BAD COMPANY AND STRAIGHT SHOOTER - 70'S ROCK CLASSIC

 



BAD COMPANY might forever be considered a second generation and bland version of the band FREE, me being a massive fan of the latter makes it impossible to not make comparisons between the two. 

After the demise of FREE in 1973 which was inevitable after the death of guitarist PAUL KOSSOFF, it didn't take long for singer PAUL RODGERS and drummer SIMON KIRKE to come up with what was effectively an American stadium version of FREE with the services of MOTT THE HOOPLE guitarist MICK RALPH and bassist BOZ BURRELL.

Ralph had a knack of being able to come up with some tight and catchy R&B chords which welded perfectly with Kirke's punctuated and detached drumming style, having a soulful and bluesey singer like Rodgers out front on occasions allowed BAD COMPANY to almost scale the heights of the seminal FREE. 

The only thing BAD COMPANY needed was PAUL KOSSOFF and his more eclectic and improvised blues soloing. 

STRAIGHT SHOOTER will always be the best BAD COMPANY had to offer, as defining an album in the 70's as HOTEL CALIFORNIA was.