Paul Kossoff
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Paul Kossoff (September 14 1950 - March 19 1976) was a British rock guitarist.
Kossoff started playing in the mid '60s and his first professional gig was with Black Cat Bones (alongside drummer Simon Kirke, who also went on to be part of Free). Did many gigs supporting Fleetwood Mac and both Peter Green (Mac's guitarist ) and Kossoff would jam and spend hours discussing blues playing and players. Black Cat Bones played behind the touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree and Kossoff even played on the Dupree album When You Feel the Feeling.... In April 1968 Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Paul Rodgers (vocals) and Andy Fraser (bass) to form Free. They did the 'transit' circuit for 2 years and recorded two albums: Tons Of Sobs and Free; both developing their sparse blues/rock- and soul-edged sound, which was a welcome contrast to most of the "over-playing" of their progressive and heavier counterparts at the time.
Success came in 1970 when their third album Fire and Water spawned the massive hit "All Right Now" and they played the Isle of Wight festival to both audience and critical acclaim. Sell out tours in UK, Europe and Japan followed as did other great albums (Highway, Free Live, Free at Last, and Heartbreaker)over the next 3 years, but after one split and reformation (mainly to "see the ailing Kossoff smile again"), an end was called in 1973. Rodgers and Kirke went on to the successful Bad Company while Kossoff released a solo album, Back Street Crawler and formed a band of the same name.
His unhappiness with the end of Free and his retreat into drugs meant he was never the same player/performer again. With Free, his long-sustained, wailing notes and vibrato tone (Eric Clapton, when Free supported Blind Faith in the US, was impressed enough to ask him to demonstrate it to him) and sheer passion of his playing made the band one of the top live attractions and won them a dedicated following. He eventually died on a flight to/from the States in March 1976 from drug-related heart problems.
He was the son of Jewish actor, David Kossoff, who spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs. His stage review of Paul's addiction, which he toured in the late '70s and early '80s, was both poignant and heartbreaking.