Andy Fraser (Free)

A few years ago, I was having a conversation with my accountant, who is also a guitarist in an amateur band. I was telling him how important to the sound of Free, that great rock group of the early 70s, were vocalist Paul Rodgers and guitarist Paul Kossoff. He told me that the group member that actually made the difference was bass player Andy Fraser. I paid more attention to the songs by Free and realized that he was right. I remembered that conversation a while later, when I found out that Andy Fraser had come out as gay.

Andrew McLan "Andy" Fraser (3 July 1952 – 16 March 2015) was born in the Paddington area of Central London to a Barbadian-Guyanese father and an English mother. Fraser was something of a musical prodigy, and started playing the piano at the age of five. His father, the great-great-grandson of a former slave, introduced his son to calypso and reggae, but the two did not enjoy a close relationship, especially after Fraser’s parents divorced when he was six.

He was trained classically until twelve, when he switched to guitar. By thirteen he was playing in East End, West Indian clubs and after being expelled from school in 1968 at age 15, for refusing to wear his hair short, Fraser enrolled at Hammersmith F.E. College where another student, Sappho Korner, introduced him to her father, pioneering blues musician and radio broadcaster Alexis Korner, who became a father-figure to him. Shortly thereafter, upon receiving a telephone call from John Mayall, who was looking for a bass player, Korner suggested Fraser and, still only 15, he was in a pro band and earning £50 a week, although it ultimately turned out to be a brief tenure. These are Fraser memories of that time:

"Because I was so young in comparison to them, except maybe Mick Taylor (guitarist, later in the Rolling Stones), I mainly remember feeling young and eager to learn. To go from school – college – into a full-on touring band meant I had to get sharp fast. The band played at least six out of seven nights a week – lots of traveling. In the back of the van was a big foam bed for John Mayall to sleep on, which he did for most of the time, the rest of us in the front seats… It suddenly seemed like a lot of money for me – I believe it was fifty pounds a week, so I was more than happy, and able to help with my mother’s expenses, who raised four children with no father. Basically it was three-chord, twelve-bar blues, and Mayall only needed to shout out the key, and set the tempo with a count-in, and that was it.

Dick Heckstall-Smith (the sax player) seemed very much my senior. Twice my age I’m sure. I didn’t really feel in the same league as him. He was always very nice to me. Everyone was, except Keef Hartley (the drummer), who thought I was a little snot – and maybe I was! After getting gig on Saturday, a new bass and stereo on Sunday, on Monday I had to quit school and get court permission to work abroad as a minor, because the Bluesbreakers were due in Germany that week and other countries after that. I had to have promises sworn to the court that I would be in bed by such and such time and so on.

One funny experience was sharing a joint with Mick Taylor in Holland or somewhere, and going back to my hotel room, laying on the bed, and being acutely aware of all the blood in my individual veins, from all over my body, surging towards my dick and getting a raging hard-on. This was such an unusual experience, I had to go and explain it to Mick, who just looked at me like, 'Kid, you’re really stoned!!!'"

After a short stint with Mayall, Fraser met Kossoff, Rodgers and their drummer, Simon Kirke, in 1968 - and Free were formed. Their debut album was Tons of Sobs, released in the UK on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it did reach #197 in the US. The best song from this album was a Fraser Rodgers composition called I'm A Mover:

Walk in My Shadow was another notable song from this album:

Their second album, Free (1969), saw the burgeoning of the songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser, which had been glimpsed on Tons of Sobs with songs such as I'm a Mover; here, eight out of the nine tracks bear a Fraser/Rodgers credit. Possibly as a result of the sixteen-year-old Fraser's influence as a songwriter the bass guitar is far more prominent here than on the previous album. The instrument is used as a rhythm guitar, driving the songs, while Kossoff's lead guitar develops from it.

While Fraser and Rodgers made a strong writing partnership, tensions in the band increased. Kossoff, whose natural spontaneity had been given free rein up to then, particularly resented being taught very specific rhythm guitar parts by Fraser. However, Chris Blackwell (their producer) managed to keep the band in line to record the album.

