Paul Kossoff – Free

Background: Paul Kossoff was born on 14th September 1950 in Hampstead, North London, he was the son of Margaret Jenkins and David Kossoff. Kossoff was from a very interesting and diversely talented family, for example, his father was the Actor David Kossoff. His uncle was the broadcaster Alan Keith and he was also a cousin of the Judge Brian Keith and the model Linda Keith. Aged nine, Kossoff started classical guitar lessons with Blanche Monroe. His classical guitar training continued until he was fifteen. In December 1965 he saw Eric Clapton with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers at The Refectory, Golders Green, North West London. This encounter inspired Kossoff to purchase a Gibson Les Paul guitar. During 1966 Kossoff worked as a junior salesman at Selmer's Music Shop in Charing Cross Road, London. He received lessons from session guitarist Colin Falconer, who worked in the guitar department at Selmer's. Introduction: In 1966 Kossoff joined the Chicago-style blues band Black Cat Bones. The band played with touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree, often supporting Fleetwood Mac and other gigs with Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green. Kossoff's bandmate in Black Cat Bones was the drummer Simon Kirke and the two went on to play on Champion Jack Dupree's April 1968 album entitled “When You Feel the Feeling You Was Feeling” Free: In April 1968, Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Paul Rodgers (vocals) and Andy Fraser (bass) to form Free. They toured for two years, during which they recorded two albums: Tons of Sobs (1968) and Free (1969). Both albums showcased the band's blues- and soul-influenced sound, a style that was in contrast to some of their progressive and heavier counterparts at the time. Free became renowned for their live shows and non-stop touring. However, their studio albums did not sell very well until their third, Fire and Water, featured the massive hit “All Right Now”. The song helped secure them a place at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where they played to 600,000 people. In the early 1970s Free became one of the biggest-selling British blues rock. However, after the release of the next album, Highway (1970) and its relatively poor sales, band pressures led to a split. The live album Free Live! was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971 as a farewell record. Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Texan keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi to release the 1971 album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit. Rodgers and Fraser pursued unsuccessful solo projects. Free reformed and released the album Free at Last (1972). Following its release, Fraser decided he had had enough and quit to form Sharks. Free drafted Tetsu and Rabbit for the album Heartbreaker (1973) after which the group disbanded. Kossof’s Drug Taking: Kossoff used drugs from the age of 15. Simon Kirke has said "he clearly had a predisposition." He used Mandrax among other drugs. Paul Rodgers has said Kossoff was healthy and playing well in 1973 although this is disputed, but that he wonders about the company that Kossoff kept, and felt that "Kossoff was just too sensitive for this world." There is an Interesting comparison with Nick Drake here, whose sister Gabrielle said about Nick that he was born with a “Skin too Few” . Kossoff was also a fragile soul and also went on tour with Nick Drake’s Island record labelmate John Martyn in 1975, one year after Nick’s death. Kossoff's drug use made him unreliable in the latter stages of Free. Andy Fraser noted "he felt intimidated by those other guitarists, and when people began speaking of him in terms of Clapton and so on, it frightened him. Drugs were a defence, his excuse". Kossoff's unhappiness following the break-up of Free and his drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in his health. In a BBC website page commemorating the 1970 death of Jimi Hendrix, Simon Kirke said that Kossoff idolized Hendrix and never really recovered from the his death. Death: Kossoff died on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on 19 March 1976 from a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot in his leg moved to his lung, while touring America with Back Street Crawler. The lifeless body of ex-Free, now Back Street Crawler guitarist Paul Kossoff had been discovered slumped in the bathroom. At some point during the flight, Kossoff had visited the toilet – and never come back. He was just 25 years old. His body was returned to England and cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in North West London. His epitaph in the Summerhouse there reads: "All right now"

Added 26 Mar 2026