Bad Company — Bad Company

• Artist: Bad Company
• Title: Bad Company
• Year: 1974
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2005? I think this one was inherited from Bob Bobala
• Keeper: Yes

Bad Company is one of the coolest band names ever. If these guys weren’t already rock stars before they started this super group (Free, King Crimson, Mott the Hoople) they would’ve been after this debut. Bad Company contains the huge hits “Can’t Get Enough”, “Rock Steady”, “Ready for Love”, “Movin’ On”, and, my favorite, the title track “Bad Company.” When Simon Kirke double flams on the snare to kick-off the chorus on “Bad Company” I get a rush because that sound is so cracking! And the bass and guitar sound huge too. It’s impressive that anyone could get such a tight, dry sound to also be so titanic. That the band members produced the album is incredible. Young producers, and musicians, should study these albums.

There’s more about Bad Company at Wikipedia.

On the band portait inside the gatefold cover someone wrote “W F” and circled it on Paul Rodgers forehead. What’s that about Bob?

Ohio Players — Fire

• Artist: Ohio Players
• Title: Fire
• Year: 1974
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1998 ? – Pretty sure I got this at Record Mart in Alexandria, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I’m ’bout to choke
From the smoke
Lemme tighten up my stroke
You’re a four alarm bay-baaaay

And when you sing the word “stroke” in the Ohio Players most awesome song “Fire” you have to go for the falsetto like you just sat on a tack. Some of the other songs on this record are sorta spaced out, trippy pop like you would expect on a mid-1970s soul record. Then, they hit you with “What The Hell” on side two. That song is one of the most metallic funk-jazz odysseys ever laid down. It’s like Funkadelic or something.

Signing off from another house hunting trip to Asheville, NC. Total driving time today: over 12 hours. When will it end?