''Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers'' is an EP by the band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

, released on 27 November 1980. The EP consists of four tracks recorded during sessions for their first album ''

'', in 1977 at Escape Studios,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but were previously unreleased. The EP was released by Big Beat Records, a subsidiary of

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the " punk era". It re ...

, who the band were signed to when the tracks were recorded in 1977. The release was not authorized by the band, though they did not oppose it.

Background

All four tracks were recorded during the 1977 ''Motörhead'' album sessions and were regarded as outtakes. As such, they only saw a belated release after ''

Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The orn ...

'' peaked at No. 4 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Burridge, Alan ''Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead'' Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing p70. . in 1980. Despite the band's success at that time, the EP failed to make any impact on the UK charts. A few years later, Chiswick label boss Ted Carroll would again raid his label archives to give a retrospective release of a live recording from the same era, called '' What's Words Worth?''. Lemmy has stated about Ted Carroll's Chiswick Records back catalogue releases: "He's a great geezer and if it wasn't for Ted there wouldn't be any Motörhead anyway, so Ted has carte blanche, he can do what he wants with the old catalogue."

Recording

The original

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

version of "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers", recorded for their 1973 album '' Tres Hombres'', features vocal lines traded between guitarist

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

and bassist

Dusty Hill Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards. Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...

, with the two alternating each line. Motörhead's version replicated this arrangement, with bassist Lemmy and guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke trading lines. This marked Clarke's debut as a lead vocalist, and also represented one of the very few occasions in which a Motörhead song (the others being "Step Down," " I'm Your Witchdoctor" and "Emergency") featured vocals from someone other than Lemmy. An earlier version of "On Parole" had been recorded by the band in 1975 for an album for United Artists that was ultimately shelved, and ex-guitarist Larry Wallis released a version as a B-side to his 1977 Stiff Records single "Police Car". The song was a mainstay in Motörhead's early setlist, as exemplified on '' What's Words Worth?'', though it was dropped permanently sometime after 1979 as the band's repertoire grew. " I'm Your Witchdoctor" ("a great song," Lemmy pronounces in his 2002 autobiography) is a

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

cover which was another mainstay of the band's setlist circa 1977–78. "Instro", the EP's only original composition, is a rare instrumental track from the band which is believed to have never been finished due to inadequate studio time during the 1977 sessions it was culled from.

Release

The vinyl EP was issued as a 7" pressing (NS61) and as a 12" pressing (SWT61), both formats were pressed in black, blue, orange, pink and white vinyl and there was also a 7" 'Radio Play' Sleeve.Burridge, Alan ''Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead'' Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing . Along with the ''

'' single's B-side, "City Kids," the tracks from this EP were included on the 1988 CD reissue of ''

'' by Big Beat Records. In 1982 Big Beat Records released German and French editions that added the extra tracks "Vibrator," "White Line Fever," "City Kids," "Keep Us on the Road," " Lost Johnny" and "

." It was released in the usual black vinyl (A 120 174) and as a picture disc (PD 120 174). It has been bonus tracks on the original album ''Motörhead'' since Big Beat Records reissue added them in 1988, and subsequently by Chiswick and Ace Records in 2001 for its remastered release. In his 2011 book ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', biographer

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bla ...

derides the EP's title, saying "This is an early example of many, many attempts by the various record companies who ruined, I mean handled, Motörhead's career to mould them into less sophisticated versions of themselves."

Track listing

Track listing - 1982 Release

Personnel

Per the ''Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers'' liner notes. *

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

– lead vocals, bass * "Fast" Eddie Clarke –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers" and "I'm Your Witch Doctor" *

Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor Philip John Taylor (21 September 1954 – 12 November 2015), better known as "Philthy Animal", was an English drummer. He was a member of the rock band Motörhead from 1975 to 1984 and 1987 to 1992, recording eleven studio albums and four live ...

– drums

Production

Speedy Keen John David Percy "Speedy" Keen (29 March 1945 – 12 March 2002)''The Gua ...

– producer *

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

*Adam Skeaping – mastering *Motörhead – executive producers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers (Ep) 1980 EPs Motörhead EPs