Boz Burrell from Bad Company and King Crimson dies
September 25th, 2006
Boz Burrell died last Friday, 21st September 2006, at the age of 60. The renowed bassist/vocalist gained a reputation for his work with Bad Company and King Crimson during the 70’s. With great sadness I received a message last Saturday morning from a friend of Boz telling me about his sudden death. Boz Burrell was doing a rehearsal at his apartment in Puerto Banus, Marbella, Spain, at the moment of his death. He and singer Tam White were preparing stuff for a friend’s party and it seems that Boz picked up a guitar and sat back in his seat, then slumped over and passed away. Aparently, he died of a devastating heart attack.
Born Raymond Burrell in Holbeach, England, on the August the 1st, 1946, he started his professional musical career as a vocalist after leaving college when he joined the jazz band Tea Time Four. The band soon turned into The Boz People in 1965 with the addition of keyboardist Ian McLagan of later Small Faces fame. During this period they worked as the backing band for singer Kenny Lynch and eventually signed a recording deal with Columbia, releasing four singles.
After the split of The Boz People, Burrell played occasionally with some soul groups, such as The Sidewinders and Feel for Soul, and he released two solo singles featuring covers of Bob Dylan and The Doors, where he was backed by guitarist Richie Blackmore. In January 1971, Boz Burrell was invited to join the new version of King Crimson as a vocalist. The band auditioned about 30 bassists without luck and, after the quitting of future Steeleye Span bassist, Rick Kemp from the project, finally in February that same year guitarist Robert Fripp decided to teach Burrell to play the instrument himself. After a several weeks of stress and frustration, King Crimson recorded the album “Islands”, released in December 1971. “Islandsâ€? remains as one of the most beautiful albums in the band’s career, in which King Crimson approached to avant-garde landscapes where Boz Burrell provided a tremendous dimension to Pete Sinfield’s lyrics. In May 1972, after differences with Robert Fripp and coinciding with the end of an American tour, Boz Burrell decided to leave King Crimson along with sax player Mel Collins and drummer Ian wallace, and the three of them stayed on in the United States to play with bluesman Alexis Korner.
In late 1972, Burrell got back to London. After occasional work in the band Snape, he was invited to join the new project from former Free singer Paul Rodgers and former Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, Bad Company. The band was signed by Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label and in November 1974 they released their successful self-titled debut album. During the second half of the 70’s, Bad Company was one of the most popular hard rockbands, releasing the albums “Straight Shooter” (1975), “Run with the Pack” (1976), “Burnin’ Sky” (1977) and “Desolation Angels” (1979). In 1982, after the release of “Rough Diamonds”, Bad Company had a hiatus until 1986, without Boz Burrell’s presence. He would play again with the band in 1998 for the “The Original Bad Company Anthology” followed next year by a US summer tour. During the 90’s, Boz Burrell played in Alvin Lee’s Best of British Blues tour, and had a strong partnership with Scottish vocalist Tam White. Both of them created The Celtic Groove Connection in 1997 to release a self-titled album in 1999.
During these last months, Burrell had been ill after having a serious operation and was suggested from the doctors to change his lifestyle, which apparently he didn’t. Boz Burrell’s funeral will be held in Edinburgh but no date has been set yet. King Crimson’s official web site is publishing personal tributes from the band’s members on his memory. He will be always remembered as one of the top bass players from the 70’s era.
July 31st, 2008 at
I’ll miss you brother.
I’ll see you again.
My prayers are with the family.
Ricky
October 26th, 2008 at
Boz was a amazing as a bassist and singer.Im 28,in the past 8 yrs I have listened to,sang,and played the bass and guitar to almost every clasic rock song out there and to me he stands out as one of the best.His bass lines on bad company are hard as hell to play and cpoldnt be more perfect.I wish I could have seen them live,and or even met the guy.He was one of the best musicians in the best music of all time.I wish he could of got more recognition.I think there should be a tribute show for him and some others who have passed on,and to let the world see the rest of the greatest bands on earth one more time and to show the world what real music is.Bos R.I.P brother I wish I could have told you that you rock.
May 28th, 2009 at
Boz, from one singer/bassist to another, my best to you. You went with your boots on, playing music. Loved your liquid bass lines on Bad Company, and early King Crimson work too.
Cheers! Save a drink at the bar for me, mate.
August 4th, 2009 at
I grew up listening to Bad Company and, although I played guitar, I didn’t take long to recognize as a teenager how talented Boz Burrell was. He was the glue that enabled Bad Company to excel rhythmically; the solid platform for Paul Rodgers’s incredible vocals. Their guitar playing was always competent, but it was Boz that made their songs sparkle. He never got in the way but added accents at the right moment to keep the song engaging. His feel, his choices, and his rhythym were always right on. I was surprised that Boz was not originally a bassist because he played so naturally. Boz was a classic; someone to be emulated.
