The Paul Rodgers Appreciation Thread

trag-o-caster · September 29th, 2008, 02:30 AM

I've just been snooping about YouTube, checkin' out some old Free videos, and came up with this. It's Bad Co.'s take on an old Free song. I remember seeing this on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert when I was a kid....

There's also a version out there of Queen/Paul doing "Alright Now" which shows him having no trouble at all doing it in the original key after all these years.

furrfurrfurr · September 29th, 2008, 02:37 AM

I just listened to 10 From 6 the other day.

Takes me back every time.

teleman65 · September 29th, 2008, 03:00 AM

He's no Freddie Mercury

I saw him in '06 with Queen and he was fantastic. I find some Queen songs I prefer with Paul Rodgers singing.

Telemarkman · September 29th, 2008, 03:08 AM

One of the toughest voices in rock music!

Colo Springs E · September 29th, 2008, 07:47 AM

...definitely in my top 5 rock vocalists of all time.

B Valley · September 29th, 2008, 08:40 AM

The album he did covering all the Muddy Waters tunes was exceptional, Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.

e-merlin · September 29th, 2008, 09:01 AM

Yes, one of the greats.

Tim Armstrong · September 29th, 2008, 09:41 AM

Amen, brothers!

Cheers, Tim

Dan R · September 29th, 2008, 12:22 PM

A great voice to be sure. I wish he would put a band together and record another blues album.

Dan R

Del Pickup · September 29th, 2008, 05:24 PM

One of the original 'c**k rockers' - and damn good at it as well. But all that posturing is starting to look a bit silly now at his age.

Same goes for Mick Jagger, Steve Tyler and all the rest of them in my book, I'm afraid.

The strange thing is that the old blues guys who many of those late 60's/early 70's singers were setting out to copy never looked stupid cos they did what they did with more dignity than Jagger, etc ever had.

Compare Clapton with those I've just mentioned above. He stands on stage with his guitar, plays his music and carries it off with so much of that blues dignity cos there's no posturing involved.

Just my 2c.............

And yes, Paul Rodgers still has a fantastic voice.

shades · September 29th, 2008, 07:24 PM

Paul Rogers is one of rock and blues best voices. Exceptional.
He'd still be cool without the posturing.

Scott S · September 29th, 2008, 08:28 PM

I suppose without all of the swaggering c*ck-rock posturers, there would not have been quite as much inspiration for the punks (and post-punks) to make the music I like...

- Scott

xStonr · September 29th, 2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

The album he did covering all the Muddy Waters tunes was exceptional, Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.

I found this on youtube. Enjoy.

Capperdan · September 29th, 2008, 09:29 PM

I've really been getting into the old Free songs, don't know why I missed them 30 years ago. His voice is great and pretty flexible, and, man, he's still around... doing well it seems.

David Barnett · September 29th, 2008, 09:45 PM

There's a new single from Queen w/Rodgers, "C-Lebrity". I've heard it once, my reaction was "meh" although Rodgers sounds great. He had and has one of the very best blues-rock voices going, with great phrasing and feel. I was always a Free fan, but Bad Company no so much.

bassbuster33 · September 29th, 2008, 09:56 PM

I saw Queen on '06 with Paul Rodgers. Though he was great. He did a really good job of covering the Queen material.

My 38 year old girlfriend likes the posturing just fine

Maybe he is directing that towards the fairer sex?

David Barnett · September 29th, 2008, 10:03 PM

Ugh, the Bad Co. version of "The Stealer" is dreadful. And here's a solo outing from 2007 that's just as bad. Furthermore, it looks like Rodgers has co-opted Freddie Mercury's stage act even when he's fronting his own band:

Compare to the real thing:

David Barnett · September 29th, 2008, 10:06 PM

Free could rock even at a glacial tempo:

giginthesky · September 29th, 2008, 10:07 PM

i saw him with neil schon and i dug it. they played a really good show here in philly about 15 years ago.

Brutalblues · September 29th, 2008, 10:44 PM

Turn off the video and just listen to some old Bad Company! Great stuff. Paul Rodgers at his peak. He still has a great voice today.

yegbert · September 29th, 2008, 10:48 PM

Free - All Right Now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2clFsLA3w

trag-o-caster · September 30th, 2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Ugh, the Bad Co. version of "The Stealer" is dreadful.

Gee Dave, ya tryin' to pee on my parade or what???

