Sunday 24 March 2024

Free Appreciation Society Magazine - Issue #172

Free Appreciation Society

Magazine Issue #172

April 2024

This is the first of the issues that takes us through Free MK.II to Free MK.IV, and the end of the group. We start with Andy quitting, and Paul Kossoff unable to make the trips to Japan and Hungary. This magazine covers the run up to Andy's departure, Kossoff dropping out, and the introduction of new members Tetsu and Rabbit. With Paul Rodgers now taking on the responsibility of guitar duties, Free Mk.II picks up the pieces and moves on without the two original associates. This issue is stuffed with all the press and photographs from the concerts, and full reviews of the audio and TV footage available. Tickets, posters, and a complete reproduction of the Japanese programme sold at the stadium shows they did with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, including a ticket (while stocks last).

This issue checks in at 48 pages, and the programme is an additional 40 page inclusion to this magazine. So 88 pages in total! Plenty of great reading in this issue from Billy Walker, who was at the shows, and fantastic photographs of Free playing, while Typhoon Phyllis blows into the stadium in Tokyo.

A hugely comprehensive issue. Enjoy!


48 pages absolutely packed with FREE + 40 page reproduction programme.

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 Issue now mailed out to all FAS subscribers

Programme reproduction will go out on Monday/Tuesday

It is cheaper to buy directly here (from the FAS itself) than it will be on Ebay, where there are other fees involved for both UK and overseas buyers. ALL payments are via Paypal, so it's all very easy and secure.

Casual buyer? Want the magazine cheaper? Get a subscription!

A subscription is the cheapest way to get the FAS magazine.

For subscription information email: fasarticle@aol.com

You can buy this individual issue from the email address above.

Remember as a casual one-off issue P&P for this double package is £2.20 in the UK. Total is £8.45 via Paypal (fees included).

Overseas price is available on request as shipping cost depends on the country the magazines are going too. Buying from the FAS directly should save you on customs charges and fees now levelled directly via Ebay, which will not be added here as items will be sent as 'letters'.

Drop me a mail giving your location and a Paypal money request will be sent to you. It's cheaper than buying them on Ebay where the fees add 12.5% + 30p making this issue £9.25 in the UK!

A subscription for three issues (UK) is £18

Saturday 23 March 2024

The Van Dike - The Life & Times of a Plymouth Club by Jonathan Hill (Books Review)

Van Dike - The Life & Times of a Plymouth Club 1968 - 1972

Van Dike - More Life & Times of a Plymouth Club 1968 - 1980

Van Dike Brochure 1

Van Dike Brochure 2

In the late 1960s, and through the 1970s, many towns and cities had a smaller music venue that allowed up and coming groups to learn their trade, and make a living. In Nottingham there were in fact very few venues that took on bigger groups. Occasionally somewhere like the Albert Hall or Sherwood Rooms would 'risk' a group from the rock genre, but this was infrequent. There was no 'Royal Concert Hall', there was no 'Rock City', and there certainly was no sign of an arena! So here we had 'The Nottingham Boat Club', basically an upper level reception room with a stage, at the side of the river Trent. Here I spent many, many happy, and somewhat drunken, Friday and Saturday nights in my youth. In Birmingham they had 'Mothers', in Redcar it was 'The Jazz Club', Wolverhampton had 'The Catacombs', Aylesbury had 'Friars'. There were many others, and Free played the majority of them at one time or another. They were important stomping grounds, and fuelled many careers. I dare say, if you are 'of a certain age', you had a club just like this in your area too. They are in fact sadly missed these days.

One such venue in Plymouth was the legendary 'Van Dike Club', run originally by Peter Van Dike. Everyone played there, and I mean EVERYONE! The list is ludicrous. A real 'who's who' of groups now considered, important, influential, and downright significant to the burgeoning UK rock scene at the time. Celebrating this particular club, and this important period, there is a beautiful set of books and brochures put together by Jonathan Hill that cover this era of British music history perfectly. If you went to any of the places above, everything here will be familiar to you, the music, the groups, the fashion, and the beer names - Watney's Red Barrel anyone?

