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THE TRUTH ABOUT: Paul kossoff | History Defined

“The chorus wrote itself, the chords took me about 10-15 minutes and then Paul came up with the verses while he was waiting for a lift to a gig the next day!”: How one of the greatest rock anthems of all time was created in the wake of a nightmare show

“It was this gigantic sound,” says super-fan Joe Bonamassa

"We were so down about what had happened to our career and our friends and our band." Gary Rossington on the triumph and tragedy of Lynyrd Skynyrd

"We were so down about what had happened to our career and our friends and our band." Gary Rossington on the triumph and tragedy of Lynyrd Skynyrd

He started the band and survived its darkest hour, never losing faith in music’s healing power. If anyone represented the soul of Lynyrd Skynyrd, it was their late guitarist, Gary Rossington

$“I remember the fracas. Simon stood in the middle and said to Rodgers, ‘If you want to hit anyone, hit me’ – so he did”: The multi-million selling supergroup whose last big hit was the punch that the singer stuck on the drummer$

“I remember the fracas. Simon stood in the middle and said to Rodgers, ‘If you want to hit anyone, hit me’ – so he did”: The multi-million selling supergroup whose last big hit was the punch that the singer stuck on the drummer

Bad Company made some of the greatest rock music of the 1970s

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“We thought it was throwaway and argued against it being released. It's incredible to me that it was a single. I was just trying to do my best Pete Townshend!” How bassist Andy Fraser electrified a Free classic

When Andy Fraser joined Free in 1968, he arrived as a teenage guitarist, but his melodic bass style became essential to the band’s success

“I don’t need tons of gain on my guitar because everyone else is distorted!” Joe Bonamassa reveals the secret to writing heavy riffs – and his methods might surprise you

Step back from the overdrive pedal, dial the gain back, and that extra clarity could well sound heavier in a band mix

Former Free and Faces bassist Tetsu Yamauchi dead at 79

Tetsu Yamauchi replaced Andy Fraser in Free and Ronnie Lane in the Faces

“This business can really get tough sometimes, and you have to dig deep inside you. Paul looked for something else to lean on, and the thing he leaned on had no future in it”: How a gifted guitarist’s descent led to the rise of ’70s supergroup Bad Company

The band were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on 8 November

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“He used seashells as a pick, that's where he gets all that squank from”: Brilliant players of all persuasions have earned their stripes in Lynyrd Skynyrd's three-guitar army. Rickey Medlocke takes us through all of them, and what made them each special

“He used seashells as a pick, that's where he gets all that squank from”: Brilliant players of all persuasions have earned their stripes in Lynyrd Skynyrd's three-guitar army. Rickey Medlocke takes us through all of them, and what made them each special

Having served in Skynyrd as a pre-fame member and later as a crucial part of their reunion, Medlocke has more insight into the idiosyncrasies and genius of each of the band's six-string aces than just about anyone

“All of my favorite players – Paul Kossoff, Leslie West, Jimi Hendrix – play with tonal perfection, but it also often sounds like they’re hanging on by a thread!” Jared James Nichols teaches you the wild drop D blues stomp he wrote with Tyler Bryant

“All of my favorite players – Paul Kossoff, Leslie West, Jimi Hendrix – play with tonal perfection, but it also often sounds like they’re hanging on by a thread!” Jared James Nichols teaches you the wild drop D blues stomp he wrote with Tyler Bryant

Learn Hard Wired, a fingerstyle blues-rock riffing masterclass that has groove for days

“I was thinking, ‘Why does it sound different when I play the Mississippi Queen intro, as compared to when he does it?’” Jared James Nichols on why playing behind and ahead of the beat are the key to great blues guitar

“I was thinking, ‘Why does it sound different when I play the Mississippi Queen intro, as compared to when he does it?’” Jared James Nichols on why playing behind and ahead of the beat are the key to great blues guitar

Taking what he learned from Leslie West, Eric Clapton and Paul Kossoff, Jared James Nichols shows us just how to work the pocket and give our playing the personality it needs

From Chuck Berry to Eric Clapton and Slash, every player uses the minor pentatonic – here’s how you can leverage the guitar’s most-used scale in your own playing

From Chuck Berry to Eric Clapton and Slash, every player uses the minor pentatonic – here’s how you can leverage the guitar’s most-used scale in your own playing

Every player is aware of the minor pentatonic, but not everyone knows how to make the most of it. These examples – in the style of some prolific pentatonic players – will help you master the shape everyone uses

“From Paul Kossoff to Eric and then to John Lennon and George Harrison”: Albert Lee reveals the history of his ’58 Les Paul Custom

