Fire And Water - Album
Fire And Water (Album) by Free
Free>
Artist Biography For Free
1 Free Were An English Rock Band Formed In London In 1968 Best Known For Their 1970 Signature Song "All Right Now". The Band Was Famed For Its Sensational Live Shows And Nonstop Touring. However Early Studio Albums Did Not Sell Very Well – Until The Release Of Fire And Water Which Featured "All Right Now". The Song Helped Secure Them A Place At The Huge Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 Where They Played To 600 000 People. By The Early 1970s Free Was One Of The Biggest-Selling British Blues Rock Groups By The Time The Band Dissolved In 1973 They Had Sold More Than 20 Million Albums Around The World And Had Played More Than 700 Arena And Festival Concerts. "All Right Now " Remains A Rock Staple And Had Been Entered Into ASCAP's "One Million" Airplay Singles Club. Rolling Stone Has Referred To The Band As "British Hard Rock Pioneers". The Magazine Ranked Rodgers No. 55 In Its List Of The "100 Greatest Singers Of All Time" While Kossoff Was Ranked No. 51 In Its List Of The "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time". Free Were Signed To Island Records In The UK And A&M Records In North America. Both Labels Became Part Of The PolyGram Group In 1989 Then Universal Music Group In 1998 UMG Now Controls The Band's Catalogue Worldwide. Most Remarkable About The Birth Of Free Was The Young Age Of The Band Members Who Came Together To Rehearse And Play Their First Gig On The Evening Of 19 April 1968 At The Nag's Head Pub Which Was At The Junction Of York Road And Lavender Road In Battersea London. Bass Player Andy Fraser Was 15 Years Old Lead Guitarist Paul Kossoff Was 17 And Both Lead Singer Paul Rodgers And Drummer Simon Kirke Were 18. By November Of That Year Having Been Given The Name Free By Alexis Korner They Had Recorded Their First Album Tons Of Sobs For Island Records And Although It Was Not Released Until The Following Year The Album Documents Their First Six Months Together And Contains Studio Renditions Of Much Of Their Early Live Set. Paul Kossoff And Simon Kirke First Became Friends In The R&B Band Black Cat Bones But They Wanted To Move On. Paul Kossoff Saw Vocalist Paul Rodgers Singing With Brown Sugar While Visiting The Fickle Pickle An R&B Club In London's Finsbury Park. He Was Immediately Impressed And Asked If He Could Jam With Rodgers Onstage. Along With Kirke They Began The Search For A Fourth Member. Alexis Korner Recommended Andy Fraser To The Band Who At The Age Of 15 Had Already Been Playing With John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Korner Also Provided The Name "Free" The Newly Formed Band Unlike Their Previous Albums Tons Of Sobs And Free Fire And Water Released In 1970 Was A Huge Success Largely Due To The Album Containing The Hit Single "All Right Now" Which Reached No. 1 On The UK Rock Music Charts No. 2 On The UK Singles Chart And No. 4 On The US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The Album Reached No. 2 In The UK Charts And No. 17 On The U.S Charts Making It The Most Successful Free Album. "All Right Now" Became A No. 1 Hit In Over 20 Territories And Recognized By ASCAP American Society Of Composers Authors And Publishers In 1990 For Garnering 1 000 000 Plus Radio Plays In The US By Late 1989 And In 2000 An Award Was Given To Paul Rodgers By The British Music Industry When "All Right Now" Passed 2 000 000 Radio Plays In The UK. Highway Was Their Fourth Studio Album Recorded Extremely Quickly In September 1970. Highway Performed Poorly In The Charts Reaching No. 41 In The UK And No. 190 In The US. In 1971 Due To Differences Between Singer Paul Rodgers And Bassist Andy Fraser The Drug Problems Of Guitarist Paul Kossoff And Inconsistent Record Sales The Band Broke Up. This Led To The Release Of The Live Album Called Free Live!. Early In 1972 The Band Set Aside Their Differences And Reformed In An Effort To Save Kossoff From His Growing Drug Addiction And In June Of The Same Year Released Free At Last. But All Was Not Well With The Band. Bassist Andy Fraser Left The Band In Mid-1972 