Paul Rodgers needs to start a new FREE! They were the fifth greatest group in the world!

[AlexKx]

Paul Rodgers needs to start a new FREE! They were the fifth greatest group in the world! It should have Joe Bonnamasa on guitar, bass by ?John Paul Jones? and of course Simon Kirke on drums...what say you all?

So, yeah. I consider the top five recording groups in the world based mainly off of worldwide sales but not entirely either...

1) Michael Jackson
2) Led Zeppelin (the world's greatest cover group!)
3) QUEEN
4) The Beatles
5) FREE
6) The Eagles
7) Fleetwood Mac
8) Jimi Hendrix
9) CREAM
10) David Bowie
11) The Rolling Stones...yes in that order of those two!
12) Elvis Presley
13) Frank Sinatra
14) Louis Armstrong
15) Johnny Cash
16) Dolly Parton
17) Elton John
18)Guns N Roses
19) Meat Loaf
20) Van Halen
21) Whitesnake
22) Def Leppard
23) Black Sabbath
24) Bon Jovi
25) Motley Crue
26) Metallica
27) U2
28)Tears For Fears
29) Aerosmith
30) Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
31) KISS
32) The Supremes (and Diana Ross solo)
33) The Temptations
34) The Doors
35) Janis Joplin
36) Foreigner
37) HEART
38) Jack White
39) R. E. M.
40) AC/DC
41) Eric Clapton
42) Jeff Beck
43) The Kinks
44) Little Richard
45) Buddy Holly And The Crickets
46) Jerry Lee Lewis (still alive here in 2019!)
47) Bill Halley And His Comets
48) Madonna
49) PRINCE
50) B-52s
51) The Runnaways
52) The Bee Gees
53) Bob Dylan

 

[Slipn]

Was this a list you found online????

 

[AlexKx]

Before I answer the question...what difference would it make?

 

[Slipn]

The difference you ask? ... Are you a fan of the band FREE? Or are you Paul Rodgers.

Commercially each band mentioned in this list was a top chart artist.. With time.. even Elvis Presley can sink to the bottom if Justin Bieber is the soup of the day..

 

[AlexKx]

Yes! Great response! I'm not sure how it does not make me want to curl up and die but let's proceed! (With all due respect to some level of quality to Mr. Bieber of course but there is no way he has had an impact as certain other artists mentioned in that list above.) SO. I addressed this elsewhere (off hand I don't remember what post) but sales numbers are what are important and count the most. Streaming will never equate to sales. Even downloads will not if they at the least are not equivalent in value from the past. (Plus you can't re-sell a download as opposed to owning it in physical form of which then you can.) So while streaming, downloads, and "artists who inspire" ARE relevant there is no equation to being able to rate an artist worth as much as an actual sale of their recordings. If they make all the money in the world but it is something different than sales of their recordings...then they do not specialize in this industry.

I am impressed by your response and thought put into it other than, "You suck!" response or that my views don't equate...and in some ways they don't but in some ways I think I can back up SOME of my selections. I do admit SOME of my selections towards the end of the list were kind of what all I was thinking off the top of my head, lol. SO to answer your question...I was initially a fan of Bad Company learning of them through their compilation entitled "10 From 6" in 1990 on the compact disc format as a camper (at an overnight extended stay kids camp) when I was twelve years old. That was cool and all but I would also learn more about Paul Rodgers as the lead singer of The Firm! That too was cool. I also got to experience seeing a variant line-up of Bad Company perform at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina (I think it was in the year 2002) which was totally wild because I don't know when I have heard of a major music performing act perform at that military base before (though I certainly don't know if that is an accurate detail to be honest). Then there were the two collaboration projects that Paul Rodgers did with QUEEN which I thought were phenomenal. The 2005 reunion tour, live l.p., and two music home videos released on d.v.d. (one of which was released in 2006 in Japan only). Then the classic studio long play they did together and released in the year 2008 called "The Cosmos Rocks" and the tour that followed that and the live d.v.d. from it released early in 2009. So what inspired QUEEN to reunite and with Paul Rodgers was them performing at the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame Performance from England which I thought was so amazing I swallowed my gum I was chewing which freaked me out! I knew then and there QUEEN had a way forward! It was amazing! So by the time the reunion tour began I started to check out FREE with their new two compact disc best of compilation released that year in 2005 entitled "Chronicles" which I think was an on going series for some artists at that time on Universal if I am not mistaken.

