Free - Fire And Water

No 17

Free - Fire And Water
A seven track timeless British blues rock album, and one that I discovered only in the last couple of years after much resistance. I had always loved Paul Rodgers' (Free Vocalist in Free) work with a band called Bad Company, but had always been a little reluctant to listen to Free for some reason. Even though it had a taken me a while to listen to this album I was delighted to find that it contains so many strong songs and a bone-fide classic.
'Fire And Water' opens the album with the sort of riff that Pete Townsend would have killed for! Paul Kossoff (Guitar) had a wonderful belief and swagger about his playing, and
it shows on this song - IMMENSE!
Another rocker on this album is 'Mr. Big', an awesome stuttering riff by Kossoff with some great bass lines that almost seem like the Bassist was actually playing lead. The disc does have a number of slower and medium paced tracks the best of which is 'Remember'. Paul Rodgers' voice is drenched in the blues whilst the guitar solo is just sublime.
As for the rest of the songs 'Heavy Load' is a well crafted guitar and piano workout wrapped with a wonderful story led vocal. On 'Oh I Wept' Paul Rodgers certainly proves, without a doubt, he was one of the best vocalist of his generation.
The one song that most people will be familar with closes the album, 'All Right Now'. A song that I never really tire of hearing (despite it's over use for a gum commercial back in the late 1980s). I defy anyone not to play air guitar along with the huge riff to this track. This song did catapult Free to success, but also contributed to the beginning of their downfall.
Free On Top Of The Pops Performing All Right Now
It was during the tour for the follow up record 'Highway', that differences were beginning to show between the main songwriters (Rodgers and Bassist Andy Fraser),coupled with Kossoff's growing heroin dependency.
The band disbanded in 1973. If you do buy one Free album in your life, ensure it's this one!

Why I ♥ This Album

Early 1990s before the internet, if you wanted to know the lyrics to a song you had four options to find them;
1)have the sheet music
2)some lyrics were printed on the inner sleeve of a record cover
3)buy 'Smash Hits' magazine which listed lyrics to the Hit Parade
4)listen to the song over and over again to decipher the lyrics 



Me & Mike From The Bane

 It was whilst, in my brief tenure, as lead vocalist with Durin's Bane that Graham Lenton (Guitar Hero) asked me, one late Friday evening, to learn Free's classic 'All Right Now' in time for the next rehearsal on the Sunday.
No problem, I said. The following day it dawned on me that I didn't know the words and didn't actually own a Free record. As it had no long been re-released it was on the jukebox at my local watering hole 'The Lardicake'. However I was sure that the locals would have grown sick of me pumping the machine full of 50 pence pieces and playing the song over and over and over again. So I had to come up with Plan B.
I suddenly remembered that I had not long gone to London and bought a mystery pack of 7 inch records from Berwick Street. The pack came in a sealed carrier bag and only cost a couple of quid, what would be inside was fairly hit and miss but I recall that there was a version of 'All Right Now' in there.
So off home I went to dig the single out. It is lucky that I do like the song as this version was awful!! I must have listened to it at least 20-25 times, stopping and starting it to write down the lyrics. It seemed to take forever. The second verse was a little hard to follow - "Are you tryin' to put me in shame?, I said, slow, don't go so fast" are the actual words, I found out later.
I don't remember what I wrote down but it certainly wasn't that!
Sunday rolled around and I was all ready to rehearse. After a couple of run throughs, and me just simply destroying the song and ruining it for everyone (I am no Paul Rodgers)
it was decided that Graham would sing the song in the live set. I don't blame my own vocals I blame the version that I had learned it from.
So I blame Pepsi & Shirlie!!!