I must admit it. I actually like Bad Co. better than Free. Not just the version of "Stealer", but all around. I like the Boz Burrell/Simon Kirke rhythm section better than with Andy Fraser, and they seemed to be more ummm..... refined (shall we say) with Mick Ralphs on guitar, as opposed to Paul Kossoff (R.I.P.).

And no love for the Firm???

I really like the Firm, and there's a couple of concert boots on the 'net that show them to be a REALLY excellent live act as well. Jimmy Page played well on those gigs (and y'all have heard me do some Page bashin'!).

Praisecaster likes the Firm. Where's he at? Stephen! Help me out!

While looking for dirt on the 'net, I'd noticed where Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs had both taken turns having a fistfight with Paul. Mick described himself as a wimp, and mentioned that Paul is a blackbelt - so that wasn't wise!

I wonder if ol' Paul has the stereotypical "Lead Singers Syndrome"?

Cyrithicus · September 30th, 2008, 01:17 PM

Cool guy, I saw him last time he came through southern Oklahoma. Put on a real nice show

Roli · September 30th, 2008, 01:19 PM

Maybe it's just me but he seem to have lost something from his voice. Maybe he was less trained and careful back then, but I hear a permanent grit in his vocals on old recordings, while the new ones - Queen era - are somewhat dry. The keys, the intonation are there, but something's missing.

FirstBassman · September 30th, 2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teleman65

I saw him in '06 with Queen and he was fantastic. I find some Queen songs I prefer with Paul Rodgers singing.

I saw Queen during that same tour and agree, Rodgers did an excellent job.
He didn't try to do a Freddie imitation. He just sang the Queen songs as himself and they came out really well.
Brian May sang a few songs which were also excellent.
And for the quintessential Freddie voiced song "Bohemian Rhapsody" they used clips of Mercury in a filmmed tribute. Nice touch.

David Barnett · September 30th, 2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trag-o-caster

Gee Dave, ya tryin' to pee on my parade or what???

I must admit it. I actually like Bad Co. better than Free. Not just the version of "Stealer", but all around. I like the Boz Burrell/Simon Kirke rhythm section better than with Andy Fraser, and they seemed to be more ummm..... refined (shall we say) with Mick Ralphs on guitar, as opposed to Paul Kossoff (R.I.P.).

And no love for the Firm???

I really like the Firm, and there's a couple of concert boots on the 'net that show them to be a REALLY excellent live act as well. Jimmy Page played well on those gigs (and y'all have heard me do some Page bashin'!).

Praisecaster likes the Firm. Where's he at? Stephen! Help me out!

While looking for dirt on the 'net, I'd noticed where Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs had both taken turns having a fistfight with Paul. Mick described himself as a wimp, and mentioned that Paul is a blackbelt - so that wasn't wise!

I wonder if ol' Paul has the stereotypical "Lead Singers Syndrome"?

I usually like Boz Burrell, especially with King Crimson, but the way Andy Fraser drives the band from the bottom up is hard to beat. And make no mistake, Fraser was in the driver's seat. I love that muddy EB3-->Marshall tone too, he sounds almost like a tuba. Boz' playing is more subtle and selfless, which I usually like, but I think he could push the band harder. As for drummers, well they're both Simon Kirke...

I admit, the only thing I ever heard from The Firm was "Radioactive" which didn't compel me to look any further.

Kossoff was sloppy, but I still love the feel when he plays. His leads are melodic and his rhythm sound is instantly recognizable. Sometimes he's so spare he's just playing intervals instead of chords. And his tone is so much better than Ralphs', it's no contest. I like that he has some headroom left with his wall of Superleads, where Ralphs (and the guys in the Rodgers band outing) is just full-on high-gain glare.

I'm sure Rodgers must be difficult, supposedly he and Andy Fraser had huge rows all the time. But damn his voice has always been great.

trag-o-caster · October 1st, 2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Barnett

But damn his voice has always been great.

Yes and it always seems to transcend the circumstances (at least for me). He could be singing with the worst basement band in the world and it would still kick booty! He could be singing Celine Dion's Greatest Hits and it would still kick a$$!

Well..... maybe not, but almost.

Oh do try to check out some of the live Firm stuff. I was taken aback at how well Pagey was doing so fresh from the ashes of Zeppelin. He used Teles a lot on them shows I do believe.

