...and on guitar - The Book (2023)

Now that I've posted what could turn out to be the final entry in the '...and on guitar' series, here's something that I've been thinking about doing this for quite a while. When the number of posts in the series reached over 75 then I thought that now was the time to put them all together in one place, almost like a book. So what you have here are all the write-ups for the '...and on guitar' series, presented in alphabetical order, so that they can be dipped into as you are listening to the albums, or just read as a history of the lives of all these great guitarists. 

Soulseek hint      book aiwe

UPDATES 2

When I went on holiday I took a number of my old posts with me, and listening to them by the pool on headphones, I noticed a few things which I'd missed when listening through my speakers. I've therefore corrected the various imperfections, and as there was only one track per album that needed to be fixed I've put them all in one folder on Mega, and Soulseekers can just take the upgraded tracks that you need from the updated folders. The full albums have also been corrected, if you want to try them for the first time. The tracks that have been upgraded are:

UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming (1982)

The transition from the vocal part of 'My Way Of Thinking' to the dub part was not a smooth as it could have been, so that's now been fixed.

Kossoff - Tuesday Evening (1973)

Listening to this again made me realise that a couple of the edits were very noticeable, and so I've re-done the whole thing to try to make them a bit more seamless. I think one works much better, and although the other is better then it was, it's still not perfect, but is probably the best that I can do. 

Steeleye Span - Bonny Moorhen (1984)

The sound on 'Stookey' sounded a bit thin compared to the other tracks, so I've boosted the bass to bring it more in line with the rest of the album. 

Hot Chocolate - I Want To Be Free (1973)

The first track 'Love Is Life' was not the best quality, so I've sourced a new, better version.

Bryan Ferry - Alphaville (1995)

There was a brief gap around 1'41 of 'Love War', which I hadn't noticed before, so I've sourced a complete version of the song. 

George Michael - Trojan Souls (1993)

The original recording of 'You Slipped Away From Me' only had one verse and then a very long instrumental passage. I felt that the instrumental part was way too long, and there was not enough vocal, so I've repeated the verse and faded down the ending to make a more concise version which now sounds more like a finished song. 

And finally, massive thanks to Barry Ryan and Sparks fan Helmut, who has provided me with a completely remastered version of Barry Ryan's 'Give Me A Sign' album, with upgraded versions of the songs that I could only find in poor quality. Not only that, but he has also let me have a new recording of the Sparks album that they made in 1968 as Halfnelson, which is now finally available at the correct speed.  

Both of these albums have been replaced in full on Soulseek and Mega, so help yourself to the upgraded version of these two, and marvel at the difference in them. 

pj 

Kossoff - Tuesday Evening (1973)

The 2013 deluxe re-issue of Paul Kossoff's first solo album, 'Back Street Crawler', included a number of bonus tracks, including six alternate takes of the opening track 'Tuesday Morning', done in blues, boogie, groove and rock style. As soon as I realised that they totaled 40 minutes of music, I thought that I could do something with them, so I've mixed them all together into one continuous 36-minute piece of music, which is different enough from 'Tuesday Morning' to be renamed 'Tuesday Evening'. Trying to transition from groove to boogie to blues wasn't easy, as they are all different tempos and styles, but on the whole I'm quite pleased with the result, and it does contain some superb guitar-work from Kossoff, ably assisted by Back Street Crawler, so I think it was worth the effort.   

Track listing

01 Tuesday Evening

Paul Kossoff - ...and on guitar (1975)

When I posted the Jimi Hendrix album of the same title a few weeks ago, it was meant to be a one-off, after discovering the few bands that he'd helped out in the early part of his career. While looking into a Paul Kossoff post made up from post-Free bands, I discovered that he'd also lent his guitar skills to a few choice friends and fellow musicians, and suddenly we have the beginnings of a new series. 

Paul Francis Kossoff was born on 14 September 1950 in Hampstead, London, the son of Margaret and the actor David Kossoff. At age nine he started classical guitar lessons with Blanche Monroe, and his classical guitar training continued until he was fifteen. In December 1965 he saw Eric Clapton with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers at The Refectory in Golders Green, and this encounter inspired him to purchase a Gibson Les Paul guitar. During 1966, Kossoff worked as a junior salesman at Selmer's Music Shop in Charing Cross Road, where he received lessons from session guitarist Colin Falconer, who worked in the guitar department at Selmer's. In 1966 Kossoff joined the Chicago-style blues band Black Cat Bones, playing with touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree, and often supporting Fleetwood Mac. Kossoff's bandmate in Black Cat Bones was drummer Simon Kirke and the two went on to play on Champion Jack Dupree's April 1968 album ‘When You Feel The Feeling You Was Feeling’, which eventually led to the pair of them teaming up with vocalist Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser to form Free, and the rest is history, with the band going on to become one of the very best and most beloved UK rock bands of all time. Once Kossoff’s guitar skills became evident he was often approached to add them to others artist’s work, with one of the earliest being from Martha Carmen Josephine Hernandez Rosario de Vélez, who was an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent, and who started singing at the age of five and won an opera scholarship at the age of 12. She began her recording career with the folk singing group The Gaslight Singers, and released her debut blues-rock album 'Fiends And Angels' on the Sire/Blue Horizon Records label in 1969. She managed to pull together an outstanding array of backing musician to help her out, including Eric Clapton, Stan Webb and Paul Kossoff on guitar, Christine McVie on keyboards, Brian Auger on organ, Jack Bruce on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. The album was produced by legendary blues producer Mike Vernon, and Kossoff is particularly audible on the opening track. 

