I keep telling myself I'll stop doing these 'reminder' posts but here we are again. It is a little bit sobering to think I opened this blog with a piece from an earlier fanzine where I talked about Koss being 60. You can find the post right at the start, in July 2011. There's really not too much to add to that. The years have torn by, but the feelings are still the same and certainly the 'history' of our hero hasn't changed. Paul is fixed in time, forever young, and yet here we are, left with what would have been... Paul Kossoff at 70.
Happily Paul's profile remains high. He's on the front page of 'Guitarist' magazine this month, and the large feature there shows just how much guitar players and writers of music think of his contribution to the world he inhabited, and which he continues to influence. I think that's a pretty big deal. It's tough to make a mark out there.
For me personally, Paul is still the player I most enjoy listening too. His ear for tone and the depth of feeling in his playing never cease to move me, and things I liked in the 70's I still like now. It's good to see this music pass through time with little ageing in it's delivery or sound. It's all still pretty 'current'. Not always the case when we look back. There is plenty of stuff out there that sounds exactly like the era it came from, but not Free.
So, today pick out some of your favourite Kossoff moments and enjoy them. I'll be pulling out 'KKTR' and giving it a spin from end to end. I've not played it for quite a while actually, having been concentrating on the early Free albums, but as the FAS works through the history of the band I'm getting to the 'KKTR' period, and prior to that I'm looking forward to 'Highway', which I always felt contained some beautiful guitar work from Paul. Lots to celebrate then on this, Paul's 70th birthday.
'Hold On' 1999 Remix.
Excellent Kossoff guitar on the end section.
