Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor died two days ago. Taylor was not quite the original drummer for Motorhead but he was part of the most classic Motorhead lineup, including Lemmy on bass and vocals and Fast Eddie Clark on guitar. Taylor appeared on every Motorhead album from 1977 through 1983, including the iconic “Ace of Spades” released in 1980. He returned to Motorhead after a brief hiatus and appeared on three more albums before leaving the band for good after the 1992 album, “March or Die”.
Taylor was born in Chesterfield, England in 1954. He joined Motorhead in 1975 after the original drummer was fired. Lemmy has stated that he hired Taylor because he had a car and could drive the band to gigs and the studio. Taylor was previously working odd jobs and it was through one of these odd jobs – painting a boat – that he met Fast Eddie. It was through Taylor that Fast Eddie joined Motorhead.
Taylor was a hard living, hard drumming son of a gun who embodied the Motorhead ethos throughout his life. He missed some of the recording sessions on the first Motorhead album due to being in jail on public drunkenness charges. Taylor broke his hand in a fist fight and would continue to play drums by taping the drumstick to his hand. He broke his neck in 1980 after a friend dropped him on his head while they were horsing around. After leaving Motorhead, Taylor played with other bands and did some one-off projects but he did not really work steadily.
While it would be appropriate to feature the song “Killed by Death”, Taylor was not involved on that cut. Here are few other songs that do include the Philthy Animal, may he rest in peace:
“Overkill” off the “Overkill” album 1979 (first use of double bass by Taylor on a Motorhead song):
“Dead Men Tell No Tales” off the “Bomber” album 1979:
“Stone Dead Forever” off the “Bomber” album 1979:
“R.A.M.O.N.E.S.” off the “1916” album 1991:
