Fastway
guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke (ex-Motörhead) is featured in a new
in-depth interview with Jeb Wright at Classic Rock Revisited. Topics
of discussion include the band's new album, Eat Dog Eat, Clarke's
time with Motörhead, and all points in between. An excerpt is
available below:
Jeb:
Before you joined Motörhead were you fed up with the music
business?
Eddie: "I was still chomping at the bit at that time. In my early twenties, I had kind of stopped playing. I used to jam with people and that was about it. I had some trouble with the law and that is when people told me that I needed to get serious about music and change things around.
I auditioned for Curtis Knight’s band and I got the job. Up until then, I was not that serious about music. Once I got in that band, I started to take things more serious. When I got out of Curtis Knight I did a thing that was on Anchor Records but I never finished it, as I fell out with the guys. I, then, did a solo thing and, at the same time, I was working on a houseboat; I was building it. I met Phil (Taylor) because he came and applied for a job on the houseboat. I gave him a job and then we got talking that he was a drummer and we had a jam and we had a bit of fun.
Phil went off and I didn’t hear from him for a while. The next time I did hear from him Phil said, 'Hey, I’m in this band called Motorhead and we need another guitar player. I thought you might like to do it.' I went down to rehearsal and I was going to be a rhythm guitarist behind Larry Wallace. Larry didn’t really want to do Motörhead anymore and he left the band right there. He got me in the band so he could exit the band."
Jeb: Talk more about your first day of rehearsal. Rumor has it Larry was late and after one song he left. What really happened?
Eddie: "I set up a rehearsal for my audition, that’s the way it was with Motörhead. Phil had taken me over to meet Larry a couple of weeks before so I thought it would be fine. Lemmy, Phil and I started jamming about 3:00pm but Larry had not showed up. Lemmy called every half hour and Larry kept saying he was on his way.
The three of us were having a really good time playing together but at 6:30 the room was booked out to someone else. Fortunately, there was another rehearsal place upstairs, so we moved up there and Larry promised he was on his way. Around 7:30pm Larry showed up. He had a roadie who set up his Fender Twin amp. I only had an AC30 so I couldn’t hear shit. He said hardly anything to anyone, plugged in and started playing a tune off their album, which I fortunately had learned.
The vibe in the room was awful and it got worse but, no lie, we must have played the same song for thirty minutes. Lemmy was getting pissed. Lemmy suggested we do something else and the same thing happened. I am thinking, 'I haven’t got this job.' Lemmy, then, took Larry outside and they were gone awhile I packed up my stuff. Phil was totally bemused by all this so we talked about other things. When Larry and Lem returned, I said my farewells, paid for the rehearsal room on my way out and that was that. I am thinking, 'That didn’t go very well.'
I heard nothing over the next few days. Phil and Lemmy didn’t have phones, so I figured no gig. Three days later, on a Saturday, there’s this banging on my door. I drag myself out of bed in my underpants, open the door and Lemmy is standing there with a bullet belt in one hand and a leather jacket in the other. He handed them to me with the words, 'You’ve got the gig' and then he turned around and off he went. I didn’t know what to think but I was over the moon. It’s always nice to be wanted."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
Eddie: "I was still chomping at the bit at that time. In my early twenties, I had kind of stopped playing. I used to jam with people and that was about it. I had some trouble with the law and that is when people told me that I needed to get serious about music and change things around.
I auditioned for Curtis Knight’s band and I got the job. Up until then, I was not that serious about music. Once I got in that band, I started to take things more serious. When I got out of Curtis Knight I did a thing that was on Anchor Records but I never finished it, as I fell out with the guys. I, then, did a solo thing and, at the same time, I was working on a houseboat; I was building it. I met Phil (Taylor) because he came and applied for a job on the houseboat. I gave him a job and then we got talking that he was a drummer and we had a jam and we had a bit of fun.
Phil went off and I didn’t hear from him for a while. The next time I did hear from him Phil said, 'Hey, I’m in this band called Motorhead and we need another guitar player. I thought you might like to do it.' I went down to rehearsal and I was going to be a rhythm guitarist behind Larry Wallace. Larry didn’t really want to do Motörhead anymore and he left the band right there. He got me in the band so he could exit the band."
Jeb: Talk more about your first day of rehearsal. Rumor has it Larry was late and after one song he left. What really happened?
Eddie: "I set up a rehearsal for my audition, that’s the way it was with Motörhead. Phil had taken me over to meet Larry a couple of weeks before so I thought it would be fine. Lemmy, Phil and I started jamming about 3:00pm but Larry had not showed up. Lemmy called every half hour and Larry kept saying he was on his way.
The three of us were having a really good time playing together but at 6:30 the room was booked out to someone else. Fortunately, there was another rehearsal place upstairs, so we moved up there and Larry promised he was on his way. Around 7:30pm Larry showed up. He had a roadie who set up his Fender Twin amp. I only had an AC30 so I couldn’t hear shit. He said hardly anything to anyone, plugged in and started playing a tune off their album, which I fortunately had learned.
The vibe in the room was awful and it got worse but, no lie, we must have played the same song for thirty minutes. Lemmy was getting pissed. Lemmy suggested we do something else and the same thing happened. I am thinking, 'I haven’t got this job.' Lemmy, then, took Larry outside and they were gone awhile I packed up my stuff. Phil was totally bemused by all this so we talked about other things. When Larry and Lem returned, I said my farewells, paid for the rehearsal room on my way out and that was that. I am thinking, 'That didn’t go very well.'
I heard nothing over the next few days. Phil and Lemmy didn’t have phones, so I figured no gig. Three days later, on a Saturday, there’s this banging on my door. I drag myself out of bed in my underpants, open the door and Lemmy is standing there with a bullet belt in one hand and a leather jacket in the other. He handed them to me with the words, 'You’ve got the gig' and then he turned around and off he went. I didn’t know what to think but I was over the moon. It’s always nice to be wanted."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
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