Inside these books is a treasure trove of posters, flyers, tickets, reviews, cuttings and photographs, many items not available anywhere else. There's also a compete listing of all the gigs at the venue, shows by Free, Steamhammer, Spooky Tooth, Colosseum, Mighty Baby, Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Groundhogs, Caravan, VDGG... and that's just the first few months of 1969! The level of detail, personal stories from people at the gigs, and competence of the research is breathtaking. You can just browse idly from page to page in sheer wonder, or take a deep dig into the mass of information here. Excellent stuff, and hours of fun.

You'll be pleased to know Free get mentioned quite a bit, and there are some great photographs of them, many full-page, particularly in the 1968-1980 volume. In fact there are great photographs of pretty much everyone! Brilliant stuff, and certainly things I've never seen before. Mott, Tull, Crimson, Floyd and all. The two volumes do overlap a little bit, and include information on the gigs at the Guildhall as well.

What is especially nice is that they all sit very agreeably with 'Heavy Load', and The J.P. James book about Paul Kossoff. In reality they have a very similar feel, in the fact that they are written by a fan, and self-published. They are hardback, and great quality. These are weighty tomes. While I'm aware everything in the current climate is a 'considered purchase', I guarantee you'll have a great time reading through these. Both casual page turning, and proper cover-to-cover reading is hugely rewarding. To study everything here thoroughly, you'll need to put aside some serious time! I loved them, and they really did bring back some fantastic memories from a moment in time when everything seemed far less complicated and hectic (despite all the strikes!) Rose-tinted glasses? Perhaps, but I'm happy to wear them.

100% FAS recommended.

There's also a flyer for them coming in the next issue with more info (#172). In the meantime you can find them on Ebay. Search with 'vandikebook Plymouth' to find them all easily.

Tuesday 19 March 2024

Paul Kossoff - September 14, 1950 - March 19, 1976

With Koss and Andy Fraser's dates being so closely linked now, with both of them dying in March, the month is a real ballbuster for Free fans. Koss of course died some decades previously, and is now hurtling at an alarming rate towards a 50 year marker. It makes me feel rather old.

Koss is still my favourite player, and is sadly missed. Rather than stick up an obvious choice, and there are many, I considered things for a while, and thought something from early on in his recording career would be good for a change. So I picked up on 'Swamp Man'. Mike Vernon's stomping production from the Martha Velez a LP 'Fiends And Angels'. Curiously if you slow this riff right down it's got more than a little 'Mr Big' going on, but this recording pre-dates that and isn't quite as refined. Great tune tho', and from a great LP too. The album seems largely forgotten now, but Kossoff makes three great contributions there, and if you don't have a copy it's well worth checking out. Shame Paul isn't here to tell us about the session, but his perfomance is very fine. Play some of your own favourites today too, and enjoy the recorded music he left us to ponder. It's a fantastic legacy.

 


Saturday 16 March 2024

Andy Fraser - July 3, 1952 - March 16, 2015

Another year flies by, and I'm back giving a word about Andy - now gone a frightening nine years! Wow, that kinda stopped me in my tracks. Busy here dealing with the new FAS magazine at the moment, and as I'm at the point where Andy leaves Free, I've been thinking about what he did after that quite a bit. The 'AFB' album has always been a favourite but some of the songs other people picked up is also interesting.

Robert Palmer had a huge US hit with Fraser's 'Every Kinda People', and what a great song that is, but LONG before that he sang with Vinegar Joe, and they covered Andy's 'Talkin' 'Bout My Baby'. This was included on their excellent 'Six Star General' LP in 1973. In my opinion (for what it's worth) Vinegar Joe swung between being very, very good, and really, really bad. Fortunately, this version of the Fraser song falls into the former, and is excellent. Palmer may be right at the top of his range, but this is fantastic stuff, and really does ring of the 'AFB' sound, even though it pre-dates that trio substantially. They've obviously copied Andy's demo pretty closely, and the bass here is great

It's also interesting to remember that VERY briefly in November 1973 Palmer, Fraser and Kossoff almost had a group together, and did have a few rehearsals. This song was included there (also 'On Your Way Down', written Allen Toussaint and covered by Little Feat, who played with Palmer on his first solo albums), but other than a few rough recordings (rehearsals at Basing Street), nothing was finished, and they all moved on to other things. So today, if you've never heard it, here's the Vinegar Joe version of Andy's song. Great stuff.



