Off-Road Rocking

Bernard Perusse
The Montreal Gazette
Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Mick Ralphs loves the stage, but hates the complications involved in touring with Bad Company today and in its '70s heyday. Now, he's mostly a solo man

At its peak in the mid-'70s, Bad Company was a stadium-level attraction, going multi-platinum with each successive vinyl outing. Can't Get Enough, a No. 1 hit worldwide in 1974, is still a staple on classic-rock radio.

So why did Mick Ralphs, who wrote the song and whose guitar helped define Bad Company's sound, sit out the band's reunion tour last year to tinker with homemade demos?

'My mother had just died,' Ralphs said. 'Paul (Rodgers, the group's lead singer) wanted to go out and I said, 'I can't really come at the moment, but if you want to go ahead, please go ahead.

Ralphs caught up with the group when they played in London last Sept. 20. 'It was strange hearing all those songs backstage - songs that I'd written. But I did get to play with (the group) at the end,' he said.

Fans might say Ralphs's decision to stay home stems from more than bereavement. After all, he has often made it clear that the logistics of a big tour are not his favourite focus. In fact, most Internet bios of Bad Company list him as retired from touring. But in conversation, his on-off relationship with the band and with Rodgers takes on shifting perspectives - particularly with regard to live performance.

'I miss it. I miss it. That's me. I can be me a bit at home, but I'm kind of like a square peg in a round hole. Put me on stage and I'm happy. I don't miss all the travelling and all the (complications) of being on tour, but I do miss the two hours on the stage, which makes up for all the rest of it,' he said.

While he works it out, the home taping system is in regular use. Ralphs said his latest disc, That's Life, is a collection of demos, mostly recorded during the last couple of years. The sound and feel are lo-fi, which is not necessarily a drawback these days. Artists like Badly Drawn Boy and the Strokes are capturing the public with a rough-and-ready groove and the critics seem to be launching a favourable reassessment of Paul McCartney's homemade efforts.

'Rather than spend hours and months and thousands in the studio going over and over everything, I just like to get the things down - bing, bang, bosh,' Ralphs said.

He also has a new plan: 'Maybe someone will pick up on (these songs). I would love, more than anything, someone like Bryan Adams or Rod Stewart or Tina Turner to say, 'Hey, I can do that song. What a great song. What a terrible singer,' he said, referring to his Keith Richards-like rasp.

That's Life provides its own hope with a charming but ragged 1970 demo of Can't Get Enough, which reveals little trace of the FM-radio glory that Bad Company would ultimately bestow on it. 'It's pretty embarrassing,' Ralphs said of the rough version. 'When I did it, I was a starving musician in London in a basement flat, but a simple tune with the right singer or the right situation can become very well liked and accepted. I'm only too pleased to say it happened with that one.'

The megahit was written during Ralphs's years with Mott the Hoople, a band that was less commercially successful than Bad Company, even with All the Young Dudes, a 1972 stone-cold classic penned by David Bowie. Perversely, Ralphs saw the song as an exit cue. 'I left at the point where (Bowie) had come in and given us a hit record, which was great, but it changed everything. Whatever made Mott the Hoople attractive yet unknown was what it was all about, so when it became a commercial success, it lost a bit of its identity,' he said.

But Ralphs hasn't completely severed his ties with Mott frontman Ian Hunter. He toured smaller venues in Britain as part of Hunter's band last May while Bad Company toured the United States without him. '(Ian and I) met and we got on as if we'd only seen each other five minutes ago - and it was almost 30 years,' Ralphs said. 'We played for only two weeks, but it was so great. It got me back on the road without any great hoo-hah. Bad Company is like a big machine that grinds into action - photographs, interviews, dah dah dah. This was just, 'Hey, let's go out and play.'

Being on the road is not always the friendliest place for aging rockers, Ralphs said, but he described the atmosphere on this side of the ocean as far more accepting. 'In England, it's like, 'Oh, you're too fat, you're too old, you're too uncool.' They say, 'Why don't these guys retire?' In America, it's like, 'Hey, you guys are still doing it. Right on,' he said.

For Ralphs, the Bad Company legacy is timeless. 'We just sang real simple songs in a simple way that got to people. We didn't try to tart them up with orchestral arrangements and all the stuff. We were all blues fanatics. We like R+B and blues and simple, gut-feeling music,' he said.

While he waits for the next go-round and perhaps even a recording date with Bad Company, Ralphs said he buys and sells guitars on eBay. 'Since I've got on the Internet, it's opened a whole world of wasted time for me. My wife says she's an Internet widow,' he said.

There's a strange and ominous silence on that Net about Ralph's involvement in Bad Company's projected 2004 tour. Much always depends on when - and if - Paul Rodgers picks up the phone: 'Paul is trying to do his own thing as well as doing Bad Company when he feels like it - that's the problem, really,' Ralphs said.

And his love-hate relationship with touring is back: 'Bad Company is not a priority in his life, and it's always been in my life. When it's not there, I haven't got a lot going for me,' he said, laughing heartily.

'I've done enough lawn-mowing and gardening, I know that much. I'm ready for some rock 'n' roll action.'




