| Paul Kossoff |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT PAUL KOSSOFF | |
| 1950 births | |
| 1976 deaths | |
| english blues guitarists | |
| free band members | |
| russian-english people | |
| drug-related human deaths in the united states | |
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Kossoff started playing in the mid '' and '' Free ''; both developing their sparse Blues/rock - and Soul -edged sound, which was a welcome contrast to most of the "over-playing" of their Progressive and heavier Counterparts at the time. Success came in 1970 when their third album '' Fire And Water '' spawned the massive hit " All Right Now " and they played the Isle Of Wight festival to both audience and critical acclaim. Sell out tours in UK , Europe and Japan but after the release of the next two albums '' Highway '' and '' Free '', band pressures led to a split. While Rogers and Fraser pursued unsuccessful solo projects - Peace and Toby - Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Texan keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi to release the underated 1971 album '' Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu And Rabbit ''. Free then reformed (mainly to "see the ailing Kossoff smile again") and released the album '' Free At Last ''. But Fraser decided he had had enough and quit to form Sharks. The rest of the band drafted in Tetsu and Rabbit for Free's last album '' Heartbreaker '' after which an end was called in 1973 . Rodgers and Kirke went on to form the successful Bad Company while Kossoff released a solo album, '' Back Street Crawler '' and then accompanied John Martyn on a 1975 tour before assembling a new group, also entitled Back Street Crawler. They released two albums - The Band Plays On (1975) and Second Street (1976). Recordings from one of their UK concerts in 1975 were also released under the title Live at Croydon Fairfield Halls 15/6/75. Kossoff's long-sustained, wailing notes and the sheer passion of his playing made Free one of the top live attractions and won them a dedicated following. When the band supported Blind Faith in the United States , Eric Clapton was impressed enough to ask Kossoff to demonstrate his legendary vibrato technique to him. Kossoff's guitar playing was also much in demand for session work and he contributed some memorable solos to several albums including Jim Capaldi's Oh How We Danced (1972); Martha Valez's Fiends and Angels (1969); Blondel's Mulgrave Street (1974); Uncle Dog's Old Hat (1972), Michael Gately's Gately's Cafe (1971) and Mike Vernon's 1971 album Bring It Back Home. He is also featured on four unreleased demos by Ken Hensley which finally saw the light of day on the 1994 album From Time To Time; and three tracks which appear on the CD only issue of John Martyn's Live At Leeds album from 1975. On Jim Capaldi's 1975 solo album ( Short Cut Draw Blood ), two songs were reputedly written about Kossoff; Seagull and Boy With A Problem. Kossoff played lead guitar on the latter, presumably oblivious to the lyrics which were to prove prophetic: "He's just a boy with a problem he can't conceal. He thinks he's controlling his habit. but soon from this earth he will leave." Kossoff's unhappiness with the end of Free and his retreat into drugs saw him slip into decline. He eventually died on a flight from Los Angeles to New York on March 19th, 1976 from drug-related Heart problems. In the wake of his tragic death, a 16-track career retrospective of Kossoff's, titled Koss (after his nickname), was issued in 1977. The late '90s saw a renewed interest in Kossoff and another career retrospective was issued, 1997's 14-track Blue Blue Soul, as well as five-disc Free box set Songs of Yesterday, and a Free biography entitled Heavy Load — The Story of Free. He was the son of Jew ish Actor , David Kossoff , who spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs. His stage Revue of Paul's addiction, which he toured in the late '70s and early '80s , was both poignant and heartbreaking. Throughout the years, rock music has been littered with talented musicians whose lives were cut short due to drug-related deaths. Free/Back Street Crawler guitarist Paul Kossoff was one such casualty. Kossoff was born in London, England, on September 14, 1950, and early on studied classical guitar (before giving up on the instrument by his teenaged years). But upon discovering the British blues-rock movement of the '60s, Kossoff's interest in guitar perked up once again, especially after catching a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers live show with Eric Clapton. Kossoff soon purchased an electric guitar (a vintage Gibson Les Paul, which eventually become his trademark guitar) and began playing in local bands. Through one such band, Black Cat Bones, Kossoff became good friends with their drummer, Simon Kirke, who would serve a prominent part in Kossoff's musical future. Eventually feeling that the band had reached its zenith, the band broke up after the Black Cat Bones backed bluesman Champion Jack Dupree on a song called "When You Feel the Feeling." Kossoff and Kirke set out to form another group, hooking up with vocalist Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser , the quartet decided to go by the name " Free "(which was supposedly christened by British blues icon Alexis Korner). Just as the new band signed a deal with Island/A&M Records, Kossoff had fully blossomed into an outstanding guitarist, renowned for his fluid, slow, and melodic leads and bluesy riffs. Free issued a pair of albums in the late '60s that went largely unnoticed -- 1968's Tons of Sobs and 1969's self-titled release -- as Kossoff grew slightly disillusioned by the group's lack of commercial progress and tried out for guitar openings in such groups as the Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull. But big-time success would prove to be just around the corner for Free as their 1970 release Fire and Water spawned the massive hit single (and eventual classic rock standard) "All Right Now" and helped secure the group a spot at the esteemed 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (which also included performances by the Who and Sly & the Family Stone, as well as one of the final performances ever by both Jimi Hendrix and the Doors). But, this would prove to be " and Simon Kirke would go on to form Bad Company ). The same year as " Free "'s swan song, Kossoff was able to pull himself together long enough to record a solo album, Back Street Crawler, which surprisingly featured contributions from his former Free bandmates (as well as Yes drummer Alan White). Happy with the results, Kossoff decided to form a full-time solo outfit, named after the title of his solo debut. In addition to Kossoff, Back Street Crawler featured singer Terry Wilson-Slesser, keyboard player Mike Montgomery, bassist Terry Wilson, and drummer Tony Braunagel and the lineup signed on with Atlantic Records to issue a total of two releases -- 1975's The Band Plays On and 1976's Second Street. But Kossoff's health kept worsening; while in a London drug rehab in 1975, Kossoff narrowly escaped death when his heart stopped beating and he had to be revived. Undeterred, Kossoff continued on his destructive path and on March 19, 1976, Kossoff died from a drug-induced heart attack while on a plane flight from Los Angeles to New York at the age of 25. In the wake of his tragic death, a 16-track career retrospective of Kossoff's, titled Koss (after his nickname), was issued in 1977. Subsequently, several British Kossoff releases were issued in the '80s on the Street Tunes label: 1981's The Hunter, 1982's Leaves in the Wind, 1983's Mr. Big, and 1984's Croydon June 15th, 1975. The late '90s saw a renewed interest in Kossoff and another career retrospective was issued, 1997's 14-track Blue Blue Soul, as well as five-disc Free box set Songs of Yesterday, and a Free biography entitled Heavy Load -- The Story of Free
The following albums were issued after the band ceased recording:
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