Chords for Bad Company - Mick Ralphs interview for TeamRock Radio - part 4
Tempo:
129.85 bpm
Chords used:
D
G
F#
E
F#m
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[D]
[F#] [D]
[E] Let's talk a little bit now about the second album as we move to Straight Shooter.
Yeah.
With everything that was going on and the huge success of the first one and being in the eye of the storm and the tours and all that stuff,
was the second album, was it traditionally, the old cliche is a difficult second album?
Yeah.
Was it a difficult second album?
Well, I must say it wasn't in this instance.
It was, I know that old saying, you know, the second album got to top the first and the third album's got to
But we were having such a good time.
We'd done the first album, it had come out just as we wanted it to.
It had been accepted by far more people than we ever thought would have heard of us.
So we had a bit of confidence.
I mean, in the initial album, we weren't sure.
We knew we were good at what we did, but we didn't know how far that acceptance would go.
But having been to America and got a following rather quickly, we had a bit of swagger, I suppose, if you're not big-headed.
It just assured us, you know.
We said, yeah, we can do it, we are good.
And that, I think that feeling combined with the success of the first album, me and Paul were actually writing songs on the road, which is very hard to do generally.
Tell us about that writing process then.
How did you two
Well, because we'd just come into it all, you know, it was all a bit much, the America and acceptance and millions of albums.
We tended to sort of huddle together in a little family, you know, to hide away from all the madness.
We'd sit around, like my room or Paul's room or Simon's room or Boz's room, maybe two, three, one, two of us, just chucking around ideas.
And I think because we'd had the acceptance and we were in America and it's a very rock and roll country, you know, the names sound great and the cars sound great.
So we used a lot of those connotations into stylising the next album, I suppose you could call it.
It wasn't deliberate, it was just a way of making it a bit more, slightly more polished than the first record.
It had a bit more balls to it, I thought.
It was a hard rock album, the second one.
And it was recorded at Clearwell Castle, once again using Ronnie Lane's mobile.
And Ron Nevison.
Yeah, and you really liked that whole idea, didn't you, of not recording in a studio, of recording in a place that had an atmosphere.
Yes, it's much more creative, you know, Paul, you know, especially with singers, you know, the voice depends on the room you're in, the weather.
So he'd go outside at 11 o'clock at night and sing a song in the moonlight, you know, because it suited his throat.
The air felt good at that time of day, you know, it was moist.
So all these little things you could do, which you couldn't do in a regular studio.
But also in Clearwell Castle, it wasn't just, they didn't just use it as a recording space.
They used to have medieval nights, didn't they?
Where they would have wenches [G] serving mead.
You know, they would be dressed up as wenches.
And I gather that some of the band and the roadies, you know, took advantage of that hospitality.
Yeah, no, but this whole thing was going on next to us recording, and it was a different part of this old castle.
And we were like intrigued, like, what are they up to in there?
So me and Boz wandered in and there's this big room with all these medieval type tables and, as you say, wenches and blokes slugging beer.
We thought, this looks all right.
It's on the album, let's go and have a look.
So we had a stay down a few drinks and talked to a few girls and generally got into the spirit of it all.
It was great fun.
Let's talk a little bit about what it was like in the band at that time.
Because at that point you were second only to Led Zeppelin as the biggest band in the world.
Give us a flavor of what it was like to tour at that time, because you toured in luxury, didn't you?
I mean, like Led Zeppelin because of Peter Grant.
Just give us a flavor because there are so many stories about what it was like in those days.
Just give us a flavor of that.
Well, there's a lot of myths and tall stories, but I mean really, bottom line is we were living in the bubble of non-reality.
We were whisked from town to town in a limousine or a private plane or a jet or whatever.
And then driven to the hotel and then driven to the soundcheck, do the gig and then back to the airport, take off to the next.
So it was a strange existence, but it seemed normal at the time.
But it was only when you look back at it, you think that was a crazy way to live.
I mean, it's well, it was different, but I mean, it was I think it was par for the course in those days.
Yeah, but I mean, you unlike, you know, the Who or Led Zeppelin, I mean, you didn't kind of trash hotel rooms, but you did as a group, you know, drink hard and play hard.
You knew how to have a good time, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, we did.
And I think it's because when you're in that position, people don't say no.
