I've kept out of this thread so far, which is a surprise for me in a way, as I been banging on about Free reforming, with possibly Joe being a better fit than anybody, since I became a member on here.
I'm still for Free reforming, performing and even writing & recording, if the 3 of them would be prepared to, but I doubt that Joe would be the man. Why so?
Because a project of this nature, becoming a new member of an iconic band, would require a tremendous committment. Much like Paul Rodgers did with Queen. As I've heard him say himself (PR that is), the Queen & PR thing was a little get together that went on for 4 years!
Much as JB would salivate at the chance I'm sure, it would be too demanding on his own schedule and plans. If the Free thing were to really gather momentum it would have to be in the next couple of years and Joe's pretty much mapped out for that period of time. Never say never though.
As for new music by the band, were it to reform, I would be interested. It should never be forgotten that Free were 4 very young men at the time. The music they wrote and played had the exuberance and spontaneity of their youth, but was earthed in the blues so therefore made them sound so much more mature than they were.
Rodgers can still write good songs, but some of his finest work was with Andy Fraser. It may be that they work better together than apart, so who is to say that they couldn't hit an occasional peak together again?
As far as the guitar role is concerned, as River Cat points out, Rodgers own Muddy Waters Blues albums features about 8 or 9 different guitarists, and I would be quite happy to see them follow that route on any recorded work, whether it be new material or updated versions of older tracks.
As a result of this thread I have revisited my entire Free/Kossoff catalogue over the past days. It needs to be stated that much of Kossoff's playing from '72 on wasn't great. The talent was almost already gone. So when we talk of him we tend to eulogise over a period of less than 3 years. I love and cherish the work he did in that period but it needs to be placed in context sometimes.
For me, Free is a band that should reform and play those wonderful songs again BECAUSE of Paul Kossoff.
If you read the Jon Lord thread you will see people believe artists/Keys players would queue up to play in a tribute to Jon Lord BECAUSE of who and what Jon Lord represented in music.
Thats what I feel about Kossoff. He was a founding member of one of the greatest Blues/Rock bands of all time. His role in that and his legacy of that are worthy of celebrating again............and I believe it will be.
No Hits, No Hype.......................Classic Rock Jan 2012
