Underrated / Overhated

Paul Kossoff was the underrated and always tasteful guitarist for the 60s British blues and hard rock band Free, who are most famous for their song ‘All Right Now’. He tragically died at the age of 25 in 1976 but left us with lots of great guitar playing. Known for his immense tone and singular vibrato, this video takes a close look at his style, and one of his final recordings: the instrumental track, Time Away, which was recorded with John Martyn, and features some of Paul’s best guitar playing.

Guitarists from Joe Bonamassa through Dave Murray, Angus Young, Robin Trower and Paul Weller have lauded his playing – Eric Clapton even famously went to him for vibrato lessons! One of my favourite blues guitarists, and hopefully one of yours too now!

Be Bop Deluxe are such an underrated band, and Ships in the Night was the closest they got to a real hit. Bill Nelson fronted this band from 1972-78, and in that time they released five of the most underappreciated studio albums in British music, as well as a great live album. Glam, progressive rock, new wave, hard rock and blues; huge riffs, blazing solos – they do it all.

This video looks at what makes the Ships in the Night work: lyrics, chords production and arrangement, as well as looking a bit more widely at the band as a whole.

If you already know the band, watch this for a close look at and analysis of their biggest hit, and if they’re completely new to you – congratulations, you’ve now been introduced to a great song and a great band!

Folk songs are often known by many names, and this classic is no different! The Hills of Granemore / The Granemore Hare, with plenty of alternate spellings of Greenmore/Granemore/Greenmore...

The point though, is that it's a great song - one of my favourites! In this podcast episode (which is a video-less version of what you can find on my YouTube channel) I talk about some of my favourite versions of this song - by Martin Simpson, Daori Farrell, Dick Gaughan - and explore: 'what makes this song work'?

If you want someone who looks at songs a little more holistically than just 'it's great cos it uses these chords' - then my videos are for you!

Time to talk about the Beatles! A little bit indirectly I guess, because I'm talking about some of my favourite covers of Beatles' songs. From Stevie Wonder, to Aretha Franklin, through Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker and Joan Baez, i cover some great versions of the Fab Four's best songs!

What's the difference between 7/4 and 7/8? Watch this video to find out! I look at a bunch of great songs to expore to different ways of playing with septuple meter in songs.

Things obviously get a little proggy, because odd time signatures, but there's something for everyone here.

Songs mentioned in this video:

- Money; Pink Floyd

- Solsbury Hill; Peter Gabriel

- Unsquare Dance; Dave Brubeck

- Lucky Seven; Chris Squire

- Thunder Child; Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds

- Hello Hello; Caravan

When terrible music goes good: Life by Des'ree is an awful song, BUT IT'S ALSO SO GOOD.

Seriously, this song pleases me endlessly, and I think you'll like it too.

This episode is all about existential dread - yay. Pop and rock (and folk) songs by a range of artists: from Pink Floyd, to They Might Be Giants; Dan Deacon to the Beach Boys.

This is a fun episode :)

Everyone from Paul Simon, to Queen, the Beatles, Whitney Houston and George Michael use pauses in their songs, and it's a really great way to make a song more interesting.

This video looks at a few ways that different artists use pauses in their songwriting.

Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights is an absolute classic, and in this episode, I'm joined by Fire the Canon: Theo, Jackie and Rachel are here to talk Emily Bronte's original novel, and the classic prog song based on it.

Check out their podcast! https://firethecanonpod.com/

WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE ROCK? Beyond being the coolest genre ever, of course.

Well, in this episode of the Underrated/Overrated I tackle this MOST important of subjects. I talk about all the classic prog bands from Jethro Tull, to Yes, Rush and ELP, and what distinguishes this genre from other similar genres.

Why is it different from art rock and jazz fusion?

In fact, IS IT different? Who knows! Well, you will once you've listened to this.

Check out this playlist of prog rock if you're new to the genre https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1G6BrJ4ez7U1Edn9llFtLR?si=e0a90835b85e4d33