Simon Kirke talks about FREE, Bad Company, Paul Kossoff, Mick Ralphs and his future projects 

The free. Is..the greates Rockband all time..Simon kirke...great 🥁 ...

Great interview. You really asked some probing but sensitive questions. And what a nice guy! I love Free, but what really comes across when one listens to musicians of Simon's generation is that they are articulate, intelligent and thoughtful. Really enjoyed that. Thank you!

Wonderful to hear Simon talk about Paul Kossoff . He was a tragedy and a real loss.

Well done Phil getting Simon on your marvellous channel. Simon Kirke one of 'Rock's great drummers.

Dear Phil, what a marvellous interview. Simon Kirke was my drumming idol and I spent hours and hours playing to Free Live on my cheap drum kit in my bedroom. I adored his simple style, so opposed to the technical style of Palmer and the frenzied energy of Paice who, amongst other drummers of that era, got all the headlines. Similar story with Kossoff's almost spiritual style compared to the million miles an hour styles of the likes of Blackmore and latterly Van Halen. Simon Kirke's drumming was the best fit for Free's music and is an integral part of the sound which was so unique and is still so exciting to this day. Well done Phil for your great and well-structured questions. Best wishes, Paul

Simon is such a cool dude! Awesome interview, Phil! I love the simplicity of Free because it allows the melody of the music to carry through. I'm a big fan of melody in rock music. Everything from Paul Kossoff's guitar playing to Simon Kirke's drumming helped create a distinct sound within Free that couldn't be replicated anywhere else.

As a tiny tween in the late 1970s in Connecticut, I had a crush on Mr. Kirke. I would gaze at the cool dreamy inner gatefold of my Bad Co. album. 😇. Great interview, Phil. Thank you, Mr. Kirke. The comments on addiction resonated with me. I lost my beloved artistic older brother less than three weeks ago to alcohol abuse. I cry. - Heather

What a fab interview..Simon seems lovely...you're spot on Phil.... Free have this haunting timeless quality, almost spiritual... Bad Company are wonderful aswell..

Wow, Simon Kirke. He seems like a wonderful guy. Great insight into his life and the bands he's played in.

Great interview on a legend Simon kirke thanks phil👍👌

This is an outstanding interview Phil. We can tell that both you and Simon were vibing on a mutual love for the music of Free and BadCo .Thank-you for doing and sharing this video with us like minded fans.

Simon is an absolutely fantastic drummer. If i recall correctly, he was just shy of 20 when they recorded Tons of Sobs. That blows my mind!

Great interview, Simon's recall and reflection is wonderful to hear. Thank you to both of you.

Free is my favourite band. What you said about them and the members is spot on!

Great interview Phil Great to hear Simon talking about those times and great Music

Totally agree with your comments about Free a band that IMO should have a much higher profile today. I saw Bad Co just a few years ago at O2 and it's one of my favourite gigs. Simon, Paul and Mick were all great particularly on the versions of Bad Company and Electricland. Wish they could do more.

Thank you for the in-depth interview with Simon Kirke from my favorite band of all time. I was wondering if off the camera, you two talked about releases or re-releases of albums by Free, or even KKTR because as a fan, I always long for something by them. Thanks as always.

Phil , you have been on quite a roll lately. This is another great interview. Take care! 🥁

A great interview, Simon dosn't seem to age. Love all his work, his last album with FM's singer Steve Overland is well worth checking out, in the vein of Free & Bad Co. Only saw Simon once, with Bad Co. at Nottingham Rock City on the Holy Water tour.

Phil, Thank you both for this interesting discussion. All the best from the U.S.A.

One of your very best interviews, Phil! Felt like Simon really opened up to you and quickly developed a respect for you. Well done!

Thoroughly enjoyed this interview and Simon was great with his honesty about his experience of playing with these great bands

What a marvellous interview and it's so wonderful to hear your enthusiasm Phil because a lot of us around the same age as yourself feel the same way about the music of our time and you have a wonderful way of expressing it.Great job I really enjoyed the interview

Great interview

Hi Phil, and thank you - that was an inspired interview / chat! Simon Kirke is such a thoughtful guy. Nice that he admires contemporaries like Carl Palmer and Ian Paice. I'm more into Bad Co than Free, probably because I heard Straight Shooter first, and that album is perfect. Must hear more Free. Rough Diamonds STILL hasn't had its deluxe reissue, so am losing hope that it will.

Phil. Another bostin interview. Great questions and genuine answers. Best wishes

Brilliant interview, Phil! Clearly Simon loved your very thoughtful questions and appreciated the deep knowledge you have of the bands he was involved with. So different from the run-of-the-mill interviews in mainstream magazines and other outlets.

Very nice interview thank you 👍

Really good interview 👍

To clarify, Ian Paice has one and a half lungs, with part of one removed due to tuberculosis when he was young. And too right regarding the playing of 1/4 notes instead of 8th notes on tunes like 'Wishing Well'. Foreigner's 'Feels Like the First Time' is another great example of the power of the quarter note ride, which is also popular in jazz and other musics aside from rock. Free's 'Heartbreaker' album is a fave of mine. That addition of Rabbit on keys really added a whole new dimension to the sound, with 'Come Together in the Morning', 'Seven Angels' and 'Heartbreaker' being standouts for me. Kossoff squeezing out notes at the end of of 'Come Together...' is such a reveal of his situation. Simon is very considered and articulate with his responses. Thanks to you both for this informative and enjoyable chat.

Wonderful interview Phil.

Great listen and great work, as always!

This is the interview I've most been looking forward to...

Well done Phil, such an open and honest interview bringing back memories of buying Fire and Water !! I'm so pleased you raised a question about KKTR as it is such a good album.

Phil. That was an amazing interview. So good and I heard a connection and loved to hear his thoughts I feel you did a tremendous job making him comfortable to talk about. Thank u so much huge fan of all aspects of Simon’s career. By the way I love Burning Sky album one of my favourites and I have fond memories of that tour Thank you again for all u do as well

Great interview Phil 👍 Simon on drums and Andy on bass- few better!

That was a GREAT interview! I have really liked loads of bands and artists of different genres over the years…heavy, prog, acoustic etc etc but there are only two bands that I genuinely LOVE… The Beatles from the age of 9, in ‘63, to the present day and Free from 1974 onwards (I was late to the party!) When my girlfriend at the time, Alex,❤played me Be My Friend from Free Story for the first time it changed everything, a true epiphany moment, I was smitten. Sorry, I digress…back to the interview…At the heart of Free of course is Simon Kirke who comes across here as a really decent chap and may I say, as a bass player, exactly the style of drummer that would suit me, any day… solid, powerful and bags of feeling. The background stories he told about Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser and especially Koss were like gold dust, I could listen to him all day! Thank you so much Phil, that was without doubt more than I could have wished for in an interview…intelligent, and revealing questions full of incite producing fascinating answers…perfect! Well done Phil, you’ve excelled yourself! 👉👍

What a great interview

Wow, Phil...what a catch! Great history, Mr. Kirke's memory is intact. Such a well-rounded musician & listener...still. Kudos, guys!

Hi Phil, I absolutely loved this episode and it was great to Simon being so forthcoming. As a lifetime lover of Free and Bad Company it was great to here from one of the surviving members. A pity Martin Popoff didn't feel the same. I recently heard him describe Free as a demo version of Bad Company, which I thought was totally unfair as both bands clearly have their own identities.

This was a wonderful interview Phil. One of your very best.

Thank you Simon.

Hi Phil, many many years of no speak, but I have to comment on the fantastic interview with one of my heroes Simion Kirk and favourite all time bands Free whom I was lucky enough to see in early 1970s and Bad Company in one of their first gigs Charlton Athletic football ground 1974. You may remember my gold ingot drum kit which was exactly the same as Simions but with an extra Tom. Really enjoyed hearing such a down to earth man like Simion, talk about his past. Glad your doing ok to. Cheers Phil.

Hi Phil. Loving your channel and your respectful and informative interview style. What a brilliant interview with Simon, it was great to hear his honest and informative conversation. Keep up the brilliant hard work, that you do, and I will keep glued to your content.

Phil. In all seriousness and sincerity, that is one of the best interviews I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. Insightful, thoughtful, well-researched and Simon is such a wonderful interviewee. I still think he’s hugely underrated as a player. Great stuff. Please, please can we have a follow-up with him at some point? Ta muchly, Chris

I think this was my favorite interview, or tied with Steve Hackett! thanks Phil!

👍😍👍hI from Brazil!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