In praise of Free (and Andy Fraser!)

Arriving on the scene a little too late for inclusion in the 1960s ‘British Blues Boom’...

...Free had a lot in common with the movement initially, especially in terms of their early blues covers set material, and were named by the late, great Alexis Korner – sort of. He suggested ‘Free at Last’, which was soon shortened to ‘Free’.

What a lot of people don’t realise, is how young Free were when they started playing together.

Lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were both 18, guitarist Paul Kossoff was 16 and bassist and keyboard player Andy Fraser only 15.

Within 6 months they’d recorded their first album ‘Tons of Sobs’ which was very blues based, but showed their funky side: the quality which made the band stand out amongst the rather led-den (sic) groove that many other hard blues/rock bands seemed to fall into.

There must have been real chemistry at work when they got together .

Rodgers on lead vocals had – still has – an amazing voice. With Free he took centre stage and used the mic stand to great effect as he strutted about and indulged in some proper groin-thrusting.

Kossoff on guitar had a great Les Paul/Marshall sound and he played using a very distinctive vibrato. Whilst he didn’t stray too far from the pentatonics, he used them melodically and his rhythm playing was sparse, with some interesting chords using the open strings together with fretted ones. No power chord thrashing for Kossoff!

Fraser on bass was amazing. Using a short scale Gibson bass, he played a heady combination of melodic lines on the upper frets and heavy root notes on the bottom ones. Above all, he left spaces in his bass lines, reminiscent of reggae and funk bass styles, and really helped let the music breathe. 

Making up the quartet was drummer Kirke who always kept it simple, powerful and exciting. Using an extremely small kit – snare, kick, two toms, ride and crash cymbals and hi-hat – he could be almost jazzy at times, which tied in well with Fraser’s syncopated and often spare bass lines to create a rhythm section that floated and skipped but never plodded.

The old adage ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ applies to Free very, very well. The combination of the instruments and Rodger’s charismatic stage presence and soulful vocals produced a sound that was intense, but never bludgeoning, and their use of dynamics was second to none, with the band dropping back when necessary and then cranking it up in complete contrast.

Not only was the band a musician’s delight, but in their glory days, they were a pop phenomenon, too. Live recordings at the time of ‘Alright Now’ (their biggest hit) reveal teenage girls screaming in the same way that the Beatles had once experienced and the band became teen magazine pin ups.

Although the band had a US hit with "Alright Now", and toured there, most of their popularity and success was restricted to the UK and European market with barely a handful of hit singles and as many hit albums. Not really all that much of a recorded legacy for a band who are still fondly remembered and highly regarded.

So, what of the four band members today?

Rodgers went on to form Bad Company with drummer Kirk, ex-King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell and ex-Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs. He then went solo, joined Queen (a disaster in my opinion; as fine a singer as he is, he’s no Freddie Mercury) and performed with Bad Co on various reunion tours. He’s still a force to be reckoned with, solo, but has never regained the success he once had.

Kossoff left Free in a heroin haze. His playing and behaviour became so erratic that he was sacked. He went on to form Back Street Crawler, but then died of a drug related heart attack at the age of 25. A total waste of a great talent.

After Bad Co, Kirke didn’t do too much until their eventual reunion gigs, although today he’s on the Grammy awards committee and still plays in bands around the Manhattan NY area.

Frazer possibly had the most interesting post-Free career. When Free broke up, he went on to form the underrated ‘Sharks’, and ‘The Andy Fraser Band’, and then embarked on a bizarre but pioneering series of projects that culminated in the formation of the McTrax record label, although it didn't exactly set the world alight. Fraser died in 2015 at his home in California of a heart attack.

Nothing that they went on to do, however, comes anywhere near approaching the magnificence that was Free, and that quality stands out best in a live setting.

Fortunately, video footage still exists to illustrate this and there’s one show in particular that captures the band perfectly. It was produced by Granada TV and shows the band in a television studio with a fair-sized and quietly appreciative audience. It’s well-shot, with good sound and excellent picture quality, and the cameramen made sure that they gave equal attention to all four players.

Rodgers moves about like some randy cockerel, Kirke plays his tiny kit with his typical high arm movements, and Kossoff gurns a lot (although I think he means it) and plays some beautifully understated guitar.

However, it’s Fraser who really shines, as far as I’m concerned.

His body movements and playing epitomise total involvement as he rocks back on one foot and alternately soars over and rumbles under the rest of the band. There’s such deep joy in his playing and I’m certain that he’s not putting on a show. He’s just happy playing what he’s playing, who he’s with and the zone that he’s in.

In many ways, Free was the perfect rock combo, and showed that with just basic vocals, guitar, bass and drums, hard rock didn't have to steamroller its audience relentlessly - sometimes the foot could ease off on the throttle.

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