Phil Taylor (musician)

Phil Taylor

Taylor at Afan Lido, Port Talbot in 1982
Background information
Also known as Philthy Animal Taylor
Born (1954-09-21)21 September 1954
Hasland, Chesterfield, England
Died 11 November 2015(2015-11-11) (aged 61)
Genres Heavy metal, hard rock, speed metal
Instruments Drums
Years active 1975–2015
Associated acts Motörhead, Waysted

Philip John Taylor (21 September 1954 – 11 November 2015), better known as Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, was an English rock drummer in the English rock band Motörhead from 1975–1984 and 1987–1992 recording eleven studio albums and four live albums, including No Sleep 'til Hammersmith and Nö Sleep at All, between them. The Motörhead line-up consisting of Lemmy, "Fast" Eddie Clarke and Taylor are considered the 'classic' line-up of the band.

Biography

Born on 21 September 1954, in Hasland, Chesterfield, England, Taylor grew up in Leeds and was a Leeds United hooligan. He took up drum lessons at Leeds College of Music on advice from his father. He replaced Motörhead's first drummer, Lucas Fox, during the recording of the band's first album On Parole in 1975. Lemmy explains choosing him to play in Motörhead 'because he had a car and could give us a lift back down to the studio, the drummer we had wasn't working out very well and Phil kept saying that he could play'. Taylor introduced the band to "Fast" Eddie Clarke, having worked with him while painting a houseboat. Taylor was unable to overdub the drumming on the "Lost Johnny" track as he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Also, the studio time had run out by the time he was released.

In 1978, Taylor, Lemmy and Clarke interrupted one of The Damned's Chiswick album sessions, turning it into a recorded 'jam session'. One track from this – "Ballroom Blitz" – appeared as the B-side of I Just Can't Be Happy Today. Shortly after recording the classic Ace of Spades album in 1980, Taylor broke his neck after being lifted above the head of a friend in a test of strength, only to be dropped upon his head. Taylor continued to play in Motörhead with the aid of a neck brace, as is visible in the music video for "Ace of Spades". As a result, Taylor had a prominent lump located on the back of his neck (affectionately referred to as his "knob"), thought to be a calcium deposit caused by his previous spinal trauma. Tour-disrupting injuries were not unfamiliar to Taylor at the time, as he had previously broken his hand whilst punching a man outside his flat in London. In typical uncompromising Motörhead style, Taylor continued to drum by using gaffer tape to attach his drum stick into his hand until it had sufficiently healed.

After a 'final' appearance on The Young Ones in 1984, Taylor left Motörhead. The following year, he made appearances with Waysted, and joined another ex-Motörhead man, Brian Robertson (from Thin Lizzy), to form the band Operator. In 1986, he was part of Frankie Miller's touring band.[1]

Taylor returned to Motörhead in 1987. He said "I always regretted leaving. Let's just say I took a three-year holiday."[2] He continued playing in the group until 1992. After having been warned three times in the previous two years "to get his act together", he was fired after recording "I Ain't No Nice Guy", because of his poor performance.[3]

From 2005 to 2008 Taylor played and recorded in a group called The Web of Spider with Whitey Kirst (Iggy Pop) on guitar and Max Noce on bass. In 2007 Taylor briefly worked on a project called Capricorn with former Danzig guitarist Todd Youth, former Monster Magnet guitarist/vocalist Phil Caivano and former Nashville Pussy bassist Corey Parks. After playing in The Web of Spider, Taylor began work on a project with guitarist Chris Holmes, formerly of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P., and in 2009, Taylor joined American thrash metal band Overkill for a set at the Islington Academy. The set included a cover of the Motörhead song from which Overkill took their name.

He sporadically played drums for Mick Farren and The Deviants, featuring on Dr. Crow (2002),[4] Sheep in Wolves' Clothing (2008),[5] and Portobello Shuffle (2009).[6]

Taylor has, on a somewhat regular and obviously incorrect basis, been reported as having died in a spectacular or horrible fashion. An example took place in 2001, when Taylor was allegedly to have died from AIDS. This was disproved by Taylor's appearance on the 2005 documentary Ace Of Spades: Classic Albums, alongside Lemmy and former members of Motörhead, frequently joking about his supposed demise.

Taylor reunited with Lemmy and Clarke on 6 November 2014 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England on stage for Motörhead's classic "Ace of Spades" only to come on to wave to the crowd and leave.

Death

Phil Taylor died on 11 November 2015 at the age of 61 after an illness. "Fast" Eddie Clarke said of his former bandmate via Facebook:

My dear friend and brother passed away last night.

He had been ill for sometime 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!"[7][8][9]

Lemmy told Classic Rock that he was "devastated" to have lost one of his best friends as he also remembered former Motörhead guitarist Michael "Würzel" Burston, who died in 2011.

I'm feeling very sad at the moment, in fact devastated because one of my best friends died yesterday. 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.[10]

Lemmy himself died less than seven weeks after Taylor, on 28 December 2015.[11]

Later it was revealed that liver failure was cited as the cause of Taylor's death.[12]

Discography

Motörhead

Other recordings

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ "Frankie Miller". Rockdetector.com. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
  2. ↑ Motörhead (2013). "Aftershock". Classic Rock: 99.
  3. ↑ Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss White Line Fever (2002) — Simon & Schuster pp. 242-243 ISBN 0-684-85868-1
  4. ↑ Rich Deakin and Phil Jones. "The Deviants – Dr Crow". funtopia. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  5. ↑ Alan Burridge. "Motorheadbangers World Fan Club". self-published. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  6. ↑ Rich Deakin. "Portobello Shuffle – Deviants and Pink Fairies". myspace. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  7. ↑ "Fast Eddie Clarke Official". Facebook. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Former MOTÖRHEAD Drummer PHIL 'PHILTHY ANIMAL' TAYLOR Dies At 61". Blabbermouth.net. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Motorhead Drummer Phil Taylor Dead at 61". Rolling Stone. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Lemmy leads tributes to Philthy Animal Taylor". Classic Rock. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  11. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35192060 Retrieved 28 December 2015
  12. ↑ "Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor: A Tribute". Classic Rock. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Girlschool Promo video from Bronze Rocks on YouTube video
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