	Interviews \| Home Off-Road Rocking Bernard Perusse The Montreal Gazette Wednesday, July 23, 2003 Mick Ralphs loves the stage, but hates the complications involved in touring with Bad Company today and in its '70s heyday. Now, he's mostly a solo man At its peak in the mid-'70s, Bad Company was a stadium-level attraction, going multi-platinum with each successive vinyl outing. Can't Get Enough, a No. 1 hit worldwide in 1974, is still a staple on classic-rock radio. So why did Mick Ralphs, who wrote the song and whose guitar helped define Bad Company's sound, sit out the band's reunion tour last year to tinker with homemade demos? 'My mother had just died,' Ralphs said. 'Paul (Rodgers, the group's lead singer) wanted to go out and I said, 'I can't really come at the moment, but if you want to go ahead, please go ahead. Ralphs caught up with the group when they played in London last Sept. 20. 'It was strange hearing all those songs backstage - songs that I'd written. But I did get to play with (the group) at the end,' he said. Fans might say Ralphs's decision to stay home stems from more than bereavement. After all, he has often made it clear that the logistics of a big tour are not his favourite focus. In fact, most Internet bios of Bad Company list him as retired from touring. But in conversation, his on-off relationship with the band and with Rodgers takes on shifting perspectives - particularly with regard to live performance. 'I miss it. I miss it. That's me. I can be me a bit at home, but I'm kind of like a square peg in a round hole. Put me on stage and I'm happy. I don't miss all the travelling and all the (complications) of being on tour, but I do miss the two hours on the stage, which makes up for all the rest of it,' he said. While he works it out, the home taping system is in regular use. Ralphs said his latest disc, That's Life, is a collection of demos, mostly recorded during the last couple of years. The sound and feel are lo-fi, which is not necessarily a drawback these days. Artists like Badly Drawn Boy and the Strokes are capturing the public with a rough-and-ready groove and the critics seem to be launching a favourable reassessment of Paul McCartney's homemade efforts. 'Rather than spend hours and months and thousands in the studio going over and over everything, I just like to get the things down - bing, bang, bosh,' Ralphs said. He also has a new plan: 'Maybe someone will pick up on (these songs). I would love, more than anything, someone like Bryan Adams or Rod Stewart or Tina Turner to say, 'Hey, I can do that song. What a great song. What a terrible singer,' he said, referring to his Keith Richards-like rasp. That's Life provides its own hope with a charming but ragged 1970 demo of Can't Get Enough, which reveals little trace of the FM-radio glory that Bad Company would ultimately bestow on it. 'It's pretty embarrassing,' Ralphs said of the rough version. 'When I did it, I was a starving musician in London in a basement flat, but a simple tune with the right singer or the right situation can become very well liked and accepted. I'm only too pleased to say it happened with that one.' The megahit was written during Ralphs's years with Mott the Hoople, a band that was less commercially successful than Bad Company, even with All the Young Dudes, a 1972 stone-cold classic penned by David Bowie. Perversely, Ralphs saw the song as an exit cue. 'I left at the point where (Bowie) had come in and given us a hit record, which was great, but it changed everything. Whatever made Mott the Hoople attractive yet unknown was what it was all about, so when it became a commercial success, it lost a bit of its identity,' he said. But Ralphs hasn't completely severed his ties with Mott frontman Ian Hunter. He toured smaller venues in Britain as part of Hunter's band last May while Bad Company toured the United States without him. '(Ian and I) met and we got on as if we'd only seen each other five minutes ago - and it was almost 30 years,' Ralphs said. 'We played for only two weeks, but it was so great. It got me back on the road without any great hoo-hah. Bad Company is like a big machine that grinds into action - photographs, interviews, dah dah dah. This was just, 'Hey, let's go out and play.' Being on the road is not always the friendliest place for aging rockers, Ralphs said, but he described the atmosphere on this side of the ocean as far more accepting. 'In England, it's like, 'Oh, you're too fat, you're too old, you're too uncool.' They say, 'Why don't these guys retire?' In America, it's like, 'Hey, you guys are still doing it. Right on,' he said. For Ralphs, the Bad Company legacy is timeless. 'We just sang real simple songs in a simple way that got to people. We didn't try to tart them up with orchestral arrangements and all the stuff. We were all blues fanatics. We like R+B and blues and simple, gut-feeling music,' he said. While he waits for the next go-round and perhaps even a recording date with Bad Company, Ralphs said he buys and sells guitars on eBay. 'Since I've got on the Internet, it's opened a whole world of wasted time for me. My wife says she's an Internet widow,' he said. There's a strange and ominous silence on that Net about Ralph's involvement in Bad Company's projected 2004 tour. Much always depends on when - and if - Paul Rodgers picks up the phone: 'Paul is trying to do his own thing as well as doing Bad Company when he feels like it - that's the problem, really,' Ralphs said. And his love-hate relationship with touring is back: 'Bad Company is not a priority in his life, and it's always been in my life. When it's not there, I haven't got a lot going for me,' he said, laughing heartily. 'I've done enough lawn-mowing and gardening, I know that much. I'm ready for some rock 'n' roll action.' 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