A proper rock band, didn’t need any fancy special effects, no fancy dress or light shows, no gimmicks, just 4 English lads with long hair playing bloody good rock music.
I agree. I have been scratching my head. Befuddled and bemused at the fact that here in America radio doesn't saturate the classic rock airwaves with FREE. As they do with loads of one hit and one album wonders. FREE is unquestionably one of BRITISH BLUES/,ROCK exports.
I agree 100% . I absolutely love Bad Company but this band Free is just phenomenal. I never paid much attention to Free because classic rock stations played All Right Now so many times that I became fed up with Free. I had never heard all these other great songs!! Thanks to You Tube I was able to see all I had been missing and how explosive these guys are!! I now have to say Free is a better band than Bad Company . I could kick myself in the ass for depriving myself of this incredible music for all these years!! The musicianship is just stunning. Andy Fraser bass playing is beyond words. When Simon Kirk talks about seeing Fraser play bass for the first time and said he's better than McCartney, he wasn't exaggerating. The bass in Free songs sounds like a lead instrument. Alot like McCartney bass playing on Rain and the entire Abbey Road album. Paul Kossoff puts his heart and soul into every note! Simon Kirk is a beast on drums and Paul Rodgers is right up there with Steve Marriott, Robert Plant and Joe Cocker. This band should have become legends like Zeppelin, Cream and The Stones, it's a shame they disintegrated because they wrote their own music and it was that damn good ,beyond good!! I thank god whoever recorded the Granada TV special had the brains to not erase it. There isn't much video available but I'm not complaining. It's kind of the same situation with The Allman Brothers Band with Duane. There is maybe 30 minutes of video available showing the original band. With the hundreds of shows both bands played in 69-71 it's a shame that this is all we have. Probably the 2 bands that if fate had been kinder god knows what masterpieces they would have created. Although The Allman's continued on and off as a band with different variations , it was never as good when Duane was in the band. Just like with Free, Kossoff never got the longevity he deserved,he lived a little longer than Duane but after Free broke up,Kossoff was basically finished and that is a tragedy. He was lost without Free and to capture the magic of a band like that is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Let's face it, 50 years later and there has never been a band like Free since. We can wait another 50 and there still won't be!!! Amazing is too weak a word!
Underrated by who? They received a lot of airplay in their day. Maybe underrated by the boring Classic Rock stations of today. We all loved this band that played heartbreaking Blues Rock.
That’s what you call a fucking ROCK band. I heard them in 69. And Alright Now is my anthem. So if you live on the Gold Coast in Australia and hear alright now blasting from a silver and black wrangler Jeep its me. Giving it my all. Thank you and good night ❤️🏴
Man! What was in the water in England that produce so many outstanding bands like Free? So many riches they laid on us. God bless Free and all the others. Love from Texas!
@@bbqeatinbuckeye yes indeed and what a wonderful cross play it has been, but I do worry about the state of the current music scene, must be my age lol
@@markstedman8186 I too, am greatly concerned over today's music scene. It seems free of any inspiration or heart. Perhaps it is my age as well. I try to be open minded about it but find most of todays music basically souless.
Andy Frazier was one of the best bass players in rock history.Paul Rodgers is the best.paul kossoff could do more with one note that most could do with ten.
Andy Fraser - one of the finest ever bass players - and a great song writer to. The crescendo towards the end of Mr Big demonstrates his brilliance on the bass.
THE band all joined through the mind ......and all fab in their own right ........there could never be another free ....glad i was around to hear them ....
For me Free were a supergroup, 4 of the most talented musicians around and together there was no one like them, the mood and emotion in all their songs was something special. God I miss that band and those times.
The major core of the band free was Paul and Paul . That's the meat n potatoes, the drummer ,Simon was nothing but a back beater keeping a beat and the bassist was good but the 2 pauls were absolutely great . The vocals and guitarist ,so incredibly gifted that they were the band ,them 2 .
This band is the essence of melodic rock, sheer genius with the best singer ever. The seventies would not have been the same for me without their music.
@@canesvenatici4259 OK whatever. I saw Free, Peter Green´s Fleetwood Mac, Hendrix , Billy Boy Arnold, Pink Floyd, Stones, The faces and numerous other bands Live back in the days. Inexplicable if you haven't experienced it
@@canesvenatici4259 Give the bird a name. Free, Badco, The Firm. I saw Free, Peter Green´s Fleetwood Mac, Hendrix , Billy Boy Arnold, Pink Floyd, Stones, The faces, Spooky Tooth and numerous other bands Live back in the days. Inexplicable if you haven't experienced it. RU-vid is a surrogate, but a nice one.
I'm 70 now and remember when I got my first bass in 2006, the first thing I played was Andy's stupendous lead line from the All Right Now solo as it had been in my head all those years. Bless his memory.
