Listen to Phil Taylor’s isolated drums for Motörhead song ‘Motörhead’
Phil Taylor is a name synonymous with innate talent, whether it conjures images of the eminent darts champion or the drummer of the classic Motörhead lineup, better known to fans as ‘Philthy Animal’. In his early teens, Taylor took drumming lessons at the local Leeds College of Music under his father’s persuasion. In the blossoming Leeds music scene of the mid-1970s, Taylor met Lemmy Kilmister, the frontman of the newly formed Motörhead. The pair immediately hit it off, thanks to their shared penchant for speed and heavy rock music.
Lemmy invited Taylor to join Motörhead in 1975 as a replacement for the founding drummer Lucas Fox. The band had been part-way through recording their would-be debut LP On Parole at the time, and Lemmy decided that Taylor was a better fit for their style. Plus, Taylor “had a car and could give us a lift back down to the studio,” as Lemmy later recalled.
After joining the band, Taylor introduced Lemmy to his friend and highly capable rock guitarist, ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke. This trio would form the core of Motörhead through their most prolific and successful period from 1975-80. After On Parole initially being rejected by their label, Motörhead worked on their second debut attempt, Motörhead.
With the moderate success of Motörhead, the group grew from strength to strength with three seminal albums in just two years; 1979’s Bomber and Overkill were swiftly followed by the career-defining climax, Ace of Spades, in 1980.
Sadly, in the last decade, we’ve had to say goodbye to the classic Motörhead trio, with Taylor and Lemmy’s deaths, from liver failure and cancer, respectively, less than seven weeks apart at the end of 2015. In 2018, Clarke passed away after a short battle with pneumonia.
“I’m feeling very sad at the moment, in fact, devastated because one of my best friends died yesterday,” Lemmy told Rolling Stone in November 2015. “I miss him already. His name was Phil Taylor, or Philthy Animal, and he was our drummer twice in our career. Now he’s died, and it really pisses me off that they take somebody like him and leave George Bush alive. So muse on that. We’re still going, we’re still going strong, it’s just first Wurzel and now Philthy, it’s a shame, man. I think this rock ‘n’ roll business might be bad for the human life.”
“My dear friend and brother passed away last night,” Clarke added. “He had been ill for some time, but that does not make it any easier when the time finally comes. I have known Phil since he was 21, and he was one hell of a character. Fortunately, we made some fantastic music together, and I have many, many fond memories of our time together. Rest in Peace, Phil!”
Today we remember Philthy Animal’s pacey drumming virtuosity through his isolated drum tracks from Motörhead’s eponymous hit from their eponymous 1977 debut album.
