Free (band)
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Free were an English R&B-style rock band, formed in London in 1968 and best known for their popular song "All Right Now". Lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become lead singer of the rock band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums, while lead guitarist Paul Kossoff, a much revered blues-rock guitarist, was to die tragically from a drug-induced heart failure aged 25 in 1976. The band was famed for their sensational live shows and nonstop touring, although their early studio albums sold slowly until the release of "Fire and Water" which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". This song helped secure them a place at the huge Isle of Wight Festival 1970 where they played to 600,000 people. As surviving band members ruefully admit, personal problems got in the way and they broke up on the brink of something big, perhaps never realising their true potential.
History
The remarkable thing about the birth of Free was the young age of the band members who first came together to rehearse at the Nag's Head pub in Battersea, London, on April 19, 1968. Bass player Andy Fraser (born July 3, 1952), was only 15 years old while lead singer Paul Rodgers (born December 17, 1949), lead guitarist Paul Kossoff (September 14, 1950 - March 19, 1976), and drummer Simon Kirke (born July 28, 1949), were also still teenagers. By November of that year they had recorded their first album Tons Of Sobs for Island Records, and although it was not released until the following year the album documents their first six months together and contains studio renditions of much of their early live set.Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke first became friends in the R&B band Black Cat Bones but they wanted to move on and saw vocalist Paul Rodgers singing with Brown Sugar while visiting the Fickle Pickle, an R&B club in London's Finsbury Park. They were immediately impressed, and the three were soon jamming and forming Free with the addition of Andy Fraser, who at the tender age of 15 had already been playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
British blues legend Alexis Korner played a part in the Free story, recommending Andy Fraser to the band, providing the name "Free" and encouraging their early efforts. The sound that would be a trademark of Free and Bad Company is heard in songs like "All Right Now", "Trouble On Double Time" and "Fire and water", with Paul Rodgers being known in the rock media as "The Voice".
Paul Rodgers would go on to explore the heavy blues stylings of Free again in his solo career during the '80s and '90s, and would also play parts in Bad Company, The Firm and, The Law. The tragic death of Paul Kossoff would leave a void in the world of blues guitar for many years to come.
Members
- Paul Rodgers -- Lead Vocals
- Paul Kossoff -- Lead Guitar
- Andy Fraser -- Bass Guitar
- Simon Kirke -- Drums Bad Company And Free
Discography
- Tons of Sobs (1968)
- Free (1969)
- Fire and Water (1970)
- Highway (1970)
- Free Live! (1971) (live)
- Free at Last (1972)
- Heartbreaker (1973)
Post-career compilations
- The Free Story (1974)
- The Best of Free (1975)
- Free And Easy, Rough And Ready (1976)
- Completely Free (1982)
- (1991)
- Molten Gold: The Anthology (1994) (2 disc set)
- Free: All Right Now (1999)
- Songs of Yesterday (2000) (5 disc box set)
- Chronicles (2005) (2 disc set)
External links
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