Brian's Tribute to Lemmy and more

This wasn't originally planned, but I had to upon hearing the news. Scott said it well enough yesterday though. Lemmy lived to be 70, and must've had at least 3 lifetimes inside just that one. Do I even need to tell you how awesome Motörhead was? I'll give you my own personal Lemmy memory. When I was little - 8 years old maybe, mid-80's - I was watching the short-lived UK comedy show "The Young Ones" back when it played late on MTV...

 http://youtu.be/YOAz4nPNvLI )

And upon the cue of "Music!", up pops this wart-ridden dude in mirrored glasses, tearing into "Ace of Spades", screaming up into a microphone in front of the most badass rock n' roll ever laid down. It blew my mind as a child, and easily led to me being a rabid metal fan later. And that's one bit of credit Motörhead should be truly hailed for... You would've never gotten to thrash, death, or black metal - period - without Motörhead. They were the first ones to bridge the punk attitude and the metal sound, and they did it superbly. Every fucker that's ever cranked it to 11 and roared in front of a double kickdrum owes Lemmy everything.

So, here's their '81 live album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith. It's a great sampler of their peak period, it's really goddamned loud, and it's one of the Top 10 live albums ever, easily. It's a necessity, and it will be on your test later...

Henry Rollins once told a story about sharing a flight - and a seating aisle - with Lemmy once. He said Lemmy smelled like a tobacconist's, a leather tannery, and a brewery all rolled up in one. That's rock and roll. Lemmy himself once said that if Motorhead moved in next door to you your lawn would die. My buddy may have summed it up best. When I told him Lemmy died, he said: "RIP you ugly, glorious bastard..."

And may the fields of heaven turn brown at your approach.

And keeping the covers projects going, we have one here of The Doors' first album. The Muddy Reds' "Break On Through" is nice and punk-y. Patti Smith's great "Soul Kitchen" is from her covers album Twelve. While I've personally never liked Robyn Hitchcock, I do dig his take on "The Crystal Ship". John Mellencamp makes a return to our covers series with his version of "Twentieth Century Fox". Can anyone place the era of Bowie's great live cut of "Alabama Song"? To me it sounds like maybe the late 70's "David Live" period....it's hard to tell. And yes, I know it was originally a Kurt Weill song.

Etta James' "Light My Fire" has a slow burn, sexy groove. I love it. (Honorable mention also goes out to Al Green's version). Now, when it comes to "Back Door Man", I didn't want to put somebody covering the Doors own cover of the song, so I included Howlin' Wolf's spooky-as-fuck original. I also couldn't resist Etta leading into the Wolf! With "Take It As It Comes", I've never really liked The Ramones' version, so I found a live cut of Tom Waits doing it. From an audience recording in '88. The sound could be better, but it's still Tom Waits. Just pretend it's one of those weirdly-recorded tracks off of Bone Machine.

I only found out about this Hidden By Ivy track lately, but I think you'll agree they do a great version of "End Of the Night". Now, when it comes to "The End", there really is only one version to include, and that is Nico's. This version was the inspiration for this whole comp. She may be an acquired taste, but she manages to take it to the same dark place Morrison did...maybe even more so. That withered croak that ends the Oedipal sequence defies description! A truly haunted recording. And don't forget: that's John Cale, Phil Manzanera, and Brian Eno destroying their instruments behind her!

This next comp is one I put together of G.G. Allin. May look familiar; I had posted it earlier this year, but the files were corrupted and I don't think they worked for people. So now, here it is, reassembled and with new cover art.

Keep in mind though, it still sounds gloriously shitty. I'm not even gonna attempt another synopsis of G.G. A crime scene with a band. There. Some of the most misanthropic, raging, fucked-up sounding punk rock ever recorded. So messed-up it's use of the "N" word is the least of its sins! And the disc slides in at just about 79 minutes. Burn CDs and put them in trick or treater's bags next year! Slide 'em into library books! Jam one into a hateful valentine! Some may miss warm and cuddly favorites like "Suck My Ass It Smells" or "Dog Fucking", but I think I still made a good summary of the man. And now, since I can't resist writing this track list one more time....