However, the album performed fairly poorly on release, only reaching # 22 in the UK charts and failing completely in the US. The single releases, Broad Daylight and I'll Be Creepin', also failed. Two songs from the album, I'll Be Creepin' and Woman, were later covered by the American rock band Three Dog Night.

Here's the original I'll Be Creepin':

... and here's the Three Dog Night version:

Here's Broad Daylight:

Here's the original Woman:

... and here's the Three Dog Night version:

... and here's my favorite song from this album, Mourning Sad Morning:

Then came the album that became the band's breakthrough hit, reaching #2 in the UK charts and #17 in the US. Fire and Water was released on 26 June 1970 and was great through and through, but the song that made it all happen was All Right Now; the rock anthem was inspired by their earlier trials and tribulations at the bottom of the ladder on the college circuit in the North of England.

"It was a downer of a night. Thirty people had shown up. Afterwards, in the dressing room, there was this awful silence when we were all kind of down. To break the bad vibe, I began singing 'All right now', that was the beginning of the song," Fraser recalled of the tune that took 10 minutes to write. "It was a real throwaway, the most superficial of all of our songs. Paul put together the lyrics quite easily. We all felt they were the most immature lyrics of all of our songs. We actually argued for another single to be released."

Overruled by Chris Blackwell, their boss at Island, Fraser and his band-mates watched All Right Now rise to the top the charts around the world, though in the UK it was kept off the No 1 spot by another epochal good-time single, In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry. All Right Now swiftly became a juke-box and mobile disco favourite, and has remained a radio staple.

Here they are, live:

Another monumental song in this album was Mr. Big. When asked: "How long did it take to come up with the Mr. Big fantastic solo?", Andy replied, "Well I never really ‘came up with it’. During the course of the band rehearsing, and working out that songs arrangement, each time we would get to that section, I would try something else, add to it, or refine what I had tried before. I would say the same about Koss’s approach to solo’s. Some of the ideas in Mr. Big were flashbacks to some of the stuff I overheard my sister’s boyfriend Binky Mackenzie, doing. Only imagine one hundred times better than what I did, and you get some idea of the brilliance the world lost after he killed four cops with his bare hands, and was sentenced to life imprisonment."

Here they are live at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1970:

The album's title track was yet another great song:

Another great one, Heavy Load:

... also Oh I Wept:

Their follow-up album, Highway, was recorded extremely quickly in September 1970 following the band's success at the Isle of Wight Festival. It 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. For the most part it was the easiest of their albums to record as they had achieved their desire to have a hit single and returned to the studio with renewed confidence. Paul Kossoff however found sudden fame more difficult to deal with, and remembered the aftermath of All Right Now as being "a great increase in pressure from every angle".

Much to the band's disappointment, the album only reached #41 in the UK album charts and #190 in the US. The single release The Stealer failed in the UK also, and reached only #49 in the US:

The Stealer had not been Island Records boss Chris Blackwell's first choice as a single: he had wanted to release Ride on a Pony but this was changed at the band's insistence:

Be My Friend was Kossoff's favorite from the album:

Soon I Will Be Gone was also a great track:

The fallout of the album's commercial failure was immediate. Relations between Fraser and Rodgers deteriorated, putting more pressure on Kossoff who slid ever further into Mandrax addiction. This left only Kirke to try to keep the band together. They returned to the studio in early 1971 and managed to record four tracks before they eventually split, after fulfilling contracted tour dates. These 'limbo' tracks included the surprise UK #4 hit single My Brother Jake; the other three have surfaced on various other albums over the years. Here's My Brother Jake:

Free initially split in 1971, and Fraser formed a trio, Toby, with guitarist Adrian Fisher (later with Sparks), and drummer Stan Speake. Material was recorded but not released, and Fraser re-joined Free in December 1971.

