Free

In previous posts I've given space to 60's guitarists like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and George Harrison. While there are dozens of other groups and guitarists I should probably mention, it feels especially rude to ignore Free and their outstanding guitarist Paul Kossoff.

Free formed in London in 1968 as a four-piece band. The original line up was Paul Rodgers on vocals, Paul Kossoff on guitar, Andy Fraser on bass, and Simon Kirke on drums. Kirke and Kossoff had played together in previous bands (at one point supporting Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) and had seen Rodgers perform in his own projects. Fraser, just 15 years old, had already played with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. He came via the recommendation of Alexis Korner, a key player in the development of the Blues in the UK. Korner deserves a post of his own if I can get round to it.

The early days of Free consisted of listening to lots and lots of Blues (B.B. and Albert King) and playing loads and loads of gigs. As the only member with a driver's license, Kossoff was responsible for getting the band to and from shows across the UK.

After two years of gigging Free found success with their third album Fire And Water (1970) an album that defined their sound as blues-fuelled rock. Including All Right Now, one of the only Free songs that still gets regular airplay, Fire And Water made it to number 2 in the UK and number 17 in the US. The success of the album saw Free invited to play their biggest gig: the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival in front of an audience of 600,000.

Unfortunately, in keeping with the 60's rockstar narrative, Kossoff developed a Quaalude habit. The stress of constant touring combined with Kossoff's unreliable attendance lead the band to break up in 1971. There was a brief reunion in mid 1972 as well as some lineups without Kossoff, but by 1973 Free was done for good.

Kirke and Rodgers would go on to play together in Bad Company, and Kossoff continued working on other projects and by 1975 Kossoff had seemingly turned a corner. A1976 tour featuring Bad Company supporting Kossoff's new band Back Street Crawler was planned. However, on a flight from L.A. to New York in March 1976 Kossoff suffered a pulmonary embolism and died.

Despite being together less than five years Free left behind an incredible catalogue of music. I've picked five of my favourites, listed below in no particular order:

I'm A Mover - Tons Of Sobs (1968)

From Free's first album after signing with Island Records, I'm A Mover is the bluesiest sounding song in this post. The opening riff has a B.B. King vibe while the lyrics work with a lot of blues imagery ('born by the river' and 'long windy roads'). But Rodgers' soaring vocals make the lyrics feel more Led Zeppelin than B.B. King. Overall, the song sits somewhere between Rock and the Blues. You can hear the beginnings of Free's signature sound as Kossoff's vibrato sits perfectly underneath Rodgers' singing and in the not so bluesy outro.

Don't Say You Love Me - Fire And Water (1970)

Slower and more inventive than I'm A Mover, this song starts off more Soul than Blues or Rock. The piano is played by bassist Andy Fraser, who along with Paul Rodgers wrote Don't Say You Love Me and most of Free's music. The guitar playing, and the song overall, is more restrained than you would expect, at least for the first four minutes. The chorus, both lyrically and musically is anthemic with Rodgers taking centre stage. His vocals are the driving force throughout especially during the fadeout at the end.

Trouble On Double Time - Free (1969)

Trouble On Double Time opens in typical Rhythm and Blues fashion, with instrumentation that reminds me of Albert King's Under A Bad Sign but with a vocal style more like Otis Redding than straight blues. In fact, Rodgers released an album covering both artists and more in 2014. After a just under a minute of straight R'n'B there is a sudden break separating the verses and this combined with Kossoff's solo two thirds of the way through make it clear this song is a lot more than a Stax tribute.

Fire And Water - Fire And Water (1970)

The first song on this list that is truly Free's own sound Fire And Water is also the first song on the album of the same name. Where previous songs featured innovative arrangements drawing heavily on other genres Fire And Water is pure Rock. Grinding guitars fill the verses complete with lyrics telling a tale of heartbreak and tearful goodbyes. Then a soaring guitar solo with three separate tracks each recorded by Kossoff. The solo is breathtaking, the guitars blend together seamlessly and Kossoff's vibrato is on full display.

My Brother Jake - My Brother Jake (1971)

Drummer Simon Kirke described My Brother Jake as 'jaunty' and 'cheeky' in the liner notes to the compilation album Molten Gold - The Anthology. Released only as a single, it performed unexpectedly well reaching number 4 in the UK singles charts. The upbeat piano playing and the steady beat certainly give it a laid back feeling. The song's story of a man with potential wasting his life down the pub feel slightly tragic after Kossoff's early death. Nonetheless, with both Rodgers and Kossoff unleashing their respective talents and the final lyric reminding Jake of his potential it is a great uplifting track.

Weirdest Red Hot Chili Pepper's Lyrics

I was walking to work the other day and decided I wanted to listen to something fast with a bit of edge and wound up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on shuffle. Eventually Torture Me (Stadium Arcadium, 2006) came on and the lyrics are strange ('The will of God is standing still / Brazilian children get their fill / Let's go'). After listening to this and Warlocks In  Wonderland (same album, including lyrics like 'Oh, ticky ticky tackita tic tac toe') I decided to have a listen through and pick out some of their weirdest songs. I've listed them in chronological order, as I found while writing this it's quite a fun way to trace the evolution of the band.

Yertle The Turtle - Freaky Styley (1985)

Unlike any other song here this one actually tells a story! It's just about turtles. If a Red Hot Chili Pepper's song having a plot is shocking to you, you'll be comforted to know they didn't come up with it. The story is from a Dr. Seuss book, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (1950-51) and some of the lyrics are direct quotations from the song. This also explains why the song is more whimsical than most of their others. More importantly, it has the pure funk sound they band would lose as they evolved. The album was in fact produced by Parliament Funkadelic's George Clinton who no doubt helped keep things tight and funky. and according to Kiedis' biography it's Clinton's dealer you hear right at the beginning of the song, which just adds to the weirdness. It's also worth noting this the first studio album to feature guitarist Hillel Slovak. Despite being a founding member, Hillel left the band to concentrate on another project just before they recorded their 1984 debut Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is also the last including drummer Cliff Martinez.