1. Death Before Life/Bloody Cunt Slider

2. I Hate People

3. Guns, Bitches, Brawls, and Bottles

4. Die When You Die

5. I Kill Everything I Fuck

6. I Don't Give A Shit

7. Swank Fuckin'

8. I Wanna Kill You

9. I Wanna Eat You

10. I Wanna Fuck Your Brains Out

11. Fuck Authority

12. Brutality and Bloodshed For All

13. Fuck Off, We Murder

14. Drink, Fight, and Fuck

15. Shoot, Knife, Strangle, Beat and Crucify

16. Raw, Brutal, Rough, and Bloody

17. Outlaw Scumfuc

18. Kill the Police/Destroy the System

19. I'm A Rapest

20. Scars On My Body/Scabs On My Dick

21. No Rights

22. Slaughterhouse Deathcamp

23. Interview From Prison

This was the first of my homemade compilations, and I'm still proud of it. After all, GG would never get a real comp himself. This one will work when nothing else will. And the interview at the end explains a lot of what came before. Hope you guys like this stuff. Happy new year!

A brief tribute to Lemmy

Lemmy Kilmister passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 70...... in case by some chance you don't know, Lemmy was the psycho-bass player for Hawkwind and the (also) psycho bass player as well as vocalist/growler/screamer for Motorhead..... now, I have previously done posts on BOTH of those great bands, I don't know what's left of them link-wise, but originally they were quite comprehensive.... I don't like to repeat stuff TOO often, so I am going to tribute Lemmy with some stuff I think you folks may like the best.

From the Hawkwind era, I give you my superb vinyl rip of the double-disc "Space Ritual Live", two incredible discs of spaced out/stoner/hard psych/spacy rock...... the version of "Brainstorm" with Lemmy's totally sick bass playing and out-there growling vocals would summarize his career if it could be done so simply........ PLEASE investigate this if you are unfamiliar..... for Lemmy?

From the Motorhead era, I'm going to play it safe, because I know Brian wants to post the legendary "No Sleep Til Hammersmith", an absolutely stunning live record that should be in every household, so, while waiting for Brian's own tribute, I think I will give you the following Motorhead discs (previously posted):

Let's go with "Motorhead: Over the Top-The Rarities", which is loaded with total metal freak outs, such as "Train Kept a Rollin" and (Don't Let Em) Grind Ya Down", wonderful and rare recording, and I'll also toss up "Tear Ya Down", another Motorhead rarities collection..... I have TONS of Motorhead, but I posted it all in the last year or two, and I know Brian is wanting to post his own tribute (including the fantastic "No Sleep", likely tomorrow), so this will give you a taste of the very best of Lemmy's fab career.

RIP Lemmy, you will be missed..... from someone whos has seen The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and basically ANYONE you can name, I will say this without hesitation..... Motorhead, without argument or discussion, was the LOUDEST..... the "best"? perhaps not...... but the "loudest?'.....without the slightest question.......and I give them full credit for that.

RIP Lemmy, as well as Hawkwind and Motorhead..... great bands, great sounds, great tunes, grat flat out loud ass rock n roll........ from this corner at least, Lemmy, you will be missed tremendously, and I suspect from many other corners as well.

Love ya Bro..... .rest in peace, we'll all be there eventually!

HAWKWIND-SPACE RITUAL LIVE D1-Earth Calling/02 Born To Go/03 Down Through the

Night/04 The Awakening/05 Lord of Light/06 Black Corridor/07 Space Is Deep/08 Electronic No. 1/09 Orgone Accumulator/10 Upside Down/11 10 Seconds of Forever/12 Brainstorm

HAWKWIND-SPACE RITUAL LIVE D2-01 7 By 7/02 Sonic Attack/03 Time We Left This World Today/04 Master of the Universe/05 Welcome to the Future/06 Welcome to the Future/07 Orgone Accumulator (alternate nights performance)/08 Time We Left This World Today (alternate night's performance)/09 You Shouldnt Do That (alternate nights performance)