You know, normally somebody said, I think you've had enough to drink now, you know.
Now another bottle of scotch.
OK, another bottle of scotch.
So there's none of that sort of discipline goes out the window.
So you're on your own, really.
How did you manage to keep your sanity in all of that?
I haven't.
Good answer.
This is the silly me you're hearing.
Now, it's you've got to you've got to like take a rain check.
You've got to look at it for what it is.
You think, hang on, this is great.
But I kept thinking this isn't going to last.
You know, this will all be over in six months.
Not knowing it's 40 years since they were sitting here.
But a lot of your contemporaries who were kind of around at that time and were in big bands didn't think like that.
No.
Well, that's the danger.
I mean, I always thought, well, this is this can't go on for long.
This is crazy.
This is too much.
This is not real.
[F#m]
It seemed like a surreal experience.
I mean, it was great, but I kept thinking this is going to stop soon.
It's got to stop.
You know, this is carry on like this and somebody's going to die.
You know, it was just pretty intense, but in a good way.
But it was pretty intense.
[D] [G] [D]
[A]
[G] [D]
[F#] [D]
[E] Let's talk a little bit now about the second album as we move to Straight Shooter.
Yeah.
With everything that was going on and the huge success of the first one and being in the eye of the storm and the tours and all that stuff,
was the second album, was it traditionally, the old cliche is a difficult second album?
Yeah.
Was it a difficult second album?
Well, I must say it wasn't in this instance.
It was, I know that old saying, you know, the second album got to top the first and the third album's got to
But we were having such a good time.
We'd done the first album, it had come out just as we wanted it to.
It had been accepted by far more people than we ever thought would have heard of us.
So we had a bit of confidence.
I mean, in the initial album, we weren't sure.
We knew we were good at what we did, but we didn't know how far that acceptance would go.
But having been to America and got a following rather quickly, we had a bit of swagger, I suppose, if you're not big-headed.
It just assured us, you know.
We said, yeah, we can do it, we are good.
And that, I think that feeling combined with the success of the first album, me and Paul were actually writing songs on the road, which is very hard to do generally.
Tell us about that writing process then.
How did you two
Well, because we'd just come into it all, you know, it was all a bit much, the America and acceptance and millions of albums.
We tended to sort of huddle together in a little family, you know, to hide away from all the madness.
We'd sit around, like my room or Paul's room or Simon's room or Boz's room, maybe two, three, one, two of us, just chucking around ideas.
And I think because we'd had the acceptance and we were in America and it's a very rock and roll country, you know, the names sound great and the cars sound great.
So we used a lot of those connotations into stylising the next album, I suppose you could call it.
It wasn't deliberate, it was just a way of making it a bit more, slightly more polished than the first record.
It had a bit more balls to it, I thought.
It was a hard rock album, the second one.
And it was recorded at Clearwell Castle, once again using Ronnie Lane's mobile.
And Ron Nevison.
Yeah, and you really liked that whole idea, didn't you, of not recording in a studio, of recording in a place that had an atmosphere.
Yes, it's much more creative, you know, Paul, you know, especially with singers, you know, the voice depends on the room you're in, the weather.
So he'd go outside at 11 o'clock at night and sing a song in the moonlight, you know, because it suited his throat.
The air felt good at that time of day, you know, it was moist.
So all these little things you could do, which you couldn't do in a regular studio.
But also in Clearwell Castle, it wasn't just, they didn't just use it as a recording space.
They used to have medieval nights, didn't they?
Where they would have wenches [G] serving mead.
You know, they would be dressed up as wenches.
And I gather that some of the band and the roadies, you know, took advantage of that hospitality.
Yeah, no, but this whole thing was going on next to us recording, and it was a different part of this old castle.
And we were like intrigued, like, what are they up to in there?
So me and Boz wandered in and there's this big room with all these medieval type tables and, as you say, wenches and blokes slugging beer.
We thought, this looks all right.
It's on the album, let's go and have a look.
So we had a stay down a few drinks and talked to a few girls and generally got into the spirit of it all.
It was great fun.
Let's talk a little bit about what it was like in the band at that time.
Because at that point you were second only to Led Zeppelin as the biggest band in the world.
Give us a flavor of what it was like to tour at that time, because you toured in luxury, didn't you?
