Rocker Simon Kirke has taken aim at Island Records founder Chris Blackwell for not saving bandmate Paul Kossoff’s life.
The guitar great died from drug-related heart problems at the age of 25 in 1976 - and former Free bandmate Kirke insists the rocker could have been saved if only record label bosses had stepped in and forced him to get help for his drug abuse.
Kirke tells FemaleFirst, "In those days we didn't do anything. The more I think about it the more astounded I am that no action was taken by the management or Chris Blackwell.
"It'll be an open-ended question for a long, long time. Had it been today, he (Kossoff) would've been in rehab as fast as his little legs could carry him."
Bassist Andy Fraser recalls trying to help Kossoff after realising the guitarist was slowly killing himself with drugs.
He adds, "We went round to his place... and there must have been, like, 400 people whacked out of their mind, lying all over his floor. I was with the roadie that stayed with me and we went upstairs and he (Kossoff) was whacked out.
"We just couldn't stand it and we literally just took him, put him in my car and drove him out to my house in Surrey and kept him there for about three days. We tried talking to him and reasoning with him until we just gave up. You've got to want to kick it and he didn't. It was like a slow suicide."
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