Gather ‘round, boys and girls. I want to tell you of a different time. It was a time when the music business was
still somewhat taken with the idea that artists could be encouraged and
developed. The idea that if a record
label took its time with an artist, they might grow in stature until they were
a mega artist, and all that investment that a label had put into them would
come back many times over. It was a time
when record labels were run by people who cared about music, and not just how
much money could be made from music. I
know, some of you just won’t be able to wrap your heads around those
ideas. It is true, though, and this
particular album is the proof of that.
This album, in my opinion is one of the all time greats. It is a reference in time to a band that was
firing on all cylinders, a band that was at the pinnacle of their powers. If you know the story of Free, it was a point in time before the band came crashing down
around them due to the demons that would not let go of Paul Kossoff. These guys were kids when they wrote and
recorded this. Andy Fraser was 18 years
old for God’s sake!! Thankfully this
monument exists. This is an album I have
literally grown up with; I don’t really remember a time in my life when this
music did not exist. I can remember, as
a very wee lad, being pulled in by this album.
There is something very primal and instinctive about these songs. I have no idea how many times I have listened
to this album but it has to be close to 100. When you are 6 years old, you don’t know
anything about the blues, about how life can be a drag. But when I heard “Don’t Say You Love
Me,” I just KNEW what Paul Rodgers was
singing about, I knew how bad he hurt.
Of course, now that I’m older I’ve experienced those things, but that
song has always made me feel the same way.
When you can make a 6 year old feel the blues, you’ve done some shit
right there.
This was their 3rd album, and right from the
start they knew exactly what they were doing.
Free had only been together
about 18 months at this point, but they had albums and touring under their belt
and they were on fire. The title track
leaps off the album, a bluesy stomp about a woman who runs hot and cold, about
being tired of that treatment, and wanting to do the same in return. I’ve gone back and forth about whether they
were a heavy band, because that is the knock against them that some people use,
but I’ve heard BBC session and live recordings of this song that are as heavy
as anything you want to put against them from this time period.
“Oh I Wept” is up next on the album, a gentle song, a
counterpoint to the first. There is
every bit as much tension and release in this one, but they show remarkable
restraint. There are a couple of moments
when this song seems ready to take off, but they pull it back like pros. Just a very beautiful song about having your
heart broken. “Remember” comes next, and
this is just a light rocker about reminiscing, good times with old
friends. But it does rock, it is so well
written and the solo break that Paul Kossoff takes just could not have been any
better. It works so well.
“Heavy Load” is track 4, and also the title of the
definitive biography of this band. It’s
hard to find but well worth tracking down if you want to know their story. The imagery conjured up by the lyrics is
incredible:
Just a young man
By an old road
By the route he choose
An ancient song
In an old tongue
For this man was sung
Gives me chills every time, and the music that goes along with
it is just perfect. Did I mention that
these guys were in the teens and early 20’s, and they wrote stuff like
this? When I was that age I was lucky if
I walked out of the house with my clothes matching. A band with this chemistry that just meshes 4
parts so amazingly well together does not come along often.
Tom Petty wrote a
song called “Listen To Her Heart” that deals with the same thematic situation
as the next song on this album, “Mr. Big”.
You got a girl, she loves you and you love her, and some hotshot with
more money than sense comes along and thinks he can take her away based on the
material things. Tom took a light
hearted approach, just saying that, “Sorry dude, but that ain’t gonna work”. Free felt
a little different about that whole scenario.
Leave us alone or I will have no problem digging a hole in the ground
just for you. And the breakdown in this
one? If you have somehow never heard
this song, go listen to it right now.
I’ll wait. Andy Fraser was never
the most technically proficient bass player, he wasn’t playing 90 miles an
hour, but his solo in this song is absolutely off the hook in how well it goes
with the song. I keep going back to that
statement, and as I said above this is a band at their absolute peak. They had played together so much they just
clicked.
I mentioned “Don’t Say You Love Me” above, a beautiful blues
ballad about being lied to that just builds and builds. Then the album wraps up with “All Right Now”,
and if you’ve been alive any time since 1970 and somehow not heard this song,
my mind would be blown. It is a great,
rocking, pop song and every bit as good as everything else on this album, but
sadly this is all that the vast majority of people know about Free.
They were so much more than writers of great pop songs.
If you haven’t caught on by now, I absolutely love this
album and this band. I know every fan of
music has a band that they feel is tragically underrated, and this is
mine. That might seem an odd statement
given that they did have some incredible success around this album, but they
could have been one of the all time greats.
Paul Kossoff, had he lived, would be considered one of the all time
greats on guitar. I know far too much
about addiction, I know how it can grab hold and claim your life, no matter
your station in life. He joins a sad
list that is far too long of musicians who lost the battle with their drug of
choice. It demonstrates as well what a
rare combination of talents and abilities this band was at their peak. They tried to move on without Kossoff, but
the magic was not there. We have this
album as a document to what they could do, we have the other recordings, an
amazing box set called “Songs Of Yesterday” that is hard to find but worth
whatever you have to pay for it. If all
you know of Free is “All Right Now”,
grab this album and give them a shot. If
we ever meet, I know you will thank me.
- ODIN
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