FREE Live At The BBC (2006 UK 26-track 2-CD album set featuring a compilation which captures the rise of one of the UKs most talented blues/rock bands from their very first session in 1968 [astonishingly recorded just days after bass play Andy Frasers 16th birthday] through to their last official recording for the BBC In Concert for John Peel in July 1970. Also includes the rare December 1969 session for Top Gear which never even made it to bootleg.
Disc 1 contains some excellent material all of very good quality including the first two tracks which are from Free’s very early days as a band in 1968. Both tracks are blues numbers and give you an insight into Free’s raw bluesy sound. Tracks 3-12 are all very good renditions of various tracks (although the beginning of “I’ll Be Creepin’ is missing because Paul Kossoff taped over it). Tracks 13-20 encompass two takes of “Be my Friend” and five takes of “Ride on a Pony”, neither of which demonstrate Free performing at their best, and the sound quality on all takes of “Ride on a Pony” is marred by low quality vocals.
Disc 2 contains two afternoon concerts hosted by John Peel, although he is never heard between the tracks, as this was presumably missing or erased.
In the pantheon of blues-rock there has never been a band that burned so brightly, was more commercially successful and made so much great music in so comparatively short a period of time as Free. They are probably best known for their 1970 signature song, ‘All Right Now’ but theirs is a rich deep catalogue, surprisingly so given their comparatively short career.
One of the earliest known recordings of FREE ever. Recorded on July 15th 1968.
Tracks:
01 – Walk in My Shadow
02 – Moonshine
03 – Free Me (early version)
Paul Rogers – Vocals, Harmonica Paul Kossoff – Guitar Andy Fraser – Bass, Vocals Simon Kirke – Drums
Free disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers became the frontman of Bad Company along with SimonKirke on drums. In 2004 Paul Rodgers worked with Queen offering a different take on Freddie Mercury’s vocals for the band. Bass player Andy Fraser formed Sharks and wrote ‘Every Kinda People’ that Robert Palmer covered, while the brilliant lead guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler and then tragically died from a drug-induced heart failure at the age of 25 in 1976.
Maybe it was a sign of how the band’s stock was steadily rising, but for this second album the producer was none other than Chris Blackwell, Island Records owner.
The most crucial thing here was the way in which the growing songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser was beginning to take on the shape of greatness. Together, they wrote almost all of the original album’s songs, and these were certainly crucial in shaping the sound and style of the band.
There was now an interesting contrast between the discipline of Rodgers and Fraser and the more freeform sensibilities of Paul Kossoff. Under different circumstances, or with lesser talents, this would have been a disaster. Instead, it leads beautifully to a balance between the contrasts that coloured Free. If there were any tensions here, then they were channelled into making ‘Free’ a special album which took the band to a new level, and helped to establish their credentials as one of the primary shapers of the era.
Without this pivotal album, things would have been very different not only for Free, but also for rock music as it developed. Following from their impressive debut (Tons of Sobs), Free came straight out of the blocks with this more than impressive follow up. Building on the sound they’d created, a blues drenched rock sound driven by the drums and Bass of Fraser and Kirke, layered with the work of guitar god Kossoff and with the vocals of one of the finest blues singers we’ve ever produced, Paul Rodgers.
There are some classic tracks here, such as `I’ll Be Creepin’, and the storming `Songs Of Yesterday’. It’s a great stepping stone for their third, and greatest album, `Fire and Water’.This is a great album in it’s own right though, and shows that the young group had an astonishing maturity. Free’s second LP was a more introspective affair than the blues-based “Tons of Sobs” which preceded it, and was recorded amidst inter-band turmoil which saw bassist Andy Fraser teaching Paul Kossoff his guitar parts, note-for-note. The songs here are uniformly excellent, and range from the mournful “Free Me” and the upbeat “Broad Daylight” to the languid “Lying in the Sunshine.”
Free were now masters of their own destiny, and about to become a massive name.
Solo Acoustic Version of “Mouthful Of Grass” from FREE (self titled) 1969 Album. Preformed by Andy Fraser
Paul Kossoff Left us on this day March. 19th in 1976: from heroin-related heart problems, Kossoff’s unhappiness with the end of Free and his drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist’s health. On a flight from Los Angeles to New York on the 19th March 1976, Paul Kossoff died from heroin-related heart problems. at the young age of 25, best remembered as the guitarist with Free, and Back Street Crawler & his solo releases; he formed the groundbreaking British blues-rock band Free in 1968 with Paul Rodgers, AndyFraser & Simon Kirke; by 1970, they were touring the world on the success of their third album and the UK chart hit single & US number 4 single “All Right Now” which remains one of the defining songs of ‘Classic Rock’ radio era, Kossoff started playing the guitar in the mid-1960s, being taught by session guitarist Colin Falconer, and at age 15 helped to found the band Black Cat Bones. The band played with touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree, and did many supporting shows for the British blues band Fleetwood Mac and other gigs with Fleetwood Mac cofounder Peter Green. Kossoff also jammed and spent hours discussing blues playing and players. Kossoff’s bandmate in Black Cat Bones was drummer Simon Kirke, and the two went on to play on Champion Jack Dupree’s April 1968 album When You Feel the Feeling You Was Feeling after their final dissolution in 1973,
In April 1968 Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Paul Rodgers (vocals) and Andy Fraser (bass) to form Free. They did the Transit circuit for two years and recorded two albums: Tons of Sobs(1968) and Free(1969). Both albums showcased the band’s blues- and soul-influenced sound, a style which was in contrast to some of their progressive and heavier counterparts at the time.
