Had a difficult decision to make the other day, whether to buy this book or ‘The Dirt’ about Motley Crue. Lemmy being the all-enduring, reptilian like god of rock that he is, I decided to go for this 300 page manifest on the big man or metal. Let’s face it, he makes Keith Richards look like a scared little mouse.

So anyway, as some of you will know, I am an awful reader. I ploughed through this in a week, or four sittings. 150 pages in the first night. That’s somewhat of a record for me. Yes the book is a ripping read, but it would’ve taken far longer had the book had any real depth to it. The first half talks about Lemmy’s upbrining and the early days of British rock in the 60s. We see Lemmy leave remote Wales, get a guitar, take up speed and basically become a roady and a professional drifter. But it seems fairly scattered. Infact, I think it’s so scattered because the poor sod doesn’t really remember half of it!

There are some classic rock star drink and drug stories and insights into other bands and rock stars, but there’s very little detail. Just "he’s OK" and "she’s a bitch" or whatever, again probably because old Lemm’ was stoned out of his gord the whole time. The last half of the book however, is more to do with the low lever, "we hired this manager, fired this producer etc" all the operational stuff to do with running a big Rock and Roll band. A little dissapointing in that regard in all honesty.

Lemmy also offers a few insights into his thoughts on sexuality, terrorism, his penchant for history and chauvenism, but nothing shocking. If anything, yes the boy is overtly macho, but he has actually gone quite far out of his way to aid the careers of prominent ladies of rock including Lita Ford and the band Girlschool. Overall, Lemmy comes across as a rock stars’ gentleman, and a very good one at that!

In short this book is a fast paced collection of vignettes, rather than extended focus on any one period of his career, band mate or personality. I wish it was 500 pages longer, but that just wouldn’t be Lemm’. This is the epitome of the man and a good read at that. Hopefully one day we’ll get the full story. Now for that 600 page Motley Crue book . . .
About 6.5 out of 10. Worth a look.
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