Mick Ralphs was the lead guitarist for not one, but two of album rock's most storied bands: underappreciated glam rock legends Mott the Hoople, and the far more commercially successful Bad Company. Born in 1948 in Hereford, England (near Wales), Ralphs played with a blues-rock group called the Buddies (who released a single in 1964) in his teens, and then moved on to the mod-styled Doc Thomas Group, whose self-titled 1967 debut album was issued only in Italy. A name change to Silence followed in 1968, and the group evolved into Mott the Hoople by the following year. Several years of struggle followed before the group hit it big with David Bowie's "All the Young Dudes" in 1972. The more popular Mott became, the more they emphasized Ian Hunter's songwriting over the other members'; Hunter's increasing ambition was more and more at odds with Ralphs' taste for simple, riff-driven hard rock. In 1973, after the release of Mott, Ralphs left the band to form Bad Company with two ex-members of Free.
Buy CD
Buy on iTunes
© 2008