All language subtitles for BAD COMPANY - Official Authorised 40th Anniversary - Documentary[2014]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "BAD
COMPANY"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING]
Company always on the run.

Destiny with the rising sun.

I was born six gun in my hand.

Behind a gun, I'll
make my final stand.

That's why call bad company.

I won't deny.

Bad till the day we die.

Oh, you're beautiful.

Thank you.

What you get is rough
and ready, but it's real.

I was always aware of
music, because in my home

in Middlesbrough we
always had the radio on.

It was on all the-- all day.

So we listened to things.

Elvis would come on or Frank
Sinatra, and lots of the pop

in through the '50s,
and I didn't really

realize I was influenced
by it, but looking back I

think I was at, you know?

I first got into music--

oh, god-- when I was about 13.

I was brought up on
the border of Wales

in a little place called
Newcastle on Clun.

Logically speaking,
I was a late starter

because I didn't start
playing till I was 18, but I--

my first intro into
playing in bands

was in a local dance
band, if you will,

you know, playing standards,
and piano, and accordion, all

that sort of thing.

I saw my first TV program
at about I guess 14.

It was called "All That Jazz,"
and it had featured big band

jazz, you know,
swing bands, and I

was fascinated by the drummer.

MICK RALPHS: And I just learned
to sort of pick up by ear,

you know, chord changes
and what have you.

I think I was not really doing
that much musically at all,

and then I got involved with
some local bands in Hereford,

which ended up being the
basis of Mott the Hoople,

you know-- from
all different guys

from different local
bands, but to that

point, it was just playing
like in local village halls,

you know, the usual stuff.

It wasn't until, oh, I suppose
I became a teenager, really,

that I started to be interested
in the pop music of the day,

which-- which was the Beatles,
and the Stones, et cetera,

but when I heard the
Rolling Stones sing "I Just

Want to Make Love to You," which
was-- it's an old blues song,

I heard something different
from the normal from the pop,

really, although I still loved
the Beatles and the Stones.

And I dug a little deeper and
discovered blues, really--

Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf,
and John Lee Hooker, and it

was a whole new world to me.

That's the thing that
really deeply influenced me.

I've always tried to emulate
those guys because when I

heard, say, you
know, Wilson Pickett

singing or Elmore James, you
know, and they'd-- they'd hit

a certain--

a way of singing,
and I'd go that's it.

That's the way to
do it, you know?

I went to two
Windsor jazz festivals,

and that really opened
my eyes, but I knew

that I wanted to be a drummer.

I wanted to try my
hand at playing drums,

so I made a deal
with my parents.

After I got my A-levels,
give me two years,

and if nothing nothing
happens in two years,

I'll go to university.

And it was during those
two years that, you know,

I came down to London,
did all sorts of jobs,

answered auditions,
and in the last couple

of months of those
two years I met Paul

Kossoff and Black Cat Bones.

So, you know, the
drawbridge was coming down,

and I was fully prepared
to go to university.

My father bought me
a six string guitar.

Actually, that's how I
got into music, really,

because that made me eligible to
join the class band at school,

you see?

All you had to do is
have an instrument.

So we started playing together
in somebody's kitchen,

and I stayed with it.

I switched from six string.

We needed a bass
player, so I traded

that in and got myself a bass.

And I played bass for a
while and sang, and then I--

I put the bass down and just
focused on singing, you know?

Because that's what the
band wanted me to do,

but I always found that it
was helpful to be able to play

piano and guitar
acoustically, electrically,

and the bass for songwriting
when I would write

on any of those instruments.

I was with a band
called Brown Sugar,

and they started playing a riff.

Dum, dum, dum.

Dum, dum, dum.

And I start to sing
lyrics over that,

and it was like
long, dusty road.

Long, dusty road to nowhere.

Dun, dun.

And I said to the guys, well,
did you write that riff?

And they said, oh, no it's
some old blues riff, you see?

But that's what made me
think, ah, then if I come

up with my own riff, you know?

So anyway, to cut a long story
short I came up with a riff.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do,
do, do, do, do, do, do, do,

and then I wrote
"Walk in My Shadow,"

which that was the
first song I wrote,

and that appeared on the "Tons
of Sobs" album with Free.

And once-- once that had
happened, I was kind of off

and running, really,
because I thought,

wow, I can write songs now.

You know?

I ran into Paul Kossoff
at this gig, the Nags Head.

You know, the blues boom
was-- was huge in London

at that time, and I
didn't think the Black

Cat Bones were that good,
but Kossoff was wonderful.

And I said during the break--
you know, he came off stage.

I said, oh, you know,
I think you're great,

but I think your
drummer is crap.

And he said, well, it's
funny you should say that,

because he's leaving
tonight, and we're

having auditions tomorrow.

So anyway, I went along.

Long story short, I got the
job, and I played with Kos

in Black Cat Bones for about
six months, during which time

he said I know this
great singer who's

in a band called Brown Sugar.

And he's leaving, and
he wants to form a band,

and, you know, would
you like to come along?

And I said, yeah.

And, you know, so
there was three of us.

And then we had to
find a bass player,

and we knew Alexis Korner,
who mentored Paul Kossoff.

He was a family
friend, and he said

I know this great
little kid, Andy Fraser.

He's just-- he was playing with
John Mayall for six months.

We went, whoa.

And he's just got
the sack, and we

were just staggered
that a 15-year-old kid

could play that well.

And we asked him later if
he'd like to join the band.

We had a rehearsal there the
first time the four of us

got together, and
during those rehearsals,

Alexis came along just
to see us, you know?

And we were stumped
for a name, and he'd

been in a band
called Free at Last

with Graham Bond and Baker.

And he said, you know, why
don't you call the band Free?

And so we said, yeah, OK.

And then we played--

Alexis took us on the road
for a couple of months.

We did about, I guess, 12
or 15 shows with Alexis,

and we were off and running.

[music - free, "all right now"]

FREE: [SINGING] There
she stood in the street,

smiling from her
head to her feet.

I said, hey, what is this?

Now, baby, baby, she's
in need of a kiss.

I said, hey!

What's you name, baby?

Maybe we can see
things the same.

Now don't you worry or hesitate.

Let's move before they
raise the parking rate.

All right now.

Baby, it's all right now.

All right now.

Baby, it's all right now.

SIMON KIRKE: We
were a blues band,

I mean, but we were a little
bit more than a blues band.

We wanted to be like a
progressive blues band,

not just rock me, baby, and,
you know, the old standards.

We wanted to do--

you know, we wanted to
write our own stuff.

[music - free, "all right now"]

[SINGING] To my
place, watching

every move on her face.

PAUL ROGERS: And I
didn't really realize

I was a songwriter until we--

until Island Records stuck
a publishing contract

in front of me and said, OK.

I said, what's this?

He said, this is the
publishing contract,

and we want you to sign it.

Blah, blah, dah, dah.

And I said, it says,
well, songwriter.

He says, yeah, you're
a songwriter now.

You've got songs on the album.

I went-- that was the
moment I realized, hey,

I'm a songwriter, you know?

And then they stole
them all with a contact.

No, I'm just kidding.

We played hundreds
of shows, and we

built up a very good following.

And "All Right Now" was a
sort of a catalyst thing,

whereby it just blew
everything up in a nice way.

I mean, the fact that we were
now on TV, top of the pops,

or whatever, you know, we were
available to a lot of people.

I remember the first thing that
we did behind "All Right Now."

We were playing--
instead of playing

towns one after the other,
we were playing countries,

you know?

Holland, France, Belgium,
Germany, Scandinavia.

Whereas before, it was just,
you know, up and down the M1

down to Cornwall and back.

So it was a lot of pressure,
and ultimately it--

it brought about
our demise, I think.

Well, we've been working for--

for two years fairly solidly
around England and Europe.

And we'd had a couple of
singles out and two albums,

which had done fairly well, you
know, but nothing phenomenal.

And then-- then "All Right
Now" came along, you know,

and sort of was a hit in just
about every major country.

And it opened up the
market incredibly,

and we found that we
are playing to countries

that normally where we would
probably never gone to.

WOMAN: What are
you intending to do

when they get back to England?

Rest.

Get a long rest.

Not many people
know, but we did

two Isle of Wight Festivals.

And the first one, which was
not the big one, was in '69,

and we did about
a 20 minute set,

but the big one was,
of course, in 1970.

We had the hit, and it
was while we were waiting

to go on the ferry Pete
Townsend came up and knocked

on our transit window, and
said I love that fucking song

of yours, and then walked off.

And we're going, wow.

[music - free, "all right now"]

[SINGING] All right now.

Baby, it's all right.

SIMON KIRKE: Kossoff's demise
started after the first break.

We had the disappointment--

the follow up tour right now.

You know, we had "Highway"
after "Fire and Water."

We released "Stealer," which
I thought was a great song,

but it wasn't a hit record.

That didn't do very well.

"Highway" didn't do very well.

So we took it personally, and
Andy and Paul made the decision

that after "Highway" after
the world tour that was it,

and it broke our hearts.

I'll be honest.

It really-- it upset me, but
it devastated [inaudible].

So you know, I know now
that he was an addict--

what I know now about
addiction, because I'm

in the program meself.

And he was born an addict,
and-- and this breakup

completely devastated him.

[cheering]

MICK RALPHS: The basis of
Mott the Hoople was formed

in a band we had in Hereford.

Pete Watts himself, Verden
Allen, Dale Griffin,

the drummer and a singer.

Of course, Stan,
Stan [inaudible].

He was the original
singer, and we

went to London to try and
get a foot in the door

with Island Records and--

in the days when they
were [inaudible].

You know, it is getting
frustrating because you'd

sit around all day, and wait,
and then somebody would say,

oh, he's gone home for the day.

I was trying to see Guy Stevens.

So in the end, I just burst
into his office one day.

I said, I'm fed up
with doing-- you know,

I'm not going to come all
the way down from Hereford

and waste my time,
blah, blah, blah.

And he said, oh, come in.

I like your attitude,
and sort of that sort of

sparked it off with Guy,
because Guy Stevens was

then in the early days violent.

And he was the A&R man, if
you will, looking for talent.

And he liked the band.

He wanted to replace the
singer, you know, for the--

for the look, and the image,
and all the rest of it.

So that's how we
came across Ian,

and Guy Stevens
liked the look of him

with the shades
and the curly hair.

And that was the basis of--

the start of Mott, really, yeah.

The first I met Mick
was sometime in '69, I

would imagine, walking
in for the audition

in-- in Regent Sound.

We had a good live
following, but we

couldn't really sell records.

We weren't that
commercially successful.

We tried different
styles, different albums,

different singles
to the point that we

were getting very frustrated
and losing money-- decided

to knock it on the head.

And unbeknownst to us, David
Bowie had heard about this.

Suggested we do one of
his songs that he was

willing to offer to us to do.

We were already dead to radio.

We'd had a couple of
singles out already,

and radio just
didn't want to know,

but we also knew we
had to keep-- you know,

we were filling
everywhere, and you

don't fill everywhere
over a long period of time

if you don't have a hit.

So it was getting to the point
where something had to happen.

And he came back with "Dudes."

MICK RALPHS: So he--
he sent us the tape--

reel to reel tape with "All
the Young Dudes" on one--

on one track, and "Suffragette
City" was the other one.

And a nice handwritten letter.

And we loved the song of course.

And then he said, well, why
don't you come record it,

and I'll produce it for you?

But that really turned
out fortunes around.

[MUSIC - MOTT THE HOOPLE, "ALL
THE YOUNG DUDES"]

MOTT THE HOOPLE: [SINGING]
All the young dudes.

Hey, dudes.

Carry the news.

Where are you?

Boogaloo dudes.

Stand up.

Carry the news.

MICK RALPHS: Suddenly
you get a break,

and then the band changes
into a different--

so it wasn't the
same band for me.

It had lost its
underground sort of sub--

subversive feel,
and it had become

more of a sort of a
pop band, you know,

and the top of the pops.

And Ian got into writing
songs in a certain vein that

were kind of based on "All the
Young Dudes," which is great,

you know.

IAN HUNTER: Pete Watts,
the bass player, and Mick--

they were the two writers.

They didn't really want a
writer, and then after a while,

Pete Watts couldn't be bothered.

So I just started doing
it, you know, with Mick.

It-- it went away from the
original concept of Mott,

and I wanted to play
something a bit more earthy,

a bit more rough, if you like.

And that's when I
hooked up with Paul.

He was out supporting
us on Mott the--

on Mott the Hoople tour with a
band he had then called Peace,

and because we'd all--

we'd always liked his singing
anyway from the Free days.

And we got on really well,
and I had a load of songs

that we weren't doing with
Mott that I'd written.

Mick was coming in
with "Ready for Love."

He came in with
"Can't Get Enough."

And I couldn't sing them.

Paul was the sort of guy
that could sing the sort

of songs I was writing.

And it was really sad, because
we had a very powerful band

that was selling out everywhere,
but it was just pissing him

off, and I knew exactly how he
felt, because if it had been

him that had the couple of hits
on that particular record, then

I would have probably left.

So it was an unfortunate
kind of situation.

Initially we were
just going to record

some stuff [inaudible].

We didn't-- we hadn't thought
about forming a group then.

We just to-- record
some songs that we had,

and I had some songs.

He had some songs.

We worked together really well.

PAUL ROGERS: With Mick's
songs, I can step into them.

You know, with things like
"Simple Man," "Moving On,"

"Can't Get Enough of Your
Love," I can step into them,

and-- and they're very simple.

And that leaves me a lot
of room to play, you know,

and do my vocal thing.

It was very funny,
because it was just Paul

and I writing songs,
and, you know,

working out stuff together.

And Simon turned up one day
from one of his world jaunts

to wherever.

They said, well,
you know, you want

to-- you want to get a band
together, and I was in Brazil.

And I called--

I believe I called Paul
to see how-- you know,

how things were.

And he said, look, he fancied
me playing drums in this band

that me and Mick are
putting together.

And I love Mick.

Mick was so funny.

I mean, I love him to this day.

He's just a great character, and
he's a very, very good player.

So I said, yeah, man.

I'd love to.

Well, we were putting
the band together

with Mick at my cottage,
and I had a friend of mine,

Clive Coulson had
worked for Free earlier.

And he came round to my place,
and he now worked with Led

Zeppelin, and we got talking.

And I said, well,
we need a manager.

And he said, well,
you know, why don't

you give Peter Grant a call?

Because they have just formed
a new company, Swan Song,

and they're kind of, you
know, talent scouting.

It was a mark
of accomplishment

for a rock superstar to
have their own label.

You know, The Beatles had Apple.

And then The Rolling
Stones, had Rolling

Stones Records, and
then Jefferson Airplane

had Grunt Records.

So for one thing, it
was a mark of status

to have their own label
and to be able to develop

some other artists.

And so I gave them a
call, you know, and--

and he said-- and it
was kind of nervy,

really, because there's--

I'm-- there's me
calling this, you know,

manager of Led Zeppelin,
who were bigger

than God at the time, you know?

DANNY GOLDBERG: The members
of Led Zeppelin and Peter

thought they had
good taste in music

and that they could do a good
job of picking some artists

and attracting them, because
Zeppelin was at the time

the biggest band in the
world commercially in terms

of their concert sales, and
their record sales, and so on,

and that it would be
a prestigious thing

for a new act to say, hey,
I'm on Led Zeppelin's label.

MICK RALPHS: And
luckily he-- he said

he'd be interested
in hearing us,

which we couldn't
believe our luck.

And he arranged to come
and see us at a rehearsal

shortly after that.

PAUL ROGERS: He
said, yeah, yeah.

He said, yeah, I'm
interested in you, yeah.

And then he came round,
and I said well, Peter,

I come with a band, you know?

And we're going to be
called Bad Company.

And they weren't
sure about that.

I've had problems in
the past with names,

but, you know, I wanted
to stick to my guns,

and Bad Company it is.

Bad Company it was.

Funny thing was, when
we were rehearsing, he--

we didn't know he was there.

We were rehearsing in this
village hall in Surrey

in [inaudible] and
looking at the watch

and said, well, he'll
be here in a minute.

And we carried on playing, and
then it was 2 o'clock, then

it was 3 o'clock, then it
was 4 o'clock, and 5 o'clock.

By the time it came
about 6:00, Paul said,

oh, this is ridiculous and
he's not going to turn up.

We must be kidding
ourselves, you know?

And we all got really pissed
off, and played like vengeance,

and decided to go to the pub.

And when we went
out to the hall,

there was Peter sitting in his
car, and Paul said something.

Well, you turned up then.

He said, well, I've been
here for ages actually.

He said I didn't
want to come in,

and I just wanted to hear
you in your natural state.

Thinking he was late, we all
got pissed off and played,

you know, demonically,
which he thought was great.

And then he took us on, yeah.

PAUL ROGERS: He liked
what we were doing.

We had-- we had "Rocky Steady."

We had "Can't Get
Enough of Your Love."

We were playing "Bad
Company," the song.

So we had some good
songs going on, you know?

Some were mine.

Some were mine and Paul's.

Some were Paul's, you
know, but, yes, that

was the basic essence of it.

PAUL ROGERS: Peter said to me
I'm not going to sign you guys.

What we'll do this-- what
we'll do-- we'll just try it.

We'll just try it for six months
on a basis of a handshake,

and so I said, OK, let's go.

MICK RALPHS: He was one
of the lads, you know?

He was very much on the
side of the musician,

you know, and didn't
stand any nonsense

from the business side of it.

Don't fucking talk to me.

It's my bloody act.

[inaudible] leave you anytime.

You couldn't even give
them a starting line.

Peter did what was
good for Zeppelin.

Peter understood that the extra
money that they were paying

the agency after a
certain point was

wasted because Zeppelin
didn't need an agent anymore

in his opinion.

Promoters all wanted them, and
he also renegotiated the money

on behalf of the band
with promoters, too,

and kind of was the
architect of what's

called a 90/10 deal, which
meant the artist would

make 90% of the net.

Prior to that, 50/50
was the paradigm.

Peter was a real trailblazer
in terms of getting

more money for artists.

MICK RALPHS: He was very
keen to let us be ourselves.

He didn't impose himself in
production, or song choice,

or anything like that.

He just wanted us to do
what we wanted to do.

DANNY GOLDBERG: Peter really
believed in Bad Company,

and I remember when he
first gave me the record,

and I heard it, and I
think I went to his studio

and heard some
music, and met them

or whatever, he was
very worried that I

wasn't sufficiently excited.

And he really--

Peter Grant was 300 pounds.

He'd been a former
professional wrestler.

He was an extremely
intimidating guy to begin with,

and he was very insistent
that I understand

how much this meant to him and
how strongly he felt about it.

It was all very
gentlemanly, and he said,

you know, you do the music, and
I'll take care of the business.

And he did.

You know, he was great.

I mean, he divided
his time between us

and Zeppelin at the
time, because both doing

big stuff in America by then.

SIMON KIRKE: Because
he wasn't that

savvy about music, which was
probably one of his saving

graces.

You know, he didn't know
if F went with A minor

or with that bit went with that.

He just knew what he felt, and--

and I remember him
saying to Robert

Plant and-- and Paul at the
time was, you know, you want--

I just want you to
wear something bright

and jump up and down a bit.

It was a very knee jerk
reaction that he had for things,

and he had this incredible
business acumen, as well.

Plus this 300 pound wrestler--

ex-wrestler persona behind me--

I mean, he was wonderful.

Whenever he'd come to
a show, at some point,

he'd come to every crew member,
look you straight in the eye,

and say, is
everything all right?

Is there anything
that I can do for you?

And he meant it.

He not only looked
after his band.

He looked after everybody.

If you were in, you were
in, but by the same time,

if you did something wrong
against Bad Company or Led

Zeppelin, you might as
well just pack your shit

because you were done.

Did we get on with him?

Yes.

Well, yes and no.

I, being the naive country
kid, questioned him

about his underworld dealings.

Great.

I must've been out
of my fucking mind.

I said, Mr. Grant, I
understand that you have some--

I can't believe that I said it--

you have connections with
the London underworld.

Is this true?

And he was totally straight.

He says, no.

And then the next
band meeting we

had he pulled out
this submachine gun

full of ping pong
balls and went--

and I'm ducking.

But that was me, you know?

The completely naive, green--

and he loved me for it.

What he did for
us was wonderful,

and I think of him most days.

I loved him.

He was like a dad to me.

PAUL ROGERS: We didn't
even-- hadn't even

settled on a bass
player at the time,

although I liked the
guy we were trying.

It was a Welsh guy.

He didn't want the
gig, strange enough,

so we had to keep looking.

We had the three of us.

Simon, myself,
and Paul for ages.

We kept trying out all these
different bass players,

and they were all very good,
but they didn't quite-- for me,

they didn't quite
click chemistry-wise.

SIMON KIRKE: Boz wasn't even
there in the lineup when

Peter Grant came to see him.

MICK RALPHS: No, he came
in at the last minute--

Boz.

We were desperate
to do this record,

and-- and we took him on not
knowing what we'd taken on,

but it turned out to be great.

You know, he was
a real character.

I took to him straight
away, because he wasn't that

experienced on the bass
then, and I loved it when

he turned up for rehearsals.

All the other bass players
were so dead keen to play.

We said the Boz, what
do you want to do?

He said, listen, I
want to go to the pub.

Let's go to the pub.

You know, he didn't
want to play.

He just wanted to hang out.

So I thought that was great.

So of course we went to the
pub and got completely pissed,

played a load of rubbish,
and said he was in.

And then next day Paul phones
up and said, what was he like?

I said, I don't know.

I was drunk.

He said, so was I. He said,
I think I gave him the job.

We had a list of bass
players, and Boz was right

at the bottom-- number 16.

I'll never forget--
because we weren't

really big fans of [inaudible].

MICK RALPHS: [inaudible].

Paul [inaudible].

Yeah, we-- we
kept auditioning.

We auditioned for months.

And one guy we just kept trying
because he looked so bad.

He was dribbling a bit.

Oh, and we had [inaudible].

And Boz was the last guy.

And we auditioned a
lot of bass players.

Sorry bass
players [inaudible].

You were wonderful.
- Yeah.

Yeah.

They were all great.

MICK RALPHS: But Boz
was the last resort,

and it happened to be--

SIMON KIRKE: One of them looked
exactly like Eric Clapton.

We couldn't have him
in the band because he

looked too much like--

MICK RALPHS: You
said that [inaudible]

why couldn't get [inaudible].

I had all these
reasons [inaudible]

look like Eric
Clapton [inaudible]

phoning [inaudible].

He could stand up there
and stare at 50,000 people,

play bass like it was nothing.

He absolutely had that thing.

The ability to do it--

he had it in abundance.

The desire to do it-- if
there was anything that made

him uncomfortable, it was that.

It certainly wasn't the music.

MICK RALPHS: But
he was endearing,

and I loved Boz,
because he was actually

a singer first and foremost.

Boz was the singer
and King Crimson.

I only knew he
was a bass player.

MICK RALPHS: He bluffed it.

He said it said bass
player/singer wanted,

and he couldn't play
the bass at all.

So Robert Fripp taught him
how to play the basics,

and then of course he
improved and learned more

about the instrument
from then on.

PAUL ROGERS: And he played the
bass in a very melodic manner.

It was a strange thing
for him at the time

because obviously his peers were
Jack Bruce, and Alan Spenner,

and all these
amazing bass players.

So he was like--

he had to get in
there real hard.

Get his stuff together, which
he did real quick, actually,

and developed quite a
phenomenal technique compared

to most rock bass players,
because he had a very

exacting technique on the bass.

PAUL ROGERS: He could
play some high things.

Do, do, do, do.

You know?
What was that?

"Ready for Love" or something?

Yeah, the slides.

Yeah, he does some really--

He also-- he played
a fretless bass,

which is very hard to do--

an Ampeg scroll neck.

ZOOT MONEY: I thought
he was actually

going to develop it, and
develop it with a company,

and get his own thing.

It was very, very
useful in certain tunes

where it could go
lower than most

and could actually slide about.

Difficult to play because
you don't have any, you know,

frets making it obvious
where everything is.

So you have to be
pretty accurate.

I had never worked with
a fretless bass before,

and I was really intrigued.

It's a very kind of
provocative sound.

You know, it's got a
very interesting aspect.

I had just been
working with basic rock

and roll bass players that
went bum, bum, bum, bum.

And he came more from
an R&B background,

and I thought it was
perfect for the band.

When he first joined the band,
he came up with great ideas--

unusual, like that that skipped
beat beat in "Burning Sky."

That was his idea, and it just--

No, had some really--
he was really inventive.

And "Gone Gone Gone."

You know, he wrote a song
called "Gone Gone Gone."

If we were playing in D,
we'd play in F sharp instead

of the D. You know,
he always found

not the obvious thing
to play, and didn't

feel like making course.

He doesn't actually
play the do do.

He just come on the push.

Everybody else does-- bass
player goes do do bum.

But he didn't do the do do.

He just went bum.

SIMON KIRKE: He was not
your normal bass player.

MICK RALPHS: So he left
holes, which was great.

And I remember years ago, we
were doing all these interviews

in America, you know,
when we'd just come out,

and it was going on about how
great the rhythm section was.

And they were saying to Boz
we really like your style.

It's so economical.

So [inaudible].

I didn't want to play,
so I just stopped.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "SIMPLE
MAN"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING]
Oh, we're gonna make it.

Typically understated.

He was a very deep
thinker about music.

You know, Boz-- Boz was
very, very passionate.

He wasn't just somebody who
likes music or loved music.

He was a musicologist,
and he's-- you know,

you could go as
deep as you wanted

to about classical music.

He was massive Schoenberg fan.

He introduced me
to George Russell's

Lydian chromatic concept
of tonal organization

when I was about 12.

