Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.

Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Early days

Kossoff was the son of Margaret (Jenkins) and the British actor David Kossoff. His father was of Russian-Jewish descent. Kossoff started playing the guitar in the mid-1960s, being taught by session guitarist Colin Falconer, and at age 15 helped to found the band Black Cat Bones. The band played with touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree, did many supporting shows for Fleetwood Mac and other gigs with Fleetwood Mac cofounder Peter Green. Kossoff jammed and spent hours discussing blues playing and players. Kossoff's bandmate in Black Cat Bones was drummer Simon Kirke, and the two went on to play on Champion Jack Dupree's April 1968 album When You Feel the Feeling You Was Feeling.

Free

In April 1968 Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Paul Rodgers (vocals) and Andy Fraser (bass) to form Free. They did the Transit circuit for two years and recorded two albums: Tons of Sobs (1968) and Free (1969). Both albums showcased the band's blues- and soul-influenced sound, a style which was in contrast to some of their progressive and heavier counterparts at the time.

Success came in 1970 when their third album, Fire and Water (1970), spawned the big hit "All Right Now". The band played the Isle of Wight festival to both audience and critical acclaim. Sellout tours in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan followed, but after the release of the next album, Highway(1970), band pressures led to a split. The live album Free Live, recorded in 1970, was released in 1971 as a farewell record. While Rodgers and Fraser pursued unsuccessful solo projects, Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Texan keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Japanese bass playerTetsu Yamauchi to release the 1971 album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit.

Free reformed and released the album Free at Last (1972). Following its release Fraser decided he had had enough and quit to form Sharks. Free drafted Tetsu and Rabbit for Free's 1973 albumHeartbreaker (1973) after which the group disbanded.

Rodgers and Kirke went on to form the successful Bad Company while Kossoff released a solo album, Back Street Crawler (1973). He then accompanied John Martyn on a 1975 tour before assembling a group called Back Street Crawler.

Back Street Crawler released two albums: The Band Plays On in 1975 and 2nd Street in 1976. Recordings from one of the band's UK concerts in 1975 were also released under the title Live at Croydon Fairfield Halls 15/6/75.

When Free supported Blind Faith in the United States(1969), Eric Clapton was impressed enough to ask Kossoff to demonstrate his vibrato technique to him. Kossoff's guitar playing was also much in demand for session work and he contributed solos on several albums including: Jim Capaldi's Oh How We Danced (1972), Martha Veléz's Fiends and Angels (1969); Blondel's Mulgrave Street (1974); Uncle Dog's Old Hat (1972), Michael Gately's Gately's Cafe (1971) and Mike Vernon's 1971 album Bring It Back Home.

He also played on four demos by Ken Hensley (eventually released on the 1994 album titled From Time to Time) and three tracks which appear on the CD-only issue of John Martyn's Live At Leeds album from 1975.

An unreleased guitar solo also surfaced in 2006 on the title track to the album All One by David Elliot who recorded with Paul Kossoff in the 70s.

The song "Seagull", from Jim Capaldi's 1975 solo album Short Cut Draw Blood, was reputedly written about Kossoff.

A 16-track career retrospective, Koss, was issued in 1977.

The late 1990s saw a renewed interest in Kossoff, and another career retrospective was released, 1997's 14-track Blue Soul (actually a reissue of a double vinyl release from the mid-1980s of the same name), as well as the five-disc Free box set Songs of Yesterday, and a Free biography entitled Heavy Load: The Story of Free.

Death

Kossoff's unhappiness with the end of Free and his drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist's health. On a flight from Los Angeles to New York on 19 March 1976, Kossoff died from heroin-related heart problems. The day before, he had a jam session with keyboard player Dennis Provisor. He was cremated and interred at the Golders Green Crematorium. His epitaph reads "All Right Now".

Legacy

Following Kossoff's death, his father, actor David Kossoff, established the Paul Kossoff Foundation which aimed to present the realities of drug addiction to children. Kossoff's father spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs, touring a one-man stage performance about the death of Paul and its effect on the family.

Selective discography

• Tons of Sobs (1969)
• Free (1969)
• Fire and Water (1970)
• Highway (1970)
• Free Live! (1971) (live)
• Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit (1971)
• Free at Last (1972)
• Heartbreaker (1973)

The following albums were issued after the band ceased recording:

• The Free Story (1974)
• The Best of Free (1975)
• Free and Easy, Rough and Ready (1976)
• Completely Free (1982)
• All Right Now: The Best of Free (1991)
• Molten Gold: The Anthology (1994) (2 disc set)
• Free: All Right Now (1999)
• Songs of Yesterday (2000) (5 disc box set)
• Chronicles (2005) (2 disc set)

• Back Street Crawler (1973)
• Koss (1977)
• Blue Soul (1986)

• The Band Plays On (1975)
• 2nd Street (1976)
• Live at Croydon Fairfield Halls 15/6/75

(After Kossoff's death the band made further albums)