Due To Paul Kossoff's Unreliability In Being Able To Perform At Shows Or Even Showing Up. The Remaining Members Recruited Japanese Bass Player Tetsu Yamauchi And Keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick Who Had Worked With Kossoff And Kirke During Free's Initial Split Recording Kossoff Kirke Tetsu And Rabbit And What Would Be Free's Final Album Heartbreaker. Kossoff Was Replaced By Wendell Richardson In 1973 But Shortly Thereafter Free Disbanded With Rodgers And Kirke Going On To Form Bad Company That Same Year. Fraser Went On To Form The Band Sharks And Later The Andy Fraser Band And Kossoff Formed The Band Back Street Crawler. With Kossoff In Better Health Again In Late 1975 He Was Delighted That Ex-Colleagues Rodgers And Kirke Asked Him To Join Them On Stage For Two Nights. A British Tour Was Set To Begin On 25 April 1976 With Back Street Crawler Headlining With Bad Company In Support Of Back Street Crawler's Second Album But Again Kossoff's Drug Addictions Contributed To A Drastic Decline In The Guitarist's Health. On A Flight From Los Angeles To New York City On 19 March 1976 Paul Kossoff Died From Drug-Related Heart Problems At The Age Of 25. After Parting With Bad Company In 1982 Rodgers Went On To Explore The Heavy Blues Stylings Of Free Again In His Solo Career During The 1980s And 1990s And In The Bands The Firm And The Law. More Recently Rodgers Has Joined The Remaining Members Of Queen Brian May And Roger Taylor As Vocalist. In September 2008 Queen Paul Rodgers Released Their First Studio Album The Cosmos Rocks. Rodgers Also Performs Free And Bad Company Songs Whilst On Tour With Queen In Addition To The Traditional Queen Songs And New Cuts From Their Most Recently Released Album. Currently Rodgers And Kirke Are Once Again On Tour With Bad Company. Andy Fraser Died On 16 March 2015. Personnel Members Classic Lineup Andy Fraser - Bass Piano 1968–1971 1972 Died 2015 Simon Kirke - Drums 1968–1971 1972–1973 Paul Kossoff - Guitar 1968–1971 1972–1973 Died 1976 Paul Rodgers - Lead Vocals Piano 1968–1971 1972–1973 Later Members John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Keyboards 1972–1973 Tetsu Yamauchi - Bass 1972–1973 Wendell Richardson - Guitar 1973 Discography 1969 Tons Of Sobs 1969 Free 1970 Fire And Water 1970 Highway 1972 Free At Last 1973 Heartbreaker 2 Free Is A Hardcore Band 3 Free Consists Of Four Of The Final Five Have Heart Members - Patrick Flynn Kei Yasui Shawn Costa And Ryan Hudon - In Addition To The Band's 2009 Bassist Austin Stemper. On November 29 2015 The Group Released A Four-Track Self-Titled Demo Recorded By Trevor Vaughan Sex Positions Soul Control In Their Home Of New Bedford MA.
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Biography - Free
1 Free Were An English Rock Band Formed In London In 1968 Best Known For Their 1970 Signature Song "All Right Now". The Band Was Famed For Its Sensational Live Shows And Nonstop Touring. However Early Studio Albums Did Not Sell Very Well – Until The Release Of Fire And Water Which Featured "All Right Now". The Song Helped Secure Them A Place At The Huge Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 Where They Played To 600 000 People. By The Early 1970s Free Was One Of The Biggest-Selling British Blues Rock Groups By The Time The Band Dissolved In 1973 They Had Sold More Than 20 Million Albums Around The World And Had Played More Than 700 Arena And Festival Concerts. "All Right Now " Remains A Rock Staple And Had Been Entered Into ASCAP's "One Million" Airplay Singles Club. Rolling Stone Has Referred To The Band As "British Hard Rock Pioneers". The Magazine Ranked Rodgers No. 55 In Its List Of The "100 Greatest Singers Of All Time" While Kossoff Was Ranked No. 51 In Its List Of The "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time". Free Were Signed To Island Records In The UK And A&M Records In North America. Both Labels Became Part Of The PolyGram Group In 1989 Then Universal Music Group In 1998 UMG Now Controls The Band's Catalogue Worldwide. Most Remarkable About The Birth Of Free Was The Young Age Of The Band Members Who Came