Wednesday 13 March 2024

2024 - FAS #172 - Coming Issue Update...

Hello, just a quick update on FAS #172. The introduction section there is somewhat 'space constrained', so here's a bit more information on things. This next issue was going to be out in late April, but I'm now trying to get it out before April 2nd, when yet again all the postage rates change. Royal Mail is the bane of my life, and dealing with them will be one thing I will not miss for a single second when the magazine comes to an end. The current postal rates and various 'bands' are stupidly complicated. The new one's look no better!!

This next issue is problematic, not because of the issue itself, which is fine, but the mailing of it, or rather THEM. FAS #172 comes with a complete reproduction of the Japanese 'tour' programme from 1972. This (at 40 pages!) is pretty much another issue in itself, and I know many of you will never have seen this. Hence it's inclusion. Due to the current 100g letter, and 100g+ large letter weights and rates, posting both together, in some cases, causes significant issues with cost. The combined weight tips one envelope mailing into the 100g - 250g large letter weight band, which is actually over twice the cost of mailing them individually as letters (up to 100g only). Overseas it can be three times the cost (and trigger customs fees for some of you it seems, for some reason I don't fully understand). So for the majority of subscribed readers, the next issue will come in two separate envelopes, and a few days apart. However, if you sent stamped and addressed envelopes with your last subscription, I will try to use whatever stamps are there to the best value I can get out of them. So for example, if you have put a large letter stamp on there, or two 1st class stamps (for some reason) it's cheaper for me to put both items in one envelope and then make the postage up to the 100g-250g 'large letter' band. Complicated? Yes it is. So it's likely the issues will go out in smaller batches as I work out what package needs what stamps, rather than putting them all into the mail at once, which I always try to do. Sadly, also my local Post Office has now closed, as the lady there, who ran it alone, was just sick to death of the continued issues she was having with Royal Mail. Nena was very good at dealing with all the different things needed to send a magazine all around the world, and while the local corner shop has tried to take over... well let's just say they still have a LOT to learn. This means everything is much slower getting from this end.

Subscriptions will be going up a bit as well. I've not raised them at all since March 2019, and since then prices for everything have gone crazy. While I appreciate very much that some people send a bit extra when they resubscribe, this doesn't always cover the extras, like the bummer page issues we've had recently, and also additional things like the forthcoming Japanese programme reproduction, which I have paid for myself. So, taking everything into consideration, I think putting the price up is fair. It all goes back into the magazine, and I don't want to limp to the finish line. The subs will change quite a bit as we get to the final issue, and for some readers there will be a two, and finally a single issue subscription... That's going to be weird.

So that's where we are. #172 is completed, and paged (today - just finished), bit not final print ready tested yet. I'm pushing ahead to try and get it all done in time. Saving money is a great motivation. The price of postage may be going up, but I guarantee the service from Royal Mail won't improve at all, and I'd have to say, it's NOT the fault of your local postie!

Monday 25 December 2023

Free - BBC2 'Disco 2' - 1970-06-13 - 'Fire And Water' + 'Mr Big'

On June 13 1970, Free appeared on the BBC2 music show 'Disco 2'. This was basically the precursor to 'The Old Grey Whistle Test'. The show ran from January 1970 to July 1971. Just like 'Colour Me Pop' most of the shows are 'lost' (either wiped or physically dumped by the BBC) and film may never be found or recovered now. This show dates as June 13, but because of the insane 12.55am air time, it was actually broadcast in the early hours of June 14! Again the list of lost footage missing from this archive is staggering. Joe Cocker, Elton John, Taste, Yes, Groundhogs, Stone The Crows, Humble Pie, Mott The Hoople, Stray, Atomic Rooster and many, many more. There's a full list on Wikipedia. Read it and weep!

FORTUNATELY however, there is now a newly located and very good 'off-air' recording of the Free set. This means someone recorded the performance to tape (reel) with a microphone pointed at the TV speaker. In fact the same guy who recorded 'Colour Me Pop', which I posted a few weeks ago. I'm so pleased they got both shows, and I have to thank 'The Johnny Kidd Fan Club' and Thomas Schmid for this audio - which is very fine. I am very grateful to now have both these old BBC TV performances as audio, and be able to post them for you to enjoy.