I've done more than my share of Page-bashing, but I think he did well here. The studio albums were OK, but didn't really do the band justice. "Radioactive" is not a good yardstick to measure them by!

Mark Davis · October 1st, 2008, 01:57 AM

A classic Rock vocalist for sure.

David Barnett · October 1st, 2008, 02:36 AM

So Trag, whaddaya think of this noise:

trag-o-caster · October 1st, 2008, 08:11 AM

Well it was rollin' along pretty good until the harmonized chorus came around and spoiled it all. Actually I quite liked it, other than that part.

I think Paul is the king of the "I just wrote this while taking a dump" kinda song. Lyrics done within 5 minutes, and unimaginative power chord progressions - but rocks hard, if nothing else. "The Stealer" is a perfect example of that. I always thought the lyrics were kinda lame, and the overall song was unimaginative, yet they ROCKED it. And sometimes - at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Sometimes.

September 29th, 2008, 02:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
trag-o-caster Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Flushing, Michigan Age: 48 Posts: 5,097	The Paul Rodgers Appreciation Thread I've just been snooping about YouTube, checkin' out some old Free videos, and came up with this. It's Bad Co.'s take on an old Free song. I remember seeing this on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert when I was a kid.... There's also a version out there of Queen/Paul doing "Alright Now" which shows him having no trouble at all doing it in the original key after all these years. __________________ Timothy Jon Lamb

September 29th, 2008, 02:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
furrfurrfurr Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South of Heaven Posts: 3,063	I just listened to 10 From 6 the other day. Takes me back every time. __________________ Hope I'm not too Messianic or a trifle too Satanic. Meow.

September 29th, 2008, 07:47 AM	#5 (permalink)
Colo Springs E Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Colorado Springs Posts: 5,780 5 Photos	He has such a great rock 'n roll voice.... ...definitely in my top 5 rock vocalists of all time. __________________ "Enjoy your life, be good to kids, don't do meth..." -Colin Cowherd

September 29th, 2008, 08:40 AM	#6 (permalink)
B Valley Tele-Afflicted Join Date: May 2008 Location: Glendale, Az Posts: 1,161	The album he did covering all the Muddy Waters tunes was exceptional, Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters. __________________ How many guitars is enough? Just one more...

September 29th, 2008, 09:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ocean Pines, Maryland, USA Age: 50 Posts: 12,080	Amen, brothers! Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

September 29th, 2008, 03:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
teleman65 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 819	He's no Freddie Mercury I saw him in '06 with Queen and he was fantastic. I find some Queen songs I prefer with Paul Rodgers singing.

September 29th, 2008, 03:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
Telemarkman Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Age: 62 Posts: 5,354	One of the toughest voices in rock music!

September 29th, 2008, 12:22 PM	#9 (permalink)
Dan R Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Charleston, SC Age: 51 Posts: 921	A great voice to be sure. I wish he would put a band together and record another blues album. Dan R

September 29th, 2008, 05:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
Del Pickup Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,295 6 Photos	One of the original 'c**k rockers' - and damn good at it as well. But all that posturing is starting to look a bit silly now at his age. Same goes for Mick Jagger, Steve Tyler and all the rest of them in my book, I'm afraid. The strange thing is that the old blues guys who many of those late 60's/early 70's singers were setting out to copy never looked stupid cos they did what they did with more dignity than Jagger, etc ever had. Compare Clapton with those I've just mentioned above. He stands on stage with his guitar, plays his music and carries it off with so much of that blues dignity cos there's no posturing involved. Just my 2c............. And yes, Paul Rodgers still has a fantastic voice. __________________ Someone told me that my tone is in my underpants. I'm not sure if that's good or bad......

September 29th, 2008, 07:24 PM	#11 (permalink)
shades Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pittsburgh,Pa. Age: 52 Posts: 1,551 8 Photos	Paul Rogers is one of rock and blues best voices. Exceptional. He'd still be cool without the posturing. __________________ I don't know, it's only rock 'n roll but I like it.

September 29th, 2008, 08:28 PM	#12 (permalink)
Scott S Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: SW CR IA US NA PE Age: 28 Posts: 2,524	I suppose without all of the swaggering c*ck-rock posturers, there would not have been quite as much inspiration for the punks (and post-punks) to make the music I like... - Scott

September 29th, 2008, 09:29 PM	#14 (permalink)
Capperdan Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: South Coast Cloudy Sea, California Age: 58 Posts: 317	With Kosoff at Isle of Wight 1970 I've really been getting into the old Free songs, don't know why I missed them 30 years ago. His voice is great and pretty flexible, and, man, he's still around... doing well it seems.

