W
e’re chatting with Phil
Campbell in a lovely old
boozer near Pontypridd,
a stone’s throw from the
South Wales village where
the former Motörhead guitarist grew up and still
lives. He’s reminiscing about good times, and has
a twinkle in his eye.
“Dee Snider did a guest slot with Motörhead
sixteen years ago at Sweden Rocks festival,” he
recalls, a smile beginning to cross his face. “There’s
me, him and Lem right at the front of the stage
doing It’s Only Rock ’N’ Roll, really giving it some.
Now Dee’s a big lad, and at one point he slapped
Lem on the back, and his false teeth almost got
dislodged. Later, in the dressing room, Lem was
like: ‘That fucking Dee Snider!’”
Sixteen years on, “that fucking Dee Snider” sings
on These Old Boots, the strident opening track on Old
Lions Still Roar, Campbell’s first solo album
proper. The record is an all-star affair, with
the guitarist calling in favours from some of
the rock royalty he’s met during his 30-plus
years with Motörhead. He’s been talking
about doing a solo album for about 20 of
those years, but with Motörhead touring
hard up to Lemmy’s death in 2015 – and the
guitarist’s work with his three boys as Phil
Campbell And The Bastard Sons – the
project had remained on the back burner.
We’re in a pub, but Campbell doesn’t touch
a drop, and hasn’t in years. He’s nudging 60 now,
and looks good on it. The Welsh accent’s intact, his
deep, resonant voice belying his small frame, and
although he’s not the biggest talker he’s affable and
has a wry, worldly sense of fun – you don’t last
three decades in Motörhead without one. And
while having everything louder than everything
else that long has put a dent in his hearing, Old
Lions proves his musical ear is as acute as ever.
“The hard thing was starting the damn thing,”
Campbell says of his new album. “I kept putting it
off. I asked a lot of people on the road if they’d
fancy being on it when I eventually did it, and
nobody said no. I’m honoured that these people,
some of them megastars, took the time out to give
me a helping hand. They all did me proud.”
Campbell wrote all the songs, then sent them to
his guest vocalists, who supplied their own lyricsand melody. Rob Halford sings the throbbing
80s-style rocker Straight Up. Alice Cooper – who
Motörhead toured with seven times – fronts the
big, catchy Swing It. Danko Jones supported the
band, and takes the verses of Walk The Talk, with
former QOTSA man Nick Oliveri on the choruses
and bass. Skindred’s Benji Webbe gives a soulful
vocal performance on the melancholy, piano-led
Dead Roses, and Ugly Kid Joe’s Whitfield Crane
sings modern metal tune Dancing Dogs (Love
Survives). Along with the star singers are name
instrumentalists: Mick Mars (“A very humble,
talented man”), Level 42 bass great Mark King,
Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn, GN’R/Velvet
Revolver drummer Matt Sorum, and Joe Satriani
plays some restrained acoustic lines on the album’s
lovely coda, Tears From A Glass Eye. Campbell’s sons
Tyla, Dane and Todd feature too, the latter
producing the album.Motörhead’s swansong Bad Magic and The
Bastard Sons’ debut The Age Of Absurdity were both
excellent, so it’s no surprise that Campbell’s way
with a riff is undiminished and the material on Old
Lions is consistently strong. One of the highlights is
the bluesy mid-tempo anthem Left For Dead, which
features Nev MacDonald, formerly of Skin and
currently with Hand Of Dimes. “He sings for
[classic-era Whitesnake guitarist] Bernie Marsden,”
says Campbell. “I heard him on YouTube, so asked
Bernie for his number. I told him I wanted him to
sing like Paul Rodgers.”
Orange Goblin’s Ben Ward takes on the heaviest
track, Faith In Fire. Ward is The Bastard Sons’
booking agent, and has lined up more than 30
shows across Europe and the UK for their
brilliantly titled Old Lions Still Tour trek, which
will take them up to Christmas.
“We’re playing a stadium show with Böhse
Onkelz,” says Campbell. “They’re huge in Germanybut nobody else has heard of them. The first time
Motörhead supported them there were about
140,000 people in a field, another 80,000 couldn’t
get in. We’ve done stadium tours with Guns
N’Roses, but this is our headline tour.”
Campbell says he spends his down time chilling
out, walking his dogs and reading, mostly
autobiographies. He’s just finished Duff McKagan’s
It’s So Easy, and The Individualist by Todd Rundgren,
who’s one of his idols (his eldest son is called Todd
Rundgren Campbell).
There’s a biographical feel to Rocking Chair, the
opening track on Old Lions. The lyrics and vocals
are by Leon Stanford, Tyla Campbell’s bandmate in
The People The Poet. Over a Stonesy acoustic guitar,
Stanford draws Phil’s early biography: his first job
(delivering poultry to local restaurants for his dad’s
company); getting his first Les Paul in the New Year
sales; playing with cabaret bands and his promising
NWOBHM band Persian Risk. The latter
supported Motörhead in the early 80s, then
in ’84 Campbell left them to join Motörhead.
The song eloquently and movingly covers
Phil and Lemmy’s subsequent friendship and
success: ‘Didn’t know we’d travel the whole world
together, get the whole world screaming: “I don’t
wanna live forever...”’
“He was my best friend for all my adult
life,” Phil says. “It was such a good time, a lot
of laughing, taking the piss out of everyone. I wish
it could’ve lasted a lot longer.”
The last time he saw Lemmy was at their final
gig, in Berlin in December 2015. “We came off
stage, he said see you soon, and flew home to the
US. I got a call soon after that he wasn’t doing well,
and me and Mikkey [Dee, Motörhead drummer]
were going to go over in the next few days. But we
were called a few hours later, and it was too late.”
Health problems at the time meant Phil couldn’t fly
over for the funeral.
Mikkey Dee is drumming for the Scorpions
now, and is slightly conspicuous by his absence
from Old Lions Still Roar.
“Nah,” says Campbell. “No disrespect, but I’d
already recorded 15 albums with him. Besides,”
and that twinkle in the eye sparks back up, “he’d
want too much money...”Old Lions Still Roar is out now via Nuclear Blast.Phil Campbell has been talking about doing a solo album for 20 years. Now it’s finally here, the
former Motörhead guitarist, with help from some big-name friends, shows that Old Lions Still Roar.Words: Grant Moon Portrait: Will Ireland“Lemmy was my best friend
for all my adult life. It was such
a good time. I wish it could
have lasted a lot longer.”
54 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM