Veteran Rock Author Talks About Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company

By: Rick Landers

Free’s lead guitarist, Paul Kossoff, with author, Steven Rosen

During the ’60s and early ’70s, rock and roll would mutate from its early rockabilly roots and explosively soar with the emergence of amps stacks and electronic innovations, harnessed to the inventive genius of a remarkable array of young musicians. And some would become legends.

Author, Steven Rosen, captures the essence of two legendary groups in his book, Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company. 

Rosen’s experience in writing about rock musicians was a known quantity, as his credits appeared in such luminary publications as: Guitar Player [16 covers], Rolling Stone, Creem, Playboy, the Los Angeles Times, Guitar World, Circus and others.

And as his writing career would progress, he would author books on Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Beck, Black Sabbath, along with his book that tells the story of Free and Bad Company.

Steve’s work in the world of rock music would lead to interviews with Frank Zappa, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Paul Kossoff and many more legends of rock guitar.

Rosen was able to snag a book deal to write about Free and Bad Company, even before Bad Company had released their fist album. This writing coup became the opportunity he needed to not only hang out with some rock’s icons, but to dig in even deeper to understand the parts that make up the whole. He would hang out with Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke, while on tour, during and after performances and sometimes in their homes.

What would emerge was, Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company, a book that offers readers an inside look at two of our favorite bands.

As the publishers of Steven Rosen’s new digital edition of the book, Guitar International is proud to present an interview, where he offers us the inside scoop to how it all happened and what it was like hanging with rockers at the top of their game.

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Left to Right – Simon Kirke, author Steven Rosen, and Paul Rodgers

Rick Landers: How did you initially get involved with Bad Company that allowed you access to the group in order to write Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company?

Steven Rosen: I had always loved Free, even way before I ever started writing. I used to play “All Right Now” and “Fire and Water” in cover bands. I wasn’t quite as good as Paul Kossoff [Smiles], but his playing astonished me and the band were just unreal.

So when I had the chance to interview Paul Rodgers with Bad Company in 1974, I felt like the prince of pens. I spent time with Bad Company on what was their first tour of the U.S. and that interview became my first story in Rolling Stone.

About two years later, I interviewed Paul Kossoff for Guitar Player magazine and it was simply one of the greatest moments I ever had. I now had these amazing interviews with Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke and Koss in my archive.

Fast-forward about five years. I contact an English book publisher called SAF Publications and I pitched them on the idea about a book on Free. They came back to me and suggested I include Bad Company in there, as well, and we were off and running.

I tried in vain to contact Andy Fraser for the book, but I couldn’t find him. Which is why I am so elated that this eBook you now have in your hands contains the Fraser interview that has been so long in coming.

Rick: One of the most intriguing chapters in the book is the interview with Free’s lead guitarist, Paul Kossoff. What struck you as the most interesting part of interviewing such a formidable artist?

Steven Rosen: I have a theory about the truly gifted musicians amongst us. I believe some great spirit from above reached down and said, “I will bless you with a gift—but you will also have to endure the curse.”

Paul Kossoff had that gift, a remarkable mastery of the guitar like no other. His finger vibrato is legendary—but so was his addiction. Paul suffered from some kind of identity crisis and he must have felt uncomfortable in his own skin. That was what struck me about the afternoon I spent with him.

He was as sweet, gentle and accommodating as anyone I’ve ever interviewed. He loved the guitar and adored Free—who had broken up by this time—and wanted nothing more than to share his ideas and thoughts with me. But, he was also horribly drunk when we spoke and that, his curse.

This virtuoso who had it all—talent, fame, respectability—was destroying everything with alcohol and drugs. How does that happen? What incredible insecurity could lead this profoundly gifted guitarist to throw his talent on the garbage heap? All of those emotions came through that day—his fragility, his insecurity, his gentleness and his virtuosity.

Rick: Over the course of hanging out with the group, and I suppose your need as a writer to try to grasp more than just  the members’ off-stage personalities, was it difficult to cast your perspectives down in writing so you weren’t overly critical or overly abundant with praise?

New updated eBook edition of Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company by Steven Rosen

Steven Rosen: That is always the most difficult thing to do in writing a book or an article about someone. Rarely—if ever—will you read a book about someone where the author trashes the subject.

It’s different if a musician or celebrity writes their own autobiography, but it hardly ever happens where a writer will reveal negative elements about a musician’s life. I’ve been trampled on both sides of that equation.

Some readers of my stories have said I was too praiseworthy of the person I was interviewing, while others have threatened me with physical abuse (true) if I even hinted at casting their particular hero in a less than appealing light.

So yes, I tried to be as balanced as possible in the book in describing and evaluating who these individuals were as people and non-music entities. Truth be told, I don’t know if I totally succeeded. I loved Free and thought the early Bad Company records were perfect. I probably went overboard in my praise of the band and at times gushed like any other fan. But don’t tell anybody.

Rick: Were there times when you felt that your access was getting too personal, maybe even invasive, and you were compelled to keep certain boundaries in place?

