Along with Cream and Led Zeppelin, Free stands as one of the most influential bands of the late 1960’s British blues boom. Formed in London during the spring of 1968, Free‘s original lineup included drummer Simon Kirke, bassist Andy Fraser, lead vocalist Paul Rodgers and guitarist Paul Kossoff. Kirke and Kossoff were heavily influenced by American blues artists and, as teenagers, joined an R&B band called Black Cat Bones. Despite their youth, Kirke and Kossoff were seasoned musicians with a strong and growing reputation among the London blues scene. “Kossoff,” explains Kirke, “while only 17, was a serious student of music.” Kossoff’s background had been classical and he had studied for years. But he also loved all of those great soul and blues records from America. Veteran producer Mike Vernon best known for his work with John Mayall enlisted Black Cat Bones to back Champion Jack Dupreee on the legendary pianists When You Feel the Feeling album for Blue Horizon. Apart from their celebrated session with Dupree, Kirke and Kossoff grew restless and disbanded the group.
While scouting for a vocalist to front their new band, Kossoff and Kirke visited the Fickle Pickle, an R&B club in London’s Finsbury Park. It was here that the two first heard Paul Rodgers, a young vocalist then performing with Brown Sugar. Kirke and Kossoff were immediately impressed with Rodger?s expressive voice and charismatic style, and recruited him for their group. “Paul owed a great deal to Otis Redding,” recalls Kirke, “his voice had power and presence. We knew that he was – and still is – unique.” With Rodgers in the fold, Kossoff and Kirke, to round out their new ensemble, turned to one of their mentors, British blues legend Alexis Korner. “Korner was a big help to us,” says Kirke simply. “Kossoff had been very friendly with him and Alexis recommended Andy Fraser to us. Though Andy was only 15, he had played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, which really won our respect. When we first saw him play, he was sitting in with Alexis’ Band, wearing these flared trousers and ruffled shirts with rough collars.” “We thought, bloody hell, who is this little punk! But when he started playing we knew that he was really quite good. Impressed with Fraser’s abilities, Korner helped arrange an set up at the Nag’s Head Pub in Battersea,” remembers Kirke. “It was great, a very fertile meeting. In fact, at that initial get together, we wrote six blues based songs. About five or six hours in, Alexis came down and stood in the wings watching. He not only gave us his seal of approval, he also gave us our name: Free.”
Korner’s simple choice met with immediate approval. “You must remember,” says Kirke, “in those days, it was all sort of arty-farty in Britain. Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Graham Bond once had a band called Free at Last which was a name we really liked, however it had already been used though we did use it later as the title for one of our albums. We were a blues band, so we decided on Free, which we thought was something a bit more nebulous.” Beginning with that initial jam session, Free sought to establish their own distinct sound and style, shunning excess amplification and instrumentation for sparse arrangement and a gritty, high energy mix of rock and blues. “Though we were only kids fresh out of adolescence,” explains Kirke, “we were very serious about the direction of our music. We were never interested in the trappings of psychedelia. We wanted it very simple Bass, Guitar, Drums and Vocal. Paul Rodgers could play both bass and guitar but we rarely called on him for it. We never wanted to have a gaudy sound.”
1968
On Korner’s recommendation, Free was signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records and, subsequently A&M Records in the U.S. Working with producer Guy Stevens, Free entered London’s Morgan Studios to begin recording Tons of Sobs, their debut album. Despite the band’s emerging success as a touring unit, capturing their sound in the studio was, at least initially, more of a challenge.”We were really wet behind the ears when we went to record Tons of Sobs,” explains Kirke, “we didn’t know what to do. Our producer, Guy Stevens, was very talented and was forever buzzing about the studio. Guy sensed that we were struggling and he pulled us aside. He told us to relay and just play the two 45-minute sets that we had been playing in the clubs. That’s how we did the album. Tons of Sobs (a title coined by Stevens) was recorded in a week. When I think about it today, it seems amazing. Now it seems to take a week to get the right snare sound!” Released in November 1968, Tons of Sobs and tracks such as I’m a Mover and The Hunter were obvious examples of the band’s earthy roots and considerable blues influence. Walk In My Shadow, cited by Kirke as the first song the band ever wrote together, is equally charged, powered by Kossoff’s muscular riffing and Rodgers confident lead vocal. On the heels of Tons of Sobs, Free followed with Broad Daylight, their stylish debut single. However, despite a superb vocal performance by Rodgers, the song failed to chart in both the U.S. and U.K. “As a single, Broad Daylight was a disaster,” remembers Kirke. “I think it sold three copies in Sheffield. It was a funny song, totally unrepresentative of the group at the time. Even though it was early on in our career, the release of Broad Daylight was when I had my first inkling that Fraser wasn’t quite on the same wavelength as Kossoff and I. Andy wrote it with Paul and was really insistent that it become a big single for us. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
1969
Despite their lack of chart success to date, the band enjoyed a loyal following built on regular tours throughout Britain. That effort appeared to pay immediate dividends with the release of Free, the band’s second album, in 1969. With Free, the group displayed an emerging individual style framed by Kossoff’s stinging lead guitar, Fraser’s bass, Kirke’s rock solid beat and Rodgers anguished vocals. Unburdened by extended solos or lengthy jams typical of the era, such powerful original material as I’ll Be Creepin’ showcased the talents of Kossoff and Fraser, while tracks such as Woman provided a vehicle for Rodgers considerable vocal prowess. Behind the scenes, Fraser’s reputation as a child prodigy was further enhanced by his contributions to Free. “Fraser’s bass playing on I’ll Be Creepin’ was fantastic,” says Kirke, “I always felt that, pound for pound, Fraser had the most talent of the four of us. Fraser was quite advanced for his age and, in many ways, a lot like John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin-someone who could play a number of instruments well and was a strong, but quiet influence.”
In America, neither of Free‘s first two albums had generated much interest. Their big break would come in Summer of 1969, when the band was asked, along with Delany & Bonnie, to open dates on Blind Faith‘s massive U.S. Tour. “That turned out to be very fortuitous for the band,” recalls Kirke. “Our tour with Blind Faith ended with a big show at Madison Square Garden. Afterwards, we were offered a chance to play at Woodstock, but that fell through. Instead, we were offered a week’s worth of gigs at Ungano’s popular Nightclub in New York. The second night that we were there, Clapton and Baker walked in and we were stunned, absolutely in awe, because we had very little contact with them during the tour. Clapton came backstage and asked Kossoff to show him how he got such strong and fluid vibrato in his playing. Kossoff nearly died. What, me showing you stuff?? You must be joking! But Clapton was serious, as Kossoff, among the guitarists fraternity, had really begun to develop a name for himself.
1970
With two strong albums and nearly two years of touring already under their belt, the quartet’s combination of blues and rock was, perhaps, best captured on their seminal Fire and Water album, released in 1970. An engaging mix of ballads and strident rockers. Fire and Water also featured All Right Now, the group’s breakthrough single. An edited version of All Right Now had a major chart impact, reaching No. 2 on the U.K. single chart and, in the USA, No. 4 on the Billboard chart. Driven by Kossoff’s incessant riffling, All Right Now has proved remarkably durable, remaining, nearly 25 Years later, the band’s signature tune. According to Kirke, the song actually drew its roots from necessity. “All Right Now was created after a bad gig in Durham, England. Our repertoire at that time was mostly slow and medium paced blues songs which was alright if you were a student sitting quietly and nodding your head to the beat. However, we finished our show in Durham and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser. When we got into the dressing room, it was obvious that we needed an uptempo number, a rocker to close our shows. All of sudden, the Inspiration struck Fraser, and he started bopping around singing All Right Now. He sat down and wrote it right there in the dressing room. It couldn’t have taken more than ten minutes.” Heavy Load and Oh I Wept also from Fire and Water were superb examples of Free‘s unique marriage of solemn blues and swaggering hard rock. With the release of Fire and Water, Rodgers had emerged as one of hard rock’s premier vocalists. “In the studio,” remembers Kirke, “Paul was a one take wonder. He might have done an occasional vocal twice, but that was it. His vocal style was very dry and stripped down with no embellishments at all. I can’t remember one instance when Paul used any effects such as reverb on his voice. What you hear on those record’s is exactly what he sounded like – and that’s what makes him really, really special.” From: https://freebandofficial.com/biography/
