Free - All Right Now

UCRs top 100 classic rock songs list brings us to #54: Free "ALL RIGHT NOW"

Prior to their time in Bad Company, Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke had already realized a few rock and roll fantasies of their own with Free.

Their signature number "All Right Now," which deservedly grabs a slot on our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs countdown, was created by a group who were just in their teens when they first got together. In fact, bassist Andy Fraser just 15 years old at time.

Success wasn’t immediate for Free – or for "All Right Now." The song was laid down live in the studio for the most part (Rodgers adding his vocals after the fact), but then found itself buried as the last song on the second side of their third album, 1970's Fire and Water. Listening to "All Right Now" now, however, you wonder how anyone missed it.

In truth, even Free themselves “weren’t that keen on it,” according to Fraser. But Island Records president Chris Blackwell stepped in and released it anyway. As "All Right Now" became a big hit, some critics claimed that the main riff had been lifted directly from the Rolling Stones’ "Honky Tonk Women." Fraser pointed to a different influence, telling Classic Rock magazine that he was trying to imitate Pete Townshend, who he calls “the best chord player."

"All Right Now" was well received amongst Free’s musical peers: Steve Miller later admitted that the intro to "Rock N’ Me" was a nod to Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, and the soon-to-be-famous intro from "All Right Now." The inspiration was karmic, because both tunes had been born out of a desire to inject a heavy dosage of rock into an otherwise mid-tempo set. They needed a number to get the audiences on their feet, and "All Right Now" (which was made complete with a healthy helping of cowbell) proved to be just what the doctor ordered.

At the height of Free’s popularity, they performed a rough and tumble version of "All Right Now" for over 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight festival, all of whom were unaware that the same song would someday be used to try to pick up a delicious blonde on a bus (via a classic Wrigley’s commercial).

Inner-band turmoil and wildly fluctuating record sales eventually caused Free to break apart, and that was followed tragically by the drug-related death of Kossoff in 1976. Still, the blistering "All Right Now" remains a feather in their cap.