Thank you for this. I found it very moving. I remember watching them on Top of the Pops as a girl and knowing instantly that they had "IT". I've loved them ever since. They are so good it HURTS!! Free reaches the parts other bands cannot reach! FOREVER FREE!!!
The live footage and interviews on here are dynamite. I really love that raw, groove based, bluesy sound of Free. Such a fine band. And of course, bringers of that bluesy rock that sits there at the top for me as my favorite kind of rock to listen to.
What a terribly sad tale it was about Koss. I think Simon hits the nail on the head with his assessment of “Alright Now”. It was probably to soon to hit such a zenith. Sadly people were always going to compare everything else they did with it. I actually think “Wishing Well” was a better song. I think with Koss it was similar to Brian Jones. In those days there was nothing like the support around that these days we take for granted. Koss would have gone into rehab, cleaned up,the band would have had a hiatus and would have carried in at a later date. That didn’t/couldn’t happen in the 60s/70s. Instead we got more and more casualties as management squeezed every last drop out of bands. Koss is indeed in very good company of lost talent from that era. But his music will always live on, he’s still in my top 3 Guitarists of all time after nearly 50 years. Great documentary, thanks for posting.
Mr. Valentine, I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts concerning Paul Kossoff and I thank you for sharing it. Not only did Free have an all time top 3 guitarist with Koss, they had "
25 ITS NO AGE ATALL IS IT TO DIE SO YOUNG DRUGS THE KILLER OFF MANY I HATE THE SHIT RIP PAUL AND ANDY THEY CUD TEAM UP WITH BON SCOTT AND JOHN BONHAM ON DRUMS AND JAM IN HEAVEN 😢
There cant be anything to add they were the best band ever. The group I was in at the time APPLE SPICE BAND supported them at The Spa Royal Hall BRIDLINGTON. Meeting them was one of my lives greatest moments.
God I miss him. I asked for my first electric guitar when I first heard Koss in 1969. Such a tragic loss.. Not just Koss, but the whole band. Free had so much more to give. Made me the guitarist I am today. Still inspires me to this day, even after 43 years of playing.....Godspeed my friend...
My 18 year old daughter doesn't play guitar (yet), but she listens to a lot of old and modern rock music, and she is discerning and has her own mind. She has already appreciated the fact that nobody else played the guitar with as much soul and feeling as Paul Kossoff.
Was convinced that drugs were the ruination of musical inspiration because of his tragic end. I owe my "vibrato" to him. Even before I properly tuned up to an A-440. Hit a note and pull it up and wring that neck! Thank you Koz!!
Simon was one of a very select few who played drums with John Bonham on stage, enough said there. Paul Kossof of has more feeling in one note than any shredder today, Andy Fraser Mr big solo brilliant, Paul Rodgers best rock/blues vocalist ever.
Really hadn’t listened to them in years since 69-72 until recently. After watching them and listening to them over the last year my god but they are all such incredibly great musicians! Fraser was an incredible bass player! Wow! Great Band!
....I'm 66 now and remain a great fan since buying your records long ago as they came out......I remain a great fan of the Byrds as well and Gram Parsons....we watched Parsons decline over a very short couple of years went from being handsome and young and bright to looking young and old and terrible in his early twenties when a friend said to me....."see what drugs do to ya,".....I'm so sorry for all of us who loved them.
My favorite band of all time . As a bass player I loved Andy's playing. I was very fortunate to meet him. Had a chat and I shook his hand. I still can't believe it. If someone told me that I would meet him one day. I wouldn't of believed it. Get the book ( heavy load) worth it's weight in gold. Thank you FREE
The first band I heard live. At the Argus Butterfy Peterlee. I say heard as could not get through the door. So listened at the back door. A few years later Graham the roadie saw us outside again when we could not get in at Sunderland. This time we got to be roadies for the night. to see them .Great Band Great people. The best band I ever saw.
One of the few greatest foursomes ever.. just listen to those bass lines, that voice.. the beat and the licks...what else is there to say.? saw them a few times back in the 70.s and at the "Isle of White".. atomic.......
yes very fortunate,, saw Dylan, Hendrix, CSNyY, The band, The who The beatles when I was 12.. you name it... didn't get to see Elvis neither Sinatra though.. yes very LUCKY.... @Jeanette H
They were slightly before my time, but I can remember coming home with a (German import) copy of 'The Free Story', at the age of 14 (in 1980). From then on, all other rock bands just paled by comparison. I will never tire of listening to their albums. Oh for a time machine, so I could see them play live. . . just once!
I just missed seeing them live, however hooked into their music and it's part of my DNA now. What used to bug me were the slightly older bods at work (I was 18, they were in their twenties) who would reminisce on seeing them at the Newcastle City Hall and a few Sunderland gigs were mentoned. Seething green envy.
