Customer Reviews

Back Street Crawler

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The crown jewel on this one is "Molten Gold." Although it's a track on Paul's solo album, it's played by all members of Free. It's got a great tension-release dynamic, with Paul Rodgers' voice going from a whisper to a shout and trademark howling solos from Kossoff. The later releases from Back Street Crawler...in which Kossoff attempted to form a working band around shorter, more radio-friendly tracks...were hit and miss affairs. THIS is the album you want. Lots of guitar, lost of stretching out, a more than fitting legacy for a great talent.

It Started at the local music store. Jimi Hendrix walks in during his first ( legendary ) trip to England in 1966. He's waited on by a slightly portly , very shy clerk , who proceeds to sell him one of many fender strats ( white ) that he will play over the years. The clerk , one Paul Kossoff , is astounded and energized by the meeting. Kossoff goes on to form Free and heads off into Rock 'n' Roll history. It's ironic that on the cover of this L.P. Kossoff is playing a strat , because Kossoff didn't play a strat , he played a Gibson ( given to him my no less than Eric Clapton ). I heard this record in 1975 , mesmerized by the track " Tuesday Morning ".Continued to search for more of the same , anything by this often overlooked rock 'n' blues genius. But , it was not meant to be. Kossoff would make two more albums ( not very good ) then succumb to the debilitations of drug addiction. This L.P. was his finest work.The track " Molten Gold " is actually the last recording by the band Free. " Time Away ", A brilliant guitar duet with John Martyn. " Backstreet Crawler " a rockin' blues track that would give name to Kossoff's future band. But back to " Tuesday Morning " , this track is one of the all time great rock instrumental guitar tunes of all-time. Equal to Santana's " Europa " , Buchanan's " Sweet Dreams " , and Stevie Ray Vaughn's " Little Wing ". I've worn out three copies of the vinyl , and love the CD.

I have owned this album in LP form for many years and was greatly pleased to hear it had finally been put into CD format. This album will not disappoint - there's plenty of vocal variety - Paul Rodgers makes a guest appearance and Jess Roden's contribution in the track 'I'm ready' is fantastic! Why wasn't it released as a single? Hmmm...
I think that the most important aspect of this album is that it's Kossoff's last really decent attempt at songwriting. His later efforts are disappinting - he clearly loses the plot. That is hard for me to say as I am a Kossoff fan and own the LPs... He shines throughout this album. It's a great buy!

This is but a snippet of his music which is my only caveat of this recording. The performance is great for the time it was recorded and should be a much needed addition to your collection if you like Kossoff and Free. Yet another artist with a great talent whose life was cut short by abuse. Other than its brevity I highly recommend this CD!

I really enjoyed this album, even though it sounds like a collection of one-offs and out takes. If you dig Koss, I highly recommend this disc. The first song "Tuesday Morning", is basically a jam in the key of "A". Sounds like a parlor full of musicians having a blow! Some of the cuts like "Molten Gold" and "I'm Ready", as well as the title cut, shows the direction Paul was in musically. There's some great Leslie/Small Stone blues riffs, dripping with anguish. You can hear Hendrix's "Have you ever been...", was a huge influence. Unfortunately, there's also evidence of the man slipping away. Blue-eyed Funk and Soul for all you Koss enthusiasts out there.

I had not heard Tuesday Morning in many many years and was blown away by the first 3 minutes. It's as the others wrote...16 minutes of heaven.

The other tracks are all very good. Time Away shimmers.
Molton Gold IS Gold.

A Free album but NOT a Free album.
This is an album all Free fans should own.

By the way does anyone know why my CD has longer track times than what are listed on the CD booklet?
Tuesday Morning clocks in at 17:39 vs 16:50
I'm Ready is 2:28 vs 2:20
Time Away is 5:48 vs 5:40
Molton Gold is 5:54 vs 6:48 (see this one is shorter!)
Back Street Crawler is 4:09 vs 4:11

My CD is on Isand records.

I do think the album artwork is a bit of a turnoff.

Ah, the endless nights spent smoking grass and driving around listening to this music. "Tuesday Morning" is 16 minutes of guitar heaven from one of the most emotional guitar players ever to grace the world. Every track (there are only 5)is great. "Time Away" is a trip into psychedelic bliss. The music world will always miss this man that left us way too soon.

This was an outragous piece of music that I never heard before. I have been a Crawler fan since the Mid 70's and have always looked for there stuff on CD. This came up in the search and decided to take a chance. The First song is a 16 minute jam and I have been playing it a night before I go to bed just to clear my head. This guy is such a great gutairest, it's sad to think of his tragic ending. Like Tommy Bolin dying before he could really be noticed by the rest of the world. Buy it and just enjoy it. Paul Rodgers sings on a cut and some fimiliar band members make this an excellent choice.

As a lifelong fan of Paul Kossoff this is a most haunting memory of a bygone time -I was fortunate to see him perform live with Free a number of times and his music will live with me - enough maudling - this album whilst being early recording standard reflects the raw edge of the era and apart from the 'harmony?' vocal from Jess Roden on the track 'Molten Gold' which was/is lamentable, the album is a true reflection of Paul Kossoff's skill as a unique guitarist. It is sad that Paul Rodgers only sings on the one track but generally the tracks are a fine example of what 'Koss' was about.
If only he had lived to create more great music...........

The late '60s and early '70s were such a wonderful time to be alive and a fan of the music that was being discovered, written, generated, experimented with! The guitar was being stretched to new dimension's and player's soul's were being exhibited through the sound's that were being created. Many young guitarist's were "coming of age" through their work. Paul Kossoff was one of these young guitarist's. His soul was being bared by his work and the sound he generated was so pioneering! In his work w/ the band "Free", he created a sound that defined the British blues/rock scene. Considered by many to be one of the best up and coming guitarist's he exhibited a prowess that few ever achieve in their life time, let alone at such a young age as what Koss did.
As a fan of Free, I was disheartened by their demise and eagerly sought anything that each of the member's released afterward's. So, I was elated when I discovered this release, on import, in 1973....vinyl, remember that?
When he left Free, he had temporarily defeated his addiction's and was playing w/ a new found fervor, generating a sound w/ deft skill and a heart for the pure enjoyment of playing. In this album, his first solo release, he surrounds himself w/ some of the industry's best musician's, and even recruits some of his old bandmate's from Free. The opening song, "Tuesday Morning", starts out a little slow, but picks up a head of steam and by the time the 16-plus minute "jam" comes to an end, you wonder what had just hit you!
This is a must for those who are interested in what/who had set the standard for guitar player's to meet, if they wanted to ever "make it". Koss was a pioneer and it's a crying shame his life was cut so short. This man was extremely gifted and the world of music lost a wonderful contribution to guitar mastery!
Get this disc!!