Originally published in Uncut, November 2016.
WHEN Led Zeppelin and their manager Peter Grant founded Swan Song in 1974, they could hardly have imagined the success of their label’s debut release. Bad Company, the first album from the supergroup of the same name, hit No 1 in America and No 3 in the UK, propelled by the power and songs of former Free members Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, Mott The Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell.
“Peter Grant and Zeppelin were quietly ecstatic, I think,” says Simon Kirke, remembering their immediate success today. “Their first signing had gone platinum. There was a mutual respect growing between us. We might have been newbies on the label, but we were backing all the hype up with solid performances and very good songs.”
Despite the tricky task of following up the album, and its key tracks “Can’t Get Enough” and “Bad Company”, the quartet and manager Grant quickly headed straight to the bizarre, apparently haunted, Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean to record their second album, Straight Shooter. Released in spring 1975, it contained a host more hits, notably the immediately infectious “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, largely written by Paul Rodgers in the wilds of northern California.
“It’s hard to sit down and write a song specifically to translate into large stadiums,” explains Rodgers. “Sometimes it just happens.”
Although Burrell died in 2006, the three remaining members are returning to giant venues this month with their Swan Song UK tour, which ends at London’s O2 on October 29. “The first few years were amazing, because we had a lot of quite sudden success,” says Mick Ralphs. “But it’s only in later years, when you look back and reflect on it, that you realise what a nice time it was, because it was all happening so fast. We all did everything together, we lived together and played together, worked together, hung out together, as bands should do.”
KEY PLAYERS
- Paul Rodgers (Vocals, guitar)
- Mick Ralphs (Guitar)
- Simon Durke (Drums)
PAUL RODGERS: The mood was good, then. We were charged and excited to follow up the success of the first album. Peter Grant had just presented us with our gold albums, so ‘euphoric’ would be putting it mildly.
SIMON KIRKE: All the elements were coming together. But also we had to prove that we weren’t a one-hit wonder and that this follow-up to the Bad Company album would stand on its own merit. So there was a little apprehension.
MICK RALPHS: Peter Grant didn’t make any suggestions, though – he was very good like that, he said, ‘You do the music and I’ll do the rest of it.’ He was the best manager we could have got hold of at the time, and he was brilliant.
RODGERS: Grant and the boys in Led Zep were hugely supportive musically, also with accounting, legal, the entire organisation, and I realise that looking back even more so than at the time. It seemed then just a natural occurrence. Ah, the naïvety of the young! They were, and are, awesome.
RALPHS: We were very democratic. Originally, it was just myself and Paul who got together – we were originally going to do a record together, with songs that I’d got and that he’d got. Then we had the idea of forming an actual group. Simon turned up at Paul’s house in ’73 while we were working on the songs – he’d just come back from Brazil – and he sat in and played drums with us. So we thought, all we need now is a bass player and we’ve got a band! It took a few months to find Boz, we tried lots of different bass players but we ended up with Boz. He fitted in perfectly. We were writing songs together, working out arrangements. It was a very productive time. Paul and I would use acoustic guitars a lot for putting down ideas, when we were writing. We’d get an idea for a song and then we’d put it to the band and it would become whatever it was to be, whether it went electric or we kept it acoustic, like “Seagull”.
RODGERS: I began writing the song while I was touring with Free in ’68 in San Francisco. The inspiration was somebody I had met at the time. Life experiences. I travelled, hitchhiking, up to Rio Nido and camped out in the woods with some people I had met. I was gone for days. It was a wonderful experience to be young and free in America during the ’60s.
RALPHS: On “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, the verses were written by Paul on an acoustic. He always had an acoustic with him, strumming songs, and we’d sit down and work things out together. We had good ideas at that point because we were early into our career. It was more of a ballad than many of our songs, yeah. Originally it started out as a bit of a country song, with a gentle lyric.
RODGERS: I played the song to Mick and he liked it. Then he came up with the big, heavy chords in the chorus. It turned into one of our most popular songs with the fans and radio.
RALPHS: I came up with the riff, and I suggested we put the two together to create a song. I think that’s the feel of the song, the verses are very appealing to the ladies, probably more than the men, and then the riff comes in which is all bloody macho. It’s a big chorus and it worked out really well.
RODGERS: Our tour manager, Clive Coulson, found Clearwell Castle. We thought it would be a step in the right direction from haunted mansions to haunted castle. Headley Grange [where Bad Company was recorded] was haunted – we had doors blowing open without any wind and many other unexplainable oddities occurring.
“i hitch-hiked up to rio nido…it was wonderful to be young and free in the sixties” – paul rodgers
RALPHS: We were aware of the stories of Clearwell being haunted, but I didn’t notice anything spooky about it. It did have that sort of vibe about it, though.
KIRKE: Clearwell Castle had just started taking on clients to record. I believe Peter Frampton started the ball rolling there recording-wise. I don’t know about the haunted bit, although it wouldn’t surprise me. It was a very old building, a bona fide castle complete with turrets and dungeons, and to keep afloat financially they put on these baronial-type dinners where people dressed up in medieval style.
