Mick Ralphs, one of the greatest rock guitarists of the ’70s, dead at 81

Ralphs, far right, on the cover of Mott

By Steve Newton

Very sad to hear about the passing of British guitarist Mick Ralphs, as announced by his publicist today. No cause of death was given, although Ralphs, who was 81, had suffered a severe stroke in 2016.

I first heard his music as a  teenager, when I bought Mott the Hoople‘s 1973 LP, Mott, and played the devil out of it. I loved Ralphs’ simple yet tasty approach to rockin’ out, especially on tunes like “All the Way from Memphis”, “Honaloochie Boogie”, and the track he cowrote with Ian Hunter, “Drivin’ Sister”.

While Hunter was the band’s lead singer and main songwriter, Ralphs acquitted himself quite nicely as a singer-songwriter on Mott by contributing the album’s longest track, “I’m a Cadillac/El Camino Dolo Roso”, which started off as a vibrant rock number before morphing into a pensive and beguiling, Spanish-tinged instrumental.

Totally blown away by this band I’d just discovered, I went back and delved into Mott the Hoople’s earlier releases, learning that Ralphs had contributed such worthy compositions as “Thunderbuck Ram”, “Rock and Roll Queen”, and “Ready for Love/After Lights”.

Mott would be the sixth and final MtH studio album to feature Ralphs, as he left to quickly form the “supergroup” Bad Company along with singer Paul Rodgers (Free), bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson), and drummer Simon Kirke (Free). Their 1974 debut album would feature a cover of “Ready for Love” as well as the Ralphs-penned singles “Can’t Get Enough” and “Movin’ On”.

The original lineup of Bad Company would go on to release six studio albums, with Ralphs contributing such songs as “Oh, Atlanta”, “Too Bad”, “Sweet Lil’ Sister”, and “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad”, all of which featured Mick’s hearty riffs and choice solos alongside the beautifully bluesy vocals of Rodgers.

Mick Ralphs’ career credits went beyond just Mott the Hoople and Bad Company–he released solo albums, had his own blues band, and toured with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour–but I’ll always remember him for that one solid decade, from 1969 to 1979, when he could always be counted on to bring rousing rock music to my trusty turntable.

May he rest in peace.

Sadly, I never go to interview Mick Ralphs, but to hear the full audio of my interviews with his former bandmates Ian Hunter and Paul Rodgers subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.