David Ellefson says Lemmy played “more like an acoustic guitar player” than a bassist
David Ellefson believes the magic of Lemmy Kilmister’s bass playing was down to how he played more like an acoustic guitarist.
Kilmister founded the legendary Motörhead, serving as their primary songwriter, bassist and vocalist for decades. He passed away in 2015, and shortly after, Ellefson realised something special about his approach to playing when preparing for a tribute gig in his honour.
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In an interview for Bloodstock TV (via Blabbermouth), Ellefson explains how the supergroup he was part of – Metal Allegiance, with Mark Menghi, Alex Skolnick and Mike Portnoy – were asked to perform a show at Hollywood’s Whisky A Go Go for Lemmy, less than two weeks after the iconic bassist had passed away.
“What I realised learning a bunch of Motörhead songs in a way that I never knew as a kid learning them, is that Lemmy played the bass like an acoustic guitar,” he remembers. “‘Cause he was a singer/bass player, similar to [Thin Lizzy’s] Phil Lynott. Bass players that were singers as well as bass players, they played with the plectrum… But Lemmy really played more like an acoustic guitar player.”
He adds, “It was the way he strummed and his up strokes on things were much more like how an acoustic guitar player would play. And it really changed my whole scope about him. When you learn songs from somebody, you kind of try to find where’s the heart of who they are. What is their thing? And that, to me, that’s when it clicked.
“And then every Motörhead song after that, I kind of just clued in to that, and it became a lot easier to learn because I didn’t just think about the bass part, I thought about what he’s singing over top of it. Paul McCartney, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, Lemmy, these iconic bass players, they’re also lead singers. So for them, the bass isn’t just the only thing that they do. So, to me, you kind of have to take the whole package.”
You can watch the interview below:
Ellefson is playing shows as part of Dieth and Kings Of Thrash this September and October. Tickets are available via his website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
