#larry wallis

Motörhead: Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers EP (1980)

Motörhead fans were punch-drunk with product in late 1980, having just "downed" the band's all-time-classic Ace of Spades LP (released that October), only to be presented with an unexpected chaser with November's Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers EP.

However, band members Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister (bass/vocals), 'Fast' Eddie Clarke (guitar/vocals) and Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor (drums) were none too pleased with this unsanctioned EP, which was essentially a cash-grab by their former label Chiswick.

To be fair, the folks at Chiswick probably felt they deserved a little grace for their gumption, since they had pretty much saved Motörhead from breaking up back in 1977, just as the future legends were planning a farewell show at London's Marquee Club.

And how, do you ask, were our heroes brought to the brink of oblivion?

Well, it all started when Motörhead's first label, United Artists, flat out refused to issue the band's freshly recorded debut album, after deeming it much too raw and aggressive for popular consumption, shelving it, and unceremoniously dropping the band.

Enter Chiswick founder Ted Carroll, a friend of Lemmy's who offered to cover two days of studio fees so the band could record a new single, which proved to be more than enough time for speed-freaks like Lemmy, Eddie, and Philthy to cut over a dozen tracks!

Impressed, Carroll agreed to release the band's self-titled debut, minus a handful of outtakes, which, after Motörhead signed with Bronze Records and unexpectedly found success with '79's Overkill and Bomber, were virtually begging to be let out of Chiswick's vaults.

The same was true for those older, previously undesirable United Artists sessions, which were conveniently dusted off and dropped into record store bins in November of '79, repackaged as the On Parole LP, which still causes confusion amongst Motörhead's fans to this day.

So you can't really blame Chiswick for following suit with four of their leftovers and turning them into the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers EP, which was obviously named after the ZZ Top original, on which Lemmy and Eddie traded vocal verses just like Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill.

Next up was the song "On Parole" itself, which, incidentally was penned, not by Lemmy, but by original Motörhead and former Pink Fairies guitarist, Larry Wallis, who left the group because he didn't want to share six string duties with 'Fast' Eddie' (Wallis passed away in 2019 at age of 70).

These cuts were followed on side two by the self-explanatory "Instro" (half instrumental, half intro … or something) and, finally, a rambunctious cover of John Mayall's "I'm Your Witch Doctor," also containing co-lead vocals from Eddie.

Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers was issued through Chiswick's Big Beat imprint on both 7-inch and 12-inch formats, pressed on black, blue (such as this pristine copy), orange, pink and white vinyl, and its songs were later included, along with other Motörhead B-sides in numerous CD reissues.

None of its contents will ever be confused for "essential" Motörhead material, but completists will want to check it out nonetheless, and it's also fitting that the band would one day endorse their own craft beer, to ensure plenty of beer drinking and hell raising continued to be carried out in their good name.

Motörhead in London, 1975: bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox.