Free
The authority of Free's debut album Tons Of Sobs (1968)
was all the more remarkable given the tender age of its creators.
All four band members were in their teens - bassist Andy Fraser
barely out of school - yet their mastery of world-weary blues
(such as Moonshine or Goin' Down Slow) rivalled
that of Led Zeppelin.
Paul Kossoff stole the show with his
emotionally charged, liquid guitar style.
Released the following year, their eponymous second album was
even better. Rodgers' soulful voice was developing into one of the
best in rock and the band had built up a blistering reputation as
a live act, gathering a sizeable following in the UK.
1970's Fire And Water elevated Free to the big time
when All Right Now entered both the UK and US Top 10. It
was the definitive Free song from the definitive Free album, and
went on to become a bona fide rock classic. That summer, cresting
the wave of their popularity, the band played to over half a
million people at the Isle of Wight festival.
With pressure to come up with a successful follow-up to All
Right Now, Free were confident that The Stealer
would do the business. When it stiffed completely things started
to go seriously awry. The Highway (1970) album received a
similarly lukewarm reception.
The band decided to call it a day after fulfilling touring
commitments in Japan and Australia, with the split eventually
coming in May 1971 - ironically coinciding with their biggest hit
since All Right Now, a Faces-style romp called My
Brother Jake.
The band subsequently re-grouped in 1972 and recorded the Free
At Last album - a reasonable effort which supplied a Top 20
hit with Little Bit Of Love, a highly melodic slice of
rock & roll - and the sort of thing Rodgers would go on to
perfect with Bad Company.
While the album made the Top 10, Kossoff was spiralling into
serious drug dependence, and following a disastrous American tour,
the band's stability received a further blow when Fraser left the
group. With Tetsu Yamauchi (bass) and John 'Rabbit' Bundrick
(keyboards) filling in, the band undertook a Japanese tour prior
to recording a final album, Heartbreaker (1973).
Although Kossoff was too ill to make much of a contribution,
the album stands amongst Free's best, boasting Rodgers' desperate
plea to Kossoff, Wishing Well and the superbly Beatles-esque
Come Together In The Morning.
Following a final tour of the US with Traffic, Free finally
split in summer 1973 with Rodgers and Kirke going on to form Bad
Company. Kossoff meanwhile had already begun his ill-fated solo
career forming Back Street Crawler.
After a handful of relatively well-received albums, Kossoff
finally succumbed to years of drug abuse on 19 March 1976 when his
heart and kidneys failed and he died in his sleep aboard a plane
en route to New York. It was a tragic end for the 25-year-old
guitarist who was once destined to be remembered in the same
breath as the likes of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
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