Free Live! was rush-released by Island Records to commemorate the band, who had broken up in April 1971. Possibly because of the publicity caused by their breakup (which had also earned them a successful parting single My Brother Jake that same month) the album was a hit, reaching #4 in the UK album charts. It fared less well in the United States however, reaching only #89. From this album, here's The Hunter:

... and here's Get Where I Belong:

Free reformed to record their last studio album with Fraser as a member, Free at Last (1972). All members of the band made a concerted effort to work smoothly and efficiently for Kossoff's sake, as he was suffering due to an addiction to Quaaludes. For example, in a symbolic gesture all tracks were credited to every member of the band regardless of who actually wrote them.

The album was reasonably successful, peaking at #9 in the UK album charts making it their most successful UK studio album since Fire And Water. The single Little Bit of Love reached #13 in the UK:

This is Sail On:

... and this is Travellin' Man:

However, problems began again when the band was then expected to tour to promote the album, as Kossoff was faced with a task for which he was not physically capable. Gigs had been disastrous, with Fraser remembering that "you could see people in the audience crying for him, longing for him to be all right". Unable to continue, Fraser left the band permanently, aged just 20. Kossoff also pulled out of the tour (although not technically leaving the band) in order to seek treatment for his drug addiction.

Fraser's memories of his time with Free were overshadowed by the death of Kossoff from a heart attack on a flight in 1976. "He had embarked on this course of self-destruction, slow suicide I guess. Did the band come apart because of him or because of the friction between Rodgers and myself? I don't have the answer," said the bass-player.

After leaving Free, Andy teamed up with guitarist Chris Spedding, vocalist Steve Parsons, aka "Snips", and drummer Marty Simon for a short-lived tenure in Sharks in 1973. On tour in Europe, Fraser met his future wife, Henrietta, with whom he had two daughters, Hannah and Jasmine. Here he is, explaining how the band got together:

"Originally, Marty Simon, called me out of the blue, came over, jammed a bit, and I thought he was an incredible drummer. I don’t quite remember how Chris Spedding came into the picture, but it was quite soon, and there was no doubt about his abilities. In my mind, I was still thinking this was going to be another way to develop more experience and confidence vocally – we were doing my songs. Perhaps Marty and Chris – maybe Island, I am not sure – sensed I wasn’t ready, and really before I knew it Snips was on board. I have to admit to some sloppiness on my part by allowing myself to just drift along with the proceedings. I certainly learnt the hard way, one should not find out one is in a new band, only after reading about it in the newspaper. So I was indeed very sloppy. Have to take responsibility."

Their first album, First Water, was released in 1973 and had OK reviews, but not much commercial fortune. Follow Me was a Fraser composition:

... so was Driving Sideways:

... as well as Doctor Love, also covered by Leslie West of Mountain:

But Andy didn't get along with Snips. He explains:

"Just before Sharks, I was about to get into the mode of developing vocally again. That was the intention when it was still me, Chris Spedding, and Marty Simon the drummer. Before I knew it, Snips was in, and I was backing a singer that quite honestly I thought was fairly average, and I was making no progress as a singer or an artist. I thought it best to get out fast, and let them continue under Snips. He and I were never on the same page, so I think it was better for them too. They could just go in one direction."

He then formed the Andy Fraser Band, a trio with Kim Turner on drums and Nick Judd on keyboards. He wrote all the songs and for the first time he was on lead vocals. The album opens with Don't Hide Your Love Away:

Double Heart Trouble brought memories of Free's work. Had he been influenced by his old band-mates, especially Rodgers?

"He strongly influenced me. Only a fool would not take advantage of learning all one could from one’s partners. And I felt we were all in a four-way marriage – learnt from everyone, but some marriages end in divorce…"

One of the songs that didn't make it in the album was Every Kinda People, later a hit for Robert Palmer. Here's Palmer's version:

For his first solo album, In Your Eyes, also out in 1975, Fraser worked with Muscle Shoals aces Barry Beckett on keyboards, Roger Hawkins on drums, Pete Carr and Jimmy Johnson on guitars. Imagine Free with horns and backing singers and you'll get an idea of how In Your Eyes sounds. The fuller arrangements, more confident singing from Fraser and the production of Brad Shapiro gives this album a much more professional and commerical sheen which compliments the stronger material.