I mean, like Led Zeppelin because of Peter Grant.
Just give us a flavor because there are so many stories about what it was like in those days.
Just give us a flavor of that.
Well, there's a lot of myths and tall stories, but I mean really, bottom line is we were living in the bubble of non-reality.
We were whisked from town to town in a limousine or a private plane or a jet or whatever.
And then driven to the hotel and then driven to the soundcheck, do the gig and then back to the airport, take off to the next.
So it was a strange existence, but it seemed normal at the time.
But it was only when you look back at it, you think that was a crazy way to live.
I mean, it's well, it was different, but I mean, it was I think it was par for the course in those days.
Yeah, but I mean, you unlike, you know, the Who or Led Zeppelin, I mean, you didn't kind of trash hotel rooms, but you did as a group, you know, drink hard and play hard.
You knew how to have a good time, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, we did.
And I think it's because when you're in that position, people don't say no.
You know, normally somebody said, I think you've had enough to drink now, you know.
Now another bottle of scotch.
OK, another bottle of scotch.
So there's none of that sort of discipline goes out the window.
So you're on your own, really.
How did you manage to keep your sanity in all of that?
I haven't.
Good answer.
This is the silly me you're hearing.
Now, it's you've got to you've got to like take a rain check.
You've got to look at it for what it is.
You think, hang on, this is great.
But I kept thinking this isn't going to last.
You know, this will all be over in six months.
Not knowing it's 40 years since they were sitting here.
But a lot of your contemporaries who were kind of around at that time and were in big bands didn't think like that.
No.
Well, that's the danger.
I mean, I always thought, well, this is this can't go on for long.
This is crazy.
This is too much.
This is not real.
[F#m]
It seemed like a surreal experience.
I mean, it was great, but I kept thinking this is going to stop soon.
It's got to stop.
You know, this is carry on like this and somebody's going to die.
You know, it was just pretty intense, but in a good way.
But it was pretty intense.
[D] [G] [D]
[A]
[G] [D]
Key:
D
G
F#
E
F#m
D
G
F#
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ [D] _
_ [E] Let's talk a little bit now about the second album as we move to Straight Shooter.
Yeah. _
With everything that was going on and the huge success of the first one and being in the eye of the storm and the tours and all that stuff,
_ was the second album, was it traditionally, the old cliche is a difficult second album?
Yeah.
Was it a difficult second album?
Well, I must say it wasn't in this instance.
It was, I know that old saying, you know, _ the second album got to top the first and the third album's got to_
But we were having such a good time.
_ _ We'd done the first album, it had come out just as we wanted it to.
It had been accepted by far more people than we ever thought would have heard of us.
So we had a bit of confidence.
I mean, in the initial album, we weren't sure.
We knew we were good at what we did, but we didn't know how far that acceptance would go.
But having been to America _ _ and got a following rather quickly, we had a bit of swagger, I suppose, if you're not big-headed.
It just assured us, you know.
We said, yeah, we can do it, we are good. _ _ _ _ _
And that, I think that feeling combined with the success of the first album, _ me and Paul were actually writing songs on the road, which is very hard to do generally.
Tell us about that writing process then.
How did you two_
Well, because we'd just come into it all, you know, it was all a bit much, the America and acceptance and millions of albums. _
_ We tended to sort of huddle together in a little family, you know, to hide away from all the madness.
_ We'd sit around, like my room or Paul's room or Simon's room or Boz's room, maybe two, three, _ one, two of us, just chucking around ideas.
And I think because _ we'd had the acceptance and we were in America and it's a very rock and roll country, you know, the names sound great and the cars sound great.
So we used a lot of those connotations into _ stylising the next album, I suppose you could call it.
It wasn't deliberate, it was just a way of _ making it a bit more, slightly more polished than the first record.
It had a bit more balls to it, I thought.
It was a hard rock album, the second one.
And it was recorded at Clearwell Castle, once again using Ronnie Lane's mobile.
And Ron Nevison.
Yeah, and you really liked that whole idea, didn't you, of not recording in a studio, of recording in a place that had an atmosphere.
Yes, _ it's much more _ creative, you know, Paul, you know, especially with singers, you know, _ the voice depends on the room you're in, the weather.
