Simon Kirke  of Bad Company Live on Game Changers With Vicki 

I was Live with Simon Kirke, co-founder of Free and Bad Company, two of the greatest rock bands in history. A huge lifelong fan, it was a thrill to sit down and hear how it all went down, including how Snuffy, a guitar player kinda close to my heart, ended up playing on Free’s Heartbreaker. 

We heard about Simon’s very humble beginnings with neither running water nor electricity, talk about building character, his transistor radio, listening to big bands, pre-Beatles, making his own drumsticks, and finding his way back to London from the countryside with a time limit to make it and joining Paul Kossoff’s Black Cat Bones just under the wire. How they formed Free, All Right Now, the song that made them, and perhaps, destroyed them. The unrelenting touring, and then Kosoff’s unrelenting drugs. How the band evolved before imploding. Ultimately, in part, morphing into Bad Company, one of the greatest straight-up rock bands of all time with Simon co-writing its anthem. He’s the only member of the band to be in every lineup since its inception, including the band’s last tour. We heard about them all. Thrilling!

I so love Simon’s solo effort, All Because of You, written for Maria, his wife of 6  years. Reminiscent of Roger Daltry for me, it’s in heavy rotation in my kitchen.  He’s guested on recordings by Wilson Pickett, Jim Capaldi, and Ron Wood, and has toured with Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band. The best with the best. We heard great stories about Chuck, Ringo, Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Dave Mason, and of course, Kossoff and Rodgers. 

We talked at length about addiction––the drinking, the drugs, the debauchery, some great stories there, and recovery, tried more than once, and how it was too long ago for Kossoff. But, has gratefully stuck for Simon, who is doing much to give back. Simon works with Road Recovery, aiding teens to get and hopefully stay sober, is on the board of a Rehab facility, Right Turn, and is in the process of writing a Rock Opera about recovery with its CEO. 

Simon fears with Paul Rodgers’ health issues, this is the end of Bad Company after 50 years. He’s scored a few films and looks forward to a lot more of that in his future, mirroring another musician turned composer we know who’s fared pretty well. 

They say, be careful meeting your heroes. No worries here. Simon Kirke exceeded all my very high (but sober) hopes, as a person and a rock star. What fun! Can’t Get Enough! 

Simon Kirke Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, February 7, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET 
Streamed Live on my Facebook
Replay here:
https://bit.ly/42vW0w0

Simon Kirke  Of Bad Company is Great Company -  Live On Game Changers With Vicki

John Conte Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 

What crazy fun to sit down with my old dear friend, bassist John Conte, whom I hadn’t seen in decades. How is it possible that he appears to have aged barely a day? Seriously! 

John took us back to childhood days, his jazz-singing mother, Rosemary, his early days on guitar, and his brother Steve at first on drums. Their first band when John was 8 or 9, their early songwriting, including John’s first song, Maryanne, Sittin on a Log, which he gave us a little taste of.  He was a boy with a dream of playing arenas with rock stars.  He told us how they flipped instruments, with John choosing bass. His college days, jazz-infused, where he gigged around with stellar players like Terence Blanchard. 

We tripped down memory lane, where we met, in the md-80s at The Rock ’n Roll Cafe on Bleecker Street, 1/2 of The Brothers of Conte, as I affectionately came to call them, with his brother Steve, they were weekly regulars whenever their schedules allowed. John was in Blood, Sweat & Tears, his first major gig, at the time, and told us all about that. Great stories there, including playing Madison Square Garden. Not bad for a 23-year-old. During their tenure at the Rock ’N Roll, late one rainy night they brought in their friend, Phoebe Snow, a life changer for me who had been a diehard fan since high school. The Phoeb’s and I became fast friends, and I have the boys to thank for that as well as for years of amazing live music there, and at Spo-dee-o-dee’s, Woody’s, RockGirl, The Marquee, The Cafe Wha, True Blue and The China Club, where they were also a part of my RockGirl Jam Band. A stellar bassist, with an easy temperament and oh so easy on the eyes, it was always a joy when John was around. I made him tell his requisite Chuck Berry story. 

At that same time, the Conte brothers, as part of The Hudson River Rats, were laying the foundation for much of the session and road work that was to follow. Like Finding himself in the studio with Tony Visconti and David Bowie. John’s description of hearing Bowie vocalize in his ear gave me goosebumps. He talked about laying down tracks with Peter Wolf and Ian Hunter, getting to jam with loads of his heroes. 

The Conte Brothers connected with Kyf Brewer and Company of Wolves were borne. They did some showcases, got signed, did a tour with Richard Marx, and foreshadowed John’s future, one with Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes.

John talked us through touring with Joan Osbourne (beautiful words here), Roseanne Cash, and Southside Johnny choosing him in 2007, a gig that would take him through to present day. There was a short tour with Billy Joel during his 2012 comeback with our friend, Tommy Byrnes, lovely to hear John’s take on it, and great stories about his tenure playing with The Disciples of Soul, the house band for the American Music Honors where he got to play with honorees, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, John Mellencamp and Dion, as well as host, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt. John’s shared the stage with Bruce numerous times before, memorably for an impromptu 45-minute set with Southside.  John’s recounting of that and of playing with Peter Frampton (and Sheryl Crow) at the Sandy Hook Promise Benefit is another moving, goosebump-inducing tale. 

I loved every single second with my old friend. It’s thrilling to see how his life has played and continues to play out. The young boy living his dream. Southside Johnyy’s future may be unsure, but John’s certainly isn’t. He’s always got multiple projects cooking, his own music in the works - check him out here johnconte.bandcamp.com and here Facebook.com/johncontebass  I just adore the boy. He’ll always be a rockboy to me and damn, he sure still looks like one.

John Conte Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 
****Wednesday, 1/29/25, 1 PM PT, 4 PM ET****
Streamed Live on my Facebook
Replay here:
https://bit.ly/4hbKHj6

John Conte Live On Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

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