I was at "The Felt Forum" (Madison Square Garden, with a rotating stage!) for their show in 1969: I came in just as FREE launched into their first song! Although I was there to see Blind Faith, by the time FREE were done, I was a hardcore fan and didn't even care so much about staying to see Clapton play; for me, at all of 16 years old, that night became all about FREE, and listening to Winwood sing and play guitar and keys (he's a brilliant guitar player still, and that night gave E.C. a real run for his money as well...). I mean, watching Koss savagely hit his Les Paul behind at stack of Marshalls was bloody breathtaking: never will forget it-what POWER!!!
Free will always be one of my all-time favourite bands. So much so that I ration myself to listen to them not quite as often as I'd like, so that I never get sick of hearing them. I feel exactly the same way about Uriah Heep. Love 'em far too much to over-listen to them.
@@johnryan3913 . . I saw Uriah Heep in Brisbane in 2015, a couple of days prior to attending Bluesfest in Byron Bay. Unfortunately for Bluesfest, I watched every band there through the lens of my recent concert experience with Uriah Heep. It took me a couple of days to lower my standards enough in my mind to accept the often mediocre performances I endured. That was good because on the Sunday night I watched John Mayall and Tony Joe White and thoroughly enjoyed them. Then it was over to another tent to see Joe Bonamassa!! On the Saturday we were watching one of Australia's highest profile and highly regarded Blues-Rock players strut his stuff. My girlfriend dug me in the ribs and said: "You're better than him , , by a country mile!!" I replied: "Yet here I sit, a spectator".
I mixed monitors for John Mayell at a Blues Festival that I mixed for for about 20 years and he blew me away. He actually teched his own stage. Very cool and orofessional instead of paying some on e else to do it and then being pissed off because something is not to your liking during the show.
Seeing this brought back memories. Saw Free maybe 4 times and at the Isle of Wight Festival. Saw them in a club just outside London and guess I was maybe 3 metres away from the stage. Indelibly etched in my memory, I was 3 Metres away from this incredible musical force of nature.
You were very fortunate indeed to have seen this band live. I came in during the Bad Company era, and they were superb but Free completes the picture for Rodgers and Kirke. It makes you realize that Bad Co was merely their vehicle to keep the music going, and they did so with great panache.
What makes Free's music so great is it's simplicity... that's what alot of people don't understand about great music..a lot of snob's say ohh it's just three or four chords or whatever....well they are missing the point..it's music it's not rocket science...if it moves you and makes you move then the band or artist has accomplished what they need to....such a great band ...🎸🎸🎸
Now listen up kiddies! This is how it was properly done back in the day!! Even though Paul Kossoff was lost in a Mandrax fog, He unlike Syd Barret(who went off into the Stratosphere and never came back) was still able to throw out those beautiful blues-rock riffs,leads and melodies!! Free Forever!!
Much appreciated. As individuals they come across as lovely people and together they were a real force. You sense the real pang of sadness with the decline of Koss. I love the story of the Newcastle crowd encouraging him to get it together rather than getting angry and demanding their money back. Thanks Phil White for putting this up.
A truly, truly great band, so sad they couldn't keep it together, the potential they had was endless. Every member was extraordinary, like Zeppelin, the Beatles and the small faces. Thank god we have some recordings.
I loved free from the first opening note of their first song on their first album. I was struggling to learn guitar and was drawn to blues music .free gave me the inspiration to keep trying.
thanks so much for uploading. i really like Free, so very talented. My Brother Jake is an all time favourite of mine, although I guess most would say Alright Now is the great classic, which of course, it is. Very sad that this talented young man died so young.
I’ve always said if I got stuck on a desert island and had to pick one album to take with me it would be fire and water. It’s quite simply the perfect album. It’s perfection.
I agree with Fraser, "My Brother Jake" was such an under-rated 45...highlighted each member of the band from Kirke's metronomic rhythm, Fraser's bass and piano, Rodgers' vocal but specifically Kossoff's economy with his two, three and four note riffs/fills. I never tire of listening to this wonderful single....as far as I recall, the only ever non-album single they released ?
When you're just a kid there is so much that just goes over your head. In 1970 I still recall vividly being at Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney. Free was on with Deep Purple and Manfred Mann. Paul Rodgers was in black jeans and shirt belting out Alright Now. Looking at this and understanding the behind the scenes stuff. They were a great band though. When you get on a bit everything seems to be in the past. Sadness and nostalgia. It's all in there somewhere.
Ed King (early Skynyrd guitarist) said on his old website, they went to Miami and saw Free play on Rented!! instruments (there's got lost in transit) and they were so good it blew away the whole band. Never forgot it.
Excellent documentary . Like everyone else here , I loved them when we were kids , back then . But I had no idea they were such a lovely bunch of human beings , humble and true . God bless em 🙏
Thanks for posting this. Watching it was agony and ecstasy. Free have been my favourite band from the first time a friend brought Tons of Sobs to school through seeing them at the Isle of Wight in 1970. I still play my vinyl copy of Fire and Water and get emotional. When a candle burns it burns brightly but it doesn’t last long, though the memory of the light lives in for ever.