But it was Rodgers' previous band, Free, that created the template for much of that success. The success of Bad Company's debut album began a cycle for the band of arena and stadium tours, followed by a new album, more touring, another album, and so on. And later (in 2010), our song 'Bad Comapny' went to the top of the charts when it was recorded by (American heavy-metal band) Five Finger Death Punch, which amazed me." And I remember our manager, Peter Grant, saying: 'Are are you sure you want 'Can't Get Enough' to be the first single?' And I said: 'Absolutely.' It was a big hit. "With 'Cant Get Enough, when Mick played that to me the first time, 'I said: 'That song is a hit,' before we even recorded it. charts, sold more than 5 million copies and yielded such American FM radio staples as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Ready for Love” and “Bad Company.” With Rodgers’ powerful vocals at the fore, Bad Company took off almost instantly. Its crisp, punchy songs blended the same blues, rock and soul ingredients as Free into a more polished and commercially palatable mix. In between Free and Bad Company, Rodgers turned down an offer to join Deep Purple, although in later decades he went on to collaborate with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and with Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor.īad Company was a radio-friendly version of Free. Bassist Burrell, an alum of pioneering progressive-rock band King Crimson, joined a short while later. Rodgers’ voice trailed off into a long, disconsolate sigh.īad Company was formed in 1973 by Rodgers, former Mott the Hoople guitarist Ralphs and ex-Free drummer Kirke. “Then ‘Koss’ got in trouble, and we all thought we’d put Free back together, in the hope that would help him get things back together. “Free broke up in 1971, then I put Peace (a new band) together,” Rodgers recalled. It contained such autobiographical verses as: You’ve always been a good friend of mine / But you’re always saying: ‘Farewell’ / And the only time that you’re satisfied / Is with your feet in the wishing well. Kossoff was only 25 when he died of heart failure in 1976.įree’s final hit before imploding, 1973’s “Wishing Well,” was written by Rodgers to - and about - Kossoff. His previous band, the blues-rocking Free - best known for its international hit “All Right Now” - imploded several times in the early 1970s because of guitarist Paul Kossoff’s debilitating drug use. Rodgers was no stranger when it came to observing the pitfalls of excess up close. I said: ‘Whoa! I’m going to come off the road and get my head back to reality.’ We were kind of way out there, with the private jets, and the whole (fame) trip was getting a little crazy, I felt. And it (his death) was so close to us, that it shocked me and woke me right up. And I felt something had to give,” he replied. “Well, it was a bit excessive, what we were doing. Both bands were managed by Peter Grant, a legend in his own right, albeit an intimidating one.Īsked to elaborate about any bad habits Bad Company and Led Zeppelin may have shared, Rodgers parsed his words carefully. release on Swan Song, the record label Led Zeppelin launched the same year. I’m coming off the road and spending time with my family, and putting a (recording) studio in my house.’ And I did all of that.”īad Company’s self-titled 1974 debut album was the first U.S. And when John died, I thought: ‘That’s it. I was getting all sorts of warnings that (our lifestyles) were excessive and that all of this was too much. And, also, the sad demise of John Bonham did it for me. “When you’re so on top of each other and so close for such a long time, it’s easy to grow away from each other, and that’s what happened. “What went wrong?” Rodgers mused recently, speaking by phone from his home in Canada. They released a halfhearted album in 1982, then called it a day. His alcohol-fueled death struck close enough to home for Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers that, at his prompting, he and the band - guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist/singer Boz Burrell - went on hiatus for the next two years. The wake-up call came with the tragic passing of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham in 1980. And the road of success led to more excess, not wisdom, for the English group, which brings its 40th anniversary tour here for a Tuesday night concert at the San Diego County Fair’s Grandstand Stage. In hindsight, though, the band’s first hit single, 1974’s “Can’t Get Enough,” seemed prophetically titled. Bad Company had it all in the 1970s - fame, fortune, hit singles, multimillion-selling albums, a private jet to fly on to concerts, and all the other perks rock stardom had to offer.
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