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Universal Music Group has announced the forthcoming release of the definitive live performances of FREE. Slated for a simultaneous September 18th 2006 release with FREE – 'Live At The BBC' (CD), FREE 'FOREVER' will be available as a Limited Edition double-disc DVD set, and as a standard Amaray version 2 x disc set. Long sought by FREE devotees and collectors, this marks the first ever official release of these rare and legendary performances. Recent interviews with Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke, fused with archive footage captured at the peak of their relatively short lived career, perfectly demonstrates why FREE remain the masters of understatement, pure musical passion and one of the finest blues rock bands of their time.
Famed for their perennial ‘All Right Now’, FREE helped lay the foundations for the rise of rock, stripping the earthy tones of British blues down to its minimalist core and pioneering an exciting new sound.
DetailsTitle: ForeverRelease date: Sep 18, 2006 Record label: Universal Chronicles Single: Official website: Free Buy at: Amazon |
As bassist Andy Fraser explains, “I have had to relent, and submit to the fact that the memory of FREE still burns strong, despite all that has gone in between. I still receive thousands of letters from FREE fans, proving that I am not alone in the love I had for FREE”. Arguably as influential as their early 70’s super-group stable mates, the timeless Cream, FREE truly was a band where the whole was stronger than the individual parts, and their musical legacy lives on today in bands such as Kings Of Leon, Wolfmother and Jet. Fraser goes on to add, “People tell me it has been the soundtrack to their lives, that they still play it daily, have turned their kids onto it, which is pretty overwhelming”.
FREE ‘FOREVER’ Limited Edition 2-disc DVD offers over 4 and a half hours of classic TV recordings, videos, interviews and live performances, including three tracks from their seminal appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival, 1970. Offered up here in a brand-new edit, two cameras were used to film the tracks ‘Be My Friend’ and ‘Mr Big’, whilst ‘All Right Now’ receives the full four camera treatment, combining mesmerizing sweeping shots of the huge festival crowd and the intimate workings of a band playing at their peak.
Other highlights of the release include extremely rare television appearances, including a performance at The Beat Club, Germany from 1970, five tracks from a fantastic performance on Granada TV’s Doin’ Their Thing show, and the original videos for ‘All Right Now’, ‘The Stealer’, ‘My Brother Jake’ and ‘Wishing Well’.
New interviews with the band have been specifically recorded for this release and offer an insight into the workings of FREE, the songwriting and how the band themselves feel about their history.
A stunning sound and vision experience FREE ‘FOREVER’ has been painstakingly restored, remixed and remastered for 5.1 dts Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. Extensive liner notes and a fold-out poster, accompany this special DVD release.
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2006 marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of inspirational guitarist and founding FREE member, Paul Kossoff. Paul Rodgers explains “The idea to form a band began at the ‘Fickle Pickle’ blues pub in Finsbury Park, where I was playing, when Paul Kossoff asked to jam. We played ‘Stormy Monday Blues’, ‘Every Day I Have The Blues’ and BB Kings’ ‘Four O’ Clock In The Morning’. When we played together time stood still. I said to Paul, “We have to form a new band. It was then and there that the idea was born to form what became FREE. Koss became my soul mate guitarist, never to be replaced”.
Later, Rodgers, Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke convened at a pub in Battersea to jam together, capturing the attention of Blues pioneer Alexis Korner, who gave the band the idea to use ‘Free At Last’. At Last was dropped and FREE it was.
Bassist Andy Fraser was the last to join, and he remembers his time in “the last great band to come out of the ‘60’s” (Korner), fondly; “From what I have seen and heard, Universal has lovingly assembled this retrospective FREE ‘Forever’, that chronicles what for me, and apparently millions of others, was the most unique marriage of four guys, if only for a while”.
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