This is one of my favourite LPs of all time. Free was a terrific band, and everyone who was a fan will probably agree this is their best album. Paul Kossoff was a great rock guitarist and Andy Fraser played bass like nobody else (except, perhaps, maybe John Entwistle, whose influence here seems abundantly apparent). Just listen to the bass runs in the middle of Mr. Big. Incredible stuff! These are well-crafted songs that will never get old, and I can listen to this record over and over and over without getting bored. Even the mega-hit, All Right Now, isn’t too annoying, even after decades of radio overplay.
It's a simple record, and it is extraordinary in its simplicity. Not too many bands could have pulled off this kind of sound, which I would describe as raw and honest.
Simon Kirk is a rock solid time keeper and Paul Rogers’ vocals - you can hear both Otis and Marvin in his voice - are delivered here with an urgent passion that highlights rock's bluesy roots. The original core of the band - Kossoff, Rogers and Kirke - came together during the height of the blues scene in 1968 London, but it wasn't until John Mayall introduced them to 15-year-old Andy Fraser and suggested the name Free as the band's moniker that things really started to happen. And they happened quick. Not even two years later, in August 1970, 600,000 would turn out to watch them play the Isle of Wight Festival.
The role that Fraser’s bass played in Free can not be understated. Aside from filling out the bottom end, it also served as a sort of rhythm guitar behind Kossoff's lead. It was a different sound for the time, and still stands out. When Fire and Water was released on 26th June 1970, it immediately garnered critical acclaim and scored a monster hit with All Right Now, which would go on to become one of the most radio-played songs of all time. The LP reached number two in the UK and 17 on the US Billboard 200. The pressing I own of this record sounds spectacular. Incredible. Outstanding. Warm. Real. The soundstage is exceptional.
Kossoff's guitar work, in my opinion, makes this one of the best ever rock guitar records. The man definitely had his own style and his mastery of it was undeniable. He knew how to strain a single note almost to the breaking point where others would have given in to temptation and insecurity and filled the same space with far too many notes.
But Kossoff's drug addiction - he is alleged to have been addicted to Mandrax - started to cause problems within the group. As it got worse he started to miss shows, and the internal tensions grew proportionately worse. Andy Fraser was distraught at Kossoff's slow self-destruction and his relationship with Rogers was falling apart. He eventually left the band, which in turn left a massive void that would prove to be impossible to fill. When he quit, he was just 20-tears-old.
The rest of original Free lineup split up in April, 1971, reformed in early 1972 and then broke up again - for good this time - later that same year. Not long afterward, after releasing a couple of excellent records with his solo band Back Street Crawler, Kossoff - age just 25 - was dead of a heart attack that felled him on a flight from Los Angeles to New York.
Rogers and Kirk rose out of the Free wreckage to form the supergroup Bad Company, and while I never did get to see Free in concert I did get to see Bad Company.
Andy Fraser, who suffered from various health problems over the years following the breakup of Free, including HIV, died in 2015 of atherosclerosis.
A terrific vinyl box set called Free - The Vinyl Collection has been released and it includes this LP, as well as six other equally terrific Free LPs, all of them all-analogue master reissues pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
Standout tracks here are – well, they’re all great. It’s hard to pick just one or two, but if I had to, I guess I’d pick the title track, Mr. Big and Don’t Say You Love Me. But honestly – the entire record is great!
UPDATE: I now have the box set, mentioned above. I can report that it is, indeed, a stellar sounding set, all analog from the original masters and extremely well pressed on high grade vinyl! The cover artwork is meticulously reproduced, as well. It's also well-priced, and I got my set through my local record store. Shop local!
Free belong on vinyl. They deserve an all analog reissue like this, and Fire And Water has never sounded as good as it does here. It's one of those records that I've played for more than one friend who later told me they went out and bought it the very next day. It's just that great. Years from now when this record gets rediscovered (again) people will listen to it in awe and wonder at the musicianship and songwriting.
If you're into classic rock, then this LP is …
This is one of my favourite LPs of all time. Free was a terrific band, and everyone who was a fan will probably agree this is their best album. Paul Kossoff was a great rock guitarist and Andy Fraser played bass like nobody else (except, perhaps, maybe John Entwistle, whose influence here seems abundantly apparent). Just listen to the bass runs in the middle of Mr. Big. Incredible stuff! These are well-crafted songs that will never get old, and I can listen to this record over and over and over without getting bored. Even the mega-hit, All Right Now, isn’t too annoying, even after decades of radio overplay.
It's a simple record, and it is extraordinary in its simplicity. Not too many bands could have pulled off this kind of sound, which I would describe as raw and honest.
Simon Kirk is a rock solid time keeper and Paul Rogers’ vocals - you can hear both Otis and Marvin in his voice - are delivered here with an urgent passion that highlights rock's bluesy roots. The original core of the band - Kossoff, Rogers and Kirke - came together during the height of the blues scene in 1968 London, but it wasn't until John Mayall introduced them to 15-year-old Andy Fraser and suggested the name Free as the band's moniker that things really started to happen. And they happened quick. Not even two years later, in August 1970, 600,000 would turn out to watch them play the Isle of Wight Festival.
