Paul Kossoff

Paul Kossoff is a British blues rock and hard rock guitarist from Hampstead, North West London. He is best known as a member of Free, and he also plays in Black Cat Bones, Kossoff / Kirke / Tetsu / Rabbit, and Back Street Crawler.

Early life and first bands

Kossoff is born in 1950 and begins playing guitar in the mid-1960s. His father is the British actor David Kossoff. His first professional gig is with Black Cat Bones, where he plays alongside drummer Simon Kirke. The band supports Fleetwood Mac on several shows, and Kossoff and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green spend time talking about blues players and technique. Black Cat Bones also plays with blues pianist Champion Jack Dupree, and Kossoff and Kirke later appear on Dupree’s album When You Feel the Feeling....

Free

In April 1968, Kossoff and Kirke join Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser to form Free. The group plays the club circuit for two years and records Tons of Sobs and Free, both of which present a blues- and soul-influenced sound that stands apart from many heavier and more progressive acts of the period. The band reaches a wider audience in 1970 with Fire and Water, which includes the hit “All Right Now”. Free also appears at the Isle of Wight festival to strong audience and critical response. Sell-out tours in the UK, Europe and Japan follow, before tensions after Highway lead to a split. The live album Free Live, recorded in 1970, is issued in 1971 as a farewell release.

Other groups and solo work

After Free’s split, Kossoff and Kirke work with keyboard player John “Rabbit” Bundrick and Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi as Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit, releasing a self-titled album in 1971. Free then reunites for Free at Last in 1972, with Tetsu and Rabbit brought back for Heartbreaker in 1973 before the band breaks up again. Rodgers and Kirke later form Bad Company. Kossoff also releases a solo album, Back Street Crawler, in 1973.

He tours with John Martyn in 1975 and then forms Back Street Crawler. That group includes vocalist Terry Wilson-Slesser, keyboard player Michael Montgomery, bassist Terry Wilson and drummer Tony Braunagel, with John “Rabbit” Bundrick later replacing Montgomery on keyboards. Back Street Crawler releases The Band Plays On in 1975 and Second Street in 1976, and recordings from a UK concert in 1975 are later issued as Live at Croydon Fairfield Halls 15/6/75. After Kossoff’s death, the remaining members continue as Crawler with Geoff Whitehorn on guitar.

Session work and playing style

Kossoff’s guitar work is also used on a wide range of sessions. He contributes solos to albums by Jim Capaldi, Martha Vélez, Blondel, Uncle Dog, Michael Gately and Mike Vernon. He also plays on four demos by Ken Hensley, later released on From Time To Time, and on three tracks from the CD-only edition of John Martyn’s Live at Leeds. An unreleased guitar solo also appears later on David Elliot’s All One.

His vibrato is admired by Eric Clapton, who asks him to demonstrate it after Free supports Blind Faith in the United States. On Jim Capaldi’s Short Cut Draw Blood in 1975, the songs “Seagull” and “Boy With A Problem” are reportedly written about Kossoff, and he plays lead guitar on the latter.

Death

Kossoff dies in 1976 of drug-related heart problems on a flight from Los Angeles to New York. He is cremated and interred at Golders Green Crematorium.