MOTORHEAD-OVER THE TOP (RARITIES)-01 Tear Ya Down (Instrumental)/02 Louie Louie
(Alternate)/03 Over the Top/04 Please Don't Touch (Motorheadschool)/05 Emergency (Motorheadschool)/06 Over the Top (Alternate Version)/07 Capricorn (Alternate Version)/08 Train Kept-a Rollin'/09 (Don't Let Em) Grind Ya Down (Alternate Version)/10 Lemmy Goes to the Pub (Alternate Version of Heart of Stone)/11 Same Old Song, I'm Gone (Alternate Version of Remember Me, I'm Gone)/12 (Don't Need) Religion

MOTORHEAD-TEAR YA DOWN-THE RARITIES DISC 1-01 Hump On Your Back/02 Shoot You In the Back/03 Dirty Love/04 Dirty Love (Full Version)/05 Love Me Like a Reptile/06 Fast and Loose/07 Waltz of the Vampire/08 Ace of Spades (rare version)/09 Bastard/10 Godzilla Akimbo/11 (We Are) The Road Crew

MOTORHEAD-TEAR YA DOWN-THE RARITIES DISC 2-01 Like a Nightmare/02 Treat Me Nice/03 Dirty Love/04 Dirty Love (Full Version)/05 You Ain't Gonna Live Forever/06 The Hammer/07 Bomber/08 Love Me Like a Reptile/09 Fun on the Farm/10 Tear Ya Down/11 Fire Fire/12 Louie Louie/13 Jailbait/14 Step Down

By Belated Request, some Hawkwind

Couldn't be much more opposite of the Clash had I attempted to, other than they are both from the
continent.... been so long since I was screwing around with that Clash thing that I genuinely don't remember who asked for some Hawkwind, but I loved the band in the early 70's (in particular "Space Ritual Live", one of my favorite of all live albums).... Hawkwind sort of reveled in the fact that they were practitioners of "Space Rock", which to me is pretty much some elaborate, effects-laden early stoner metal with lots of lyrics about outer space and the like...... still some good albums, though.

They have a complex history, as both Hawkwind and as "The Hawklords", and I am not about to document all of it (Lord, I think they are still at it in one form or another, think I will pass on that), let us instead concentrate on their early-to-mid 1970's "peak" at least in my opinion, these albums are wonderfully dated documents of a sadly missed era.

In 1970 they released "Hawkwind" to little fanfare, personally I always thought it was a pretty decent psych album, with the cool "Seeing It as You Really Are".....it was later issued with some bonus material which happens to be the edition I have here. The lineup for this album was: Dave Brock on guitar, vocals, and keyboards, Nik Turner on sax, flute, and vocals; Huw Lloyd on guitar and vocals, Michael Davies on synth, bassist John Harrison,  and Terry Ollis on drums.... there is a lot going on here, some may not care for but as I said, I like it, and the added bonus cuts are fun.

The following year they released "X In Search of Space", a more mature effort with the ambitious (15+ minutes) "You Shouldn't Do That" and some other head swirlers.....also reissued with bonus tracks, which are interesting because of the first Hawkwind appearance of Lemmy Kilmister. For this LP, Dave Anderson replaced John Harrison as bassist, still a very busy, ambitious album....I like it, as stuff like this tends to go, many do hate it.

On album #3 "Doremi Fasol Latido", Lemmy became the full time bassist, and Simon King took over on drums, resulting in a heavier, maybe less psyc-proggy sound....and a good album it is, better than the first two in my book, almost as though belonging in another category, as though by a different band.... it includes the classic "Brainstorm", maybe their best known track (I happen to like the live version better, forgive me).

