Back Street Crawler -

Back Street Crawler was an English/American hard-rock band that released two albums on Atco in 1975 and 1976. The band took its name from a 1973 solo album by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who formed the group with members of Houston rockers Bloontz. After Kossoff’s death in early 1976, the remaining members carried on as Crawler, releasing two albums on Epic in 1977 and 1978.

Members: Paul Kossoff (guitar), Terry Slesser (vocals), Mike Montgomery (keyboards, 1975-76), Terry Wilson (bass), Tony Braunagel (drums), John “Rabbit” Bundrick (keyboards, 1976)

Background

In November 1973, guitarist Paul Kossoff released the album Back Street Crawler on Island Records. It turned out to be the singular solo album by a musician with a storied history.

Kossoff first emerged in Black Cat Bones, a blues-rock band that endured numerous lineup changes on the late 1960s London club circuit. Before they made an album, Kossoff cleared out for guitarist Bob Weston (later Ashkan, Fleetwood Mac), taking with him drummer Simon Kirke. The two formed Free with bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers.

Between March 1969 and December 1970, Free released four albums: Tons of Sobs, Free, Fire and Water, and Highway. After their early 1971 UK hit “My Brother Jake” (which makes veiled references to Kossoff’s drug addiction), Free splintered.

Kossoff and Kirke formed a rock combo with Japanese bassist Tetsu Yamauchi (of Tokyo psychsters Samurai) and American keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick, a newcomer from Houston, Texas. Their album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit appeared in April 1972, by which time Free reformed for the album Free at Last.

Before they could make a followup, Fraser left Free and teamed with guitarist Chris Spedding in Sharks. Free hired Tetsu and Bundrick for the January 1973 release Heartbreaker, which features a drug-addled Kossoff on six of the eight tracks and an auxiliary rhythm guitarist, “Snuffy” Walden, on three numbers. Kossoff made his final exit from Free just prior to their ill-fated US tour in support of the album.

Back Street Crawler

Kossoff recorded Back Street Crawler with a different assortment of musicians on each of its five tracks. Side one consists of “Tuesday Morning,” a Kossoff original with bassist Trevor Burton (The Move, Pink Fairies), drummer Alan White (Griffin, Yes), and Bundrick.

White also plays on “I’m Ready,” written and sung by Jess Roden with bassist Alan Spenner (Grease Band, Spooky Tooth, Kokomo) and keyboardist Jean Roussel (Juicy Lucy, Hanson).

Roussel also plays on the titular closing track “Back Street Crawler (Don’t Need You No More),” a Kossoff original with bassist Clive Chaman (One) and drummer Conrad Isidore (Jeff Beck Group, Brian Auger’s Oblivion). The latter two played with Roussel in Hanson and later teamed in Hummingbird.

The remaining two tracks feature Kirke with a Free bassist. Tetsu appears on “Time Away,” a co-write with singer–guitarist John Martyn. Fraser and Rodgers appear on “Molten Gold,” a Kossoff-written Free at Last outtake that also features Bundrick and Roden.

A. “Tuesday Morning” (16:50)

B1. “I’m Ready” (2:20)
B2. Time Away” (5:40)
B3. Molten Gold” (6:48)
B4. Back Street Crawler (Don’t Need You No More)” (4:11)

Kossoff produced “Tuesday Morning” and “I’m Ready” with engineers Diga and Tony Platt (Bronco, Mott the Hoople, Quintessence, Patto). The two Kirke numbers were produced by Island’s Bob Potter (Bell + Arc, Curved Air, Lindisfarne, Snafu).

Kossoff associate Sandy Chard photographed the guitarist for the Back Street Crawler cover, designed by Visualeyes, the firm behind 1972/73 album visuals for Amazing Blondel, Frankie Miller, Heads Hands & Feet, Tír na nÓg, Vinegar Joe, and Wild Turkey.

Forms Back Street Crawler

During sessions for his album, Kossoff played on the 1972 Potter-produced Signpost released Old Hat by soul-rockers Uncle Dog, fronted by Carole Grimes (ex-Delivery). He also played on albums by Mike Vernon, Michael Gately, and Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi.

In 1974, Kossoff played on one track (“Hole In the Head”) on Amazing Blondel’s sixth album, the DJM release Mulgrave Street, which also features (non-overlapping) appearances by Bundrick, Kirke, Spenner, and Eddie Jobson. He also played on demos with Uriah Heep guitarist–keyboardist Ken Hensley that remained unheard until the 1994 archival disc From Time to Time.

In early 1975, Kossoff backed Martyn on select dates of the singer’s tour that produced his limited-edition document Live at Leeds, later re-released with bonus tracks featuring Kossoff.

Months later, Kossoff teamed with three members of American hard-rockers Bloontz: bassist Terry Wilson, keyboardist Mike Montgomery, and drummer Tony Braunagel. Their 1973 self-titled album features two songs written by Bundrick, plus two Montgomery compositions (“Jason Blue” and “Long Way Down”) that were added to the setlist of Kossoff’s new band, named after his 1973 album.

Back Street Crawler rounded out its initial lineup with Tyneside singer Terry Slesser, recently of the Raft Records one-off Beckett.

The Band Plays On

Back Street Crawler released their self-titled debut album, The Band Plays On, on October 16, 1975, on ATCO.