Naked In The Rain - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magick (1991)

BSSMK is the second album to feature John Frusciante on guitar, Frusciante both knew and was heavily influenced by Hillel. This made Frusciante a natural choice to replace Hillel after he died of a heroin overdose in 1988. As the band developed in the years following, their sound took a heavier, but still funky sound. Naked In The Rain is great example - a funky bassline is very prominent but the song is driven by a distorted guitar. To be honest, a lot of the song is pretty normal - most of the verses discuss feeling like you don't fit in. That's bread and butter for alternative songwriters, even if the reference to Dr Doolittle is a bit out of the ordinary. But that doesn't hold a candle to being naked, out in the rain, and licking a killer whale so the song has to be included.

Pea - One Hot Minute (1995)

I think it's fair to say whenever I see a short track on an album I get suspicious. Pea is the shortest song on this list at 1:47. It opens weirdly: 'I'm a little pea,' then it gets contradictory 'And I'm a pacifist / So I can fuck your shit up,' only to contradict itself again 'Big and tough and macho / You can kick my ass.' Adding to the weirdness the sudden, violent lyrics is the instrumentation: raspy vocals and a slightly dissonant guitar riff. The riff is played by Dave Navarro, who replaced John Frusciante in 1992 halfway through the BSSM tour as Frusciante struggled to cope with the success of the band after two hit albums. I still haven't got a clue what's going on in this song and it's the only one here I don't really like, it just feels a bit pointless.

On Mercury - By The Way (2002)

Frusciante returned to the band in 1998 and shortly followed the band's most successful period seeing back to back releases of Californication (1999) and By The Way (2002). There music became more melodic, and lost a lot of the 'edge' that characterised their previous albums. The sound clearly worked for the band, and I really like this track, it's upbeat and still features strong if less funky bassline, but the lyrics are strange. They occupy a sort of uncanny valley somewhere between utter nonsense and storytelling. There is a vaguely consistent theme of coming to term with - things the 'masochistic hold,' 'reverse vertigo,' and the pregnant girl. But this consistency comes from direct repetition more than anything else. Add in the surreal imagery of 'Lemon trees on Mercury' and a 'motor mouthing off' and you're left with a very weird song.

Especially In Michigan - Stadium Arcadium (2006)

Now, I quite like this song, it's very simple for the album, a few guitar tracks, then just drums, bass, and vocals. Frusciante's playing makes the song - his tone fills out a lot of the sound stage and the solos are good, especially the one around 3:30. But what on earth is going on with the lyrics? It opens ok, pretty standard nonsensical but poetic lyrics. Then all of a sudden 'A rainy Lithuanian / Who's dancing as an Indian!' and the frightening image of 'The cleavage of your pillow skin / Is moving like a violin.' It all gets a bit weirder than usual, even for a very weird album - Stadium Arcadium was their most experimental album. Sadly, it was also Frusciante's last Red Hot Chili Peppers album and the band as a whole went on hiatus after finishing the supporting tour. 

RHCP came back in 2011 with a new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, and an new album, I Am With You, which they followed up with The Getaway (2016). I have to admit I haven't listened to either extensively so if I've missed some really weird ones on there I apologise!

What I Listened To This Week

George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on Monday night and that’s put me in a bit of a late 60’s/early 70’s mood for much of the week. The series is known for it’s great soundtrack (I’d kill for that job!) and I’ve had a hard time turning this off:

The biggest hit from his first solo album All Things Must Pass, often considered the solo album by a former Beatle, to me this song gets to the essence of George Harrison. A sweet melody, references to Indian mysticism, and expressive slide playing are all integral parts of the song. They come together to create swirling ‘wall of sound’ (Phil Spector produced alongside Harrison) that is more Blind Faith than The Beatles.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Need Your Love So Bad

Maintaining the theme of restrained by expressive guitar playing, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac have been getting a lot of airplay. One of the most underrated blues guitarists of all time – though everyone says that now – Peter Green’s version of Fleetwood Mac were a real blues band:

I think I first saw this track on a set list for a blues jam and it is beautiful. Green’s opening solo is graceful, heartfelt, and cries the blues. But while there is no doubting his blues pedigree his playing is unique – listen to his phrasing right at the end of the intro (0:25 onwards).

Cream - Badge 

Finally, because all things comes in threes, another great blues guitarist, though slightly better known:

I couldn’t tell you the first time I heard this, it’s been on albums my dad played my whole life. What I can tell you is that it’s an amazing song. I love the opening bass line, and Jack Bruce’s playing drives the whole song. Right up until the bridge where all of sudden Eric Clapton takes over, plays a monster of a solo and the song never quite recovers. It’s amazing.

Little Feat - Oh, Atlanta

Super Bowl Sunday is just a day away and as a Jets fan, all I’m asking for is Atlanta to humiliate Tom Brady and the Pats on their way to Super Bowl glory. To that end I thought I’d take a quick moment to highlight my favourite song of all time about Atlanta: Oh, Atlanta by Little Feat.

I’ve gone for the live version from 1978’s Waiting for Columbus, recorded during the band’s 1977 concerts in London and Washington D.C. I picked this version partly because of the arrangement – I love the guitar playing in the intro and the prominence given to Lowell George’s slide playing. Enjoy and let’s go Falcons!