Steven Rosen: I don’t think that happened. I spent a couple days with Bad Company on their first tour. I wrote in the book that I was on their tour bus and saw several shows and if anything, I wish I had more intimate moments with them.

I know the band trusted me and felt comfortable with my presence. If they hadn’t, I never would have been on that bus or in my Triumph Herald taking Paul Rodgers to see Elvis Presley (read the book).

Rick: With some performers, they tend to be rather reserved, even shy in person, but once on stage they transform into rock stars. Was this evident in any of the members that you met?

Steven Rosen: That is definitely true about a lot of artists, but with these guys it was pretty much what you saw is what you got.

Koss, as I’d mentioned earlier, had this very fragile underbelly and that’s who he was onstage. You never saw him jabbing his guitar neck at his amps or jumping around. He was simply locked into his role as the guitar player and he accomplished that with a studious grace and a fairly low-key demeanor—precisely the type of person he was offstage.

Paul Rodgers was a commanding presence offstage and when he climbed in front of an audience, that persona expanded. He was a masterful stage general, but never indulged in the kind of histrionics Rod Stewart or Steven Tyler engaged in. Rodgers used the microphone like a weapon, but when he was deep in the throes of “My Brother Jake” or “Bad Company,” he could have been sitting in an armchair with his legs up on a coffee table.

Rick: If you could make a distinction between Free and Bad Company, as far as their onstage performances, what struck you as the most intriguing?

Steven Rosen: In terms of live performance, Bad Company had a much bigger production than Free. More lights and more movement onstage. You have to remember that even though Free had the huge single with “All Right Now,” they never really toured the U.S. as major headliners. They opened for Blind Faith, but they never had huge success in the way Bad Company did.

Rick: Now that Free at Last has gone digital, is this the same exact book as the out-of-print edition?

(Left to Right) Boz Burrell, Steven Rosen and Mick Ralphs.

Steven Rosen: No, it’s not. The digital version has some cool bonus stuff in it. The entire Paul Kossoff interview is included in the digital version. The print book only has excerpts and passages I lifted to write the story.

In fact, when I went back and read the entire Kossoff interview, I was pretty pleased. Typically, I think I could have always asked better or different questions when I look back at some of my interviews. But, the Koss story came across as pretty complete.

There’s also an interview I did with Andy Fraser. He was the one missing piece in the print book. I had interviewed Koss, Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, but Andy was not included. So, I’m really happy he’s here in the digital book. There are some wonderful photos that weren’t in the original book and bits and pieces from Simon Kirke that didn’t make it into the hard copy.

Rick: What were the most challenging aspects of pulling Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company together?

Steven Rosen: For me, it’s always about forgetting some important piece. Some key performance or some inciting incident that fans want to read about. If you omit some crucial history, fans are all over you. And I get that. So, it’s just trying to be thorough and careful about what gets included and what doesn’t.

Rick: What’s the most significant legacy to rock and roll that Free gave to the music?

Steven Rosen: When you talk about the great English blues rock bands, Free are at the top of that list. They combined this very organic sound—guitars, drums and vocals—with a sense of melody that few other groups ever touched on. Andy Fraser loved Paul McCartney and his bass lines are as musical as anything Kossoff played. Paul’s guitar playing was simple to the extreme and yet whenever anybody tries to cover “All Right Now” or “Mr. Big,” they never get it right.

And Paul Rodgers was simply one of the best singers to ever come out of England—or anywhere else. In the early days, there was Steve Marriott, Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey and maybe one or two others, but that was it. So, Free’s legacy casts a big shadow.

Rick: What groups today do you think best reflect the kind of powerful rock and roll that Free and Bad Company offered us?

Steven Rosen: That’s a tough question because bands just don’t sound like that anymore. The guitars nowadays are all compressed and running through effects and vocals are pitch corrected and all kinds of garbage.

But there are a few bands who continue to carry the torch. Rival Sons are an amazing band out of Long Beach California. Singer Jay Buchanan adores Paul Rodgers and even sounds a little bit like him, but has his own thing totally going on.

Guitarist Scott Holiday is a beautiful cat who loves Jimmy Page and Free. There’s a group out of Cincinnati called the Buffalo Killers and they channel a bit of that ‘70s rock thing.

Joe Bonamassa has covered “Walk in my Shadows” and “Seagull” and channels Paul Kossoff regularly. So, there’s still a bit of the old school hanging on.

Rick: In the unlikely event that some of our readers aren’t familiar with Free and Bad Company, what key songs would be a good start for them to get to know the groups?

Steven Rosen: The obvious place to start is “All Right Now,” Free’s biggest hit. But, a great sampler would include “I’m a Mover,” “I’ll Be Creepin’,” “Fire and Water,” “The Stealer,” “Little Bit of Love” and “Wishing Well.” There are so many others, but if you check out these tunes, you’ll know exactly what the band is about. With Bad Company, must listens include “Can’t Get Enough,” “Ready For Love,” “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Run With the Pack,” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy.”

Guitar International Group, GIG, LLC is the publisher of the ebook, Free at Last: The Story of Free and Bad Company