He was-- you know, he was
very, very deep into music,

so his ideas of space
and time passing notes

were thought about a lot.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "SIMPLE
MAN"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING]
I'm just a simple man.

Yeah.

Freedom is the only
thing means a damn to me.

I'm just a simple man.

SIMON KIRKE: I got to say, the
first few years in Bad Company

were the happiest of my life
because we had four guys who

were just having fun, and
we didn't have to worry

about guitars falling over.

We didn't have to worry
about deadlines to meet.

We-- we had a superb management.

We-- we had--
everything was clear.

All it-- it was only
left for us to play,

and-- and there was such a sense
of relief after Free that--

I'm speaking for
myself, not for Paul.

You know, I just--

I loved it.

And we could do no wrong.

It was just wonderful.

MICK RALPHS: We all
got on famously.

We were-- there was a
lot of energy there,

you know, the four of us.

PAUL ROGERS: I think there was--

there was a compatibility.

I can sing Mick's songs, you
know, and he can play mine.

So that's really probably
the nucleus of the band--

was that-- really
that song writing

team, because that's how we
hooked up in the first place.

To me it was
immediately an advantage

because it's hard to take on
the role of songwriting for--

songwriting is really the
lifeblood of any band,

and it's a tough call to keep
on coming up with new stuff

all the time, you know?

And there's also that sense of
a little bit of competition.

You did that, so I'll do this.
- Yeah.

And you know,
I mean, you could

throw songs at each other.

And there's also the thing of I
can't get this thing finished.

Why do you got any
ideas for this?

And then you can--

Chuck a bit in.

Amalgamate ideas.

Oh, I've got a bit
that would work with--

- That's right.
- And off you go.

- [inaudible].
- Yeah.

Yeah.
Yeah.

Well, "Feel Like Making
Love" was a classic example.

Paul had the riffs,
and had the riff,

and they just worked together.

We really captured what we're
singing about, you know?

Yeah.

The boy bit and the
girl bit, but Simon's

a great writer, as well.

He's written some
great stuff, and I

think that's why he's so good
to play with as a drummer,

because he does
understand music,

but he's not just a drummer.

You know, he's great drummer,
but he also plays guitar

and piano, sings, write songs.

So he has great
empathy for a song.

As a guitar player, I
find that great as--

in a drummer that actually
listens to the words

and takes the dynamics where
the song is going instead

of just crashing through it.

Like some drummers will just--

I'm the drummer.

We'll you see you at the end.

He rides through
song beautifully.

- Thank you, man.
- You know, up and down.

Oh, yeah.

I think really that's the
only way to be, you know?

I-- I can't do it--

I couldn't work with that.

I can't be doing with
people that aren't listening.

What's that?

That's not-- music is actually
listening to each other,

and reacting, and
bouncing off each other.

That is what it is, you know?

It's not-- do you
know what I mean?

MICK RALPHS: Absolutely.

PAUL ROGERS: It
would drive me nuts

if everybody was
playing and just

not listening to each other.

It's all about me,
blah, blah, blah.

MICK RALPHS: We've all
played with people like that

in various jam situations.

PAUL ROGERS: Yeah,
but not for long.

MICK RALPHS: And
then you realize

how lucky we are because, you
know, it's not about technique

or, you know, showing off.

No, it's about feeling.

It's about playing
other people.

Everybody knew that this
was going to be-- it just--

it was right.

It was Paul Rogers, Mick
Ralphs, and Simon all together.

Everybody knew it was good.

To give you the example,
the first UK tour they

did there was no album out.

There was no single out.

It was pretty much word of mouth
that the band was together,

and they sold out
a national tour

as it was then Hammersmith
Odeon, Newcastle City Hall,

like the headlining thing.

You couldn't get a ticket,
and they didn't have an album.

It was just simply
word of mouth,

and it was completely sold out.

SIMON KIRKE: We were seasoned
veterans in our early '20s,

and we had a great repertoire.

We-- we'd been around a bit, and
we had the backing of the Led

bloody Zeppelin and Pete
Grant, who is possibly the best

manager I ever worked with.

We had a good set.

We had-- you know, Paul
was a great singer.

We-- we could do no wrong.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "GOOD
LOVIN GONE BAD"]

[SINGING] If I hear you
knocking upon my door,

ain't no way that I'm
gonna answer then.

Cheating is one thing,
and lying is another.

When I say it's over, that's it.

I'm gonna quit.

SIMON KIRKE: I believe the
first album went to number one,

or was it Bachman Turner
Overdrive beat us by--

I don't know.

There's always someone
just preventing us,

but it was a great debut album.

And we were off and running.

Peter phoned me, or
Paul, or both of us

and said we've got this
Ronnie Lane's mobile studio

and this empty house,
and Zeppelin aren't going

to go in there because
Bonzo is not well,

and they want have
some weeks off.

Why don't you go in there
and lay down some tracks?

We said, right.

We were in there like a shot.

And we had the
guitar in one room.

We had maybe the
vocal on the balcony

somewhere and had drums in the--

in the foyer.

It just was cool.

MICK RALPHS: Paul sang
outside, yeah, on one of the--

Bad Company in the--

in the moonlight.

PAUL ROGERS: We set the
mic up way out in the field

and everything, and
there's a full moon,

and the wind blowing across
it and stuff, you know.

And it was-- it was
incredibly atmospheric,

because I was standing
out there in the dark

with headphones on and just--

just-- I could just
hear the music,

you know, and just my voice.

And it was a very
cosmic place to be,

and it made for good atmosphere.

I suggested that
Paul sing outside.

It was a little chilly
night, and I remember that

because at the end of
the song "Bad Company,"

there's a little-- it goes
"and the cold wind blows."

You know, it's just a
little ad lib at the end

because he was really cold.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "BAD
COMPANY"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING]
The cold wind blows.

These are the
days before reverb.

Before digital reverb you had
to have either a live chamber

or a plate.

You didn't have that in
a little mobile truck,

so you looked for little
nooks and crannies

that you could
create a sound with.

And lay down all the--

the backing tracks, vocals,
overdubs in two weeks, yeah.

It took 10 days.

We just slammed it down.

I think that one
of the things that

made that first album so
important was that, as a group,

they had gotten together.

And if you look at
Paul Rodgers, who

had an amazing run
with Free, but also

Andy Fraser as his other
writer in the group--

Andy was much more an R&B guy.

Paul had some good balance
that he had stored,

and if you look at
Mott the Hoople,

Mick took a backseat
to Ian Hunter

in a lot of the
writing capacity.

And he had some good rockers
like "Can't Get Enough

of Your Love" and all that.

He put them together, and
those days, that rocker

guy and the ballad guy--

and you had a lot
of great material.

Well, we'd been rehearsing,
and we were bursting

to get this stuff done.

The interesting thing
was at that time we--

I didn't really have
too much of a vision

of what the band would be.

It was really a bunch of guys
with a bunch of songs, really,

and we put everything
down that we had.

RON NEVISON: We went down there
and recorded more material

than we needed, actually.

We had-- there was a song called
superstar women that I think

eventually came out, but--

that I really liked that
didn't make the cut.

PAUL ROGERS: So there was no--

no feeling of, well, you
they've all got-- all the songs

have got to sound this
way, or they've all got

to sound this way or that way.

There was everything from Bad
Company to Seagull, you know,

all of the songs.

And it-- it made for
an interesting album.

And I've always liked--

if there's such a thing as
a format for doing things,

that would be the best way.

Instead of saying,
well, all the songs

have got to be in a certain
sort of way, you know,

a certain character
or a certain thing,

they can be totally different.

The more different,
the better, I think.

RON NEVISON: It went
very quickly because they

were well rehearsed.

They had a lot of good ideas.

PAUL ROGERS: And the song
"Bad Company," for instance,

I had that--

having got the idea of this
sort of dark, mysterious vast

expanse of the Wild
West, you know,

this lawless, featureless
area where you want

to go out and try and settle.

And the chords seemed to
portray this feeling of being

way out there and being--

having to survive with yourself,
your family, whatever, however

you could in a lawless
world of-- of nature,

really, a wild place.

And so I had all the structure
of that, and Simon came around,

and I said, here's a
song I'm working on.

So Simon threw a few
lines in for me with that,

and that became "Bad Company."

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "BAD
COMPANY"]

[SINGING] Six gun in my hand.

Behind a gun, I'll
make final stand.

That's why they
call me bad company.

I can't deny.

Bad company till the day I die.

Yeah.

I mean we did tour
in England and Europe,

which was very well received.

The next step was-- the logical
step was going to the States,

and we did our first big
tour supporting Edgar Winter,

and then the following
winter we were headlining.

The first Bad Company
album, "Bad Co,"

was one of those rare records
that people heard it once,

and they liked it.

I remember I did
a press mailing,

and-- and two days
later I was at a party,

and Joan Downs who was then
the music writer and editor

for "Time" magazine
came up to me and said,

wow, Bad Company is great.

I was so surprised
that she knew--

bothered to listen to it,
or thought it was great.

And similarly, the song "Can't
Get Enough of Your Love"

was just so perfect for
American rock and roll radio

1974 that the promotion
people at Atlantic

were-- were very
delighted with the record.

One of the last
shows was in Boston,

and Peter Grant flew
up, and he always

had this habit of
giving us a little pep

talk before we went on.

He says, you had a good tour.

You've done well, and I just
want to show you something

before you go onstage.

And he whipped back
this towel on the table,

and there were four gold albums.

The first album had
been certified gold.

I mean, we just--

we had no idea, because there
was no internet in those days.

There was no-- you know,
we just didn't know

how well it was going, so anyway
he says [inaudible] well done,

boys.

Now get the fuck out of here
and go and do what you do well.

This was a bullseye in terms
of rock commerciality in 1974,

and there was very
little difficulty

in getting them on tour,
getting it on the radio,

getting press for them.

And it went to number
one very, very quickly.

SIMON KIRKE: So when we came
back the next time in '75--

our first tour
where we headlined--

I mean, you know, we
went from opening--

an opening act to headlining.

PAUL ROGERS: It meant we did a
lot of shows, it seemed to me.

We were flat out on the
road and sort of trying

to catch up with ourselves.

And when we suddenly confronted
with the studio again,

and hey, record another album,
we were like, OK, what did

we do the first time, you know?

Now with hindsight
I can think back

and say, well, this is what we
did, and this is how it was,

but at that time, it was
just a whirlwind, really.

And so we were
back in the studio

ready to do another
album, and it

mostly reflected our experiences
on the road at that time.

MICK RALPHS: I'd like to
apologize for Paul not being

here, but he's been attacked
by some notorious lady,

I think, and--

Yeah [inaudible].

--absconded with.

But he sends his regards.

He says he thanks you.

PAUL ROGERS: You
have all your life

to make your first album
more or less [inaudible]

long as it takes to get there.

Next thing you know you're back
in the studio to do it again.

We went to Clearwell
Castle, I think,

and it was a little
bit different, though.

It wasn't-- I-- I didn't find
it quite so organic in the sense

that the place was
also run commercially,

and they had parties
for-- you know,

you could do a
medieval party there,

and everybody got
dressed up in armor--

suits of armor and drank mead.

And they roasted pigs
and stuff like that.

It was really weird sometimes.
I'd be wandering.

I'd be like, where's
the bass player?

You know, and I'd go through
all these corridors and things,

and there would be a
big party going on,

and all those people
dressed in medieval gear.

And right in the
middle of it all

would be Boz drinking mead, and
eating, you know, roast pig.

Boz, we got a session to do.

Come on.

You know.

So it was a little
bit different,

but it was-- it was
still very atmospheric.

WOMAN: I heard you produced your
last album in a Welsh castle.

Yeah.

WOMAN: What's the
story behind that?

We just fancied doing it in
a situation where we could be

just-- just the band
together, because I don't know

if you're familiar with
studios, but there's this

tendency to waste a lot of
time in studios, I think.

BOZ BURRELL: They're sterile.

With people coming in
and out all the time,

and there's an atmosphere
of having to make a record.

PAUL ROGERS: Down
through the years,

I've shared a lot of
the songs that I've

written with the band,
and I do that because--

to give a sense of cohesion,
and it's not all about me,

you know?

MICK RALPHS: He'd had an
idea, and he'd play it to me,

and then we'd chuck it around,
and I'd come up with a bit

for it, or a chorus, or a--

a middle eighth of it,
but I think generally he

wrote some good
songs on his own,

and I wrote some
good songs on my own.

Like "Shooting Star"
he wrote on his own.

"Good Lovin Gone Bad" I wrote,
and this is the second album,

and so we were both quite
prolific at the time.

So we used to do that, you know?

He'd have an idea, and
I'd say, well, it needs--

you know, it's all very nice,
but it needs something here,

you know?

Give it a bit of action like
"Feel Like Making Love."

PAUL ROGERS: "Feel Like Making
Love" was a song that I had--

I'd been working on.

I mean, I had it
on the back burner.

I had lots of songs
on the back burner.

I'm sure a lot of
songwriters do.

It's-- not everything
gets finished.

From my time with
Free, actually,

when I was touring with them
in San Francisco, I said--

I had some experiences of then.

That song came from then.

"Feel Like Making
Love" was two songs.

He had the verse,
and I had the chorus.

And I said to Mick, oh,
here's this idea I had.

Baby, when I think about you.

And I said, it just
needs something--

something to take
this somewhere,

and he comes up with--

and I went OK.

Feel like making-- you know,
and that's how that came about.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "FEEL LIKE
MAKING LOVE"]

[SINGING] Feel
like making love.

Feel like making love.

Feel like making love to you.

PAUL ROGERS: I sometimes
feel like they're almost

written through you sometimes.

"Shooting Star" was
a song like that

because I was just
walking along, and I was--

I think I was out at my
cottage, and I started to sing.

Johnny was a schoolboy when he
heard his first Beatles song.

I went, hm, I must have heard
that on the radio somewhere.

I went no.

And I ran back in there,
and I started to work out

the chords and stuff, you know?

And the song just flowed out.

And I couldn't believe, really,
that no one had thought to--

no other songwriter had
come up with the idea

of equating a shooting
star with a shooting star,

you know what I mean?

Like the idea of burning out too
early and that kind of thing.

So, you know, I just
thought it was a good idea.

One of these days I
want to create a musical

around "Shooting Star"
and expand the story,

and I think that would be
quite a nice-- because it's

happened so many times before.

SIMON KIRKE: We
went from opening--

and opening act
to-- to headlining.

We were full of ourselves.

And we were actually--

we had our own plane,
for god's sake,

so we could zip from city to
city, and it was wonderful.

RON NEVISON: They were so
filthy rich they couldn't afford

to stay in Britain because
they could only be there

for whatever the
restrictions are--

63 days a year for
a tax situation.

They looked at a lot
of different options.

One was the US, but they
didn't want to use up their--

their days of touring
visa, and so they

decided on the south of France.

And we rented this
villa up in Grasse,

which is just north
of [inaudible]

in the south of France.

The album, "Run With the Pack."

We used the Rolling
Stones' mobile.

We all arrived, and we all
had a, you know, cup of tea

waiting for the thing to arrive.

All of us sat around the
table-- the road crew, you know,

Paul, and myself,
and Mick, and Boz.

Suddenly we hear this huge
bloody knock on the door.

[inaudible]

And it was Mick [inaudible].

He was the Stones'
mobile engineer.

He [inaudible] all right.

He says, well, bit of a problem.

Can't the fucking mobile
through the gates.

It's to wide.

You're kidding.

No.

It's about two feet too wide.

The truck got stuck about
200 yards short of the house.

And one of Clive's suggestions
was to bring in a helicopter

and raise it over the wall.

So we called [inaudible] and
he says rent another villa.

So we rented another villa, and
it did have gates wide enough

to accommodate the mobile.

And we did the recording
there, and we kept the villa

where we were and stayed there.

So we had more money
than sense in those days.

No one thought to
take a tape measure

and measure the bloody mobile.

Would it get through the gates?

So we had two villas on
the go at the same time,

and defeated the whole object
of being residential-- commuting

from one villa to another.

We always produced
ourselves for our faults,

but I think we were
pretty, you know--

I suppose opinionated
is the wrong word,

but we really felt strongly
about how we wanted it to sound

and which way we
wanted the music to go,

and we didn't want anybody
taking it away from them.

We did work with
various different people

in different stages
of production.

We used the guy
from Jimi Hendrix--

Eddie Kramer, and
he was very good.

You know, we did some
mixes with him in LA.

That was great, but I think
that in all situations

we all overrode their opinions.

We-- we knew what we wanted.

You know, we-- we maybe used
them to help us to get where we

wanted to go, but we never
actually acknowledged

the use of a producer per se.

The first three were
particularly well received, and

well recorded, and very strong.

The fourth one wasn't
so strong because we

were-- we'd been on tour.

We'd do an album tour,
album tour, album tour.

Came to do the fourth
album, and Paul and I really

hadn't got a lot of ideas.

So we did the
"Burning Sky" album

anyway and knocked together
some songs, but it wasn't--

we didn't have a good
stockpile of songs,

which is the best thing to do
before you go into a studio.

You know, you go in
with about 15 or 20,

and you end up with
about 12 or something.

We didn't have about six when
we went to do that record,

and they weren't all
going to make it.

So we were writing things
in the studio, which

is always not a good idea simply
because of the schedule we

were at.

I mean, it wasn't as if we
hadn't had any time off,

but when you come
off major tours,

you don't want to go
straight into a studio.

So you have a bit of time
off ostensibly to write,

but I mean, you don't.

You just sort of
recover from the tour.

SIMON KIRKE: We did one tour
in America of 70 cities.

70 cities.

It was like, wow, where--

we didn't know half the
time where we were playing.

You know, Mick
would have to have,

hey, Springfield, or hey,
Chicago, great to be here.

Sometimes we didn't
know where we were.

It became a big problem for us.

It was something that
Paul brought up very well.

He said, listen, I can't
take this endless tour album.

I need some time off, man.

I need-- give me just
a month or two months,

but don't keep booking
things without,

you know, consulting us.

MICK RALPHS: We
suddenly realized, well,

we can't go in and
make another record

without more preparation,
without having more songs.

I mean, we got away
with a fourth album.

It was not a bad album at all.

There's some good
songs on there,

but there wasn't the
abundance of the--

as there was in the first
three, and so we just

had to try to make up
for that on "Desolation

Angels," which I think we did.

PAUL ROGERS: I needed to
write a song for the album,

and I was thinking,
you know, what

I'm going to write about now.

And I actually had a--

a synth guitar.

It was one of the
first synth guitars

that ever came out
made by Roland,

and when you got it going, it
made some fantastic sounds.

And it had-- you know,
it had harpsichord sound.

It had a bass sound.

The guitar could be made
to play harpsichord, bass,

a guitar, acoustic,
everything, you know,

all these different sounds.

And I was putting
all these sounds in,

and I-- and I hit this, and I
went, wow, this is like a rock

and roll fantasy, this guitar.

And I went, a ha, that's it.

So and then I just--

I just-- I wrote, OK, what would
a rock and roll fantasy be?

Well, it would be being
on stage, and the lights,

and the crowd, and
everybody singing,

and just brought the
song around there.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "ROCK AND
ROLL AND FANTASY"]

[SINGING] It's all part
of my rock and roll fantasy.

It's all part of my
rock and roll dream.

SIMON KIRKE: Everythone
was doing blow--

everyone except Paul
Rogers, and I'll

categorically state that
right now, because Paul quit

all that stuff in the mid '70s.

So he was never
involved in any of this,

but I was, and I
did a lot of blow.

Boz did.
Mick did.

The whole Zeppelin camp did,
and, you know, as anyone out

there will know--

by the way, I'm many
years sober now,

but I speak with
experience that coke just

makes you incredibly paranoid.

It makes you drink like a fish.

There is no redeeming
factor in cocaine.

JASON BONHAM: "Desolation
Angel" just came out.

They just played
Birmingham Odeon,

and dad got me to learn
"Rock and Roll Fantasy,"

so when they came
over, I played it,

but even Paul tells
the story different.

Ah, yeah, you played "Can't
Get Enough of Your Love."

I went, it wasn't "Can't
Get Enough of Your Love."

I played "Rock and Roll
Fantasy" [inaudible].

MAN: So where did you play?

At my house.

At my dad's house, yeah.

When-- I was in my pajamas.

I remember be woken up.

It's your time, you know?

Down I come, you know.

And just played it.

So that-- that
was the first time

Paul actually turned to
Simon and went, you're fired.

It was one of the many times he
did that, [inaudible] but yeah,

it was [inaudible].

So that's the truth.

1980 was a horrible year.

You know, Lennon was shot.

I believe-- you're going to
have to look up the chronology,

but I think it was just
after Bonzo had died.

It was horrible.

When John Bonham
passed away, he--

he sort of became
a virtual recluse.

He took it really hard.

SIMON KIRKE: The band had been--

it had run itself
into the ground.

We were tour,
album, tour, album.

We were all knackered,
and then when John died,

Zeppelin broke up.

It was like a house of cards,
because once Zeppelin went,

Peter Grant went into seclusion.

There was no one to look
after us, Bad Company.

We'd go to his
house for meetings,

and we wouldn't
see him, you know?

And we got the feeling that
he-- he wasn't really that--

well, understandably he'd lost
a lot of enthusiasm for the job.

So we soldiered on
without him, but that

was not very successful.

I mean, you know, when
you have a band of four

strong characters, and the
manager is the stronger--

stronger than any of us,
and he's done on the scene,

everybody then decides
they know best.

So when you've got
four people in the band

thinking they know best, you
know, it's not going to work.

At least he was the one we
listened to in terms of,

you know, touring or
recording not material,

but timing of everything.

So then we did an album that
was-- it OK, but it was--

it was not the same after--

without Peter's involvement.

That was the last
album, "Rough Diamond."

Then after that, Paul decided
that he wanted to quit.

SIMON KIRKE: By the
end of 1979, when

we'd done "Rough Diamonds,"
which was really not very good,

there'd been a fight
between Paul and Boz.

Paul-- he expressed a
desire to do his own album,

so he was saving songs
for his own stuff.

Mick wasn't-- you know, they
weren't collaborating anymore.

Mick was writing his
own stuff, and it's--

it happens, you know?

It happens with all great
song writing partnerships.

Eventually there
will come a time

where you'll save your own stuff
for something that you want

to do solo, and
that's what Paul did,

and to a lesser extent, Mick.

PAUL ROGERS: The thing
about music for me

is that music is really
the most important thing,

and we were-- we were young,
and we were successful,

and we did a lot of partying.

And I felt that we were
losing touch with the music,

and it was getting too
much about the parties.

It was too much like a
"Shooting Star" situation,

if you know what I mean.

And I just felt that we--

we'd lost track of the
original fire that we had,

and I wanted to get away and
do something else basically.

We weren't getting on,
and that was mainly to do

because Peter wasn't around.

He would always sort
out any friction.

Oh, don't be such an old
tart and stuff like that--

and get us all unified
as a group again.

We'd lost that unity.

And you know, I love Paul,
and I respected and admired

Paul since, you know, 1968.

That's how far back we go.

I think he's one of the
finest singers in the history

of "singingdom,"
but I don't know

what he got under his bonnet
about Boz, because Boz

was new on the scene.

Christ, he'd been a
singer up until 1973.

I mean, he'd only been playing
bass a couple of months,

you know, when we
got hold of him.

The thing about Boz was
he was very musical,

and he wasn't scared to voice
his opinion about, you know--

almost bloody
annoying, actually.

You know, we'd come to the
end of this frantic song,

this great, you know, like
a woomp on the end of it

on the drums.

And he'd go, uh, should
we do another one.

Simon would start complaining
about how it sounded,

and he'd go up to the desk
and turn it up full volume,

look around, and
look at everybody,

and then [inaudible].

Around He said, well that
used to work in the old days.

We were saying I know what
to do, and Paul was saying,

I know what to do.

And, you know,
Boz is-- so it was

all like four different
people as opposed to a group.

And I think that's [inaudible]
that's when Paul decided he

didn't want to do it anymore.

And we quit just after that.

SIMON KIRKE: Paul
said, you know, I

can't take this anymore.

I'm going to do my own thing.

And it was just a general
screw up all around.

So that really was
the end of Bad Company

and the end of Led Zeppelin.

My emphasis has
always been about music.

Really that's the thing that--

that's the only reason I do it.

It's not to be successful
or to be famous.

It's to be a songwriter, and
to sing, and to reach out,

and to connect with people.

That's really my
thing, you know?

And everything else is
a side issue, you know?

And I felt we were
losing touch with that--

the idea of playing
just to reach people.

I don't know.

And so I went to seek
something else, you know?

I thought at the
time that maybe

he just wanted some time off,
you know, as you sometimes do.

When you work closely
together, you just want

a bit of a breather, you know?

Get on each other's nerves if
you're in each other's company

all time.

In the old days, I remember
so-and-so leaves The Searchers.

End of group.

No reunion planned.

It was all headlines,
but with us-- with Free

and with Bad Company it was
like we just kind of dissipated

and went our own ways.

MICK RALPHS: And
also at the time

he was the only
one that had kids.

See, at the time, none
of us had had children.

He just wanted time
apart from the group

to spend with his family
and do his own thing.

So that was probably
the right thing to do,

because I think if
we had continued,

somebody might have
got hurt along the way.

You know, I mean, he
was-- he was quite heady,

and I think his--

his decision to stop
was the right one.

It was a horrible
time, as I said.

1980 to '82 was an awful time
for me personally, and I--

I developed an addiction,
and I went to treatment.

And when I came
out, you know, it

was all a bit of a--
bit of downer, really,

and I missed the band terribly.

I did.

I mean, it was a great band,
and we made some great music,

but we really did
need some time off.

The group didn't continue,
so we all drifted off

into other things, but I think
there was a period where we

were just hanging
around thinking,

well, Paul will want
to do something soon,

but it didn't go that way.

The door was always left
open by pretty much all of us.

Anyway, everybody went off
and did whatever they did.

Paul did some solo stuff.

[inaudible] "Cut Loose."

I think he did his
first solo album.

Yeah, and then
Paul got involved

with Jimmy Page a put together
the band called The Firm.

PAUL ROGERS: Because
of John's death--

John Bonham, you know--

and Jimmy said to me,
well, we should form--

let's form a band
and go on tour.

And I said, well, you know,
I really don't want to get

into the grind again, you know?

And he said, I'll tell
you what-- what we'll do,

we'll make two albums,
and we'll do two tours,

and that will be it.

That's all we'll do.

And I said, OK,
that sounds good.

And that's what we did.

I did an album
called "Take This"

in about 1980, '81 with Simon
and a few other musicians.

Boz went off and
played his jazz.

He loved his jazz, and
that's what he ended up

doing, getting himself a
10, 12 piece jazz band up

in Edinburgh, which he
got his rocks off on,

so thank goodness he did that.

You know, we all
find things to do,

but it wasn't as rewarding
as being in a group.

Particularly, Simon,
me, and Paul always

being band members--
you know, when

you make a living
in that mentality,

you depend on the other
people you're with.

PAUL ROGERS: I met BB King and
played with him at his club

in New York, and we
did a song called

"Every Day of the Blues," which
is the first song I played

with Paul Kossoff on stage at
the Fickle Pickle [inaudible],

so for me it was
a fantastic full

circle to be playing that song.

I-- I met Hubert
Sumlin, who is--

and played with.

He actually played "All
Right Now" with me.

CATHY BURRELL: Boz decided
he wanted to retire,

and Boz just basically stayed
in the hammock on the poop deck

for six years and got browner,
and browner, and browner.

The Four Tops invited me to
play at their 50th anniversary

in Detroit.

When I met Paul, we were
on the same show in Detroit.

We were both doing a
tribute to The Four Tops.

And that was a
real honor, because I

didn't even know that they
would be aware of me, you know?

Naturally, everyone
knows about Paul

Rogers and Bad Company, but I
had no idea he was even there.

[music playing]

Because I really love you.

Really, really love you.

I'm thankful that
you love me too.

PAUL ROGERS: And I got to
sing a couple of songs--

a couple of their songs,
and they came on stage,

and they actually stood behind
me like I was their lead singer

and they were my backing
band, which was--

I mean, it was a real honor.

To me Paul Rogers
is one of the most

underrated personalities
you would ever want to meet.

This man has talent
beyond talent.

This man can sing anything.

He can sing the telephone book.

I was watching TV
one night, and then

there was this Brit Awards or
something, and Queen were on.

And then I realized Paul
was singing with them.

You know, they arranged
to do "All Right Now"

or something together.

And I thought, wow,
you know, that's great.

And then they obviously
invited him to be the vocalist

for some Queen shows.

PAUL ROGERS: I had
just played with Brian

for [inaudible] charity at
Wembley, and so we got talking.

And he said, you know,
we want to play that,

but we need a singer.

If you'll sing for us,
our couple of songs--

"We Will Rock You," and
"We are the Champions"--

we'll be your backing band for
your song in "All Right Now."

I sad that sounds like a good
deal, and that's what we did,

and it was dynamite.

BRIAN MAY: That, to
me, was a great thing.

It was just something which
was kind of in my blood

because we grew up on
Free and Bad Company.

Freddy was a big
fan of Bad Company.

So I went on and
played with Paul,

and it seemed like the most
natural thing in the world.

There was an instant
easy chemistry there.

PAUL ROGERS: People--
people from the bowels

of this building where we were
rehearsing all came rushing up

to see what the excitement was.

You know, they were popping
their heads in the door.

So from the get go,
it was very exciting.

BRIAN MAY: And Paul,
as it happened,

was in a sort of
lull, and Paul told

me later that he was
considering giving

up playing at that point.

You know, he was
feeling that he wanted

to have some more
home life and stuff,

but I'm afraid we
put an end to that.

[MUSIC - "FEEL LIKE MAKING
LOVE"]

[SINGING] Feel
like making love.

Feel like making love.

Give it to me [inaudible].

Feel like making love.

Don't you [inaudible].

Feel like making love.

MICK RALPHS: It was very sad.

We found out that Peter Grant
had passed away in 1995.

Obviously missed him terribly.

Still do.

It was good to see
everybody, of course.

We'd all lost touch
with each other.

We'd all gone off and
done different things.

Yeah, I mean, you know,
we never felt out.

We just went our
own separate ways,

so it was-- it was kind
of nice to hook up,

although it was a sad
circumstance in which

to get everybody together.

And Robert Plant
suggested to us at the

get together that perhaps we
should think about getting back

together and doing
something, which sowed

the seed in everybody's
mind, which eventually

led to the 1999 reunion.

PAUL ROGERS: It was like
as if we hadn't stopped.

We started playing
again, you know,

and then really quickly we
had the old chemistry back,

which was quite amazing,
really, because everybody

had gone off and done
loads of different things.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "CAN'T GET
ENOUGH OF YOUR LOVE"]

[SINGING] I can't get
enough of your love.

You know that I can't
get enough of your love.

SIMON KIRKE: The reunion
was not a success,

and I think we could
all agree that primarily

there were two camps.

There was Paul and myself,
who were sober, and there

was Mick and Boz, who weren't.

And when-- when I'm trying
to maintain sobriety,

and I'm only speaking
for myself here,

and we have Mick and Boz who
are completely the other way,

it led to a huge divide.

And we didn't get on.

Bottom line is it was not
a success both commercially

or personality-wise.

And I think we were
all quite glad to see

the back of each other.

Not so much me and
Paul, because I've

always gotten on fairly
well with Paul, but Boz

became a problem.

His intake was pretty
bad, and, you know,

it eventually killed him.

It was Boz's belated
60th birthday party

and had some friends staying,
some musicians staying.

And there was a lot of
people arriving later on.

I was in the kitchen
cooking up a huge buffet,

and Boz was wandering around.

I think we're
watching horseracing.

We were betting on
the television on Sky.

And Boz turned round to his
friend Billy and said, gadger,

life doesn't get any
better than this.

And he walked outside
onto the patio,

and picked up Alvin's guitar,
and said to Tam White--

he said, no, no, no.

That's the wrong
note for this tune,

and he's going this
is how it's played.

And the next thing we heard was
the guitar hitting the floor,

and that was that, I'm afraid.

MICK RALPHS: Well,
it affected me a lot.

You know, I was very, very
upset and obviously saddened.

He was a great friend of mine.

Probably in the group we were
the closest two, you know?

I mean, he got on
with everybody,

but me and him used
to hang out a lot

and used to go out together, and
if we shared a house on tour,

we'd share it
together, you know?

So I was very good friends with
him, and he was a lovely guy,

and it did change,
you know, the band.

We plodded on without him, but
I do miss him terribly, yeah.

He was a great
character in the band.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "GONE,
GONE, GONE"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING] It
ain't the first time, baby.

Baby, it won't be the last.

I better get the boys round
and do some drinking fast.

Cause she's gone, gone, gone.

Boz did drink heavily.

Some would say detrimentally so.

I wouldn't agree with that,
because in all the times

that I saw him drinking, he
was always practicing, working,

recording, laughing, listening,
understanding, philosophizing.

He lived a full life.

Alcohol didn't prevent
any of these things.

He was never the curtains closed
on your own bevy merchant.

He wasn't one of those guys.

He drank socially.

He enjoyed drinking.

I never saw it as a bad thing.

ZOOT MONEY: He did have
an incredible tolerance

for stimulants, and
he could actually

function, because he would play
in whatever state he was in.

He just wanted to continue
doing what he liked to do.

And so if he could have any
excuse really to be playing

or to be listening to music.

He didn't believe in
going out on a half life.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "GONE,
GONE, GONE"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING] Cause
she's gone, gone, gone.

I don't know if I'm happy.

I don't know if I'm sad.

She's gone.

MAN: He was just something else,
and if you could have seen him

play in the last few
years of his life,

he became a world
class bass player.

Phenomenal.

The whole reason
we got back together

was there was concern about
the trademark of the name,

and because the
band wasn't working,

there was a danger that other
people might use the name

and all these sort of things.

So the obvious thing
was to do something.

Well, Paul was still in
Queen, and so I said, well,

why don't we just do a gig?

At least then it
can be seen that we

are working as Bad
Company, you know,

with Simon, and me, and Paul.

Obviously without poor old Boz.

So that's what we did.

We did a gig in Florida
at the Hard Rock.

August, 2008.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "ROCK AND
ROLL FANTASY"]

[SINGING] Yeah.

Here come the jesters,
one, two, three.

SIMON KIRKE: Wonderful.