So, the NEXT album, "Hall of the Mountain Grill", changes direction yet again, as they added Simon House on synth, mellotron and electric violin.......people tend to be mixed on this album, personally I'm not that crazy about it, others rank it as their favorite Hawkwind effort......it does include the pretty cool "Psychedelic Warlords Disappear In Smoke"

At some point here they released "Space Ritual Live", THE definitive two-disc live experience.... find ANYONE'S original copy and open up the sleeve, I GUARANTEE you 40-year old marijuana residue and seeds come falling out, it's the ultimate "pure" stoner album of the era, along with maybe Captain Beyond's debut. It features an amazing "Brainstorm", the way cool "Orgone Accumulator", and VERY weird spoken pieces which actually WORK, "Sonic Attack", "Space Is Deep", and "Ten Seconds of Forever" which perfectly segues into "Brainstorm"....I am sure there are people that hate this album as much as I have a soft spot for it, I find it an irresistible Junior High school memory.

1975 brought us "Warrior on the Edge of Time", in which the clock, at least for me, wasticking...... it's a fair album, nothing spectacular. Lemmy left after this, and it seems like a decent place to stop for me as well...... if you are interested, or a fanatic, Pirate Bay has a GIGANTIC torrent with what has to be every note anyone whom EVER called themselves "Hawkwind" ever recorded, and I am not kidding there are likely 50 albums there (I'll put a Pirate Bay link in the comments section in case anyone is interested....I downloaded the torrent in case there was any "bonus" material for use in this post, which, of course.........

We have a live album from 1974 entitled  "The 1999 Party", featuring the Lemmy-led lineup (not as great as "Space Ritual"), a 1976 post-Lemmy live set ("Atomhenge") (compare the bass playing on this "Brainstorm" to Lemmy's legendary sloppiness on the "Space Ritual" version).... "Stasis: The UA  Years" covers some early (1971-75) stuff and might have a a track or two of interest, and "Dawn of Hawkwind" covers some ancient rarities and is quite interesting..that is going to be about as far as I go..... Hawkwind for me remain forever locked in the 1970's, a wonderful decade, but music they released in, say 1994? Or 2007? Personally I will pass, but the if for some reason you are a fan of their ever-shifting lineups and voluminous mountains of recordings, the Pirate Bay link is for you......for more casual fans, I think that the selections featured here paint a decent picture, let's be real, this is not The Clash or the Stones, it's Hawkwind, and I'm not chasing down everything that they've ever done....I will tell you though, that it is simply incredible the amount of work put out under this name though.

Although I have the first several albums on vinyl-ripped CD which is in general what I like to post if I can (I love the sound of vinyl), in this case I have opted to use the MP3's from the previously mentioned downloaded torrent due to the spate of bonus material on each album, my beloved live "Brainstorm" appears unedited (I never knew it WAS edited on "Space Ritual", evidently it was "too long"..... on this version it is restored to full length). I'm going to hang onto this torrent for a while and will probably delete most of the stuff I don't want after a while, so if there is a single album or two that I did not post and which you want, give a shout and I will hook you up...... if you want more than that please download the torrent!

Roll one, fire it up and crank out "Doremi Fasol Latido" or "Space Ritual" and remember how great the 1970's could be......back in a day or so with something else, hope ya enjoy the Hawkwind for now. (Note to whomever requested it, if you are REALLY into this band, the Pirate Bay link to the torrent will be like winning the lottery for you, I am not kidding, it's one of the biggest discographies I've seen)

HAWKWIND-01 Hurry On Sundown/02 The Reason Is?/03 Be Yourself/04 Paranoia Part 1/05 Paranoia Part 2/06 Seeing It as You Really Are/07 Mirror of Illusion/ BONUS TRACKS 08 Bring It On Home/09 Hurry On Sundown (Hawkwind Zoo Demo)/10 Kiss of the Velvet Whip (aka "Sweet Mistress of Pain")/11 Cymbaline

X IN SEARCH OF SPACE-01 You Shouldn't Do That/02 You Know You're Only Dreaming/03 Master of the Universe/04 We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago/05 Adjust Me/06 Children of the Sun/BONUS TRACKS 07 Seven By Seven (Original Single Version)/08 Silver Machine (Original Single Version, Live at the Roundhouse)/09 Born To Go (Live Single Version Edit)