So he'd go outside at 11 o'clock at night and sing a song in the moonlight, you know, because it suited his throat.
The air felt good at that time of day, you know, it was moist.
So all these little things you could do, which you couldn't do in a regular studio.
But also in Clearwell Castle, it wasn't just, they didn't just use it as a recording space.
They used to have medieval nights, didn't they?
Where they would have wenches [G] _ serving mead.
You know, they would be dressed up as wenches.
And I gather that some of the band and the roadies, you know, took _ advantage of that hospitality.
Yeah, no, but this whole thing was going on next to us recording, and it was a different part of this old castle.
_ And we were like intrigued, like, what are they up to in there?
So me _ and Boz wandered in and there's this big room with all these medieval type tables and, as you say, wenches and blokes slugging beer.
We thought, this looks all right.
It's on the album, let's go and have a look.
So we had a stay down a few drinks and talked to a few girls _ and _ generally got into the spirit of it all.
It was great fun.
Let's talk a little bit about what it was like in the band at that time.
Because at that point you were second only to Led Zeppelin as the biggest band in the world. _
_ _ Give us a flavor of what it was like to tour at that time, because you toured in luxury, didn't you?
I mean, like Led Zeppelin because of Peter Grant.
Just give us a flavor because there are so many stories about what it was like in those days. _
Just give us a flavor of that.
Well, there's a lot of myths and tall stories, but I mean really, _ bottom line is we were living in the bubble of non-reality.
We were _ _ whisked from town to town _ in a limousine or a private plane or a jet or whatever.
And then driven to the hotel and then driven to the soundcheck, do the gig and then back to the airport, take off to the next.
So it was a strange existence, but it seemed normal at the time.
But it was only when you look back at it, you think that was a crazy way to live.
I mean, _ it's _ well, it was different, but I mean, it was I think it was par for the course in those days.
Yeah, but I mean, you unlike, you know, the Who or Led Zeppelin, I mean, you didn't kind of trash hotel rooms, but you did as a group, you know, drink hard and play hard.
You knew how to have a good time, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, we did.
And I think it's because when you're in that position, people don't say no.
You know, normally somebody said, I think you've had enough to drink now, you know.
Now another bottle of scotch.
OK, another bottle of scotch.
So there's none of that sort of _ discipline goes out the window.
So you're on your own, really.
How did you manage to keep your sanity in all of that?
I haven't.
_ _ _ _ Good answer.
_ _ This is the silly me you're hearing.
Now, it's you've got to you've got to like take a rain check.
You've got to look at it for what it is.
You think, hang on, this is great.
But I kept thinking this isn't going to last.
You know, this will all be over in six months.
Not knowing it's 40 years since they were sitting here.
But a lot of your contemporaries who were kind of around at that time and were in big bands didn't think like that.
No.
Well, that's the danger.
I mean, I always thought, well, _ this is this can't go on for long.
This is crazy.
This is too much.
This is not real.
_ [F#m]
It seemed like a _ _ surreal experience.
I mean, it was great, but I kept thinking this is going to stop soon.
It's got to stop.
You know, this is carry on like this and somebody's going to die.
You know, it was just pretty intense, but in a good way.
But it was pretty intense.
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ [D] _
_ [E] Let's talk a little bit now about the second album as we move to Straight Shooter.
Yeah. _
With everything that was going on and the huge success of the first one and being in the eye of the storm and the tours and all that stuff,
_ was the second album, was it traditionally, the old cliche is a difficult second album?
Yeah.
Was it a difficult second album?
Well, I must say it wasn't in this instance.
It was, I know that old saying, you know, _ the second album got to top the first and the third album's got to_
But we were having such a good time.
_ _ We'd done the first album, it had come out just as we wanted it to.
It had been accepted by far more people than we ever thought would have heard of us.
So we had a bit of confidence.
I mean, in the initial album, we weren't sure.
We knew we were good at what we did, but we didn't know how far that acceptance would go.
But having been to America _ _ and got a following rather quickly, we had a bit of swagger, I suppose, if you're not big-headed.
It just assured us, you know.
We said, yeah, we can do it, we are good. _ _ _ _ _
And that, I think that feeling combined with the success of the first album, _ me and Paul were actually writing songs on the road, which is very hard to do generally.
Tell us about that writing process then.