Free shared the bill that evening on 'Disco 2', with Bobby Darin, and the show was introduced by none other than Tommy Vance (complete with fine moustache!), who later presented 'The Friday Rock Show' on BBC Radio 1. It is he that can be heard at the end of the songs. As there is no film or photographs from the Free performance, the video here is made up from other sources, and is really just there to illustrate the audio. Sadly, Tommy talks over the end of 'Fire And Water' but worse still he brings 'Mr Big' to an early conclusion just as the bass solo is kicking off. Yikes!! I bet Andy just loved that! It should be noted that the broadcast date is just prior to the release of the 'Fire And Water' LP (June 26), and comes two days after their appearance on BBC1's 'Top Of The Pops' with 'All Right Now'. Perfect timing really. While the group mimed to a backing track on 'TOTPs', with Rodgers singing 'live' (also the same on 'Colour Me Pop'), on 'Disco 2' it appears they all played together in the studio for the recording.

So, from 'Disco 2' we have

#1 - Fire And Water

#2 - Mr Big

 Fantastic performances! I hope you enjoy them.

Free - BBC2 Disco 2 1970-06-13 - #1 - Fire And Water

 

 Free - BBC2 Disco 2 1970-06-13 - #2 - Mr Big

Sunday 26 November 2023

Free - BBC2 TV 'Colour Me Pop' - 1969-04-12 - Audio #1 - 'Moonshine'

Free - BBC2 Colour Me Pop - 1969-04-12

On April 12 1969 Free appeared on the BBC2 music show 'Colour Me Pop'. This show ran from May 18th 1968, to August 30th 1969. It had a great selection of groups performing, including The Small Faces, The Move, Fleetwood Mac, Spooky Tooth, Ten Years After, Family, Trapeze, and many more. Sadly, the majority of these shows were 'lost'. That's BBC code talk for erased or dumped material, more commonly known as 'junking'. Certainly the Free film hasn't been seen since the broadcast. However here, for the first time, is a very good 'off-air' recording. This means someone recorded the performance to tape (reel) with a microphone pointed at the TV speaker. I'm so pleased they did, and I have to thank 'The Johnny Kidd Fan Club' and Thomas Schmid for this audio - which is amazing. I am very grateful. The dog barking at the end of 'Mourning Sad Morning' was in the room with the recorder - not on the TV performance!

Free, like many others, had a fifteen minute slot (some had longer) and performed

#1 - Moonshine

#2 - I'm A Mover

#3 - Songs Of Yesterday

#4 - Mourning Sad Morning

I should point out the vocals were 'live' but the group mimed to pre-recorded backing tracks that had been recorded especially for this show.

So, two songs from 'Tons Of Sobs' (ILPS 9089) released in March 1969, and also two new songs, not to be issued officially until October, when the second eponymous LP 'Free' (ILPS 9104) was released. In fact, at the time of this BBC 2 broadcast, they'd not even recorded these songs for the forthcoming record. They had however been playing them to audiences across the UK and Europe.

While this audio is a fantastic find, there is nothing else relating to Free known from this programme or broadcast. Not even one photograph. Free did perform at Au Drouot Golf in Paris a week prior to this show, and photographs from there are used in the movies here, along with the original title sequence taken from another 'Colour Me Pop' show that did survive and a couple of press clippings from my archive.

On 'Mourning Sad Morning' there are photographs from what I believe is the show at Farmery Hall in Hull (October 28th). These show Andy playing acoustic (as he is here, and providing backing vocals), with Simon (still behind the kit) playing bass. More likely playing 'Mouthful Of Grass' in the photographs actually, it still illustrates how they handled the acoustic numbers when performing them 'live', with Simon playing bass, leaving Paul to sing. Why do I think it's 'Mouthful Of Grass' in the images? Well, Paul Rodgers isn't on the stage as it doesn't have any vocals.

It's amazing for this audio to turn up. Unbelievable! I hope you enjoy the music.