''Free Live!'' is the first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Free. It was rush-released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

to commemorate the band, who had broken up in April 1971. Possibly because of the publicity caused by their breakup (which had also earned them a successful parting single "My Brother Jake" that same month) the album was a hit, reaching No. 4 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. It fared less well in the US

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

however, reaching No. 89.

Recording

The album (including the extra tracks) was recorded from

gigs Gigs, Inc. is an American technology company in the telecommunications industry, headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in London (UK) and Berlin (Germany). Admitted to Y Combinator in 2021, the company specializes in ...

played in the UK at both The Locarno,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

(January 1970) and Croydon's

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. F ...

(September 1970), both places where Free had strong followings. Engineer

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' (1977), ...

could only use two tracks from the

gig (" The Hunter" and "

All Right Now "All Right Now" is a song by English rock band Free, released on their third studio album, '' Fire and Water'' (1970). It was released by Island Records, a record label founded by Chris Blackwell. Released as the album's second single, "All R ...

"), but used crowd noise from it frequently to create seamless links between tracks. With increased re-mastering technology available it has been possible to make others ready for the CD reissue, along with some alternate takes of tracks recorded at the second of the two Croydon sessions that were recorded. Many of the tracks on the album are from their debut ''

Tons of Sobs ''Tons of Sobs'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Free, released in the UK on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it reached number 197 in the US. Free are cited as one of the definitive bands of the Bri ...

'' (1968), as that album's rock-oriented ethos and uncomplicated production values made its material ideal for performing live.

Track listing

* All tracks written by Andy Fraser & Paul Rodgers unless otherwise stated:

Original tracks

" – 6:24 #"I'm a Mover" – 3:46 #"Be My Friend" – 5:56 #"Fire and Water" – 3:56 #"Ride on Pony" – 4:30 ("Ride on a Pony" on the back of the CD reissue, but "Ride on Pony" on the cover of both the original LP and the CD) #"Mr. Big" (Andy Fraser, Simon Kirke, Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers) – 6:13 #" The Hunter" (

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

, C. Wells,

Al Jackson Jr. Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their ...

Donald Dunn Donald Dunn may refer to: * Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & ...

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

) – 5:29 #"Get Where I Belong" – 4:19 With the exception of one song, Get Where I Belong, all performances are versions of album tracks.

Extra tracks

The CD reissue contains tracks not featured on the original 1971 LP release. These include "Woman" and a more rock-based version of "Trouble on Double Time" both of which are from '' Free'' (1969), nothing of which was featured on the main album itself. There are also live versions of "Walk in My Shadow" (considerably slower than the version on ''Tons of Sobs'') and "Moonshine", which lasts for over nine minutes. The extra tracks also contain alternate live takes of "All Right Now" and "Mr. Big". The album closes with an alternative studio version of "Get Where I Belong", which is notable for Rodgers forgetting a line and having to hum a later one in order to regain his correct place. 8610 Extra track listing: 9. "Woman" – 4:32
10. "Walk in My Shadow" – 4:15
11. "Moonshine" – 9:08
12. "Trouble on Double Time" – 3:57
13. "Mr Big" (Alternative Take) – 5:26
14. "All Right Now" (Alternative Take) – 4:43
15. "Get Where I Belong" (Alternative Take) – 4:22

Personnel

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

– vocals *

Paul Kossoff Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free (band), Free. In 2010, he was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest ...

– guitar *

Andy Fraser Andrew McIan Fraser (3 July 1952 – 16 March 2015) was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist and co-composer for the rock band Free, which he helped found in 1968 when he was 15. He also founded the rock band Sharks af ...

– bass guitar (all tracks), acoustic guitar/piano on "Get Where I Belong." *

Simon Kirke Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949) is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock Supergroup (music), supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and ...

– drums

Charts

Notes

References

* Strong, Martin C. The Great Rock Discography, 6th edition. Edinburgh: Canongate Books 1994, 2002. pp. 392–3. *Sutcliffe, Phil. Notes to ''Free Live!'' by Free. Universal Island Records Ltd. 1971, 2002.

External links

Free - ''Free Live!'' (1971) album review by Matthew Greenwald, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Free - ''Free Live!'' (1971) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Free - ''Free Live!'' (1971, Remastered 2002 with Bonus Tracks) album to be listened
as stream on

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{{Authority control Free (band) albums Albums produced by Andy Johns 1971 live albums Island Records live albums