Together To Rehearse And Play Their First Gig On The Evening Of 19 April 1968 At The Nag's Head Pub Which Was At The Junction Of York Road And Lavender Road In Battersea London. Bass Player Andy Fraser Was 15 Years Old Lead Guitarist Paul Kossoff Was 17 And Both Lead Singer Paul Rodgers And Drummer Simon Kirke Were 18. By November Of That Year Having Been Given The Name Free By Alexis Korner They Had Recorded Their First Album Tons Of Sobs For Island Records And Although It Was Not Released Until The Following Year The Album Documents Their First Six Months Together And Contains Studio Renditions Of Much Of Their Early Live Set. Paul Kossoff And Simon Kirke First Became Friends In The R&B Band Black Cat Bones But They Wanted To Move On. Paul Kossoff Saw Vocalist Paul Rodgers Singing With Brown Sugar While Visiting The Fickle Pickle An R&B Club In London's Finsbury Park. He Was Immediately Impressed And Asked If He Could Jam With Rodgers Onstage. Along With Kirke They Began The Search For A Fourth Member. Alexis Korner Recommended Andy Fraser To The Band Who At The Age Of 15 Had Already Been Playing With John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Korner Also Provided The Name "Free" The Newly Formed Band Unlike Their Previous Albums Tons Of Sobs And Free Fire And Water Released In 1970 Was A Huge Success Largely Due To The Album Containing The Hit Single "All Right Now" Which Reached No. 1 On The UK Rock Music Charts No. 2 On The UK Singles Chart And No. 4 On The US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The Album Reached No. 2 In The UK Charts And No. 17 On The U.S Charts Making It The Most Successful Free Album. "All Right Now" Became A No. 1 Hit In Over 20 Territories And Recognized By ASCAP American Society Of Composers Authors And Publishers In 1990 For Garnering 1 000 000 Plus Radio Plays In The US By Late 1989 And In 2000 An Award Was Given To Paul Rodgers By The British Music Industry When "All Right Now" Passed 2 000 000 Radio Plays In The UK. Highway Was Their Fourth Studio Album Recorded Extremely Quickly In September 1970. Highway Performed Poorly In The Charts Reaching No. 41 In The UK And No. 190 In The US. In 1971 Due To Differences Between Singer Paul Rodgers And Bassist Andy Fraser The Drug Problems Of Guitarist Paul Kossoff And Inconsistent Record Sales The Band Broke Up. This Led To The Release Of The Live Album Called Free Live!. Early In 1972 The Band Set Aside Their Differences And Reformed In An Effort To Save Kossoff From His Growing Drug Addiction And In June Of The Same Year Released Free At Last. But All Was Not Well With The Band. Bassist Andy Fraser Left The Band In Mid-1972 Due To Paul Kossoff's Unreliability In Being Able To Perform At Shows Or Even Showing Up. The Remaining Members Recruited Japanese Bass Player Tetsu Yamauchi And Keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick Who Had Worked With Kossoff And Kirke During Free's Initial Split Recording Kossoff Kirke Tetsu And Rabbit And What Would Be Free's Final Album Heartbreaker. Kossoff Was Replaced By Wendell Richardson In 1973 But Shortly Thereafter Free Disbanded With Rodgers And Kirke Going On To Form Bad Company That Same Year. Fraser Went On To Form The Band Sharks And Later The Andy Fraser Band And Kossoff Formed The Band Back Street Crawler. With Kossoff In Better Health Again In Late 1975 He Was Delighted That Ex-Colleagues Rodgers And Kirke Asked Him To Join Them On Stage For Two Nights. A British Tour Was Set To Begin On 25 April 1976 With Back Street Crawler Headlining With Bad Company In Support Of Back Street Crawler's Second Album But Again Kossoff's Drug Addictions Contributed To A Drastic Decline In The Guitarist's Health. On A Flight From Los Angeles To New York City On 19 March 1976 Paul Kossoff Died From Drug-Related Heart Problems At The Age Of 25. After Parting With Bad Company In 1982 Rodgers Went On To Explore The Heavy Blues Stylings Of Free Again In His Solo Career During The 1980s And 1990s And In The Bands The Firm And The Law. More Recently Rodgers Has Joined The Remaining Members Of Queen Brian May And Roger