Anywho and how I was blown away and to this day by them and am convinced of their greatness! I am also aware of solo projects (and L.A.W.) and the FREE Spirit tour that he did which leads me to strongly suggest that the new name of that group (FREE) be FREE Spirit. (On a side note I am too also aware of Bad Company continuing for some time without Paul Rodgers.) Otherwise looking up the name of the group on the internet is disastrous and does not work THOUGH the same could be said for groups with names like KISS, QUEEN, Garbage, etc. where you would need to type in "Free group" or what have you. Even then that can and could be problematic and I think HAS played a part in them being swept to the dust bin of history as no one are going to accidentally stumble upon them too easily at least.

I think Paul Rodgers has expressed how he considered restarting the group as "FREE From The Shadows" but I think "FREE Spirit" would make all the more sense of being more reasonable as a group name being that it is shorter and perhaps easier to remember for the public. I also know that there was a proposed massive complete compilation of their entire catelogue in a box set entitled "FREE From The Shadows" but has since been completely canceled. There was also a picture of it that got leaked as well as if there were an early pre-production version.

So the greatest thing I think that Paul Rodgers has done outside of his work with QUEEN and even more so than Bad Company IS FREE. In my opinion someone somewhere whoever owns the names of these groups are going to want to make money and will restart them in my own honest opinion any way. To me it is more of a question of when. It sounds as if KISS have the intention of doing this. In my opinion the main issue would be to prevent groups from being revolving doors in terms of who are in their line-ups. Whitesnake are notorious for line-up changes as well as Guns N' Roses, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, and...KISS. No one wants these groups to be like Menudo where there are and endless amount of people whom have been in them that no one knows who the members are at any given time. So there will need to be control factors given I think and hope. QUEEN seem to have given some level of experimenting with this already by being the first act to have an official tribute group. Their name is different though through expansion called "The QUEEN Extravaganza" and unfortunately for QUEEN they are better than they are which is just fine as far as I'm concerned. Especially Marc Martel. He is phenomenal and I hope he has more success in the future. Sorry about the novel of a post here...

 

[Slipn]

OK I share your enthusiasm.. because... Free and Bad Company were apart of those years of my life that meant I was young and FREE..
There is a Documentary that covers the whole thing out there that I just happened to watch a couple weeks ago..
You should check it out to gain more knowledge of the band/ Bands..

Alas.. The first comment under the video said.. "Brian Howe was the best".. Nah.. Paul Rodgers was a rare find.. Bad Company according to the Doc. Had to choose a quick Bass player to get the band going.. Introducing.. Bozz Burrell..
Rogers started the old lifestyle of getting carried away with the drinking and everything a supergroup could be apart of.. But.. He ended up with a family and checked out of that scene. He is.. a diamond in the rough as far as staying with what he's good at.. Making music..
The glorious bands who lost members to drugs and drinking and such are still connected.. Hence why Queen wanted him for a frontman when Freddie passed on.. Serious business..
If Gene and Paul want to get him on stage with a new FREE.. well.. wouldn't that be special.. These oldies but goodies know the time is ripe to pluck the fruits of a tired of this music era..
There is no mistaken that these old dogs can still learn a few new tricks..

BTW.. I own every Bad Company LP.. And Brian Howe was no Paul Rodgers.. Seen them at a ampitheater in Alabama a few years back..
It didn't give me that goosebump feeling since Paul wasn't there..
To you bro.. Off one of my albums..

There is no meat left on the bone with this song.. Cheers and hope you didn't catch my drift the wrong way..

 

[AlexKx]

WOW! You read all of my post?! I'm shocked again! I did get quit carried away there...with that said! Lol. I might have miscommunicated and maybe you misunderstood me BUT I did not mean KISS would be invovled with getting a new FREE up and running. I meant that they they have been interested and saying for some time now about having new members take their places at some point down the line with a new line-up for them themselves. When I was saying whomever owns the names of "these groups" I meant in all of the pop cannon of recordings artists throughout all of time! Thank you for the links too! I don't know off hand (though you would think I would and or should!) and maybe I have but I am not sure if I have seen the VH1 Legends edition of Bad Company. I'll take a peek and see later on. I had the cover "Fire And Water" framed as a matter of fact though I have yet to hang it. I am pretty sure I will soon.

 

[AlexKx]

OR I guess you all reading this post could also call the list "Pillars Of The Upright Society Brigade", huh?

 

[E-Z]

Free were great in there time (1968-1973) but don't reform them because the 'magic' of Free died along with Paul Kossoff & Andy Fraser and as for Joe Bonnamasa being the guitarist in a reconstituted Free that dude spreads himself to thin to the point of being a faceless dude in a suit playing a Gibson.

 

[Slipn]

Ya.. agreed.. FREE was like a band before they knew what to really do.. Hence Bad Company.. They are in a class of their own..

So.. wait a minute.. Gene and Paul are looking for a replacement line up?? What about Nick his son?? Maybe just a shitty idea.. But he does have some talent..