All Right Now (1970)

Performer: Free                                                    Writer: Paul Rodgers & Andy Fraser
Highest US Chart Position: #4                              Label: A&M Records
Musicians: Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke

There was a time long before effects pedals, or Tom Schultz and his PowerSoak, when the only way to get an electric guitar to distort was to turn the amplifier all the way up. Later, manufacturers added overdrives so that the same effect could be achieved without the volume. One of the delightful things about early hard rock bands is how little actual distortion they used when amplifying their guitars. Instead of being used to assault the listener, distortion was used as texture, adding a warmth to the guitar’s sound rather than becoming the sound itself. “All Right Now” is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Paul Kossoff’s Les Paul has plenty of bite when playing full chords, but some of his single-line phrases during the solo have no distortion at all. And that’s another thing. Back then, guitarists played full chords, not just two strings with two fingers the way they do today. This allowed for all kinds of subtlety when playing hard rock songs. Guitarist Joe Perry could go full out with minimal distortion on a song like “Somebody” from Aerosmith’s first album, or on a song like “Fight or Fall” by Thin Lizzy, a slow strum on the guitar could produce almost no distortion at all. It was a time when rock music had melodies and meaningful lyrics, and rock songs could be appreciated by all kinds of people who listened to AM radio, not just by the people who bought rock albums.

The song begins with just the guitar and drums, Paul Kossoff playing the distinctive opening chords while an overdubbed Simon Kirke also hits the claves on the downbeats. (What was the last rock song on which you heard claves? AC/DC’s “Soul Stripper” is the only one that comes to mind.) Paul Rodgers’ lyrics are, of course, about a girl, sung in the form of a conversation about a guy trying to pick up a girl who, it turns out, is nobody’s fool. It’s not until the chant-like title chorus comes around that Andy Fraser’s bouncing bass enters, a simple but highly effective line. The second verse repeats the arrangement of the first, followed again by the full group as Kirke plays sixteenth-notes on the snare leading into the chorus. Then Kirke improvises a rhythm on the snare while Kossoff plays some licks up the neck. A drumroll leads into a Fraser bass riff that ends with a pair of two-note quarter-note fifths, the tonic dropping a half note on the second one. Underneath the guitar solo is some simple piano overdubbed by Fraser, while Kossoff launches into a wonderfully spacious solo on the album cut--most of which was eliminated from of the single. He’s in no hurry and really demonstrates the difference between the single-notes that don’t seem to have any distortion at all, and the double string slides that actually emphasize the distortion effect. From there it’s a repeat of verse two, but much more animated vocally, and the out choruses with some vocal improv by Rodgers.

Free was a British rock band formed in the late sixties. After a couple of albums that earned them a following in England, they recorded their third album, Fire and Water, and became an overnight sensation with their hit single “All Right Now.” The song was released in August of 1970, and by the middle of October it peaked at number four. The B-side of the record is a slow, beautiful instrumental called “Mouthful of Grass” from the group’s first album. Unfortunately the band was unable to capitalize on their success and soon vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke acquired the services of guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell, and christened their new group Bad Company. Beginning with the template they had established in Free, the new band was able to become a perennial chart resident for their first few years together, recording a string of classic rock songs that, while they may have left critics cold, were certainly popular with record buyers. The gifted guitarist Paul Kossoff succumbed to drug addiction in 1976, and is generally credited with the reason for the band’s lack of later success. Bassist Andy Fraser made several unsuccessful attempts at starting new bands, but it wasn’t until he moved to California and began writing songs for others--his other big hit being “Every Kinda People” for Robert Palmer--that he flourished in the music industry. Far from being a one-hit wonder, Free has nevertheless achieved radio immortality for their one hit single “All Right Now.”