Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” has remained one of the band’s best-known rock songs more than five decades after it was released, and its unusual history began years before the band recorded it at a castle in England.
Released in 1975 as the second single from Bad Company’s second album, Straight Shooter, the song reached No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
Paul Rodgers first began developing it while he was still the singer of Free and touring the United States. Several years later, the unfinished song found its missing musical part through guitarist Mick Ralphs after Bad Company had formed.
Per Louder, the recording took place in September 1974 at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, England, using Ronnie Lane’s mobile recording studio. The band chose the castle instead of a normal studio because they wanted to keep the natural feeling they had brought to their first album.
Bad Company perform live on stage in Amsterdam, Holland in 1975.Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
The story of “Feel Like Makin’ Love” began when Rodgers was about 19 years old. While touring America with Free, Rodgers stayed at a camp in California. It was there that he started working on the lyrics and music.
“I was staying at this camp in California when I started to come up with the lyrics and music to Feel Like Makin’ Love,” the singer recalled. “It was an amazing place to be. I was about 19 and touring the US with Free, so the song actually stayed on the back burner all the way until the start of Bad Company in 1973. And I did feel like making love at the time. I think I probably was in love – that happened a lot.”
Rodgers did not finish the song with Free, and the band never recorded it.
He explained that he wanted the words to have a simple and open feeling. The song begins with the line, “Baby, when I think about you, I think about love.”
“I think that opening line is interesting in its simplicity,” Rodgers says. “‘Baby, when I think about you, I think about love’ says a lot in a few words, and that’s what I always aim for. It’s easy to write a song, but it’s hard to write something that’s poignant; that makes the point quickly and means a lot to a lot of people. I’ve always written tender lyrics as well as tough rock songs,” he pointed out.
Rodgers also described the emotional source of the song in simple terms.
“I’ve always believed that most human beings go through the whole gamut of emotions from one day to the next – or even in the same hour. That song didn’t come from the head, somehow, it came from the heart.”
Free eventually broke up in 1973. Rodgers then formed Bad Company with Free drummer Simon Kirke, Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell.
Bad Company’s first album became a major success, reaching No. 3 in the U.K. and No. 1 in the U.S. The band then began work on its second album, Straight Shooter.
That was when Rodgers finally brought his old song to Ralphs.
“I played it to Mick,” Rodgers said, “and I knew it still needed something.”
Rodgers had the softer verses, while Ralphs added the heavier guitar part that became a key part of the chorus.
Drummer Simon Kirke also recalled that the finished song came from two different musical ideas that were combined.
The band recorded it during sessions for Straight Shooter at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire. Rodgers said the unusual recording location helped the group keep the sound natural.
That recording became one of the most successful songs from Straight Shooter. The album eventually sold three million copies, while “Feel Like Makin’ Love” became a major hit.
The group had already achieved major success with its 1974 debut. When Straight Shooter arrived in 1975, songs such as “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” and “Shooting Star” also became known to rock audiences.
“Feel Like Makin’ Love,” however, became one of the album’s biggest songs. Its mix of softer verses and heavy guitar gave it a sound that could move between a gentle rock ballad and a louder classic-rock chorus.
‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’~ Bad Company (1975) pic.twitter.com/84dk5LfWef
— Spider Tracks (@Spider70S) July 23, 2026Its life also continued through later versions and appearances. British-Jamaican singer Pauline Henry recorded a dance version in 1993, and her version reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
The Bad Company recording has also appeared in television shows and films, including The Office, Criminal Minds, The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, G.I. Jane and Scotland, Pa.
More than 50 years after its original release, the song is still connected to Bad Company’s live legacy.
The band’s upcoming Live In London release includes “Feel Like Makin’ Love” in a 15-song set recorded at London’s O2 Arena on Oct. 29, 2016. The album will be released on Nov. 13, 2026, on blue-colored vinyl, CD and digital format, according to Blabbermouth.
The concert was also significant because it featured Rodgers, Ralphs and Kirke together, with Ralphs making what became his final live performance with Bad Company.
The song’s long journey, from Rodgers’ early idea in California to its completion with Ralphs inside an English castle and its later place in Bad Company’s live catalog, shows how a rock song can take years to reach its finished form.
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