''Bad Company'' is the debut studio album by the English hard rock supergroup

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

. The album was recorded at Headley Grange with

Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio, also known as LMS (Lane Mobile Studio), is a mobile recording studio originally owned by Ronnie Lane. History Lane acquired the studio in 1972. It was one of the first ever mobile recording studios, and consisted of ...

in November 1973, and it was the first album released on

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's Swan Song Records label.

Reception and legacy

The album reached the top of the US ''Billboard'' 200. Since then, the album has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA, and became the 46th best selling album of the 1970s. The album spent 25 weeks in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, entering at No. 10 on June 15, 1974, and reaching its highest position of No. 3 in the second week. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine listed the album at No. 40 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". The album was also included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. In 2000 it was voted number 323 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by th ...

''. The singles " Can't Get Enough" and " Movin' On" peaked at No. 5 and No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively. "Rock Steady", "

" and "Ready for Love" (the last originally recorded by guitarist Mick Ralphs during his tenure with

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fai ...

on their 1972 album ''

All the Young Dudes "All the Young Dudes" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally recorded and released as a single by the English rock band Mott the Hoople in 1972 by Columbia Records. Bowie produced the song, which he had given to ...

'') are also classic rock radio staples.

Versions

The album was remastered and re-released in 1994. In 2006 an audiophile mastered 24K gold CD was released by

Audio Fidelity Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

Track listing

Personnel

;Bad Company * Paul Rodgers – vocals, rhythm (1) and acoustic (8) guitars, piano (4, 5), tambourine (8) * Mick Ralphs – lead guitar (all but 8), keyboards (3, 6) *

Boz Burrell Raymond "Boz" Burrell (1 August 1946 – 21 September 2006) was an English musician. Originally a vocalist and guitarist, Burrell is best known for his singing with King Crimson (1971–1972) and bass playing in Bad Company (1973–1982, 1998� ...

– bass (all but 8) *

Simon Kirke Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949) is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company. He has been the only continuous member of Bad Company since their inception. Life and career Kirke was born in L ...

– drums (all but 8) ;Additional personnel * Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie – backing vocals (4) *

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

– saxophones (6) * Ron Fawcus – tape operator *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10c ...

– sleeve design, photography *

Ron Nevison Ron Nevison is an American record producer and audio engineer. He started his career in the early 1970s as an engineer on ''Quadrophenia'' by the Who and Bad Company's debut album. He eventually became a producer, working with artists including ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, mixing * Steve Hoffman – mastering * Barry Diament – mastering * Beverly Taddei – production co-ordination * Bob Wynne – art direction

Charts

;Album ;Year-end charts

References

External links

* * Lyrics of covers by Queen + Paul Rodgers at Queen official website
"Can't Get Enough"
(from ''

Return of the Champions ''Return of the Champions'' is a double live album by English rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in May 2005 during the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England (except for "Imagine", which was perform ...

'')
"Seagull", "Bad Company"
(from ''

Live in Ukraine ''Live in Ukraine'' is a double live album and video and also last release by British rock collaboration Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in September 2008 during the Rock the Cosmos Tour at Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine and was relea ...

'')
Bad Company - ''Bad Company'' (1974) album review by Thomas Erlewine, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Bad Company - ''Bad Company'' (1974) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Bad Company - ''Bad Company'' (1974, Deluxe Edition, 2015 Remaster) album to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

{{Authority control 1974 debut albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Bad Company albums Island Records albums Swan Song Records albums