Is it All Right Now?

March 19th – On this day in 1976, the lead guitarist of ‘Free’, Paul Kossoff died; heroin addiction was the primary cause.

Lot contained in that little nugget.

Not to denigrate all those other musicians who have succumbed to the lure of drugs, it was just that Paul Kossoff was the first, highly publicised case of addiction and eventual destruction that I can recall. 

His father, David Kossoff was a well-respected actor at the time who’d done stage, radio and early television stuff (I seem to remember he did an excellent line in telling children’s stories) and was, at the time of ‘Free’s’ success, what would be termed them becoming a household name. It was when his son’s career began to go shaky and the first drug-induced-close-call became unavoidably common knowledge (i.e. the press smelled a story and started spreading the shit no matter who got hurt and by how much) that Paul’s father, David, decided to go public.

You have to understand, those of you who are younger than me (I sometimes think EVERYONE’S younger than me) that this was an unprecedented event in the entertainment industry. Yes, of course there were performers who misused prescription and non-description substances, but they had all happened under our radar. The press were less ruthless in their search for subjects of destruction and they tended to work with the various entertainment outlets to keep really big troubles under wraps and thereby, because of their fairness, were given access to other, less explosive ‘inside’ stories. This allowed a certain level of discretion and support to be followed, sometimes with success sometimes not, but the point was that the families and victims were cushioned from the excesses we see today; maybe the level of copy-cat behaviour around then compared to now speaks for itself? 

I know, I know, this is just pure conjecture from an old sod and I don’t support press restriction, but maybe a level of self-control when it comes to reporting on people’s lives wouldn't be a bad thing? Maybe, if the reporting surrounding whatshername, that London lass? God, my memory. Erm, Katie? Was it Katie…long second name…Winehouse! That’s it, Katie Winehouse! Maybe, if the reporting surrounding her gradual drift into death had been more supportive, less sensationalist and confrontational then maybe the outcome might have been different...AMY! That’s it Amy Winehouse! 

Anyway, back to Paul Kossoff. The thing is he was an astounding talent…astounding. Not that that makes him any the more qualified to live than any other person, but you only have to hear him playing on the band’s album tracks and singles releases, particularly ‘All Right Now’, to realise that he had a deep connection with his music and, through him, a deep connection with us. Wow. (And while I’m here, to the countless radio D.J.’s, but particularly the ones on Radio-bloody-One, who used to fade ‘All Right Now’ at the start of the lead break…you’re a bunch of fuckin’ Philistines…sorry, off on one then, sorry). So, given the level of reporting on such a subject back then, when his father went public and talked about his son’s struggle with his addiction, it deserved comment and notice. 

I can remember radio interviews and such with Mr. Kossoff senior and, maybe because of his honesty, dignity and his willingness to venture into the sometime terrifying landscape of open-hearted discussion, we did take notice, wanted a good outcome, no matter what our view of ‘Free’ and their music. We didn't get it, a good outcome that is, but somehow, in an unconnected yet concerned way, we felt we’d listened, had offered our support, tried to help in some, tantric, ethereal way and by that didn't feel complicit in our carelessness…didn’t become rubber-necking gawpers to a tragedy… Does that sound stupid? Hope not. 

And when the seemingly inevitable happened it was then and maybe for the first time that those of us working in the parallel universe of rock ‘n’ roll, those who had the nous, also realised that no-one but no-one is spared; that talent was no barrier to death by dope. Yes, there are stories of full-blown excesses and narrow escapes by some, but the side-roads are littered with the corpses of the fallen.

On Jan 22nd I wrote about how Eric Clapton, when asked the question, “Do drugs make you play better?” replied, “No, they just make you think you do”, and that’s an object lesson in honesty from a man who’s no stranger to narrow escapes of the drug-induced kind; worth the learning.