Here's Let Your Love Come Out:

Be Good To Yourself was later covered by Frankie Miller. Here's Andy's version:

... and here's Frankie:

Attempts to form a band with Frankie Miller came to nothing, and Fraser re-located to California, to concentrate on songwriting. “It turned out to be more of a change than [I] expected,” he said, years later. “I went ahead to find a place, and Ri [Henrietta] was to join later after getting rid of the place in England. In between, I had had my first gay experience – something I had been in complete self-denial about all my life ... It would be many years before I came to acceptance with the gay issue.”

There, he crafted hits for Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, Rod Stewart and Paul Young. Here's Chaka Khan with Any Old Sunday:

Here's Sweet Little Woman, sung by Joe Cocker:

Here's Rod Stewart and All Right Now:

Here's Randy Crawford with Every Kind Of People:

Here's Paul Young with Little Bit of Love:

... and here's Wilson Pickett with Fire And Water:

His next solo album came out in 1984 and was called Fine, Fine Line. With this album, he went for a more commercial sound, trying to make it big in the States. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Here's the title track:

Here's Million Miles Away:

... and here's Branded by the Fire:

In the early 90s Andy decided to sow his wild oats. He later said: “My marriage had fallen apart. I was all screwed up sexually. **** fame, **** career, **** everything. I got a motorhome, put a studio in there, ran it off solar panels on the roof, put a bike on the back and really let go. It was great. There’s nothing like parking outside a club and there’s a hotel right there. Money wasn’t an issue. It was the first time since the age of 15 I’d let go."

But after more than a year of living on the road, doctors told him he was seriously ill. “They tested me and it came back: hepatitis B – and HIV. You’re frozen. I was frozen for five minutes. And that night was a sleepless night from crying. But I’m proud of how quickly I said: ‘Okay, you have less time than you thought. Prioritise. Cut out the crap.’”

Fraser reveals he was so close to death that specialists didn’t believe he could survive. “I was down to one T cell,” he says. “The healthy person should be 400 up to 1100. If your viral load is 10,000 they put you on medication. Mine got up to 4.3 million. The doctors were climbing the walls.”

Other than a guest slot with Rodgers at the Woodstock 94 event, Fraser remained out of the public eye until a new album, Naked and Finally Free, appeared in 2004, followed by his coming out in a magazine interview. He said:

"I do need a challenge in my life, and just writing, digging deep, being brutally honest with oneself in order to write a decent song, is always a challenge, but additionally right now I’ve got this thing about coming out – publicly. Although things have vastly improved for gay people, there are still so many, like I was, staying silent, and of course in self-denial. I feel I need to take responsibility, add my voice, show my face, so eventually it will be no big deal for, or to anybody else. Just being ‘normal’ is all I want to present – resisting any suggestions to ‘camp it up’ like so many others have felt pressured into doing."

He also said:

"I started working very early – fifteen years old – put everything else aside, including growing up, and coming to terms with my sexuality. To be married with two kids, before dealing with it, is very late. Maybe it seems sudden, having not followed me through the struggles and changes."

"When I found myself – found myself to be gay, I also found – my perception of – God, and my place in the universe – little speck that I am. All were a big surprise – but it kind of makes sense, and puts the lie to all the bible-bashers, basically selling their own agenda under the cloak of religion. I do feel on the other side now. At ease, and open with who and what I am, and naturally that is reflected in the music."

The album opened with Healing Hands. Here's the video, which was inspired by Andy's own life:

In 2008, Fraser wrote and sang the song Obama (Yes We Can), to support the campaign to elect Barack Obama as president of the United States.

Fraser died on 16 March 2015 at his home in California, having been battling cancer and AIDS. His last album was released a few weeks after his death. It contained Beautiful:

... also from this album, here's This is the Big One. The song supported the campaign to bring the issue of catastrophic climate change front and center. 

I will close this story with Andy's answer when asked the question: "Looking back at your life, what do you think is your greatest achievement – not only in terms of music?":

"Coming to terms with being gay – not only personally, but publicly. Being able to share that with my daughters, which has enabled the most open, loving relationship imaginable." Andy Fraser had found peace...