I
was sad yesterday to hear that Mick Ralphs had died. This comes almost ten years after he'd had a brutal stroke (November 4th, 2016), shortly after Bad
Company had completed touring. Bad
Company it seems will be inducted into the 'Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame'
in the 'Performers' category this year. While I'm pretty certain Mick
would have frown upon this somewhat, as just industry backslapping, I'm sure he
would also have been quite proud to see the work of the group he started with
Paul Rodgers, by playing him songs that Mott The Hoople couldn't make work,
including of course 'Can't Get Enough', get that recognition. I'm also positive
that when Simon and Paul get to play together on November 8th, this loss will make that
performance particularly charged with the emotions of losing another member of
the original gang.
I really enjoyed Ralphs' work with Mott The Hoople. The version of 'Ready For Love' with the 'Afterlights' section on 'All The Young Dudes' is great, but it was the version of 'Thunderbuck Ram' on the 'Bumpers' set that really made me sit up and listen to them. It's different to the version on 'Mad Shadows', where Guy Stevens had Andy Johns mix the Hammond down, and much heavier sounding, which I like.
In
Bad Company there are missed treats like 'Too Bad' hidden on the often
neglected 'Burnin' Sky', but I always really loved 'Simple Man'.
It has such a lovely opening and closing motif, along with that superb Rodgers
vocal. Both 'Thunderbuck Ram' and 'Simple Man' can be found below to enjoy, in memory of the man who wrote them. It's also Mick singing on 'TR'.
Rest easy. Gone now, but not forgotten. Mick was 81.
