt mit Lemmys ganz eigenem Witz. (Achtung! Der englische Humor ist nicht zu verachten!) In Lemmys eigenen Worten brillant erzählt, eine gelebte Geschichte, die ich in Zügen selbst miterleben konnte. Danke Lemmy 🤘🏼


This review was first published at The Art of Reading.

[Neil Kernohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I galloped through this cracking yarn in a couple of sittings. It's written in a fast paced conversational style, almost as if Lemmy is sitting right beside you telling his stories over a glass of Jack Daniels and coke. As rock biographies go it's fairly unbeatable for dry humour, razor sharp wit and astute observations about the music business.
Lemmy begins his tale with an observation about the Christian faith of his parents, one of whom was a preacher who deserted the family when he was just a kid. As the Lemster puts it "I mean you teach people that the Messiah was the offspring of a vagabond's wife (who is a virgin) and a ghost. And this is a basis for a worldwide religion? I'm not so sure. I figured if Joseph believed that one he deserved to live in stables".
And so, after Lemmy states his position clearly on life's big question, he then describes in lurid detail how he pursued a different, if somewhat less wholesome, existence coupling with girl guides in Anglesey as a teenager, discovering Elvis and rock'n'roll and playing guitar in various local R&B outfits during the 60s. Along the way he drank like a fish and took lots of drugs, including LSD between 1967 until the mid 70s, and has been on amphetamine sulphate ever since. He also sowed his oats with any willing female who happened to be hanging around back stage.
Most of the book is inevitably devoted to his musical career in early Hawkwind, from which he was sacked in 1975 after being falsely accused by the Canadian border police of trafficking cocaine (when it was actually his personal speed stash) and then Motorhead, the loudest and meanest band in the history of heavy duty rock'n'roll. There are some interesting tales of Lemmy and his pals living a fairly bleak existence in London's bedsit underbelly before Motorhead finally got a break and found their niche right in the middle of the punk rock phenomenon. Lemmy's sharp ear for musical trends and lyrical talent for catchy heavy metal rock'n'roll songs then took the band to chart success within a few years.
As Dave Grohl put it when he reviewed the book "Lemmy is the last man standing and no one comes close".