Song Lyric Sunday: Free

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This week Jim has invited us, in his post Sadly Missed, to play a song by a band we wish were still together. Given that I have been a music fan for more than sixty years the field for this is pretty wide open for me. Many of the bands I grew up enjoying have long since called it a day, and in some cases their members are no longer with us. I’ve decided to go with a band who rose to fame at the end of the Sixties and had their heyday in the early Seventies. They broke up in 1973 (for the second time, having had an earlier break in 1971) and I always wished we could have heard more from them. I’m playing you two of their songs, a main one and a bonus. This is the main one, their breakthrough hit:

And as if you needed them, here are its lyrics:

There she stood in the street
Smiling from her head to her feet
I said hey, what is this
Now baby, maybe she’s in need of a kiss
I said hey, what’s your name baby
Maybe we can see things the same
Now don’t you wait or hesitate
Let’s move before they raise the parking rate

All right now baby, it’s all right now
All right now baby, it’s all right now

I took her home to my place
Watching every move on her face
She said look, what’s your game baby
Are you tryin’ to put me in shame
I said slow don’t go so fast
Don’t you think that love can last
She said love, Lord above
Now you’re tryin’ to trick me in love

All right now baby, it’s all right now
All right now baby, it’s all right now….

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Andy Fraser / Paul Bernard Rodgers

All Right Now lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

All Right Now was released as a single in May 1970, and was also the closing track on the Fire And Water album which came out the following month. This was the band’s third album, and although they had enjoyed some chart success with the previous two this is the one which really made them big stars, getting to #2 in the UK and #17 in the US. It is a superb album and one which I still play a lot today: if blues rock is your thing I can’t recommend it highly enough. All Right Now was their first hit single: it got to #4 in the US and #2 in the UK, spending six weeks in that position stuck behind Mungo Bloody Jerry and In The Summertime. Guess which I preferred? This was the soundtrack to that summer for me: I had my motor scooter which gave me all sorts of freedom, and I spent most evenings at the local youth centre, having loads of fun. One of my best summers ever! It was a pretty good time for Free too: they got this Isle of Wight gig on the strength of their hit single, and it turned them into superstars.

Free comprised Paul Rodgers on vocals (still the best rock vocalist ever, in my view), Paul Kossoff on guitar, Andy Fraser on bass and Simon Kirk on drums. At the time of this video they were aged between 17 and 20, which I think makes their achievements even more remarkable. They were incredibly tight as a unit, rather belying the turmoil that was going on behind the scenes. They disbanded in 1971, due to differences between Paul R and Andy, but got back together in early 1972, partly in an attempt to save Paul K from his ever worsening drug addiction. Andy left again in mid-1972, and passed away in 2015, at just 62. Paul K never got to grips with his addiction, and died of a pulmonary embolism on an internal US flight in March 1976, at the age of just 25. After the band’s final break up in 1973 Paul R and Simon went on to form Bad Company, who were hugely successful and also made some great albums.

In the midst of those break ups and reformings they completed three more albums with a revised line up. Their final album, Heartbreaker, was released in January 1973, reaching #7 in the UK and #47 in the US. It gave us another UK top ten single, which I’m playing as a bonus for you, as I think it is great:

The lyrics? OK, here’s an extract:

Take off your hat; kick off your shoes
I know you ain’t goin’ anywhere.
Run ’round the town, singin’ your blues.
I know you ain’t goin’ anywhere.
You’ve always been a good friend of mine,
But you’re always sayin’ farewell.
And the only time that you’re satisfied
Is with your feet in the wishing well.
Oh, yeah!
Throw down your gun or you might shoot yourself
Or is that what you’re tryin’ to do?
Put up a fight you believe to be right
And someday the sun will shine through.
You’ve always got something to hide;
Something you just can’t tell.
And the only time that you’re satisfied
Is with your feet in the wishin’ well.

But I know what you’re wishin’ for:
Love in a peaceful world. Yeah!…

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Bundrick John Douglas / Kirke Simon Frederick St George / Rodgers Paul Bernard / Kossoff Paul Francis / Yamauchi Tetsu

Wishing Well lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Island Music Ltd., Keepers Cottage Music Ltd., Esskay Music Publishing, Cayman Music, Inc.

That was their final big UK hit, making #7 here, but only #112 in the US. Do I wish the band was still together? Maybe, but it would be impossible now, for obvious reasons. They were one of those many bands who broke up under the pressure of becoming successful at a young age, and they couldn’t really have continued. But I still have their albums to play, and giving us Bad Company as a follow up wasn’t a bad move!

See you again soon 🎶🤘

36 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Free”

  1. Pingback: October | Take It Easy

  2. I know this song well, but I did think it was bad Company song and so I enjoyed learning about the band Free. Ad it sounds like they had the ups and downs that many bands have – differences and addictions to deal with.

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    • I bought the album when it first came out and have played it countless times over the years. Paul Rodgers’ voice was ideally suited to their bluesy style, and it ran through everything they did. I’m not really surprised you didn’t know Wishing Well as it was only a minor hit there, but I’m glad you liked it.

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    • Seems like you prefer the livelier one! All Right Now is a rock classic, much better known than Wishing Well.

      Bad Company were a good follow on from Free, and also made some great records.

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  5. Great band and as you say we got Bad Company, as well whom I also love… as a few, have said addiction is a terrible thing and costs lives and rips families apart the cost of fame…or not just fame addiction is a terrible thing x

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  6. I remember both of these excellent songs well. So much goes into the group dynamics of staying together, including jealousies. It’s interesting to think that the group got back together, in part, to support one of the other band members with his drug addiction.

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    • Thanks, Christine. I saw Free in their early days, when I was way too young to get into the club they were playing (long story, don’t ask!). Good that you saw Bad Company, something I’ve never managed. Both great bands.

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    • You have good taste if you were listening to them without my prompt! They did have a few lower chart entries there but were much more successful elsewhere – such as here.

      Happy to join in, I’m enjoying it 😊

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  13. Nice post Clive, and Paul Rodgers is definitely in my top 5 male vocalists – at least. He has the kind if voice that can make an ordinary song sound better, as happened several times with Bad Company.

    Funnily enough I was listening to a BC track called Honey Child yesterday, border line misogynist lyrics possibly, but blimey, what a voice.

    And yes, Free, brilliant band.

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