“From Paul Kossoff to Eric and then to John Lennon and George Harrison”: Albert Lee reveals the history of his ’58 Les Paul Custom

Gibson calls its replica the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom, but Clapton is only one of the stars to have owned and played this storied guitar

“When Paul pitched into We Are The Champions, it wasn’t anything like Freddie would have done yet it carried the spirit of the song”: How Queen + Paul Rodgers resurrected one of rock’s most iconic bands

“When Paul pitched into We Are The Champions, it wasn’t anything like Freddie would have done yet it carried the spirit of the song”: How Queen + Paul Rodgers resurrected one of rock’s most iconic bands

The story of Queen + Paul Rodgers’ one-and-done album The Cosmos Rocks

“He had one of the greatest finger vibratos of all time”: Jared James Nichols on the guitar genius of Free’s Paul Kossoff

“He had one of the greatest finger vibratos of all time”: Jared James Nichols on the guitar genius of Free’s Paul Kossoff

Kossoff is one of Jared James Nichols’ six-string heroes: he unpacks the Free guitarist’s signature vibrato and phrasing

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His playing had an intensity and drama that even Eric Clapton admired – and it all started with classical guitar: Paul Kossoff was a rare genius with a vibrato to die for

It was Clapton's work with John Mayall that electrified the Free guitarist's imagination. Then it was Marshall stacks, a Les Paul and a wicked vibrato…

“Kossoff damaged his own '59 Les Paul and borrowed Ramm's for the encore. He agreed to swap it for his damaged guitar once it had been repaired”: A 1968 Gibson Les Paul played by Free's Paul Kossoff is up for auction

The guitar was owned by Arthur Ramm from the British prog rock band Beckett, and was originally a Les Paul Gold Top before being converted to a Burst around 1969-70

"For blue-eyed soul fans, there are treats a plenty": Terry Wilson Slesser and friends successfully conjure up the ghost of Paul Kossoff on Forever Blue

Back Street Crawler singer Terry Slesser sang on Pyromania and auditioned for both AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Now he's finally made a solo album

"Plug me into anything, I'll be alright!": Listen to Sweet and Ritchie Blackmore join forces for a unique performance of Free's All Right Now in tribute to Paul Kosoff

The unlikely partnership hooked up onstage in Santa Monica in 1976, just five days after the death of Paul Kossoff

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“When I came back into Lynyrd Skynyrd, I knew that Free Bird was going to be my lead. I was the drummer in Muscle Shoals when we cut the original. I watched Allen. I knew the licks”: Rickey Medlocke unpacks his history with Skynyrd – and that guitar solo

Veteran guitarist (and former drummer) reveals how essential Damon Johnson has become, the secret to sounding like the late original guitarists, and the unfinished songs co-written with Gary Rossington

"It's my swan song life story": 50 years ago Terry Slesser was Paul Kossoff's singer in Back Street Crawler - now he's finally releasing a solo album

Forever Blue, recorded by Terry Slesser and the Back Street Crawler Band, completes a remarkable journey for the singer

"I took a bit of steel railroad track and strung a string along it, then hooked it up to the radio": The story of Les Paul, the man who invented modern music

Visionary, guitar wizard and inspiration, Les Paul invented the electric guitar and drew the blueprint for contemporary music as we know it

“Paul Kossoff goes, ‘I’m not really in the mood. I have a friend here who can cut it.’ If it wasn’t for him I could be working at McDonald’s”: Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Al Anderson on the night he went from an unknown guitarist to tracking Natty Dread

Koss had to teach him the basics of reggae guitar as he waited for a cab to the studio. A couple of hours later he’d tracked the solos for Marley classic Natty Dread

"I remember this cold, damp day in Barnes Cemetery, lugging this plexiglas coffin around with Mickey Mouse": The curious story of Free's debut album

Recorded for just £800, Free’s Tons Of Sobs remains one of rock’s greatest debut albums

"It was all a bit exhausting and emotionally draining": Meet the man who auditioned to replace Bon Scott in AC/DC and Paul Di'Anno in Iron Maiden

Terry Slesser, singer with Paul Kossoff’s Back Street Crawler, recalls the days when AC/DC were a humble support act

“I’ve always favoured humbuckers. They’re what my heroes used – Clapton, BB King and Paul Kossoff”: Connor Selby on his greatest gear hits and misses, and the Gibson ES-125 that was the bargain of the century

The up-and-coming blues ace stops by to talk all things gear: the buying, the selling, and the regrets along the way

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