September 29th, 2008, 09:45 PM	#15 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The Far-Flung Isles of Langerhans Age: 52 Posts: 5,812	There's a new single from Queen w/Rodgers, "C-Lebrity". I've heard it once, my reaction was "meh" although Rodgers sounds great. He had and has one of the very best blues-rock voices going, with great phrasing and feel. I was always a Free fan, but Bad Company no so much. __________________ "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." -- H. Simpson

September 29th, 2008, 09:56 PM	#16 (permalink)
bassbuster33 Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oregon Age: 42 Posts: 207	I saw Queen on '06 with Paul Rodgers. Though he was great. He did a really good job of covering the Queen material. My 38 year old girlfriend likes the posturing just fine Maybe he is directing that towards the fairer sex?

September 29th, 2008, 10:03 PM	#17 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The Far-Flung Isles of Langerhans Age: 52 Posts: 5,812	Ugh, the Bad Co. version of "The Stealer" is dreadful. And here's a solo outing from 2007 that's just as bad. Furthermore, it looks like Rodgers has co-opted Freddie Mercury's stage act even when he's fronting his own band: Compare to the real thing: __________________ "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." -- H. Simpson

September 29th, 2008, 10:06 PM	#18 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The Far-Flung Isles of Langerhans Age: 52 Posts: 5,812	Free could rock even at a glacial tempo: __________________ "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." -- H. Simpson

September 29th, 2008, 10:07 PM	#19 (permalink)
giginthesky Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: south jersey Age: 37 Posts: 1,472 6 Photos	i saw him with neil schon and i dug it. they played a really good show here in philly about 15 years ago. __________________ www.myspace.com/giginthesky

September 29th, 2008, 10:44 PM	#20 (permalink)
Brutalblues Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New Jersey, USA Age: 49 Posts: 1,283	Turn off the video and just listen to some old Bad Company! Great stuff. Paul Rodgers at his peak. He still has a great voice today.

September 29th, 2008, 10:48 PM	#21 (permalink)
yegbert Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Clinton, Maryland (US) Age: 55 Posts: 5,503 95 Photos	Free - All Right Now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2clFsLA3w Last edited by yegbert; September 30th, 2008 at 10:13 PM. Reason: to make a working link

September 30th, 2008, 01:17 PM	#23 (permalink)
Cyrithicus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Oklahoma Age: 31 Posts: 1,020 4 Photos	Cool guy, I saw him last time he came through southern Oklahoma. Put on a real nice show __________________ "When I was young, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not." --Mark Twain

September 30th, 2008, 01:19 PM	#24 (permalink)
Roli Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ¤ Hungary ¤ Posts: 2,031 6 Photos	Maybe it's just me but he seem to have lost something from his voice. Maybe he was less trained and careful back then, but I hear a permanent grit in his vocals on old recordings, while the new ones - Queen era - are somewhat dry. The keys, the intonation are there, but something's missing. __________________ How I Play Fingerstyle Guitar - blog for rookies and not so rookies - with videos now!

October 1st, 2008, 01:57 AM	#28 (permalink)
Mark Davis Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bakersfield Ca. Age: 58 Posts: 15,548	A classic Rock vocalist for sure. __________________ I'm so blind my seeing eye dog needs glasses.

October 1st, 2008, 02:36 AM	#29 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The Far-Flung Isles of Langerhans Age: 52 Posts: 5,812	So Trag, whaddaya think of this noise: __________________ "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." -- H. Simpson

October 1st, 2008, 08:11 AM	#30 (permalink)
trag-o-caster Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Flushing, Michigan Age: 48 Posts: 5,097	Well it was rollin' along pretty good until the harmonized chorus came around and spoiled it all. Actually I quite liked it, other than that part. I think Paul is the king of the "I just wrote this while taking a dump" kinda song. Lyrics done within 5 minutes, and unimaginative power chord progressions - but rocks hard, if nothing else. "The Stealer" is a perfect example of that. I always thought the lyrics were kinda lame, and the overall song was unimaginative, yet they ROCKED it. And sometimes - at the end of the day, that's all that matters. Sometimes. __________________ Timothy Jon Lamb