Paul Kossoff - September 14, 1950 - March 19, 1976

Having both Andy and Paul both now tied permanently into March makes the month a bit sad, and I have to say the years now fly by so quickly I seem only to have just written something for the two, in memoriam, before it has come around again. For Koss of course this has been going on for a long time, now dead for much longer than he actually lived, and yet apparently in the April 2022 issue of 'Guitar World'  the ever supportive Joe Bonamassa will be talking about Paul and giving some lessons (link below). So gone, but certainly not forgotten. I've tried to contact Joe many times to talk about Kossoff, but never actually managed to get hold of him. So... if you are reading this Joe, how about it?

 

Joe Bonamassa / Guitar World 

The influence of the great Paul Kossoff

Here today, rather than stick to the usual Free material, is Richard Digby Smith's 1999 remix of 'Hold On' for the 'Songs Of Yesterday' 5CD set. This was one of Simon Kirke's songs for 'Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit', and as Simon told me the extended ending and build-up was Kossoff's idea, for which Simon gave him a co-writing credit. As such the song is in two parts, which is also exactly how Digby described it when I choose it for a remix. 'Hold On' was in fact the very last mix to be done for the 'Songs Of Yesterday' set, and I remember it very well. By this time Tim Chacksfield and I had already decided to add the loose CD with the associated music from the side projects. In fact that, and the cover for it, were my idea. There was no way to change the packaging without increasing the price, and the budget from Universal, so the idea of having that CD slipped inside make it possible. Andy vetoed the proposed 'Fraser/Miller' material (even tho' Frankie was fine with it being included), so we used the Sharks stuff instead and the rest is history... It's a fine little 'bonus' disc.

So on the late evening of the last day, after mixing from around 10am, I picked this song as the very final thing to do. I recall Digby giving a bit of a groan at the time. He'd agreed to do one more mix but as he said, "this is really two songs..." Still once we'd got it up onto the mixer he got into it and off we went. Remixing gave us a chance to take the recorded song right to the every end of the studio 'take'. So all the Kossoff that was there is included, right to where everyone stopped in 1971 (when it was recorded). The Kossoff guitar performance is fantastic and while the rhythm section throbs on that one note, Rabbit fills the middle with piano and Hammond, allowing Kossoff to simply take off over the top, his guitar wound right up through the Basing Street studio Leslie. An incredible sound. So that's the mix below.

Back at RDS studios in July 1999, and with the work all done, I asked Digby, very politely, if he would run it again. To turn the volume in the studio right up on the 2nd section, and to push Kossoff right up on the mixing desk faders. The engineer helping had gone home, and it was just Digby, Tim and me, completely surrounded by this huge wall of sound coming out of the speakers at an insane volume. It was glorious and one of my most vivid memories of that period in the studio working. Three guys standing there grinning, with the odd moist eye, while the walls bowed out and vibrated at the sheer power of the performance. It's burnt into my memory. Fantastic stuff.

Enjoy, and play loud