Paul Kossoff – Time Away (Analysis, Review)

01/12/22 • 22 min

Paul Kossoff was the underrated and always tasteful guitarist for the 60s British blues and hard rock band Free, who are most famous for their song ‘All Right Now’. He tragically died at the age of 25 in 1976 but left us with lots of great guitar playing. Known for his immense tone and singular vibrato, this video takes a close look at his style, and one of his final recordings: the instrumental track, Time Away, which was recorded with John Martyn, and features some of Paul’s best guitar playing. Guitarists from Joe Bonamassa through Dave Murray, Angus Young, Robin Trower and Paul Weller have lauded his playing – Eric Clapton even famously went to him for vibrato lessons! One of my favourite blues guitarists, and hopefully one of yours too now!

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Be Bop Deluxe – Ships in the Night | Analysis and Review (Chords, Lyrics)

Be Bop Deluxe are such an underrated band, and Ships in the Night was the closest they got to a real hit. Bill Nelson fronted this band from 1972-78, and in that time they released five of the most underappreciated studio albums in British music, as well as a great live album. Glam, progressive rock, new wave, hard rock and blues; huge riffs, blazing solos – they do it all. This video looks at what makes the Ships in the Night work: lyrics, chords production and arrangement, as well as looking a bit more widely at the band as a whole. If you already know the band, watch this for a close look at and analysis of their biggest hit, and if they’re completely new to you – congratulations, you’ve now been introduced to a great song and a great band!

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Country Joe & The Fish | Fish Cheer (Anti-Vietnam War: Lyrics, Music)

Country Joe and the Fish are best known today for The Fish Rag (also known as I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag), which they released as a single in 1967, and famously performed at Woodstock, One of the most enduring songs written in protest of the Vietnam War, this song has been used in films such as More American Graffiti, and TV series like The Wonder Years. It’s a quite obviously anti-war song, and the band themselves were staunch non-conformists and communists. The band features a range of weird and wild instruments, from the kazoo to the calliope, and is a damning indictment of the American War Machine. In this video I take a look at what makes this song work, analysing the lyrics and the music. NOTE: I had accidentally uploaded the unedited audio for this episode and as of 08/04/2022 this has been corrected