Success came in 1970 when their third album, Fire and Water (1970), spawned the big hit “All Right Now“. The band played the Isle of Wight festival to both audience and critical acclaim. Sellout tours in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan followed, but after the release of the next album, Highway (1970), band pressures led to a split. The live album Free Live, recorded in 1970, was released in 1971 as a farewell record. While Rodgers and Fraser pursued unsuccessful solo projects, Kossoff and Kirke teamed up with Texan keyboard player John “Rabbit” Bundrick and Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi to release the 1971 albumKossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit.
Free reformed and released the album Free at Last (1972). Following its release Fraser decided he had had enough and quit to form Sharks. Free drafted Tetsu and Rabbit for Free’s 1973 album Heartbreaker (1973) after which the group disbanded.
Rodgers & Kirke went on to form Bad Company while PaulKossoff released a 1973 solo album ‘Back Street Crawler’; he then backed John Martyn on a 1975 tour before forming the group Back Street Crawler & releasing albums ‘The Band Plays On’ (’75) & ‘2nd Street’ (1976); he also undertook considerable amount of session work; Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Paul No51 on its list of ‘The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’; his father, actor David Kossoff, later established the Paul Kossoff Foundation, with a mission to present the realities of drug addiction to children…
A 16-track career retrospective, Koss, was issued in 1977
Midge Ure’s words summed up the feelings of many when they heard some some sad news today (Wednesday). “RIP Andy Fraser, bass player from the Rock band Free,” he tweeted. “Way ahead of your time as a bass player.”
Andy Fraser’s death in California at the age of just 62 on Monday (March 16th), by causes yet to be known, may not have been entirely a shock. He had been in poor health for many years, fighting both AIDS and cancer. But it robs us of a musician who made a significant contribution to British rock history, from the late 1960s onwards.
Fraser, who had been playing live until quite recently, notably in support of his protégé Toby Earnshaw, leaves two daughters, his mother and three siblings. ”Andy was a strong social activist and defender of individual human rights,” said an official statement.
As a founding member of Free when he was a mere 15 years old, his most famous role was probably as the co-writer of the band’s anthemic and perennial ‘All Right Now,’ with frontman Paul Rodgers. Later, after Free disbanded, Fraser made another key entry to the annals of pop songwriting as the composer of ‘Every Kinda People,’ one of Robert Palmer’s most celebrated hits. He also wrote ‘Mean Old World,’ recorded by Palmer for his ‘Secrets’ album.
Born in Paddington in London,Andy Fraser was classically trained on the piano from the age of five, and mentored as a promising teenage musician by British blues greatJohn Mayall.
Andy Fraser was something of a musical prodigy, and started playing the piano at the age of five. His father, the great-great-grandson of a former slave, introduced his son to calypso and reggae, but the two did not enjoy a close relationship, especially after Fraser’s parents divorced when he was six.
He was trained classically until twelve, when he switched to guitar. By thirteen he was playing in East End, West Indian clubs and after being expelled from school in 1968 at age 15, for refusing to wear his hair short, Fraser enrolled at Hammersmith F.E. College where another student, Sappho Korner, introduced him to her father, pioneering blues musician and radio broadcaster Alexis Korner, who became a father-figure to him. Shortly thereafter, upon receiving a telephone call from John Mayall, who was looking for a bass player, Korner suggested Fraser and, still only 15, he was in a pro band and earning £50 a week, although it ultimately turned out to be a brief tenure.
After a short stint with Mayall, Fraser met Kossoff, Rodgers and their drummer, Simon Kirke, in 1968 – and Free were formed. Their debut album was Tons of Sobs, released in the UK on 14th March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it did reach #197 in the US. The best song from this album was a Fraser Rodgers composition called I’m A Mover:
Their second album,Free (1969), saw the burgeoning of the songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser, which had been glimpsed on Tons of Sobs with songs such as I’m a Mover; here, eight out of the nine tracks bear a Fraser/Rodgers credit. Possibly as a result of the sixteen-year-old Fraser’s influence as a songwriter the bass guitar is far more prominent here than on the previous album. The instrument is used as a rhythm guitar, driving the songs, while Kossoff’s lead guitar develops from it.
While Fraser and Rodgers made a strong writing partnership, tensions in the band increased. Kossoff, whose natural spontaneity had been given free rein up to then, particularly resented being taught very specific rhythm guitar parts by Fraser. However, Chris Blackwell (their producer) managed to keep the band in line to record the album.
