Free – All Right Now

The year is 1968. Four enormously talented young men, all in their teens, form a band called Free. Paul Rodgers is the frontman with the growly croon, Paul Kossoff the prodigy rock guitarist. Andy Fraser is on bass and percussion chores are handled by Simon Kirke. They begin life as a soft-edged, bluesy band, perfectly listenable but not memorable.

Early in their tenure, they have a particularly dispiriting gig in Durham, England. Kirke describes the demoralization of playing to a tiny, checked-out audience.

“… we finished our show in Durham and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser.”

Backstage, the members of Free pondered their future options and decided they needed to come up with a powerful uptempo number that would keep audiences on their feet. Bassist Andy Fraser began singing “All right now…”, comforting his mates to keep them focused and hopeful. He established the track right then and there, while Paul Rodgers conjured up some snappy lyrics. In a matter of minutes, musical magic was born. “All Right Now” appeared on their Fire and Water album and shot to the top of the charts in the U.S. and the U.K.

Released as the album’s second single, “All Right Now” peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In July 1973, the song was re-released, peaking at number 15 on the UK chart. In 1991, a Bob Clearmountain remix of the song was released, reaching number eight on the UK chart.

This is the first hit song with vocals by Paul Rodgers. He later joined Bad Company and also played with The Firm and Queen. This song really took off after Free’s performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31,1970 at the East Aftom Farm, Aftom Down, where over 600,000 people attended. Los Angeles disc jockey Joe Benson told Paul Rodgers during an on air interview that “All Right Now” is playing over the airwaves somewhere around the world once every 45 seconds.

“All Right Now” Single by Free from the album Fire and Water
B-side “Mouthful of Grass”
Released 15 May 1970 (UK)
Label Island
Songwriters Andy Fraser and Paul Rodgers
Producer Free
Charted No.4 in US, No.2 in UK, No.1 in Denmark, No. 6 in Austria, No. 5 in Germany, No.5 in France

Free
Paul Rodgers – vocals
Paul Kossoff – guitars
Andy Fraser – bass, acoustic guitar, piano
Simon Kirke – drums, percussion

The album version is over a minute longer than the radio edit, which had a shorter guitar solo.