The album presents the blues-based hard-rock of Paul Kossoff in an updated setting. His signature tone and phrasing dominate a set that blends heavy rhythm work with flashes of funk and R&B, offset by soulful vocals and organ textures. The lineup comprised singer Terry Wilson Slesser, keyboardist Mike Montgomery, bassist Terry Wilson, and drummer Tony Braunagel.

Keyboardist Montgomery emerged as the group’s central writer, penning six songs outright and co-writing two others, including “Stealing My Way” with Kossoff. Bassist Wilson wrote the closing title track and co-wrote “Train Song” with Braunagel.

The album opens with “Hoo Doo Woman,” a taut, mid-tempo number with funk-inflected guitar and syncopated keyboard breaks. “New York, New York” contrasts smoky verses with a rising chorus, while “Stealing My Way” unfolds as a slow-burning lament marked by Kossoff’s sustained bends and vocal interplay between Slesser and Montgomery. “Survivor” and “All the Girls Are Crazy” strike a brisker hard-rock pace, the latter recalling early Faces.

“Jason Blue” shifts into smooth, brass-accented territory with trumpet, flugelhorn, and saxophones coloring a narrative about spiritual corruption. “Train Song” alternates between acoustic passages and full-band surges, while “Rock & Roll Junkie” captures the album’s ragged energy through shouted vocals and layered horns. The closing “The Band Plays On” revisits the reflective blues that once defined Free, with Kossoff’s guitar phrasing fading into a resigned finale.

A1. “Hoo Doo Woman” (4:12)
A2. “New York, New York” (4:37)
A3. “Stealing My Way” (4:19)
A4. “Survivor” (3:34)
A5. “It’s a Long Way Down to the Top” (5:56)

B1. “All the Girls Are Crazy” (3:32)
B2. “Jason Blue” (4:56)
B3. “Train Song” (4:31)
B4. “Rock & Roll Junkie” (3:15)
B5. “The Band Plays On” (5:04)

Sessions occurred at Ridge Farm Studios in Dorking on the Ronnie Lane Mobile with production handled by Back Street Crawler and engineering by Phil Brown and Rod Thear. George Piros mastered the album at Sterling Sound.

The Band Plays On features photography by Dick Polak and art direction by John Bull.

Atco issued “Stealing My Way” as a single (b/w “Survivor”) to promote the album, which established Back Street Crawler as a promising continuation of Kossoff’s post-Free trajectory before his untimely death on March 19, 1976, when he suffered a pulmonary embolism on a flight from Los Angeles to New York.

2nd Street

Back Street Crawler released their second album, 2nd Street, in June 1976 on ATCO.

The album continued Back Street Crawler’s blend of blues-rooted hard rock and soul-inflected balladry, marking the band’s final work with guitarist Paul Kossoff, who died that March. Recorded during his rehabilitation period, the sessions capture Kossoff’s emotive phrasing and John “Rabbit” Bundrick’s textural keyboard presence, a reunion that rekindled the Heartbreaker-era Free dynamic within a more polished, reflective framework.

Keyboardist Bundrick emerged as the band’s leading writer, penning three songs outright and co-writing two with lyricist Dean Rutherford. Bassist Terry Wilson contributed four numbers, including “Raging River” and “Some Kind of Happy.” The lone group composition, “Stop Doing What You’re Doing,” displays the band’s collective input.

The opening “Selfish Lover,” written by Bundrick, sets the tone with taut rhythm and gospel-tinged piano under Kossoff’s sharp, ascending phrases. Wilson’s “Blue Soul” and “Raging River” alternate acoustic delicacy with rising electric intensity, anchored by Terry Wilson Slesser’s restrained, expressive delivery. “Stop Doing What You’re Doing” pushes the tempo with syncopated percussion and clipped funk guitar lines, while “Some Kind of Happy” evokes late-night melancholy through female backing vocals and slow, swelling harmonic shifts.

Side two opens with “Sweet, Sweet Beauty,” a concise R&B-flavored track, followed by Bundrick and Rutherford’s “Just for You,” a six-minute blues lament rich in organ tones and emotive guitar commentary. “On Your Life” recalls Free’s Heartbreaker mood with mournful piano and yearning cadence, while closer “Leaves in the Wind” pairs brisk rhythmic motion with a reflective coda where Kossoff’s sustained notes linger as a final elegy.

A1. “Selfish Lover” (3:26)
A2. “Blue Soul” (3:46)
A3. “Stop Doing What You’re Doing” (3:26)
A4. “Raging River” (3:16)
A5. “Some Kind of Happy” (5:00)

B1. “Sweet, Sweet Beauty” (3:14)
B2. “Just for You” (6:18)
B3. “On Your Life” (3:54)
B4. “Leaves in the Wind” (5:12)

Sessions occurred at multiple US studios with production by Back Street Crawler and engineering by Richard Digby Smith. Glyn Johns handled the mix.

2nd Street features illustration by David Wilcox and photography by Sam Emerson, with art direction by Abie Sussman and Bob Defrin.

Although released posthumously for Kossoff, 2nd Street stands as a testament to his resilience and melodic instinct, preserving his lyrical guitar voice in one final set of understated, deeply felt performances.

Discography: