Free : Songs of Yesterday 5CD Box Set Review and Reaction 

Dear Phil, I have been waiting for 50 years to hear someone that felt the same as me. You have described perfectly how I felt to the word. I felt Paul Kossoff was my unmet older brother. He understood how I felt and he played to me. And as he suffered in the latter years I supported him all the more. I stood in the same room as him three times and I will never forget it. I have told everyone I ever met since to this day that he is the greatest guitarist that ever lived because he was the only one that could reach you with (as you say) a single note. This is nothing to do with technical brilliance, it was a unique talent, I think he was sent to us for a purpose. I listen to him every day and the feelings don't change in fact they have intensified. Thank you so much for opening up about him, it must have been an emotional thing to do and I can hear that in your voice, so well done. Best wishes, Paul

There are only a handful of guitar players that you can instantly identify when you hear their tone/style. Paul Kossoff is/was quite unique. A sad loss far too young.

I'm 79 ' but FREE has put me back to the 60s and 70s and have ordered their set , Their Music is magic , and it takes all of them to do it. Love Them all , and thank You Phil !

Hello Phil...Free were an amazing, unique, band, and you've done them justice here, superb job.

It took me until recently to get what Free was about (only 40 years or so!). But you tapped into something Phil - there’s a real magic in Paul Kossof’s playing and Paul Roger’s vocals (along with Andy Fraser’s bass and Simon Kirke’s drums). So I’ve been catching up with the back catalogue and now have the box set in addition to the expanded CDs, a couple of the later remasters and two Koss compilations …

I bought the Free EP in 1978 which included All Right Now, My Brother Jake and Wishing Well. My three favourite Free tracks, the ones I'd heard countless times on the radio, together on one disc. What a fantastic record! All Right Now had always been on my radar (even before I'd started buying singles). A true classic, even then. Oddly, perhaps, I didn't listen to the original albums until much later, when they were reissued on CD. I'm not sure why, but I've been listening to them again recently. There's just something comforting about those songs. The way they are played, the warmth in the recordings. Wishing Well still - after all these years - sends a tingle down my spine. It somehow connects the past to the present (like memories from a distant dream). It's not always easy to find the right words when explaining just what music means to us, but you have articulated it perfectly here. Connecting where we were in our lives and what we were doing when we first heard our favourite records is something we can all relate to here at Now Spinning.

Wonderful review Phil. Paul Kossoff was a brilliant man and sadly missed by not only his fellow musicians but fans too. If only he knew how loved he is.

Excellent and heartfelt review.

Aside from the singles (we danced to All Right Now at our wedding) Free were a band that were on the fringe of my attention. That was until recently when I read Heavy Load. Heavy Load and the tragedy of Paul Kossof's passing moved me to tears. Since then I've been building my collection and one thing that stands out (among many!) is the emotional heft of the music. That means that their small catalogue allows for a huge amount of exploration and repeated listening. Cheers Phil, another lovely piece.

Hi Phil - Like you I was totally taken by Free in spite of the fact that they did not play the typical style of the music that I was most into at that time. That little band had three of the greatest artists on their particular instruments - Koss's guitar, Fraser's bass, and Rodgers' vocals, all tied together with Kirke's rock solid drums. Thank you especially for your deeply felt appreciation of Paul Kossoff. I couldn't have expressed it nearly as well.

This was beautiful, man… i love Free and Kossoff. He was unique in every way. The touch, the tone. Thanks. I’ll play some Free records tonight.

I'm from the U.S. and Free is my favorite band. I would love to have that box set because their cd's are impossible to find here. I have their complete U.S. vinyl catalog including the 45 singles with the non-album track B-Sides. I love the song Mr. Big and so many others, my favorite albums are Fire & Water, Highway and Heartbreaker. Their songs have a way of speaking to my soul, Kossoff truly sung with his guitar playing. I love your channel. Peace and stay safe.

Great post, Phil. Kossoff was fantastic, he really was.

as an ardent 67 year old free fan I have the aforementioned boxset. what a fantastic experience, those 4 lads were incredibly talented. love your review Phil keep it going.

I love the format of that booklet, too. There is something similar in the Deep Purple box set I have. That format just makes it easier to read.

"Seven Angels"........say. no. more..........thanks for the "ramblings" Phil on the precious chemistry and magic named FREE!!

Thanks for that Phil! From the heart. My favourite band just so slow Cheers Dave

Love that album and the band. I used to go to a lot of gigs around Swindon years ago and often saw a guy wearing Heatbreaker T shirt

"What do you when your heart feels broken?"...My reply to my friends question back in 79 was..."I listen to Free"...

Once again you have shared so well your love of the music and in particular Paul Kossof. Years ago if I recall correctly there was a TV program about Paul featuring his dad David Kossof. The single Wishing well I bought when in the charts. The lyrics still relevant today. Love and a peaceful world!! Fire and water a perfect album. Thanks

💓🥰💓fantastic box!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I discovered Free in my first year of university at the age of 17-18 and it was something I really needed. Your description of yourself at that age may as well have been describing me and Paul Kossoff's playing just spoke to me. That was a really tough year for me and as corny as it is, Free really helped me get through it

Hi Phil, How about this one, the combined ages of all four, Rodgers, Kossoff, Fraser and Kirk when they made ' Tons Of Sobs ' doesn't add up to the age Keith Richards is Now.

Hi Phil, I know we have spoke about ' Free ' before. but this band are so special to me. I've been listening to them for 52 years, first All Right Now, the summer of 1970. That made me pick up the Fire and Water LP. (bought with money I saved from my paper round, I would of been thirteen and a half years old) then I picked up,Tons of Sobs and Free, and their other albums as they were released. Like you said they were just kids when they started, can you believe it. Do I have a favourite Free Album, NO, I love them all, they all have there own individual moments to offer. This band had four young gifted individuals, the sum of all their parts gelled and produced something very special. Koss what can I say, you've just said it all, there isn't an other guitarist that reaches me like Koss, the only way I can describe how I feel when Koss strikes out is, it's washes over me, almost feeling like a spiritual massage. I get lost listening to Koss, almost transported to somewhere else. Some people reading this will probably think ' What is he talking about ' but I think you know. They should have been absolutely massive, but they were to young, and couldn't handle the pressure, plus I don't think Island records knew how to promote them. You mention the Live disc in the Songs of Yesterday Box set, yes that is incredible, There is a double LP Bootleg out there worth checking out called ' Free In Concert 1970 ' on the Verne Records label. Its all the live songs off the Box Set, on four side of Vinyl, the sound quality is amazing. You can check it out on Discogs. Great video, I've watched it twice now. Free deserve more recognition, but again in some way I like the feeling that they are my little secret.

Wonderfully warm stuff Phil. I do recall the quiet sense of shock in the UK music press at the time of Paul's passing. There was a slender hope that he would get through his problems. Paul was not with us for long but his emotive playing still touches our musical souls. I would be interested to see if any of the material from the Free box set made it onto the CD reissues from 2001/2002 as they all contain a generous number of bonus tracks.

Kossoff the wee man with the big guitar. Like Trower every note played meant something and with Fraser playing almost lead bass at times the band were unique. Great review and another £65 has left my bank account.

Thank you Phil!

Great overview of Free Phil. I saw Free 2 times, 1971 and 1973 without Koss in Tampa Fl when they opened with the Faces on their US tour. Shortly after the show (1971) was over, my fellow band mate and I went across the street to the Hawaiian Hotel across from the stadium. We came across two guys carrying their guitar cases and those guys turned out to be Koss and Fraser!! We walked with them to their rooms and thanked them for the time they took to speak to us! A night I will always remember! Highway will always be my all time top album deserving of a desert Island must disc! I have them all as well as all the solo efforts by the band. Cheers!

Always love your reviews Phil, but this one really hit the spot. I hadn't played Songs Of Yesterday for ages but couldn't wait to revisit it after watching your show. Everything you said is spot on: there really is no other box set as unique and essential as this. Incredibly, it seems to have been deleted now.

Hi Phil, Have you got David Clayton's Book, ' Heavy Load ' it is a great accompaniment to the ' Songs Of Yesterday ' Box Set.

I know what you mean Phil, about music touching you so deeply. Especially when you're young, when you find music that says what you want to say but can't... it's simy transcendent. I remember about 3-4 years ago when I was in high school I went to the record store and bought the CD for Tons of Sobs. I listened to that and man... that was it. I was in love. The next morning I was up making coffee and listening to that album, and Moonshine came on... it completely blew me away. The whole band is one of the greatest of all time, but I was completely transfixed on Kossoff. For me, that album encapsulates all that I love about Kossoff. He rocks out on it (Worry, Sweet Tooth, The Hunter), does some slow and heavy blues (Walk In My Shadow) and plays slow melodic blues with heavenly tone (Moonshine). As I understand it, he was a big influence on Angus Young. I guess that's where Angus got the inspiration for his vibrato! Speaking of Angus; being a metalhead and lover of hard rock, I of course have a great affinity for guitarists who can play a million notes a nanosecond. But I also love players who can wrench every last bit of feeling out of a single note, and Kossoff was and is the king of that!

The first 3 FREE studio albums are shockingly good. I liked HIGHWAY but it has a different approach musically. The album HIGHWAY draws from influences of American bands of the South and the Western states of the U.S. FREE LIVE! is phenomenal! "RIDING A PONY" from the HIGHWAY album is played live and proves to be a much more impressive song performed live. FREE AT LAST! and HEARTBREAKER were not bad albums they just never mesmerized me like TONS OF SOBS, FREE, and FIRE AND WATER did. It's been stated in the past that the Blues scene in London died in 67', but I enjoyed several bands that played some Blues and mixed it up with other styles shortly after 67' or even a few years later such as JUICY LUCY who were a killer band that were Bluesy Jazzy, Folk and their first 3 albums were outstanding. FREE were outstanding! The early SAVOY BROWN. SHAKE DOWN, GETTING TO THE POUNT, BLUE MATTER, and A STEP FURTHER were killer Blues Rock albums. GROUNDHOGS, CLIMAX BLUES BAND ( early albums), BLODWYN PIG, PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC. FREE were very important to the development of that particular music scene. It was fascinating

your absolutely right Phil one heck of a box set.One of my all time favorite box sets because of all the great alternative and live stuff on it.When one of my friends come over and they see my boxsets that I have I always pull out Free to show them

The ultimate box set for me

I share your heartfelt love of Free Thanks for this great review,Phil.

Dear Phil, At long last, I am grateful that someone should cover Free, my all time favorite band. With this boxed set, it is one that all record companies should learn. Apart from a few rare tracks, I mean those around that time it was released, across the five cd's, all of them are unreleased stuff. Look around us, how many record companies are just contented to milk their cows by giving the fans stuff that have already been released or recycled thousands of times? Talking about their music, in Paul Rodgers, certainly the greatest blues rock singer of his time and his improvisation is second to none. Paul Kossoff, there is no need for further introduction. A wonderful player whose touches were incredible. Play Heartbreaker the live version on Free Story, the finesse and feel were just incredible. Any Fraser, his solo on the live version of Mr. Big rivals any decent bass players. Then of course Simon Kirke just complimented the others incredibly well. People always ave about Bad Company which were more successfully as a band, but I think anyone who cares for Free will understand Bad Company did not even come close! Thanks once again for making people aware of what a great but mercifully short-lived and tragic band Free were.

Great show Phil. I own all their cds but I don't own the box set you've discussed. Might have to seek it out!👍

I bought this box set years ago it’s in my top 3 box sets too I just turned 50 this year and remember listening to the Friday and Saturday rock show with Tommy Vance and Alan fluff freeman as a young teen everyone around me was into diffrent more commercial music witch was great for them but I needed somthing to free my soul excite me move me mr big was played on Friday rock show and my brother Jake on the Saturday rock show and it blew my mind not a musician myself but kossoffs guitar stired my soul there’s other guitar players do it too Rory Gallagher bb king Johnny winter Warren hayes get me but kossoff was the first I was always a loner deep thinker but I found a buddy in there music and saddles was not around for there hey day or old enough to get it but it found me the cream always rises to the top great show buddy great box set 👍🏼🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🍻

Great Box Set, Great Catalogue, Great Band. Took me a long time before I knew this, but was put to rights.

A cracking review of this must have box set. This is a set that you can go back to again and again. Especially after hearing the standard versions of tracks from their albums. I am not sure how you could really improve on this set at all. It makes you wonder what was really going on behind the scenes when talented musicians like this weave their magic. The only other band I can think of that had such a short career and a low number of album releases and that was Cream. And both these bands are legendary in both their approaches and innovative ways they relayed the music to their fans. Nice to hear your tribute to Kossoff and they way you expanded on how much his music meant to you. It's such a shame that he didn't survive that era. The pressures of fame and all that went with it was obviously too much. Keep up the good work

hi phil ,my firsts words are : I WANT IT !!!!!! great booklet, photos ....,i have 2001 edtion .....thanks again fantastic box set 🤩😍😇

Free so legendary & also check out Back Street Crawler 2nd Street with Paul Kossoff as well, Paul Kossoff was a massive fave

IMHO a top 5 contender for best box set! Kossoff/Rodgers were pure music magic!! Thanks for covering Phil. Looking forward to it. (-: !!