Michael Gately is a well-respected singer/songwriter, mostly for his songwriting collaborations with Robert John, but relatively unknown to the general public. He released two singles and two albums in 1972, and then disappeared from view. The first of the albums, 'Gately's Cafe', was produced by his good friend and collaborator Al Kooper, and backing musicians included most of Hookfoot, who later became Elton John's backing band, and guitar from Paul Kossoff. Because of the gentle nature of Gately's songs, Kossoff's guitar isn't as in-your-face as would be expected, but is a more subtle addition to the backing. 

While starting his career as house producer for Blue Horizon Records, Mike Vernon recorded a solo blues album which came out in 1971. Guest musicians included Pete Wingfield on piano, and both Rory Gallagher and Paul Kossoff on guitar, adding a superb solo to 'My Say Blues'.

Also in 1971, Ken Hensley was recording demos for a prospective solo album, which eventually appeared as 'Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf' in 1973. and he roped in Kossoff to lay down some guitar for him. Both demos here have some great guitar-work on them, fully justifying their extended playing time.  

When Jim Capaldi left Traffic for a solo career, few would have expected the drummer to become one of the most successful former members of the band, with over a dozen solo albums to his name. His first release 'Oh How We Danced' included all the members of Traffic helping out, alongside Paul Kossoff on guitar and Jim Gordon on drums, and 'Don't Be A Hero' is a fine cut from that album. 

Uncle Dog was a short-lived band who released one single 'River Road' and one album 'Old Hat' in 1972, and are best know for including Carol Grimes on vocals, just after her stint with Delivery, and before her well-respected solo career. As well as Kossoff on guitar on one track, they also had Rabbit on keyboards on a couple of songs, and the album as a whole isn't a bad effort.

By 1974 Amazing Blondel's best period was behind them, but they still had a few more albums left in them. 'Mulgrave Street' was a pleasant mainstream mid-70's soft-rock album, but with few of the innovative folk influences of their early work. Musically it's made up of perfectly fine melodic songs, but they'd lost the spark that made them stand out in the early 70's. They did, however, persuade Kossoff to play on 'Hole In The Head', making it a favourite track for many of their fans.   

David Elliott was a keyboard player who was invited to play on some tracks for the proposed Kossoff solo album 'Love Is The Lord'. 'You've Taken Hold Of Me' was recorded by Amazing Blondel, with Elliott on piano, and eventually appeared on the 'Koss' retrospective album, but it turns out that they recorded another song which was kept under wraps for over 40 years, until Elliott accessed the original master tapes to finish the track, and include it on his new album. 'All One' is a great song from 1974, and it's good to finally hear it after all this time. 

In 1975 John Martyn released his 'Live In Leeds' album, which for many years was a perfect snapshot of his career to date, but it wasn't until an expanded edition was released in 1998 that we found out that he was joined onstage for the final few songs of the concert by Paul Kossoff, and his guitar is a welcome addition to the final track on this album. Like the Hendrix post, this isn't a collection of every track that Kossoff guested on, but is a choice selection from the colleagues that he helped out between 1969 and 1975.

 Track listing

01 Swamp Man (from 'Fiends And Angels' by Martha Velez 1969)

02 You're What's Been Missing From My Life (from 'Gately's Cafe' by Michael Gately 1972)

03 My Say Blues (from 'Bring It Back Home' by Mike Vernon 1971)

04 Cold Autumn Sunday (demo with Ken Hensley 1971)

05 If I Had Time (demo with Ken Hensley 1971)

06 Don't Be A Hero (from 'Oh How We Danced' by Jim Capaldi 1972)

07 We Got Time (from 'Old Hat' by Uncle Dog 1972)

08 Hole In The Head (from 'Mulgrave Street' by Amazing Blondel 1974)

09 All One (recorded with David Elliott in 1974)

10 So Much In Love With You (from 'Live At Leeds' expanded edition by John Martyn 1975)