Pepsi & Shirlie - All Right Now

Cream - Disraeli Gears

No.9 takes us back to 1967

 

Cream - Disraeli Gears
This is the ultimate 1960's psychedelic album for the ultimate 60's power trio. 'Disraeli Gears' was the second release from the supergroup, Cream.
The spine of the group was ex-Yardbird guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker, the trio is completed
by Jack Bruce on Bass. Cream's first album was very blues based but with this disc they experimented with a more psychedelic sound due to the invention of the wah wah pedal as well as other forward moves in music technology.
The album opens with the 2 most famous tracks, 'Strange Brew' (was this about strange hallucegenics being placed in a teapot??) and the classic 'Sunshine of your love'.
'Sunshine Of Your Love' riff is so well known it came as a surprise to me that the song was wriiten by bassist Jack Bruce. However the lyrics were a collabaration between Bruce, Clapton & poet Pete Brown.
Pete was, I believe to be the unsung hero of Cream, and he wrote many of their lyrics on their albums but
remained under the radar when the accolades came around.
Track 3 is 'World Of Pain. I particularly like the interplay of the twin vocals of Clapton and Bruce, a great light and shade that gave Cream a uniqueness and diversity. A trick later used to good affect by Alice In Chains.
'Dance The Night Away' floats along nicely.
Cream like the Beatles gave each member of the band,a singing chance, hence the Ringo-like track 'Blue Condition' sung by drummer Ginger Baker. No one can doubt what a legend Ginger Baker is as a drummer, Singing however was not his strong point.
'Tales Of Brave Ulysses' is my favourite track on the album, lyrically, obviouslly about Homer's Odyssey. As a fan of myths and legends I connected so much to this track.
Clapton went bluesy on the following song 'SWLABR' which also in my opinion was Jack Bruce's best vocal on the album.
On Disraeli Gears as with many 60's albums, the band covered other artist's songs. The first being a solid Clapton arrangement of Blind Jo Reynolds blues standard 'Outside Woman Blues' and also the closing track 'Mothers Lament' a sort of drunken piano sing-along. Very Derek & Clive.
A great album that really has stood the test of time and one that Clapton has never matched in his illustrious recording career.
1968 version of Sunshine Of Your Love

Why ♥ Love This Album
In 1990 music was a big part of my life. My friend Des had told me about a local band in Andover (where I lived at the time) called 'The Sleeping Policemen'. He even gave me a tape of a live recording of them. I remember playing the tape and hearing a rough and raw version of the Judas Priest classic 'Living After Midnight'.I was quite impressed.
Well a little while after this I was asked to audition to sing for Durins Bane (basically the new version of the policemen). I felt a sense of pride at this, people knew how much I loved music and was very passionate about it and I felt this was a great reward for all my knowledge. I had one big hurdle though I had never sang before. Grasping for advice, Chris Holt stated that leading up to the audition I should hum all the time to warm and strengthen my vocal cords. People must have thought I was mad as all I did was hum at them.
For the audition I had to learn a couple of rock standards, one of which was 'Sunshine Of Your Love', and vocally not a great stretch to sing.
 I met the band in the Lardicake pub the night before. Stuart on drums, Mike on bass and Graham on guitar - great guys and as I found out far superior musicians compared to my singing than I expected. The audition was at the Church on Smannell Road in Andover. Well to cut a long story short I was in!!!! yay!!!. Later I found out, that I was the only person they asked to audition and I got the gig due to owning a car. Graham needed transport for his Marshall stack to rehearsals and gigs as he didn't drive at the time.
No matter I was on a high, I am now a rock n roll singer in a real band. Bring on the sex, drugs and rock n roll (well 3 out of 3 was a good score)! We would rehearse every sunday and then retire to the pub to discuss world domination.

My first gig with the band was at the Coronation Arms in St Mary Bourne to a converted crowd of drinking buddies and friends. I sang only a few songs, mainly the originals that the band had written. However I felt we had gone down a storm.
I do have to say the adulation didn't last long. A couple more gigs and I was asked to leave, I had been found out! As many of the people that know me also know I cannot sing for toffee.
My wife is always surprised that I sang in a band... "really?" she asks.
I couldn't believe they decided to get a proper singer in, it was like sacking David Lee Roth and bring in Ronnie James Dio.
As it turned out my replacement Dave became one of my best buds and was a sound bloke.
The band recorded a great demo called 'Mr Good Friday'and they should have powered on to greater things, but alas they will also be known as the biggest cult band in Andover
Cheers to the man in the corner.
Check them out http://www.reverbnation.com/durinsbane#!