Lampooned by critics but loved by fans, Quo turned boogie into blockbuster rock. As a live album captures their 70s peak, their frontman remembers late friend Rick Parfitt – and reconsiders his whole sense of self
If you want to contemplate quite how far back Status Quo’s roots go, consider this: the band’s founders came together before the Beatles had released their first single, before the idea of “the band” was even a thing in pop music. They’re often dismissed as one-song wonders, or as proponants of brutally simplistic music – but as much as the Stones or the Who, Status Quo are carved into British rock.
Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster formed the Spectres in 1962, when the guitarist and bassist were still at school. Drummer John Coghlan signed up a year later and Rick Parfitt completed the “Frantic Four” when he joined after sharing a bill with the Spectres at Minehead Butlin’s in 1966. The Beatles showed Rossi not just what he could do with his life, but touched something very primal in him.
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