I got to say that
was absolutely--

came out of the blue.

I can't even remember
why we did it.

The name was being
plagiarized by certain people,

and in fact, Mick, himself
took it out on the road,

and I didn't like that.

And I decided that
what we needed

was to pull the thing together
to have a new contract

between us which
stated that none of us

could play without the other's
permission or use the name.

So we said in order to define
that we would do a show.

We'd video the show.

DVD the show.

And we'd release it.

Well, we had a good
time playing that show,

and the audience was fantastic.

MICK RALPHS: So it was yet
another kind of reformation,

I suppose, but it
was-- yeah, but it

was like we hadn't stopped.

It was great.

SIMON KIRKE: We
filmed it, and Paul

did some remixing of the tapes,
and it was a big success.

And it paved the
way to do these 10

shows earlier in--
in '09 when we

did the east coast of America.

We were all a bit,
you know, not quite sure

how it would be without Boz
and how we'd be received,

but of course,
soon as he started

playing and the audiences
responded so well that we--

we felt good about
it again, you know,

despite Boz not being there.

The song still came
across quite fresh, and--

and it was-- it was suddenly
as if we hadn't stopped,

but there was a long
period in between where

we hadn't done anything.

There was Mick, and there
was Paul, and there was myself.

And we had Howard Leese and Lynn
Sorensen from Paul's solo band.

And it was a
wonderful combination.

All I've ever wanted
to do is be in a band,

and the band that I've been
in the longest is Bad Company.

And I can do that.

I'm good at that.

No, I think everybody else
probably feels the same.

I mean, we've all done
different things in the interim,

but nothing is rewarding--
for me, anyway.

Well, I'd just
come off tour, and I

said I'm not going to do another
three month tour, thank you.

Not straight off the bat, but
we can do a couple of dates.

So we end up doing
these 10 dates.

The 10 shows in--

in '09 were some of
the best that I've ever

experienced in any band.

But whether we go beyond that
into recording new stuff is--

is-- you know, it could.

And no reason not to.

See, it was a bit like the
early days of Bad Company where

we had left behind
those demons, and we

were now playing
unfettered, unchained,

and just having a ball.

[music playing]

PAUL ROGERS: I wasn't quite
sure what to expect because it's

been such a long time, and we--

Considering we hadn't played
for like, what, 10 years?

Yeah.

Somebody said to me, is
it like riding a bike?

I said, no, it's like
riding a wild stallion.

[laughter]

I like that.

You don't forget how
to do it, but it doesn't

make it any less dangerous.

No, I like that.

[inaudible] put that
top lift in first.

MAN: And here we go.
Jolly good.

Hey, Chris.

All right, buddy.

[inaudible]

Thank you.

See you later.

[inaudible]

Thank you, my friend.

[cheering]

PAUL ROGERS: [inaudible]

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "CAN'T GET
ENOUGH OF YOUR LOVE"]

SIMON KIRKE: I'm always trying
to hear what Paul is doing

and trying to, you know,
supplement it, complement

it, whatever, back it up.

Like you said earlier on,
you've got to have a structure.

You can't be too free from, but
there's certain times in songs

that, you know,
he'll do something,

and I'll try and back it up
rather than ride over it.

MICK RALPHS: Yeah, if
Paul goes somewhere,

we'll go there with it,
you know, or whatever way.

You know, it's just at the
moment whatever [inaudible].

PAUL ROGERS: Yeah,
well go run with it.

MICK RALPHS: And whatever
dictates it-- you know,

the mood of the audience,
or the way we're feeling.

We're always right there
to compliment that,

and it's just a
natural thing we do.

It's not a problem
for any of us.

It's a magical experience
pretty much every night.

I have to pinch
myself once in a while

because I'll be standing next
to him, and I'll look back,

and there's Simon,
and I'm going, wow.

These are the guys that
I grew up just loving.

They're playing their music.

I think Paul is the greatest
rock singer that's ever lived,

and to this day, I mean,
he hasn't lost a step.

A lot of singers
of his generation

are substituting the high
notes for lower notes

or tuning down a little
bit, but Paul-- we

play everything in A 440 concert
pitch, the same as the records.

A lot of the times I'm playing
I'm thinking about what I'm

doing, but now and then,
when I get a chance,

I'm just listening to him play
and seeing what I'm playing

is-- it's a magical feeling.

All of the gigs have--

all of the shows have
been exceptional.

The UK tour was another
endorsement of that.

You know, the response was
great, and we played well.

Good morning.

Hello, Chris.

Mick [inaudible]
how you doing?

[interposing voices]

What we'll do is we'll
walk in at 3 o'clock.

[inaudible] will get up
and make an introduction.

You'll play.

We'll do a photo session.

Then do the Q&A. And then
a signing of a guitar

that we'll present to the Hard
Rock, and then we're done.

I'm getting too
old for this shit.

You're gonna have to
whip me into shape here.

Hello.

This was the first
[inaudible] ever.

Not many people know that.

What?

MAN: There's your drumhead.

All right.

Ah, Boz is up there.

Look at that.

[music playing]

[chatter]

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "FEEL LIKE
MAKING LOVE"]

I was in the States
last year for 10 shows,

and then when I come home, my
friends and family were asking,

you know, is the UK
thing going to happen?

I said, well, sworn to secrecy,
but possibly, you know.

Ladies and gentlemen,
would you please

welcome a true super group.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Bad Company.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "SHOOTING
STAR"]

[SINGING] Don't you know
that you are a shooting star.

Keep on shining
somewhere [inaudible].

Don't you know that you
are a shooting star.

All the world will
love you just as

long, as long as you are alive.

I like that sound, basically.

Classic British rock sound.

Yeah, that's it.

That's what we're
missing, you know?

Well, that went
well, didn't it?

WOMAN: [inaudible]

It was really good.

I thought they were fantastic.

That-- that kind of
chemistry is still there.

There's absolutely
no doubt about that.

Hello.

Nice to see you.
First gig.

Lovely.

[cheering]

WOMAN: Come on, Simon!

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "CAN'T GET
ENOUGH OF YOUR LOVE"]

[SINGING] Well I
take whatever I want.

And baby, I want you.

All right.

You give me something I need.

MICK RALPHS: It would
be nice to do some more,

and it would be
also nice to do some

new stuff if-- if that's
the way it's going--

I mean, I haven't
written for a long time.

I must be honest.

I haven't really felt like it.

You know, you go through a
patch when you're not working,

and then you have marital
problems, whatever, you know,

all that stuff, and you don't
feel like writing anything.

There's nothing to
write about that's good.

I like to write about stuff
that's good, you know?

Not miserable stuff.

So-- but I'm starting
to write again now.

I'm feeling good
about everything,

and having the band
there as a vehicle is

an incentive, because I've
always written for a band,

you know?

And Bad Company stopped--
there was no vehicle.

Although I kept writing, it
was all kinds of various stuff.

At least having Bad Company
there gives me a focus

to think, well,
[inaudible] there

is a certain thing that we do,
whatever it is, like it or not.

So I try to tailor the stuff
I'm writing to fit that bill,

you know, to keep it up
to date but still keep

the essence of what we
did in the early days.

And Paul played a
couple of things,

and I picked up on them,
and I said, oh, what's that?

You know, like little
glimpses of things.

It would be nice if
we did some new stuff.

We shall see.

SIMON KIRKE: Who knows?

I mean, we're fit,
sober, and who knows

what the future will bring?

But I really hope that we
can do some shows together

in the future.

As long as there's a market
there, and a demand for it,

and we're enjoying it,
there's no reason not to do it

as long as we physically can.

I don't think any of us want
to do marathon tours anymore.

We're too old for that.

I would love to
do another album.

You can't predict it, really.

You just have to
see how it goes,

but hopefully
there will be more.

That would be lovely.

That would be lovely.

I'm going to take
a break, and I'm

going to focus on songwriting.

Songwriting, really,
you know, that's

where everything
kind of stems from,

and I'll see where
that takes me.

[MUSIC - BAD COMPANY, "ROCK AND
ROLL FANTASY"]

BAD COMPANY: [SINGING] Here come
the jesters one, two, three.

It's all part of my fantasy.

I love the music,
and I love to see

the crowd dancing in the aisles
and singing out loud, yeah.

Here come the
dancers one by one.

You're mama's calling,
but you're having fun.

You find you're dancing
on a number nine cloud.

Put your hands together
now and sing it out loud.

It's all part of my
rock and roll fantasy.

Yeah.

It's all part of my rock
and roll dream, yeah.

It's all part of my
rock and roll fantasy.

It's all part of my
rock and roll dream.

Yeah.

Put up the spotlights
one and all.

Then let the feeling
get down to your soul.

The music's so loud you can hear
the sound reaching for the sky

and churning up the ground.