This was a treasure to find online and have it sent here to America. What an outstanding set! Thank you for sharing your review Phil! ❤

I got this as soon as it came out. My all time favorite band. Since I live in the US I only got to see them once, sort of. Rogers and Kirk were the only originals. It was good but not the real thing. It is hard to imaging a band that has influenced so many musicians and song writers as much as FREE that is so underappreciated. But since they never finished a US tour that was a big issue, they were much more successful in Europe. The Mr. Big from the FREE LIVE album is still my all time fav.

Hi Phil. I'm Scott Fowler who is apart of your Facebook group, you may have seen me sharing three post of Christina Perri, my PC Game of The incredible Hulk, what I use a soundtrack Cd, and my recent one, my Queen 2 CD album

5 mins into this you get it Fully .

Wonderfull CD.4 box plus extra CD. (5.cd) Paul Kossoff/John Martiyn..18.16..Time Spent(Time Away)..Paul Roders and the Maytals and songs..von.-Peace and Sharks.rabbit🎹🎹.and kossoff-kirke-tetsu-rabbit..great...and wonderfull Book..my best CD..box all time 👍

Great review Phil. This is one of the bext box sets ever done and when released, showed what could be done when care and thought was put into a bands overview. They are one of my favourite bands of all time and great to know there are people out there who feel the same. 🔥🌊

I have 2 copies of this set love it. Great review as always.

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Great review. I think they are one of the most underrated bands in the history of British music. They had the soulfulness that bands like Led Zeppelin didn't have, in my opinion of course. Paul Rodgers one of the greatest voices out there. There was blues and folk in there too. Unfortunately they are mostly known, by the casual music listener, for All Right Now, which is a great tune, but they were so much more than that. I love the album Free but they are all great and fit different moods. I'm so glad their fans got this box set. Traffic deserve similar treatment. Don't know why that never happened. I'm new to your channel but that's a great review

Enjoying this Phil. I seem to recall the news on Luxembourg. Think Tony Prince said he died on a plane heart attack? I know that his father david Kossoff used to tour a show talking about his son and his drug addiction and their struggles with him. Interesting you mention The Wagon And Horses. I was frequently in there at that time with my Girlfriend Sue Allen who lived in Wesley rd Sheldon. We used to go in for a Berni there too.. What a small world eh?

I agree this is one of the best box sets. Most of it is different versions to the original albums too. Just wish it was available on vinyl although I guess it would carry a hefty price tag, would be worth it though. Reliable sources tell me there has been an extensive live box set in the wings for a while but it keeps getting blocked. I live in hope !

Greetings, Phil! Another great review. I just picked this up. I'm a guitarist too, and I think that Koss' bending finger vibrato is unparallelled! Do you think that David Coverdale was referencing Free when he sang: 'Hangin' on the promises in the Songs of Yesterday' in "Here I Go Again?" Cheers from the USA.

Thank you Phil for your in-depth review of this fabulous Free box set. It’s not available new anymore (I see used copies for sale on-line) Do you know if it’ll ever come back and be reissued again? I remember the Saturday morning I purchased the double vinyl copy of the Free Story back in the mid seventies. It’s still of course in my record collection. It’s says on the sleeve limited edition and my number is , A 4892. I wonder if you know how many were produced? Thanks for a great show!

Phil.....you okay!? no new video in almost 2 weeks!! Wish you would cover the STREETWALKERS!!

Hi Phil...another great review...Is there a box set with all studio albums from Free available with a booklet (important)?? Thanks for answering...Wolf

Hi Phil.Great reviews.Now that i am hooked on your channel i am looking foward towards xmas time hoping i would have saved up to buy three cd box sets.1/ FREE 2/JONI MITCHELL3/JUDIE TZUKE. Later on i will try for WHITESNAKE, WISHBONE ASH and UFO. There is a slight problem here and this is the wife who keeps telling me that my lps,cds and cassette tapes are taking too much space in our home and that i am spending too much.She is probably right i need to cut down and be more selective To what i buy.Anyway take care and keep the reviews coming.

The Real Big 4 is Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Free.