Free were the perfect band by the time they released Fire And Water in June 1970, their third LP in 15 months*. That is basically as objective as this review is going to get, just wait until I get really partisan about them.
Weighing in at 7 tracks in 35 minutes, with an all-time classic radio staple as a closer and a pretty damned iconic LP sleeve**, Fire And Water isn’t far off being a perfect LP. True story.
Like most folks my introduction to Free was via ‘All Right Now’ being played on the radio when I was a young teen. It just sounded so clear, so tight and right, that riff, that voice, those dynamics – everything so uncluttered, so potent. Sign me up, I thought; eventually finding a way to buy an old 7″ copy of it via mail order.
My single was in fact ‘All Right Now (Long Version)’ the full 5:31 genius that closes Fire And Water. At a conservative estimate I must have played it 37 giga-hyperzillion times and it still moves me every bit as much today.
Not bad for 10 minutes work after a bad show one night in Durham.
In true rock fashion Fire And Water opens with ‘Fire And Water’ and everything I truly love about Free is right there in the first 4 bars. There is Paul Kossoff’s astonishing guitar tone, the best, manliest voice in the whole history of XY chromosomes courtesy of Paul Rodgers and the insistent, yet sparse rhythm section of Simon Kirke and Andy Fraser.
There is something so wonderfully measured and casual about Free, no histrionics ever needed, they knew how great they were. Kossoff in particular played so sparingly, so guardedly, like each note cost him a piece of his soul, every single note was placed just so in the manner reminiscent of a man floating petals in a pool of water.
Judging by Fire And Water, women were doers of dark deeds, wrongs and generally a bit uncooperative; I’ll charitably just chalk it all up to immaturity, they really were kids when they cut this. After the opener’s moodiness, ‘Oh I Wept’ is a sparse lament, heartfelt and meaningful, with a beautifully judged guitar solo.
Third track ‘Remember’ is a bit of a weak link, in this exalted company at least, for me. It takes the tempo up a notch and Andy Fraser really gets to drive this track with his bass, okay so maybe it isn’t quite so bad after all …
Free really step up to the mark with ‘Heavy Load’ though, which has as much a jazz as a blues feel, courtesy of some great background piano courtesy of Andy Fraser. Paul Rodgers makes you feel the exact weight of that load over the top of some really minimally grooving music. As is the case with everything here it is just perfectly judged.
Side 2 kicks off with ‘Mr Big’^ which has a certain chugging menace to it that I really like, with Andy Fraser going utterly bananas (by Free standards) all through the middle of it. I love the way this track just builds and builds to a resolution, before the band lower it gently to the ground again.
Paul Rodgers gives us his full soulful chops on ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’, where you can almost hear his big manly tears hitting the carpet. The music is again so minimal, subtle; it is a neat trick the band had, or a testament to just how powerful and precise they were, that they made conveying so much emotion look so effortless.
Surely you don’t need me to tell you about ‘All Right Now (Long Version)’ again? It closes Fire And Water; it had to.
I have said it before but it continues to astonish me that Free don’t really get the love and adulation they deserve. It may well be because alone out of their British blues rock contenders and contemporaries they didn’t break the US to any real extent and then overstay their welcome peddling inferior versions of themselves, instead splitting up when they felt they had no more to give.
By whatever metric you care to measure greatness by Fire And Water is there. I mean, come on, just look at that cover! Free stare right out at you unadorned, hungrily, slightly resentfully; as every great band should. And Free were a great band.
1169 Down.
*fans would have to wait an outrageous 6 months for the next one. I mean, come on guys, pull your fingers out!
**front only, I suspect the back cover took someone 8 minutes to do.
^I think Racer X may have named themselves after this track.
I think I’ve bought this on CD about 4 times over the years, but never vinyl. Go figure. Absolutely stellar album. I still remember buying my first copy and thinking “aye, it’s okay”… then shifting to “this is pretty good”… then “mnah”. Over the years I’ve fallen in and out of love with it. Right now I’m in the love stage again. We obviously have a volatile relationship.
Ive been listening to a lot of music lately (fancy that) and it’s amazing how many bands sound like these guys. I guess that’s what you call influential.
When you a find a Free album in the shop, don’t walk out with it because it actually isn’t free. Lesson learned!! LOL
I assume you are legally obliged to tell me this as part of your bail conditions? Grand Theft Vinyl?
Ha! Yes, those are part of the many conditions of my bail!!
Free the spotty teenagers from from the heavier end of rock and roll. Overshadowed by more bombastic bellicose pretenders to the riffing game.
They remind me of Jimmy Greaves, who always said there was no point hitting a ball harder than you needed to in order to score a goal. Precision.
Free definitely didn’t get the respect they so richly deserved. In fact, I consider them one of the Founding Fathers of Heavy Metal. I’ve taken the liberty to provide a link to a very ancient post of mine. https://80smetalman.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/founding-fathers-of-metal-part-5-freebad-company/
How dare you take such liberties!!!
I love this unreservedly. Anyone that doesn’t is bereft of a soul. And the band Highway are pretty good too, even if they sounded (and looked) like a Free rip-off!
Sorry but you don’t love this album enough, I can tell you’re faking it.
Busted. Beer-gut era Whitesnake rendered these losers obsolete. Free couldn’t compete with classics like Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick
3-0 to Whitesnake (and Tom) I’d say.
I do have a real soft spot for beer belly Whitesnake, it was great when you could be a rock star and look like a coach driver from Walsall.
I think for many there intro was All Right Now. Canuck band Santers did a pretty decent cover it back in 84 with Rik Emmett.
Happy days Deke.
We used to say the album is so heavy, like lighting a joint with a flamethrower.
Good comparison!