Project 1001: Bad Company by Bad Company
Bad company / I can't deny / Bad company / 'Til the day I die
Bad Company has been a staple of AOR radio for decades. To me they are one of those bands who are excellent, and I like listening to them, but I don’t feel they ever crested heights of true greatness. Solid outfit, just not a band that comes to mind for me when I think about great bands. If I went the next five years having heard no Bad Company, I’m not sure I would notice.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad when I do here them and I greatly enjoyed listening to their debut record. And I’m not making the case they don’t deserve their flowers. They are a significant band and fully deserve their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. (That it took 25 years of eligibility to make it there is an indictment on the credibility of that museum.)
And lead singer Paul Rodgers is one of the truly great rock singers we’ve had. His voice is clean and pure with astounding range. He can probably sing anything and is responsible for some of the great rock songs out there:
“Alright Now” with Free. “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, “Bad Company”, “Shooting Star”, Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy”, all with Bad Company. “Radioactive” with The Firm. And he did a great job when he fronted Queen.
In any event, Bad Company is a great listen, and I encourage those who have not heard it to give it a spin and for those who do know it, go back to an old friend for a nice afternoon. My rating:
In Rolling Stone’s 1974 review Bud Scoppa called the band “appealing” while describing Rodgers’ voice as a “virtuoso instrument” and proclaiming him “one of the most impressive rock singers of the decade.” Scoppa praised guitarist Mick Ralphs for “his fluid and exciting guitar work.” Scoppa commends bass player Boz Burrell and drummer Simon Kirke for their economical playing as “sheer muscularity” that “forms a tangible base for the exploits of the two front men,” and says, “Kirke is as physical a hitter as any I’ve heard.”1
Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the album for AllMusic.
Appropriately enough given their name, there's a sense of slow, churning menace to Bad Company. Even the quickest songs -- the blues boogies of "Can't Get Enough" and "Movin' On" -- don't exactly proceed at a rapid clip, a steadiness that makes the quartet seem heavier. It's hard rock painted in stark black & white: cranked guitars mirrored by a deliberate wallop from the rhythm section, a rock & roll so loud and basic it wound up not aging much at all even though it pretty much defined mid-'70s album rock.2
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Tim Jones wrote:
“The U.S. No. 1 album captures the energy of a coke-fueled high life, built on a Cream and Hendrix template, with added soul and country.”3
Enjoy and listen without prejudice.
“And just remember, different people have peculiar tastes”
~ Lou Reed
Cheers!
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #1 4
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Can’t Get Enough”, #5; “Movin’ On”, #19 5
• RIAA certification: 5x Platinum | November 30, 1993 6
Released on May 24, 1974. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “The Streak” by Ray Stevens7
• Number one album: The Sting Soundtrack8
• Number one movie: The Sting by George Roy Hill9
• Most watched TV programs: All in the Family, The Waltons, Sanford & Son, M*A*S*H, Maude, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Mary Tyler Moore10 Cannon
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Watership Down by Richard Adams11
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Times to Remember by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy12
Some other albums released that month
• The Kids & Me by Billy Preston
• Preservation Act 2 by The Kinks
• Sweet Exorcist by Curtis Mayfield
• Too Much Too Soon by New York Dolls
• Live at Caesars Palace by Diana Ross
• Phenomenon by UFO
• Diamond Dogs by David Bowie
• If You Love Me, Let Me Know by Olivia Newton-John
• The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach by Electric Light Orchestra
• Mr. Natural by Bee Gees
• Body Heat by Quincy Jones
• Boogity Boogity by Ray Stevens
• Dark Lady by Cher
• Lotus by Santana
• Tough Guys by Isaac Hayes13
Sport
• May 18 99th Preakness: Miguel Rivera aboard Current Little wins in 1:54.6.
• May 19 Stanley Cup Final, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Goaltender Bernie Parent and the Flyers shut out the Boston Bruins, 1-0, to win series 4-2, become 1st "expansion" team to win Stanley Cup; Parent named playoff MVP.
• May 26 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford claims first of his three Indy victories; first Sunday start of the event.14
Notable Births
• May 21 Havoc [Kejuan Muchita], American rapper (Mobb Deep), born in Queensbridge, Queens, New York.
• May 23 Jewel Kilcher, American singer-songwriter ("Pieces Of You"; "You Were Meant For Me"; "Standing Still"), born in Payson, Utah.
• May 23 Ken Jennings, American game show host and contestant (Jeopardy!), born in Edmonds, Washington.15
Historical Events
• 09 May Watergate Scandal: Nixon Impeachment Hearings Begin: On May 9, 1974, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee officially opened public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon. This marked a critical moment in American political history, as the committee began a formal investigation into the president's potential involvement in the Watergate scandal, which had been unfolding since the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
• 15 May Ma'alot Massacre: A tragic terrorist attack by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) at an Israeli school in Ma'alot, where armed militants took hostages and resulted in the devastating deaths of 31 people, including 22 innocent schoolchildren. This horrific event highlighted the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the brutal tactics employed by extremist groups.
• 18 May Rubik's Cube First Publicly Demonstrated: Hungarian inventor Ernő Rubik publicly demonstrates his revolutionary puzzle cube at the Ideal Toy Corp. showroom in Budapest, introducing what would become one of the most famous and challenging toys in history.16
Notable Deaths
• May 18 Tyree Glenn, American jazz and session trombonist and vibraphone player (Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong), dies of cancer at 61.
• May 24 Duke Ellington, American bandleader, composer, and pianist ("Take the A Train"; "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), dies of cancer at 75.
• May 25 Donald Crisp, British actor and director (How Green Was My Valley, Pollyana), dies at 91.17
Jones, Tim, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 315
Ibid.
Ibid.
Gosh I love Paul Rodgers' voice. Desolation Angels came out right when I was starting my attempt at rock stardom. Of course, it never really found me. But I loved that album because it sort of encompassed the rock and roll lifestyle that I was so interested in at the time. Plus, I had started reading some of the beatnik guys' books like Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac. And Kerouac had a book of the same name. I thought that was pretty cool. But for sure, that first Bad Company album was badass! The ERJ played 'Can't Get Enough' off that album. Good stuff! Keep up the good work, Rich!