SACD Bad Company – Run With The Pack

Bad Company’s third album as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series: Run with the Pack, recorded in southern France in 1975 and a Top 5 album on both sides of the Atlantic, with all ten songs in one continuous sequence – from “Live for the Music” to the string-backed “Fade Away”.

Recording on the road in Grasse

Bad Company recorded Run with the Pack in Grasse in September 1975, with the Rolling Stones Mobile bringing the studio to southern France. Ron Nevison recorded, Eddie Kramer mixed, and the band produced. The result, their third studio album, came out in 1976.

Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Boz Burrell and Simon Kirke had built their partnership across two earlier albums and a great deal of live work. “Live for the Music” opens the programme, but the ten tracks do not stick to one gear: piano, acoustic passages and strings widen what the four-piece can do.

Strings in the song from the start

Rodgers wrote the title song at the piano and heard its string lines from the very beginning; arranger Jimmy Horowitz turned those ideas into parts for the recording. “Fade Away” uses a string arrangement too. The larger instrumentation is part of how these songs were conceived, not decoration added later.

On the title track, follow the piano first, then listen for where the strings come in. The arrangement opens up as the performance goes on, while the vocal stays the point of reference between the band and the added instruments.

Mick Ralphs and the guitar songs

Ralphs wrote “Live for the Music”, “Simple Man” and “Sweet Lil’ Sister”, while “Honey Child” is credited to the whole band. Next to their own material stands “Young Blood”, first made famous by the Coasters, which links the album to an earlier chapter of rhythm and blues.

“Silver, Blue & Gold” offers another way into Rodgers’ writing. On a return visit, put it next to one of the guitar-led songs and notice which instruments set the direction – these shifts give each player a different role across the programme.

The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD

CAPA 038 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the ten tracks of the original album; the bonus material from Rhino’s separate deluxe edition is not included.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series

Also in another edition: Run With The Pack

More SACDs by Bad Company: Bad Company · Straight Shooter · Desolation Angels

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.