August 6th, 2009 at
I originally arranged dates in the 60’s for the TEA TIME FOUR in King’s Lynn. I remember having this band booked for 30 consecutive days in the middle 60’s such was his popularity even then. I shall miss the opportunity of ever seeing Boz again. We used to meet from time to time in London when I was with Immediate Records and on the road with the Small Faces. I am now in my early 70’s and the tears are running down my face reading this obituary. Alan G. Lockwood
October 21st, 2009 at
As a teenager I saw Bad Company on their Run with the Pack tour. I remember being so impressed with Boz. Here was this guy wearing a cowboy hat, smiling the entire time, and anchoring this huge rock sound. All four of them had such great stage presence you did’nt know who to watch. Boz stood and played so steady on the stage. He gave the band,and the crowd, the confidence to enjoy such a great show.
November 21st, 2009 at
I used to listen to Bad Company growing up and then discovered Boz playing in pubs in south and west London during the 80s with a band called Chuck Farley. Places like the Cartoon in Croydon, The Red Lion in Brentford and the New Golden Lion in Fulham. I must have seen them at the Father Redcap at Camberwell Green once as well because I’ve got a memory of Boz letting me handle his tiny Steinberger bass one night in there – I was playing bass in bands myself at the time. Happy days!
I was gutted to find that Bad Company are gigging in 2010 without Boz and found out the sad news of his untimely death (including this webpage) from Google… It had passed me by until today.
Boz had a style of playing that always worked for me and I often attempted (unsuccessfully) to emulate it.
Wikipedia doesn’t mention anything about Boz’s time with Chuck Farley but the history page on the Chuck Farley website lists the band’s line up at that time.
http://www.chuckfarley.co.uk/
I’ve just dug up my vinyl LP (LOL, it was all there was in those days) of Chuck Farley – Live. I’ll do a bit of re-living Boz’s memory through that and I’ve bought tickets for the Bad Company gig at Brighton anyway (Row D of the stalls – Yippie!).
If I ever get a spare few minutes I might have a go at editing the Wikipedia entry to include what I know about the Chuck Farley years… But don’t hold your breath!
March 7th, 2010 at
I’m one of the many musicians who will miss Boz Burrell. Sure, he was a great bass player, he had this way of playing so precisely, sometimes making unexpected, subtle loops and back and forth phrasings. I like his playing in the live Alexis Korners’ rendition of You Got The Power, by Willie M. Chambers; he plays very clean, cool. As the improvisation takes charge, Boz plays with amazing tastefulness and feel, with a strange, different sense of swing, with great creativity. I guess his Fender bass provided him that sort of ‘choice of less notes’; well, almost every bass player knows how ‘propulsive’ the Gibson EB-3 (Jack Bruce/Mike Watt fame) makes your playing become. I played in an (I’m a bass player) EB-3-like model once, with those short scales, and I felt like trying to burn the scales down, it makes you play perhaps a little excessively. Interesting to foresee how wild would become Boz’s playing, if he had lived to play with an EB-3. I also appreciated his playing with Tame White. Great roots stuff. Boz was also an unmatchable session musician, playing those ‘party shows’ and records like nobody. Listen to him play Wang Dang Doodle or Harlem Shuffle. Just listen to him playing in that rock and roll mood, and you’ll see that nobody played so to-the-core bass. He had a sophisticated swing, a mix of acoustic and electric bass playing. He was probably the best pub bass player ever.
March 19th, 2010 at
Bit of a strange one for you.
My name is Andrew Farr and I am the General Manager of Great Lakes FM, a radio station based on the Mid North Coast of NSW in Australia.
I had a visitor in the station today who claims to have a Dearman High Class Sax belonging to Mel Collins. Apparently it was picked up in a Singapore op shop in 1982, a couple of years after Mel was on tour with Alvin Lee and Mylon Le Fevre in the ‘On the Road to Freedom’ tour. This guy, Col, also brought in photos of the sax which is engraved and photos of the original case which has a sticker pasted on the front of a couple of guys (which is of a young Alvin Lee and Mylon Le Fevre)
Apparently it’s been in the back of somebody’s shed for the last 25 years.
I’m not sure how it was acquired – if it’s genuine maybe Mel lost it or hocked it in Singapore, but I thought it might be of interest to him.
I’ve looked for ways to contact him on the internet but the only option I’ve found so far is Facebook and I didn’t fancy that. Maybe somebody knows how I can get in touch with Mel, or can pass on this message to him. I’d really like to do a live interview with him and also the guy who has the sax.
I’m sending this email from home, but my personal business email is andrew@greatlakesfm.org.au
If you want to check the station out then go to http://www.greatlakesfm.org.au
Kind regards
Andrew Farr
General Manager
Great Lakes FM
March 20th, 2010 at
Boz,
You were the first live Crimson I saw (Colston Hall 1971 or 2) and then Capitol, Cardiff the year “Islands” was released. So you were the essence of Crimson, and that as they say, “has made all the difference”. RIP my friend.
April 3rd, 2010 at
we are of to see bad company at sheffield tomorrow night, last saw them with boz at the granby halls leicester late 70,s lets all hope we have some good thoughts tomorrow to remember one of the best bassiest in the business rip boz.