Today's trip into the Time Machine brings us another voice who jumped bands and made each one better (well, almost, but more on that later). And like Paul Carrack, this voice has been making impact on popular music for four decades. I will always listen to a song that Paul Rodgers sings.
It started (at least in the US) with a band called Free and their epic song "All Right Now". It's still on classic rock radio. The voice was a bit rougher, and more testosterone-filled, but it was also very soulful. A great song that has aged well.
From there, it was on to his own band, the second act signed to Swan Song Records. Of course, the first band signed was Led Zeppelin. Bad Company was, like Zep, a bluesy band with an edge. Rodgers' voice flavored a number of hits, specifically "Feel Like Making Love", "Can't Get Enough", and "Bad Company", a tune that warns everyone about how "bad" this band could be.
From Bad Company, he and his friend Jimmy Page (a guitarist of some note) created The Firm, and two albums did reasonably well. Following that, he created a "project" using a drummer as the only permanent member, and using guest musicians depending on what direction Rodgers wanted to go. The Law released one album but it didn't sell very well. But there was that one song...
Paul Rodgers continues to entertain us--he's planning a tour in Europe where he will only sing songs from his Free days. He's got a lot of options if that doesn't pan out. But let's go back to 1991, and "that one song" that reveals the power and soul of his voice. Enjoy...
More doctors tomorrow. See you Thursday...
Pete
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