Taylor As Vocalist. In September 2008 Queen Paul Rodgers Released Their First Studio Album The Cosmos Rocks. Rodgers Also Performs Free And Bad Company Songs Whilst On Tour With Queen In Addition To The Traditional Queen Songs And New Cuts From Their Most Recently Released Album. Currently Rodgers And Kirke Are Once Again On Tour With Bad Company. Andy Fraser Died On 16 March 2015. Personnel Members Classic Lineup Andy Fraser - Bass Piano 1968–1971 1972 Died 2015 Simon Kirke - Drums 1968–1971 1972–1973 Paul Kossoff - Guitar 1968–1971 1972–1973 Died 1976 Paul Rodgers - Lead Vocals Piano 1968–1971 1972–1973 Later Members John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Keyboards 1972–1973 Tetsu Yamauchi - Bass 1972–1973 Wendell Richardson - Guitar 1973 Discography 1969 Tons Of Sobs 1969 Free 1970 Fire And Water 1970 Highway 1972 Free At Last 1973 Heartbreaker 2 Free Is A Hardcore Band 3 Free Consists Of Four Of The Final Five Have Heart Members - Patrick Flynn Kei Yasui Shawn Costa And Ryan Hudon - In Addition To The Band's 2009 Bassist Austin Stemper. On November 29 2015 The Group Released A Four-Track Self-Titled Demo Recorded By Trevor Vaughan Sex Positions Soul Control In Their Home Of New Bedford MA.
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Published: 04 Apr 2009, 00:35
Fire And Water Is The Third Studio Album By English Rock Group Free. Unlike Their Previous Albums Tons Of Sobs And Free It Was A Huge Success Reaching #2 In The UK Charts And #17 In The American Making It The Most Successful Free Album. This Is Largely Due To The Album Containing The Hit Single "All Right Now" Which They Later Played To A Crowd Of Over 600 000 People At The 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival Which Generated Them Huge Publicity. To This Date It Is The Only Free Album To Have Seen A CD Reissue In America. Recording The Album Carried On The Fraser/Rodgers Writing Partnership That Characterized The Bulk Of The Free Canon With Five Of The Seven Tracks Being Credited To Them. The Album Was Made Very Much With The Intention Of Gaining The Band A Hit Single The Band Only Had One Song "The Hunter" From Tons Of Sobs That Would Generate The Ecstatic Reaction They Desired From An Audience And They Badly Needed Another. This Commercialized Ethos Is Immediately Obvious Many Of The Tracks Seem To Be Intended To Be Listened To Individually Rather Than As A Coherent Whole And As Such The Relationship Between The Songs Is Less Distinct Than On The Band's Previous Albums. The Tracks Are Arranged In A Fairly Basic Form Of Alternating Fast Songs With Slow Ones. Like Their Previous Album There Is Little That Could Be Called Hard Rock Such As Their Debut Album Had Contained With The Album Continuing The Fairly Lightweight Soulful Sound Of Their Previous Album. There Are Also No Blues Songs That Being A Genre Where The Band Had Their Roots. The Production Is Considerably Less Polished Than Their Previous Album As Fire And Water Had Been Produced By The Band Themselves A Fact That Island Records Boss And The Producer Of The Last Album Chris Blackwell Later Regretted. Reception The Album And Single Were Both Massive Successes Catapulting The Band To Near-Iconic Status. Fees For Live Shows Rose To £1000 A Considerable Amount In 1970 And They Began To Be Featured In Mainstream Music Magazines. Commercial Success Brought With It Accusations Of "selling-Out" Which The Purist Kossoff Took Badly He Took A Defensive Stance In One Interview Stating "Obviously 'All Right Now' Is Part Of Us But It's A Frivolous Part It Isn't What We Want To Be Remembered By. We're Generally More Serious" Quoted In Phil Sutcliffe's Album Liner Notes . Nevertheless "All Right Now" Is Indeed What The Band Is Remembered By Especially Since It Was Remixed By Bob Clearmountain And Re-Released In February 1991 Being Discovered By A New Generation Of Fans. Since Then It Has Frequently Appeared On Generic Budget Rock Compilation Albums. Free Are Somewhat Regarded As A One-Hit Wonder In The USA And If It Were Not For This Song It Is Doubtful How Well Any More Of Their Catalog Would Be Known.