Back Street Crawler (band)

Back Street Crawler
Genres	Blues rock, Hard rock, Heavy Metal
Years active	1975–1976
Labels	Atlantic Records
Associated acts	Paul Kossoff, Crawler
Past members	Paul Kossoff Terry Wilson-Slesser Terry Wilson Tony Braunagel Mike Montgomery John 'Rabbit' Bundrick

Back Street Crawler was a group of blues and rock musicians founded by guitarist Paul Kossoff (ex-Free), signing to Atlantic Records (courtesy of Ahmet Ertegün) in 1975. The band took the name from Kossoff's solo album, Back Street Crawler. Terry Wilson, Mike Montgomery and Tony Braunagel had played together in the short lived Bloontz, whose only album was released in 1973 and included versions of the Mike Montgomery songs, "Jason Blue" and "The Band Plays On", both of which featured on Back Street Crawler's album The Band Plays On.

The band's progress would continually be overshadowed by Kossoff's well publicised drug dependency. His reliance on narcotics was common knowledge, to such a degree that the guitarist played upon it. Ultimately, his addiction to narcotics led to his eventual demise.

A headlining tour was conducted in the UK during May and June 1975, prior to finalising sessions for the album The Band Plays On. To push the album, a further series of live dates were announced. However, these shows were curtailed when Kossoff was taken ill with a stomach ulcer. Whilst receiving treatment, Kossoff's condition worsened and suffered a cardiac arrest. Once recovered, Kossoff and the band performed on BBC Television's Old Grey Whistle Test in October 1975. Four live concerts, in Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle and London, were undertaken in November.

Keyboard player Mike Montgomery quit the band shortly afterwards, to be replaced by John 'Rabbit' Bundrick for a series of American concerts in early 1976. Again, ill-health on Kossoff's part, including the guitarist breaking his fingers, resulted in numerous shows being cancelled.

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