The role that Fraser’s bass played in Free can not be understated. Aside from filling out the bottom end, it also served as a sort of rhythm guitar behind Kossoff's lead. It was a different sound for the time, and still stands out. When Fire and Water was released on 26th June 1970, it immediately garnered critical acclaim and scored a monster hit with All Right Now, which would go on to become one of the most radio-played songs of all time. The LP reached number two in the UK and 17 on the US Billboard 200. The pressing I own of this record sounds spectacular. Incredible. Outstanding. Warm. Real. The soundstage is exceptional.
Kossoff's guitar work, in my opinion, makes this one of the best ever rock guitar records. The man definitely had his own style and his mastery of it was undeniable. He knew how to strain a single note almost to the breaking point where others would have given in to temptation and insecurity and filled the same space with far too many notes.
But Kossoff's drug addiction - he is alleged to have been addicted to Mandrax - started to cause problems within the group. As it got worse he started to miss shows, and the internal tensions grew proportionately worse. Andy Fraser was distraught at Kossoff's slow self-destruction and his relationship with Rogers was falling apart. He eventually left the band, which in turn left a massive void that would prove to be impossible to fill. When he quit, he was just 20-tears-old.
The rest of original Free lineup split up in April, 1971, reformed in early 1972 and then broke up again - for good this time - later that same year. Not long afterward, after releasing a couple of excellent records with his solo band Back Street Crawler, Kossoff - age just 25 - was dead of a heart attack that felled him on a flight from Los Angeles to New York.
Rogers and Kirk rose out of the Free wreckage to form the supergroup Bad Company, and while I never did get to see Free in concert I did get to see Bad Company.
Andy Fraser, who suffered from various health problems over the years following the breakup of Free, including HIV, died in 2015 of atherosclerosis.
A terrific vinyl box set called Free - The Vinyl Collection has been released and it includes this LP, as well as six other equally terrific Free LPs, all of them all-analogue master reissues pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
Standout tracks here are – well, they’re all great. It’s hard to pick just one or two, but if I had to, I guess I’d pick the title track, Mr. Big and Don’t Say You Love Me. But honestly – the entire record is great!
UPDATE: I now have the box set, mentioned above. I can report that it is, indeed, a stellar sounding set, all analog from the original masters and extremely well pressed on high grade vinyl! The cover artwork is meticulously reproduced, as well. It's also well-priced, and I got my set through my local record store. Shop local!
Free belong on vinyl. They deserve an all analog reissue like this, and Fire And Water has never sounded as good as it does here. It's one of those records that I've played for more than one friend who later told me they went out and bought it the very next day. It's just that great. Years from now when this record gets rediscovered (again) people will listen to it in awe and wonder at the musicianship and songwriting.
If you're into classic rock, then this LP is …
BONUS TRACK
The big event of the summer of 1970 was the third Isle of Wight festival, held in August of that year and starring Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who and a shaggy group of new blues rockers called Free, whose song All Right Now was the hit of that summer.
Andy Fraser, who played bass, says they knew they were good and couldn't believe they were sharing the bill and standing on the same stage as all those other superstar acts whom they idolized.
And it was such a strange time, too. The festival was trying to live up to the previous summer's Woodstock festival, and not even a month later Hendrix would be dead. Janis would follow a couple of weeks later, and then Jim Morrison. The Beatles were breaking up and Brian Jones, who had been a major influence on Free, was already dead.
Although Fire And Water offered so much promise, Free were struggling to create a worthy followup. Maybe their youth, the temptations of their youth and their lack of experience conspired against them. Or it could be that Fire And Water was so good it was impossible to best. They had created something beyond anything they had imagined they could create and were conscious of that fact and perhaps unnerved by it.
The album, in the end, turned out to be so good it would herald the end of the band. How's that for success?
It's a record that needs to be in every collection. The box set is impeccably produced and I consider this to be the best version of Fire And Water that I have ever heard.
The big event of the summer of 1970 was the third Isle of Wight festival, held in August of that year and starring Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who and a shaggy group of new blues rockers called Free, whose song All Right Now was the hit of that summer.
Andy Fraser, who played bass, says they knew they were good and couldn't believe they were sharing the bill and standing on the same stage as all those other superstar acts whom they idolized.
And it was such a strange time, too. The festival was trying to live up to the previous summer's Woodstock festival, and not even a month later Hendrix would be dead. Janis would follow a couple of weeks later, and then Jim Morrison. The Beatles were breaking up and Brian Jones, who had been a major influence on Free, was already dead.
Although Fire And Water offered so much promise, Free were struggling to create a worthy followup. Maybe their youth, the temptations of their youth and their lack of experience conspired against them. Or it could be that Fire And Water was so good it was impossible to best. They had created something beyond anything they had imagined they could create and were conscious of that fact and perhaps unnerved by it.
The album, in the end, turned out to be so good it would herald the end of the band. How's that for success?
It's a record that needs to be in every collection. The box set is impeccably produced and I consider this to be the best version of Fire And Water that I have ever heard.