DOREMI FASOL LATIDO-01 Brainstorm/02 Space Is Deep/03 One Change/04 Lord of Light/05
Down Through the Night/06 Time We Left This World Today/07 The Watcher/BONUS TRACKS 08 Urban Guerilla/09 Brainbox Pollution/10 Lord of Light (Single Version Edit)/11 Ejection

HALL THE MOUNTAIN GRILL-01 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)/02 Wind of Change/03 D-Rider/04 Web Weaver/05 You'd Better Believe It/06 Hall of the Mountain Grill/07 Lost Johnny/08 Goat Willow/09 Paradox BONUS TRACKS 10 You'd Better Believe It (Single Edit Version)/11 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke) (Single Edit Version)/12 Paradox (remix Single Edit)/13 It's So Easy

SPACE RITUAL DISC 1-01 Earth Calling/02 Born To Go/03 Down Through the Night/04 The Awakening/05 Lord of Light/06 The Black Corridor/07 Space Is Deep/08 Electronic No. 1/09 Orgone Accumulator/10 Upside Down/11 Ten Seconds of Forever/12 Brainstorm

SPACE RITUAL DISC 2-01 Seven By Seven/02 Sonic Attack/03 Time We Left This World Today/04 Master of the Universe/05 Welcome to the Future/06 You Shouldn't Do That/07 Orgone Accumulator (alternate nights performance)/08 Time We Left This World Today (alternate night's performance)/09 You Shouldn't Do That (alternate nights performance from the "Roadhawks" compilation album)

WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME-01 Assault and Battery (Part 1)/02 The Golden Void (Part 2)/03 The Wizard Blew His Horn/04 Opa-Loka/05 The Demented Man/06 Magnu/07 Standing on the Edge/08 Spiral Galaxy 28948/09 Warriors/10 Dying Seas/11 Kings of Speed/12 Motorhead (Bonus Track)

THE 1999 PARTY DISC 1-01 Intro/Standing on the Edge/02 Brainbox Pollution/03 It's So Easy/04
You Know You're Only Dreaming/05 Veterans of A Thousand Psychic Wars/06 Brainstorm/07 Seven By Seven

THE 1999 PARTY DISC 2-01 The Watcher/02 The Awakening/03 Paradox/04 You'd Better Believe It/05 Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)/06 D-Rider/07 Sonic Attack/08 Master of the Universe/09 Welcome to the Future

ATOMHENGE DISC 1-01 Intro/02 Reefer Madness/03 Paradox/04 Chronoglide Skyway/05 Hassan-i-Sabbah (aka Assassins of Allah)/06 Brainstorm/07 Wind of Change

ATOMHENGE DISC 2-01 Instrumental/02 Steppenwolf/03 Uncle Sam's On Mars/04 Time For Sale/05 Back On the Streets/06 Sonic Attack/07 Kerb Crawler

STASIS THE UA YEARS-01 Urban Guerilla/02 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear Into Smoke)(Single Version Edit)/03 Branbox Pollution/04 Seven By Seven (Remixed Version)/05 Paradox (remixed single edit)/06 Silver Machine (original single mix)/07 You'd Better Believe It (Single Version Edit)/08 Lord of Light /09 Black Corridor (live)/10 Space Is Deep (live)/11 Earth Calling (live)/12 Born to Go (live)/13 Down Through the Night (live)/14 The Awakening/15 You Shouldn't Do That (live)/16 Motorhead/17 Master of the Universe/18 Kings of Speed

DAWN OF HAWKWIND-01 Come On/02 My Baby's Gone/03 Dealing With the Devil/04 Roll Em
Pete/05 Bring It On Home/06 Illusions/07 Get Yourself Together/08 What's the Matter/09 Bottle Up/10 Diamond Ring/11 Hurry on Sundown/12 Cymbaline/13 Master of the Universe


That's quite a bit of stuff, really, not relative to the stuff that is available, but to m, THIS is Hawkwind..... been a while since I've listened to much of their stuff, I've enjoyed doing this post and remembering those wonderful years of youth and laughing at the delightfully dated music going on here......thanks to whomever requested it, I'd have likely thought of it eventually, and I hope I did them justice! Let me know your opinion of this post, if feel like it!