Most credit this song as being the last gasp of life from a dying Swan Song Inc., this tune is hypnotic and as smooth as glass. Mick Ralphs was probably the most tasteful player of the 70's guitar-hero crowd, and this track is the perfect example of his approach. Someone from tv land should have used this type of song for the theme of an action series instead of the cheesy MacGyver or Knight Rider sounding baloney everyone in Hollywood used in 1982. Maybe George Noory should use it on Coast to Coast AM--you know, with all the space alien and paranormal stuff, this song would work well as an opener.
I remember watching the video for this song at 3 a.m. on the old Night Flight television show, it was a breath of fresh air in the era of early 80's synthesizer silliness. There must have been some truth to the rumors that Rodgers was considering joining the Rossington/Collins band, because this type of bluesy, down home sound would have made a nice fit with a southern rock outfit. The lyrics were as cool and unpretentious ("she cooks up a chicken and brings out the wine/ and all of the neighboors had a real good time") as lines a delta blusman might have written. He played all the instruments on this song and the guitar work could have been easily mistaken for something Billy Gibbons may have recorded. Great song, you can only imagine what would have happened if it had gotten a fair shake from radio. Try listening to this in a barbeque joint or down at the lake in Sardis, some type of place where everyone eats fried chicken and drinks sweet tea out of a mason jar.
Man, I love this song. Lots of beautiful girls in the video, especially the one who passes Jimmy Page the Heineken bottle to use as a slide for the solo. And yeah, the bartender is Les Paul.
I first heard this on the radio and the DJ at KZ103 in Tupelo commented that it was a "tough" song. It is tough, as tough as a karate kick in your groin. It's proof that you can have a radio friendly record without having to resort to a sugary/hooky chorus, somehow he managed to incorporate synthesizers without sounding like muzack. And the video is amazing, the whole Romeo and Juliet samuari theme.
Paul Rodgers has more soul in his voice than any white man alive. In 1970, he could have been just as at home cutting tracks at Stax Records or in Muscle Shoals, and this is the song that put him head and shoulders above the late 60's screachers and third rate poets. Everyone knows All Right Now as the anthem, but this is the real tour de force for Free. I can imagine Janis Joplin doing this song, it's like something she reached for with Ball and Chain. And the bass! Rodgers always aligns himself with great bass players and Andy Fraser plays a busy bass part without overplaying, it's perfect for the song.
The most underated Bad Company song of all times. The rest of the album was so bland it just got stuck in the blob.
Why didn't this song make it on the first Badco album? And who is he singing about? Maggie Bell? Ann Margret? Cher?
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