Graham Reid | | 1 min read
Deal with the Preacher
The dinner table conversation turned to Bad Company because one of the guests announced he was going to see them in the States and, despite some agists jokes, we agreed that they were a damn fine rock band and Paul Rodgers a superb and largely underrated singer.
He’d been in Free with BC drummer Simon Kirke and for their first incarnation – there have been many and they are still active today – they pulled in Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell from King Crimson.
That was
the line-up on their self-titled debut from ’74 whch went top five in Britain
and to number one in the US.
Listened to
at this distance it’s sometimes difficult to maintain the “hard rock”
description because many of the songs are mid-tempo and something like Seagull
is a ballad which aims for poetry but descends into bathos. It did however
contain Can’t Get Enough and the song Bad Company which began to define their
territory.
Their
second album Straight Shooter also came with ballads but one of them, punched
in with power chords at the right moment, became one of their most memorable:
Feel Like Makin’ Love.
And so
their early career progressed with album tracks ending up on hard rock and
classic hits radio stations to this day.
Signed to
Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label and managed by their Peter Grant, BC seemed to
have the world at their feet after that impressive debut . . . but critics were
always divided over them (as hard rock got harder, BC did seemed somewhat lightweight
against rowdier rivals) and even now the jury is still out on their
contribution.
No doubts
over Rodgers’ vocals however although he is more expressive than raunchy . . .
and the chance to reasess their early career until ‘79s Desolation Angels comes
with this five CD set.
Given that
it is just $15 at JB Hi-Fi stores here, it’s a chance to reconsider Bad
Company.
Not in the expectation they are a hard rock band but more as a classy
journeyman outfit with plenty of solid songs scattered about.
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