[4] With the addition of lead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke, On Parole was re-recorded almost in its entirety in 1977 during the sessions for the album Motörhead, largely due to having very limited studio time available.

Fox left the band as recording was nearing its conclusion and was replaced by Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, a casual acquaintance Lemmy had met through the local "speed" scene.

Taylor was given the job and set about overdubbing all of Fox's previously recorded drum tracks with the exception of "Lost Johnny" ( which was co-written with Mick Farren ), as he was being held in jail following an arrest for alleged drunk-and-disorderly conduct when that session was due to take place.

The fatigue of recording with an uncommitted producer also had a deleterious effect on Larry Wallis (who left the band soon afterwards):[6] The problems eventually took over the fun.

Of the tracks, three ("Motörhead", "The Watcher" and "Lost Johnny") were re-recordings of songs Lemmy had written and recorded with Hawkwind ( the latter co-written with Mick Farren), "City Kids" was a re-recording of a Wallis-penned track previously recorded by The Pink Fairies, and "Leaving Here" was a cover version of a Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown song Lemmy had learned whilst a roadie for The Birds.

Perhaps concluding that the Motörhead version would never see the light of day, Wallis re-recorded and released the track "On Parole" as a B-side to his Stiff Records "Police Car" single in 1977 with two members of Eddie and the Hot Rods (bassist Paul Gray and drummer Steve Nicol).

Conversely, Lemmy also recalled the moment he realized Taylor was not a singer, noting that "he sounded like two cats being stapled together" while trying to sing "City Kids".

The lyrics to "Vibrator" and "Fools" were written by Derek "Dez" Brown, a road-crew member from Wallis' pre-Motörhead band The Pink Fairies.

Brown would manage the Live Stiffs tour in 1977,[7] which included Nick Lowe's band on the bill featuring both Wallis and Edmunds.

In his book Overkill: The Untold Story of Motorhead, biographer Joel McIver quotes Lemmy: United Artists were a bunch of twats in the final analysis.

Dave Thompson of AllMusic calls the arrangements on the LP "devastating, steeped in blues, drenched in booze, the highest octane pub rock of all.