Free (Free album)


Free is the second album by English rock group Free, recorded and released in 1969. The band had spent time touring after their debut album Tons of Sobs the previous year, and there is a marked difference in the musicianship of the band as well as Paul Rodgers's voice. Whereas Tons of Sobs had been produced by Guy Stevens, Free was produced by the head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell.

Recording

This album saw the burgeoning of the songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, which had been glimpsed on Tons of Sobs with songs such as "I'm a Mover"; here, eight out of the nine tracks bear a Fraser/Rodgers credit. Possibly as a result of the sixteen-year-old Fraser's influence as a songwriter the bass guitar is far more prominent here than on the previous album. The instrument is used as a rhythm guitar, driving the songs, while Kossoff's lead guitar develops from it.
While Fraser and Rodgers made a strong writing partnership, tensions in the band increased. Kossoff, whose natural spontaneity had been given free rein up to then, particularly resented being taught very specific rhythm guitar parts by Fraser. However, Blackwell managed to keep the band in line to record the album.
The album performed poorly on release, reaching only No.22 in the UK charts, and failing completely in the US. The single releases, "Broad Daylight" and "I'll be Creepin'", also failed. Two songs from the album, "I'll be Creepin'" and "Woman", were later covered by the American rock band Three Dog Night.

Cover

The album is notable for having innovative artwork from Ron Raffaelli of The Visual Thing Inc. It is featured in the book 100 Best Album Covers alongside better-known examples such as Peter Blake's cover for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Robert Crumb's artwork for Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills. The book was part compiled by Storm Thorgerson who had designed many famous album covers such as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.
Raffaelli made the cover by photographing his model with strobe lights to make a silhouette of her against a background, on which he could then overlay the design. Hence, the album has a design of a woman made of stars leaping across the sky. The band's name is printed in extremely small letters at the top of the cover; with CDs being much smaller than LPs, this is almost unreadable.

Track listing

All tracks written by Andy Fraser & Paul Rodgers unless otherwise noted.
;Side one
  1. "I'll Be Creepin'" – 3:27
  2. "Songs of Yesterday" – 3:33
  3. "Lying in the Sunshine" – 3:51
  4. "Trouble on Double Time" – 3:23
  5. "Mouthful of Grass" – 3:36
;Side two
  1. "Woman" – 3:50
  2. "Free Me" – 5:24
  3. "Broad Daylight" – 3:15
  4. "Mourning Sad Morning" – 5:04

    Extra tracks

  5. "Broad Daylight" – 3.09
  6. *The version of the song that was released as a single, this is a slightly different edit and features prominent backing singers.
  7. "The Worm" – 3.03
  8. *This was the B-side to "Broad Daylight".
  9. "I'll Be Creepin'" – 2.47
  10. *This is the single version of the album track, with one verse edited out.
  11. "Sugar for Mr. Morrison" – 3.01
  12. *The band's second instrumental track, this is a slow, bass-driven number that gradually builds into a crashing guitar jam. It was released as the B-side to "I'll Be Creepin'".
  13. "Broad Daylight" – 3.21
  14. *A BBC Session of the album track recorded on 17 March 1969.
  15. "Songs of Yesterday" – 3.11
  16. *A BBC Session of the album track recorded on 17 March 1969.
  17. "Mouthful of Grass" – 3.33
  18. *This early version of the song contains only the rhythm guitar which formed the backbone of the finished song.
  19. "Woman" – 4.00
  20. *This is an alternate version of the album track, with less prominent guitar.
  21. "Trouble on Double Time" – 2.37
  22. *An early version of the album track
  23. "Mourning Sad Morning" – 5.10
  24. *This is an alternate version of the album track that does not contain Wood's flute solo.

    Personnel