Free initially split in 1971, and Fraser formed a trio, Toby, with guitarist Adrian Fisher (later with Sparks), and drummer Stan Speake. Material was recorded but not released, and Fraser re-joined Free in December 1971.
As a founding member of Free in 1968, and it’s a measure of Fraser’s precociousness that when he left the band after their fifth studio album ‘Free At Last,’ in 1972, he was still only 20 years old. His highly imaginative bass playing had underpinned a series of classic recordings by the band that also included ‘The Hunter,’ ‘Fire and Water’ and ‘Little Bit Of Love.’
Fraser then formed Sharks, whose line-up included notable British guitarist Chris Spedding, and then the Andy Fraser Band. After moving to California, he had songwriting success with Palmer; Joe Cocker, who recorded ‘Sweet Little Woman’; Three Dog Night, Chaka Khan,Rod Stewart and others.
After leaving Free, Andy teamed up with guitarist Chris Spedding, vocalist Steve Parsons, aka “Snips”, and drummer Marty Simon for a short-lived tenure in Sharks in 1973. On tour in Europe, Fraser met his future wife, Henrietta, with whom he had two daughters, Hannah and Jasmine. Here he is, explaining how the band got together:
“Originally, Marty Simon, called me out of the blue, came over, jammed a bit, and I thought he was an incredible drummer. I don’t quite remember how Chris Spedding came into the picture, but it was quite soon, and there was no doubt about his abilities. In my mind, I was still thinking this was going to be another way to develop more experience and confidence vocally – we were doing my songs. Perhaps Marty and Chris – maybe Island, I am not sure – sensed I wasn’t ready, and really before I knew it Snips was on board. I have to admit to some sloppiness on my part by allowing myself to just drift along with the proceedings. I certainly learnt the hard way, one should not find out one is in a new band, only after reading about it in the newspaper. So I was indeed very sloppy. Have to take responsibility.”
Their first album, First Water, was released in 1973 and had OK reviews, but not much commercial fortune.
He then formed the Andy Fraser Band, a trio with Kim Turner on drums and Nick Judd on keyboards. He wrote all the songs and for the first time he was on lead vocals. The album opens with Don’t Hide Your Love Away:
After Fraser’s solo album ‘Fine, Fine Line’ in 1984, he was diagnosed with the rare form of cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. But he battled on, playing at the Woodstock anniversary concert in 1994 and returning to greater prominence from the mid-2000s, with more recordings and performances. His most recent solo album was titled ‘Naked…And Finally Free.’
The sixth and final studio album by Freeprovides a strange ending to the story of one of Britain’s finest blues-rock bands, but a very successful one. The record was ‘Heartbreaker,’ and it entered the UK chart 42 years ago, on February 3rd, 1973. It would see them bow out in some personal disarray, but ironically with a top ten LP and one more top ten hit single in the mighty ‘Wishing Well.’
After the relative failure of their fourth studio album ‘Highway,’ Free had decided to go their separate ways in 1971 — whereupon, perversely, the ‘Free Live!’ set released by Island Records that year went into the UK top ten. Partly for the sake of Paul Kossoff, a brilliant guitarist but a troubled soul who was fighting addiction, they came back together for 1972’s ‘Free At Last,’ which took them back into the UK top ten and contained another signature hit, ‘Little Bit Of Love.’
The success was sufficient, barely, to carry Free over into one final album. But the fragile harmony within the band had been undermined by the fraught tour to support ‘Free At Last,’ which brought personal issues to a head and showed all too painfully that Paul Kossoff was not up to the rigours of the road. Bassist Andy Fraser, still only 20 years old at that time left the band.
‘Heartbreaker’ was recorded late in 1972 at Island Studios with a new line-up in which Fraser was replaced by Japanese bass man TetsuYamauchi, later to join the Faces. They also added a fifth member in keyboard player John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, also later to be closely associated with another British rock institution, The Who.
Andy Fraser had been the chief writing collaborator of Free with frontman Paul Rodgers, so now the lead singer contributed four songs on his own, Bundrick wrote two, and an ailing Kossoff was credited on a pair, including ‘Wishing Well.’ The album debuted in the UK, 42 years ago, climbing to its peak of No. 9 in its second week, as ‘Wishing Well’ became a No. 7 success in the UK.
But the live dates to support the album proved to be a tour too far. Paul Kossoff, a bit part player on the record, was too ill to travel, and was replaced for the dates by Wendell Richardson of Osibisa. When the tour finished, so did Free, moving into other notable areas of rock history.
Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke co-formed Bad Company, and Andy Fraser had songwriting success, notably with the Robert Palmer hit ‘Every Kinda People.’ Kossoff, tragically, would pass away from a heart attack in 1976 after some success with the band Back Street Crawler. ‘Heartbreaker’ was a strange but memorable post script to Free’s time together.
The Fat Angel Sings 