FREE - The Vinyl Collection
Release date 09 September 2016
The blurb....
Formed in London in 1968, Free are regarded as one of the
primary innovators of Blues rock. They hit mainstream global success in
1970 and played to over 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight festival
that same year. By the time they had disbanded in 1973 they had released
6 studio albums, sold over 20 million albums and played over 700 shows.
Their biggest and best known track All Right Now is reputed to be
played somewhere in the world on radio every minute of the day and has
been entered into ASCAP's ‘One Million’ airplay singles club.
Free are regarded as one of the innovators of Blues rock that went on
to influence a host of bands throughout the following decades. Rolling
Stone referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers", ranking
singer Paul Rodgers # 55 in its list of the ‘100 Greatest Singers of All
Time’ and guitarist Paul Kossoff at #51 of ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of
All Time’.
This 7-LP box set, housed in a sturdy box features the albums in
their original form; they have been newly re-mastered from the original
tapes by Andy Pearce to enhance the sound of these classic albums and
will have original art work.
TONS OF SOBS
Released in the UK in 1969, it was legendarily recorded for only £800.
The album failed to chart at the time but tracks remained in the band’s
live repertoire for many years after.
FREE
Produced by the head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, the band’s second album managed a respectable #22 in the UK charts.
FIRE AND WATER
Fire and Water is the bands third studio album The album became the
band's breakthrough hit, reaching #2 in the UK charts and #17 in the US,
making it the most successful Free album. The album contained the hit
single "All Right Now".
HIGHWAY
Released in 1970 is a low-key and introspective album compared with its
predecessors. From a writing point of view Highway continued in the same
vein as previous albums, with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser
collaborating on seven of the nine songs. Paul Kossoff preferred the
more serious, weighty songs on the album such as "Be My Friend", which
he saw as an antidote to the "frivolity" of "All Right Now”.
FREE AT LAST
The fifth album was released in 1971
(1972 Actually) after the band had split up and
reformed; it was the last album to feature Andy Fraser who left soon
after the album was recorded.
HEARTBREAKER
Heartbreaker was the bands sixth and final studio album it provided them
with one of their most successful singles, "Wishing Well". The album
was, by Free's standards, a huge success. It became their third top-ten
album in the UK (reaching #9), and reached No. 47 in America.
LIVE
Free Live! was released by Island Records to commemorate the band, who
had broken up in April 1971. The album was a hit, reaching #4 in the UK
album charts.
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Remastered CDs are coming to but NO BONUS MATERIAL is included. You can find the vinyl to pre-order for about £85 at the moment. Links below but these may only work for a limited time.
Amazon
Spin
It may be available to pre-order elsewhere too - so shop around for the best price.
Interesting to see that 'Highway' appears to have the German gatefold sleeve.
These anniversaries do come around don't they. And with the new
Free remasters and 180g vinyl set now out its a real reminder of what we
lost when Paul Kossoff died 40 years ago. However, today it would have
been Paul's birthday and the 66 year old Koss could have been coming
down the stairs in his slippers to cards and good wishes from family,
friends and fans. Well, sadly that's not the case so lets do the best we
can and play some Kossoff today. 