RALPHS: When we were there they had a couple of banquets on at the same time, which was quite funny. We wandered in among all these people dressed in Tudor outfits and joined in with the fun.
RODGERS: They served roast pig and mead, with people dressed up in ancient clothing. That was going on in a different part of the castle and was more of a distraction than anything, but we were so focused it didn’t matter.
RALPHS: We recorded loads of songs down at Clearwell, it was amazing. We were down there for a couple of months I think, in total – a bit longer than the first album, which we did in two weeks flat! It was still a quick process. We tended not to do many overdubs on songs, we did the odd harmony here and there with guitar breaks. We liked to keep it simple.
KIRKE: Working with a mobile studio was very conducive to our work ethic. We could start any time we felt like it without the restrictions of a regular studio. It was my favourite way of recording.
RALPHS: I don’t know if we recorded in the basement – it was like a lower level that was set aside for us to record in, because we had a mobile truck to record on parked outside. I suppose it was a basement, but it had all these different rooms.
RODGERS: The mobile studio had worked for the first album, and we wanted to recreate the organic vibe that we achieved at Headley Grange.
“clearwall castle would host medieval banquets. people wore tudor outfits and we’d join in the fun” – mick ralphs
RALPHS: Headley Grange came about by chance, because Peter Grant had got Led Zeppelin booked in there, but they cancelled at the last minute and we were asked would we like to go in and do some recording because it was free. We’d used Ronnie Laine’s mobile studio, and we decided to use it again with Ron Nevison at the helm. Ron was very good, he did the first three albums with us and he was an excellent engineer. We got on really well with him, but I haven’t seen him for years.
RODGERS: Nevison had recorded some of the Zep tracks so we inherited him, and he did a fine job.
RALPHS: The mobile studio was 16-track. It was all housed in an Airstream caravan you know, those curvy, space-age-looking caravans! Communicating between the caravan and the castle was tricky, but we had microphones set up all over the place so we could talk to each other. It was a new way of recording and it was quite fun, but it does have its drawbacks, I suppose. But we liked the idea of having free rein and being able to record when we felt like it. I think Deep Purple went there to record after us. We had the use of the studio 24/7, that was the appeal of it, we could go in whenever we felt like it.
RODGERS: We recorded the backing track live, with bare floors and booths for separation. Eye contact is often important, so when we got the track with the best feel it was time for overdubs, guitar solos and harmonies.
RALPHS: We would record with Paul singing live, because we preferred it that way. We often kept the original vocal; if there was the time we’d do another one, but I liked the idea of keeping the original one and Paul agreed, so that’s how we ended up doing it. Whatever time we got up, we’d all go in and start doing some music and running through songs, then we’d have a break. We probably started work at midday, I’d imagine, and go through until the night. It was good, we didn’t have to worry about parking and all those restrictions, like you would if you were recording at studios in London. For this track, I used a Gibson Les Paul. The actual solo, though, was done on a Fender Esquire – which is like a Telecaster with only one pickup. It was a kind of country-style solo that I played in three-part harmony. I came up with it in the studio, I didn’t want to put a raucous guitar on there, so I came up with something gentle, and it fit the bill.
RODGERS: It translated surprisingly well [in arenas], some songs have that quality.
KIRKE: It always went down well in large places as the two elements of the song – the gentle verse and the stomping chorus – complemented each other so well.
RALPHS: It was difficult doing it live in those days because we didn’t have the technology then, especially with acoustic guitars, but it’s a lot easier now. It quickly became a live favourite. It was a big hit in the States, especially. It’s pretty much the same live now as it was actually. The harmonised solo? I can do that on one hand! I managed to figure it out, all three parts. Paul is always writing out our setlists, changing it around, so we never know until the day of the gig – we have to keep everyone on their toes. “Feel Like Makin’ Love” usually goes towards the end. A good crowd-pleaser.
RODGERS: It is a song that seems to have grown over the years, from a little acoustic idea to a song that even now I can sing in stadiums and feel a strong response. The simplicity seems to connect to a wide range of people. Very often when I meet people they say “Bad Company!” and then sing, “Well, I feel like making love!” Maybe it will be our legacy song… Or perhaps “Shooting Star” or “Rock’n’Roll Fantasy” or “Seagull” or “Bad Company”. That’s for the fans to decide.
KIRKE: I still like the song today, even though I’ve played it about 972 times!
FACTFILE
Written by: Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs
Recorded at: Clearwall Castle, Gloucestershire
Producers: Bad Company
Performers include: Paul Rodgers (vocals, acoustic guitar), Mick Ralphs (electric guitar), Simon Kirke (drums), Boz Burrell (bass)
Released: April 1975
UK/US chart position: 3/1
TIMELINE
1973
Paul Rodgers and Mick Ralphs jam together after the dissolution of Free, and Ralphs’ departure from Mott The Hoople; they are soon joined by Simon Kirke and King Crimson’s Boz Burrell
Summer 1974
Debut Bad Company hits No 1 in America
Autumn 1974
The group head to Clearwell Castle for sessions on their second album, recording with Ronnie Lane’s mobile studio
April 1975
Straight Shooter is released, hitting No 3 in both the UK and the US