Free (Free album)
Encyclopedia
Free is the second album by English rock group Free
, recorded and released in 1969. The band had spent time touring after their debut album Tons of Sobs
the previous year, and there is a marked difference in the musicianship of the band as well as Paul Rodgers
's voice. Individual members of the band seem less inclined to show off their musicianship – there are few of Paul Kossoff
's extended guitar solo
s that could be heard on some of the previous album's tracks such as "Goin' Down Slow
." Whereas Tons of Sobs had been produced by Guy Stevens
, Free was produced by the head of Island Records
, Chris Blackwell
.
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, and indeed is used more widely than most other bands' albums do. 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 as some felt that Fraser held the band in a stranglehold. Kossoff, whose natural spontaneity had been given free rein up to then, particularly resented being taught very specific rhythm guitar parts by Fraser. However, Blackwell managed to keep the band in line to record the album.
However, the album performed fairly poorly on release, only reaching #22 in the UK charts and failing completely in the US. The single releases, "Broad Daylight" and "I'll Be Creepin'", also failed. Two songs from the album, "I'll Be Creepin'" and "Woman", were later covered by the American rock band Three Dog Night
. It would not be until the release of "All Right Now
" the following year that Free became truly successful.
's cover for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and Robert Crumb
's artwork for Big Brother and the Holding Company
's Cheap Thrills. The book was part compiled by Storm Thorgerson
who had himself designed many famous album covers such as Pink Floyd
's The Dark Side of the Moon
.
Rafaelli made the cover by photographing his model with strobe lights to make a silhouette
of her against a background, which he could then overlay the design on. Hence, the album has a striking design of a woman made of stars leaping across the sky. The band's name is printed in extremely small letters at the top of the cover; with CDs being much smaller than LP
s, this is almost unreadable.
Side one
Side two
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
, recorded and released in 1969. The band had spent time touring after their debut album Tons of Sobs
Tons of Sobs
Tons of Sobs is the debut album by English blues rock band Free, released on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK and reached #197 in the US, Free are still cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s even though this is the only album of...
the previous year, and there is a marked difference in the musicianship of the band as well as Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
's voice. Individual members of the band seem less inclined to show off their musicianship – there are few of Paul Kossoff
Paul Kossoff
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
's extended guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
s that could be heard on some of the previous album's tracks such as "Goin' Down Slow
Goin' Down Slow
"Goin' Down Slow" or "Going Down Slow" is a blues song written by St. Louis Jimmy Oden, originally released in 1941. Howlin' Wolf included the song on his 1962 Rocking Chair Album.The song alternates between sung and spoken passages...
." Whereas Tons of Sobs had been produced by Guy Stevens
Guy Stevens
Guy Stevens worked in a number of different roles in the British music industry including producer and manager. He gave the rock bands Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople their distinctive names....
, Free was produced by the head of Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
.
Recording
This album saw the burgeoning of the songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and bassistBassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...
, 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
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
is far more prominent here than on the previous album, and indeed is used more widely than most other bands' albums do. The instrument is used as a rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, 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 as some felt that Fraser held the band in a stranglehold. Kossoff, whose natural spontaneity had been given free rein up to then, particularly resented being taught very specific rhythm guitar parts by Fraser. However, Blackwell managed to keep the band in line to record the album.
However, the album performed fairly poorly on release, only reaching #22 in the UK charts and failing completely in the US. The single releases, "Broad Daylight" and "I'll Be Creepin'", also failed. Two songs from the album, "I'll Be Creepin'" and "Woman", were later covered by the American rock band Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band best known for their music from 1968 to 1975. During that time the band charted 21 Billboard top 40 hits in America, three of which reached Number One...
. It would not be until the release of "All Right Now
All Right Now
"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed...
" the following year that Free became truly successful.
Cover
The album is notable for having extremely innovative and impressive artwork from Ron Rafaelli of The Visual Thing Inc., which is featured in the book 100 Best Album Covers alongside better known examples such as Peter BlakePeter Blake (artist)
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
's cover for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
and Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
's artwork for Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
's Cheap Thrills. The book was part compiled by Storm Thorgerson
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Thorgerson is an English graphic designer, known for his work for rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, 10cc, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse, The Cranberries, and Biffy Clyro.-Biography:...
who had himself designed many famous album covers such as Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
.
Rafaelli made the cover by photographing his model with strobe lights to make a silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
of her against a background, which he could then overlay the design on. Hence, the album has a striking design of a woman made of stars leaping across the sky. The band's name is printed in extremely small letters at the top of the cover; with CDs being much smaller than LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s, this is almost unreadable.
Track listing
- All tracks written by Andy FraserAndy FraserAndy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...
& Paul RodgersPaul RodgersPaul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
unless otherwise noted.
Side one
- "I'll Be Creepin'" – 3:27
- "Songs of Yesterday" – 3:33
- "Lying in the Sunshine" – 3:51
- "Trouble on Double Time" (Fraser, Rodgers, Simon KirkeSimon KirkeSimon Kirke is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company.-Biography:...
, Paul KossoffPaul KossoffPaul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
) – 3:23 - "Mouthful of Grass" – 3:36
Side two
- "Woman" – 3:50
- "Free Me" – 5:24
- "Broad Daylight" – 3:15
- "Mourning Sad Morning" – 5:04
Extra tracks
- "Broad Daylight" – 3.09
- The version of the song that was released as a single, this is a slightly different edit and features prominent backing singers.
- "The Worm" – 3.03
- This was the B-side to "Broad Daylight".
- "I'll Be Creeping" – 2.47
- This is the single version of the album track, with one verse edited out.
- "Sugar for Mr. Morrison" – 3.01
- The band's second instrumental track, this is a slow, bass-driven number that gradually builds into a crashing guitar jam. It was released as the B-side to "I'll Be Creeping".
- "Broad Daylight" (BBC Session) – 3.21
- A BBC Session of the album track recorded on 17 March 1969.
- "Songs of Yesterday" (BBC Session) – 3.11
- A BBC Session of the album track recorded on 17 March 1969.
- "Mouthful of Grass" – 3.33
- This early version of the song contains only the rhythm guitar (played by Fraser) which formed the backbone of the finished song.
- "Woman" – 4.00
- This is an alternate version of the album track, with less prominent guitar.
- "Trouble on Double Time" – 2.37
- An early version of the album track
- "Mourning Sad Morning" – 5.10
- This is an alternate version of the album track that does not contain Wood's flute solo.
Personnel
- Paul RodgersPaul RodgersPaul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
– vocals - Paul KossoffPaul KossoffPaul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
– guitar - Andy FraserAndy FraserAndy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...
– bass guitar - Simon KirkeSimon KirkeSimon Kirke is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company.-Biography:...
– drums