How did you two_
Well, because we'd just come into it all, you know, it was all a bit much, the America and acceptance and millions of albums. _
_ We tended to sort of huddle together in a little family, you know, to hide away from all the madness.
_ We'd sit around, like my room or Paul's room or Simon's room or Boz's room, maybe two, three, _ one, two of us, just chucking around ideas.
And I think because _ we'd had the acceptance and we were in America and it's a very rock and roll country, you know, the names sound great and the cars sound great.
So we used a lot of those connotations into _ stylising the next album, I suppose you could call it.
It wasn't deliberate, it was just a way of _ making it a bit more, slightly more polished than the first record.
It had a bit more balls to it, I thought.
It was a hard rock album, the second one.
And it was recorded at Clearwell Castle, once again using Ronnie Lane's mobile.
And Ron Nevison.
Yeah, and you really liked that whole idea, didn't you, of not recording in a studio, of recording in a place that had an atmosphere.
Yes, _ it's much more _ creative, you know, Paul, you know, especially with singers, you know, _ the voice depends on the room you're in, the weather.
So he'd go outside at 11 o'clock at night and sing a song in the moonlight, you know, because it suited his throat.
The air felt good at that time of day, you know, it was moist.
So all these little things you could do, which you couldn't do in a regular studio.
But also in Clearwell Castle, it wasn't just, they didn't just use it as a recording space.
They used to have medieval nights, didn't they?
Where they would have wenches [G] _ serving mead.
You know, they would be dressed up as wenches.
And I gather that some of the band and the roadies, you know, took _ advantage of that hospitality.
Yeah, no, but this whole thing was going on next to us recording, and it was a different part of this old castle.
_ And we were like intrigued, like, what are they up to in there?
So me _ and Boz wandered in and there's this big room with all these medieval type tables and, as you say, wenches and blokes slugging beer.
We thought, this looks all right.
It's on the album, let's go and have a look.
So we had a stay down a few drinks and talked to a few girls _ and _ generally got into the spirit of it all.
It was great fun.
Let's talk a little bit about what it was like in the band at that time.
Because at that point you were second only to Led Zeppelin as the biggest band in the world. _
_ _ Give us a flavor of what it was like to tour at that time, because you toured in luxury, didn't you?
I mean, like Led Zeppelin because of Peter Grant.
Just give us a flavor because there are so many stories about what it was like in those days. _
Just give us a flavor of that.
Well, there's a lot of myths and tall stories, but I mean really, _ bottom line is we were living in the bubble of non-reality.
We were _ _ whisked from town to town _ in a limousine or a private plane or a jet or whatever.
And then driven to the hotel and then driven to the soundcheck, do the gig and then back to the airport, take off to the next.
So it was a strange existence, but it seemed normal at the time.
But it was only when you look back at it, you think that was a crazy way to live.
I mean, _ it's _ well, it was different, but I mean, it was I think it was par for the course in those days.
Yeah, but I mean, you unlike, you know, the Who or Led Zeppelin, I mean, you didn't kind of trash hotel rooms, but you did as a group, you know, drink hard and play hard.
You knew how to have a good time, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, we did.
And I think it's because when you're in that position, people don't say no.
You know, normally somebody said, I think you've had enough to drink now, you know.
Now another bottle of scotch.
OK, another bottle of scotch.
So there's none of that sort of _ discipline goes out the window.
So you're on your own, really.
How did you manage to keep your sanity in all of that?
I haven't.
_ _ _ _ Good answer.
_ _ This is the silly me you're hearing.
Now, it's you've got to you've got to like take a rain check.
You've got to look at it for what it is.
You think, hang on, this is great.
But I kept thinking this isn't going to last.
You know, this will all be over in six months.
Not knowing it's 40 years since they were sitting here.
But a lot of your contemporaries who were kind of around at that time and were in big bands didn't think like that.
No.
Well, that's the danger.
I mean, I always thought, well, _ this is this can't go on for long.
This is crazy.
This is too much.
This is not real.
_ [F#m]
It seemed like a _ _ surreal experience.
I mean, it was great, but I kept thinking this is going to stop soon.
It's got to stop.
You know, this is carry on like this and somebody's going to die.
You know, it was just pretty intense, but in a good way.
But it was pretty intense.
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _