Paul Rodgers

Free were a band who took the art of when not to play to extremes. Their music is brutally empty and full of gaps and it can make for tough going for the listener. Their big hit 'Alright Now' is a good example of their minimalist approach. The bass guitar doesn't play except on the chorus and under the solo. The guitar riff is delivered staccato and is far more sparse when played by Paul Kossoff than by others who have played the song since. Simon Kirke's drumming is gloriously straightforward and simple. Above the guitar sit the rasping vocals of the spindly man who conquered a generation's hearts, Paul Rodgers. With so little else going on, everything becomes focused on Rodgers. It takes a special kind of singer to carry such a responsibility but Rodgers was very special.

How could a man be blessed with such an emotive voice and the ability to write such simple but elegant lyrics? You can only empathise with the way he describes the roller-coaster of young love, the hurts and the joys. He was hot property in the rock world and as Ian Gillan split from Deep Purple in 1973 Rodgers was the man asked to replace him. Rodgers declined having already committed himself to the Bad Company project. One cannot help but think that Rodgers would have brought something very special to the Deep Purple sound had he agreed. He would certainly have brought a new style of song-writing that would have augmented the Blackmore-Lord style of work.

A good starting point for Free is the album 'Fire and Water' where we see the full range of Rodgers' ability. There are the hard-hitting numbers like the title track and 'Alright Now' and then the quiet reflective mood pieces like 'Oh I Wept' and 'Heavy Load'. And check ou the immaculate phrasing on 'Mr Big'. You can now get some good compilations charting the course of the band where you'll get such tracks as 'The Stealer', 'My Brother Jake' and the latter day 'Heartbreaker' and 'Wishing Well' - all worth hearing.

Rodgers and Kirke were the half of Free that went on to form Bad Company with Mick Ralphs and Boz Burrell, a so-called supergroup of which much was expected. Whilst their label, Island, were happy to take the cash, they did not really think their charge a success in the same way as Free but the public loved them, and expectations were met. Ralphs was no Kossoff but was hugely competent and suited to providing the vehicle for Rodgers to shine. From the off there were a string of hits: 'Can't Get Enough', 'Rock Steady', 'Feel Like Making Love' to name a few. Such success must have looked like vindication for Rodgers in turning down Purple's offer. He was eventually to leave the band though and join up with Jimmy Page to form another supergroup, The Firm. The first LP was pretty good and spawned a hit single 'Radio Active' but the band did not meet with further success. Page went off to do a project with David Coverdale and Rodgers has since pursued a solo career.

Paul Rodgers put in a cameo appearance on The Rock Aid Armenia video project singing the second verse of 'Smoke on the Water' and which showed him to have filled out somewhat in his middle years. Then he appeared at the Night of the Guitars at the Seville Expo' in the early 90's in rotund shape but with vocal chords in magnificent working order. Two outstanding projects followed as he recorded 'Muddy Water Blues' and the excellent 'Now' and if the photos are to be believed he's returning to his former thin and spindly self.

Now if only he would go and rescue Ritchie Blackmore from his sojourn in the lands of twiddling medieval music that is his current wedded bliss - or something like that. Now a Rodgers-Blackmore partnership should be very interesting.

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