Glenn Hughes at 17 ...

[nofi]

not an after thought at all . rogers was fine in free but i prefer hughes and trapeze. i thought they were over all a better band in spite of their stylistic changes. fyi the the cover photo on the "you are the music" album was shot in memphis. i saw trapeze touring to support that record and they just killed.

[gweimer]

Really? If Rodgers ain't your cup of tea, that's fine - but to reduce him to an afterthought? Fraser was a big part of the Free sound to be sure - however, he was hardly successful after the fact.

I'd add that Paul Kossoff was another big part of Free.  Half of Bad Company came out of Free, so it wasn't all Rodgers.  I love Rodgers, but he hasn't always had the right context.  The Firm was, imo, a weak band with an incredible rhythm section in Franklin/Slade.

[nofi]

'half of bad company came out of free'. i rest my case.

[Highlander]

I carried out some work in a music master-tape storage depot and stumbled on the 2" masters for Mr Big, Alright Now and Wishing Well, right next to 5x2" reels with four tracks each for some live album they also made... four tapes from Croydon and one from Sunderland...

Missed Free... I got to see Bad Co (stunning) and the Firm (very average) but have always considered Rogers to have one of the finest voices I have ever had the pleasure of listening to...

Missed Trapeze but saw DP4... I rate Hughes voice and he does have that blue-eyed-soul feel - Hughes/Thrall really worked for me...

Hughes vs Rogers? They are both fine singers, in their own right, but not comparable as they both are very differing stylists...

How about comparing Hughes with Dewar - much closer in style and both bass players...

[lowend1]

I think Dewar was closer to Rodgers, voice-wise than Hughes. Hughes-Thrall was a great moment in time as was Trapeze. The appeal of Bad Co was the mixture of Ralphs' simple rock/pop leanings coupled with Rodgers' blues roots. As much as I hate to paraphrase John Mellencamp, he once opined that Rodgers was the best rock singer ever because he was able to sing with power, emotion and soul - in a three minute pop song.
+1 with Gary's Firm assessment - and likewise the short lived "The Law" with Kenney Jones.

[uwe]

Hughes wasn't the Paul Rodgers in DP, Coverdale was! In fact, Hughes who loved Free and Rodgers joined Purple believing this would see him joining up with Rodgers who was Blackmore's permier choice for following Gillan. But Rodgers had concerns of having to scream through the Gillan repertoire (an unfounded worry: except for SOTW, Highway Star, Spacetrucking and Lazy all Mark II material was unceremoniously dumped for the Mark III tours), was half-working on founding Bad Co, had a difficult management and finally was miffed when the Purple management leaked the negotiations with him in 73 to the press. "So then" says Hughes "we had to get someone with that same rich tone of voice and that was David (Coverdale)". While Blackmore rated Hughes' bass paying and singing, he wanted a "lead singer with a more masculine voice" with Hughes sharing vocal duties and in the end got his way.

[gweimer]

Hughes wasn't the Paul Rodgers in DP, Coverdale was! In fact, Hughes who loved Free and Rodgers joined Purple believing this would see him joining up with Rodgers who was Blackmore's permier choice for following Gillan. But Rodgers had concerns of having to scream through the Gillan repertoire (an unfounded worry: except for SOTW, Highway Star, Spacetrucking and Lazy all Mark II material was unceremoniously dumped for the Mark III tours), was half-working on founding Bad Co, had a difficult management and finally was miffed when the Purple management leaked the negotiations with him in 73 to the press. "So then" says Hughes "we had to get someone with that same rich tone of voice and that was David (Coverdale)". While Blackmore rated Hughes' bass paying and singing, he wanted a "lead singer with a more masculine voice" with Hughes sharing vocal duties and in the end got his way.

I can't argue with that.  I've always felt that Deep Purple needed TWO lead vocalists to replace Gillan, and the combination of Coverdale/Hughes made Burn one of my favorite Deep Purple albums.

The other interesting thing to note is that Guy Stevens managed Spooky Tooth, Free, Mott The Hoople and then Bad Company.  It's not hard to trace band lineage with that connection.

[uwe]

On a good day, Coverdale's/Hughes' dual lead voc attack was nothing less than mighty, on par with  the defining role Blackmore's guitar and Jon Lord's, errrm, organ had on the band sound.

"The other interesting thing to note is that Guy Stevens managed Spooky Tooth, Free, Mott The Hoople and then Bad Company.  It's not hard to trace band lineage with that connection."

That IS interesting. I never knew and found the combination of a proggie-bassist, a glam rock guitarist and two Free members kind of eclectic! I had known that Ralphs had started to feel alienated within Hoople because he wrote songs in keys Hunter couldn't sing, but at the same time - at Hunter's invitation - did not have the strenghth of voice to sing them himself. Half of Bad Co's debut consists of rehashed Hoople riffs with a singer who can finally sing along to them (no disrespect to Hunter, he's great, but with his singer/songwriter voice not really someone who can yell over a loud guitar riff). That said, I always preferred Straight Shooter to the Bad Co debut.

[lowend1]

That said, I always preferred Straight Shooter to the Bad Co debut.

Unquestionably the stronger album - one of my all-time favorites - however, the first album contained what would become their "signature" tunes.

[hieronymous]

I just picked up the first Black Country Communion album - finally! I bought it used, didn't realize it included a DVD (haven't watched yet). I've been enjoying the album, so this is a nice interview where Glenn Hughes talks about writing for it and recording: http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/835