Bad Company's Debut Set Paul Rodgers Free
but Free fans had mixed feelings
Free was one of the great unappreciated late '60's era rock bands. Sure, they had a hit with "All Right Now", but like Stealers Wheel with "Stuck in the Middle", that song is catchy with a barbed hook, but that's about all. Free was a band that simmered: dark, brooding, deep and thoughtful. The albums leading up to Fire and Water didn't sell, and Highway, the one following the big seller, flopped too. The group did better in the U.K. but even Fire and Water only got to No. 17. The sad story of Paul Kossoff is best covered elsewhere but he was a powerful player on those Free albums.
Free members Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirk formed Bad Company in 1973 adding ex-Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and ex Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company achieved the success that eluded Free. Why is easy to understand. They went with a "bad boy" approach that resonated with rockers but at the time many Free loyalists thought songs like "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" and the song "Bad Company" were a bit hokey and pandering, especially since the guys weren't exactly threatening badasses.
But it worked and the band itself meshed well. Ralphs brought both "Ready for Love" and "Can't Get Enough" to Bad Company that he probably couldn't get to fit into Ian Hunter's Mott the Hoople plans and both proved extremely popular, while "Movin' On" was the most "Free-like" song of the set and Rodgers' "Sea Gull" the most thoughtful. Bad Company holds up well all these years later especially with the genre pretty much moribund in 2024.
The very basic, straightforward recording always sounded great: open, spacious and transparent with an especially addictive drum sound—the way rock ensembles should be recorded and mixed. The first snare drum crack on this reissue tells your ears all they need to know. Kevin Gray got this one 100%. Nothing more needs to be said.
The inner bonus material includes a full pane showing the side one tape box. Inside engineer Ron Nevison tell his story generally and this record's background specifically. It's an enjoyable read. Paul Rodgers adds some new notes. There's a Swan Song label and the British Island one too plus a shot of the band of nice blokes not at all threatening or probably in any way bad company!
On a personal note, I've always liked "Seagull", which has a lyric "Now you fly, through the sky, never asking why/And yo fly all around 'til somebody, Shoots you down." How sad. Last week as I was prepping this review there was a story in the local Patch about a New Jersey idiot who decapitated a seagull for swooping down and stealing a French Fry from his daughter. He was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, happy to report.
Back when the album was released and Bad Company came to Boston, I was assigned to take the boys on a night time tour. I met them in Paul Rodgers' Holiday Inn hotel room and when I walked in with my rather large Jew'fro, Rodgers, who already had some thinning on top looked up and said "Can I have your hair?" I said "Deal, if I can have your voice." Obviously he kept his voice and me my hair.
