Live [Extra tracks, Import, Live, Original recording remastered]

Free | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 11, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island UK
• ASIN: B00005Y46O
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,353 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. All Right Now

2. I'm A Mover

3. Be My Friend

4. Fire And Water

5. Ride On A Pony

6. Mr Big

7. The Hunter

8. Get Where I Belong

9. Woman

10. Walk In My Shadow

11. Moonshine

12. Trouble On Double

13. Mr Big

14. All Right Now

15. Get Where I Belong (Alternative Take)

Editorial Reviews

UK remastered reissue of 1971 album includes seven bonus tracks, 'Woman', 'Walk In My Shadow', 'Moonshine', 'Trouble On Double', 'Mr. Big', 'All Right Now' & 'Get Where I Belong' (alternative take). Enhanced package contains sleeve notes & previously unseen photographs. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FREE LIVE! IS WORTH EVERY PENNY AND THEN SOME!, April 16, 2002

By 

Michael G. King "skyyking" (LOUISVILLE, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

If you crave pure & simple, rhythm & blues, rock & roll then look no further. THIS IS IT! FREE LIVE! is as clean & crisp as rock & roll gets.

The live concert venue is where Free gained their faithful followers. Free was a band in all the glory that is youth. Though the FREE LIVE! track list is limited, it is still as fully satisfying as, say, "Molten Gold - The Anthology" CD. That's a fairly big statement to make, but then, that's just how it is.

I own many Free CD(s) and am pursuing even more, and still - this is my favorite of all because of the raw & unbridled sound of Free live. Free indeed had their occassional off nights, but on a good night it looked as if they were floating in the air and Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Andy Fraser & Simon Kirke were joined on stage by the fifth member of Free, The spirit of the band.

Track 3, "Be My Friend", is an especially wonderful weave of Kossoff's rippling guitar and Rodgers's fiercely unadorned voice. Undoubtedly, one of the best tracks on this recording.

Tracks 1 - 8 constitute the original album, FREE LIVE! All of these original 8 tracks, except "All Right Now" & "Get Where I Belong", were recorded live at Fairfield Halls, Croydon in September 1970. Track 1, "All Right Now", was recorded live at Sunderland Locarno - Fillmore North in January 1970.

Track 8, "Get Where I Belong", is an outtake from the March, 1971 "My Brother Jake" studio sessions. This song carries a gentle tone of wistful regret and a plea to "Help me to repay things I have done wrong."

Tracks 9 - 14 are bonus tracks recorded from both the Sunderland & Croydon shows, while Track 15 is an alternative take of "Get Where I Belong" recorded at Island Studios on March 26, 1971.

At the time, Free was on the verge of becoming extremely BIG, they just couldn't see it. These 13 live tracks capture this feeling very well indeed. The sad thing is that even 32 years later, this music sounding as fresh as if it were yesterday, I would give my paycheck to see these guys play live if only I could. Alas, FREE LIVE! Is the next best thing.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Free album, September 8, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

Of all Free's records, "Free Live" has the strongest track list, and this expanded edition, which features 15 tracks as opposed to the original LP's eight, is probably the best way to experience the band, as well as being an excellent introduction to Free.

Almost all the best songs from Free's first three records are here, and they sound raw and gritty in this live setting. The arrangements are lean and powerful, and Paul Kossoff's sparse, muscular riffs leave plenty of room for drummer Simon Kirke's thumping backbeat to breathe.

A great, six-minute rendition of the classic "All Right Now" opens the set, but almost every song is a highlight, actually, from the slow, bluesy ballad "Be My Friend" to the superb, swaggering blues-rock of "Ride On A Pony" and "Mr Big".
Highly recommended.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Rodgers's Supreme Moment!, March 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

Sitting here listening to the bonus songs on this remastered cd only confirms what I knew before, having listened to the original album over the last 20 years--This is Paul Rodgers at his unequivocal best! Though he had some distinguished moments with BadCo, nothing he has done since compares to the remarkable performances on this cd. Here, he is the conflation of Otis and Janis, singing from the gut with a spiritual abandon unmatched in his later efforts. After listening to this version of Paul, the later Paul, for the most part, seems stilted and contrived.

And let's not forget the rest of the band. Simon is his usual solid self, hammering out the rhythm in no-nonsense, in-your-face style. His performance on The Hunter is the epitome of bombast--He out-Bonhams Bonham. Yet, he can also play with subtlety, an accomplishment all the more evident in Free's less-is-more method. Andy Fraser's inventive approach to the bass elevates it to a standing of crucial import rather than simply a background instrument. And regarding Paul Kossoff, with all due respect to Eric, Pete, Jimmy, Duane, et al, Kossoff is directly channeling God on this cd. Few guitarists can carry a band without making you think that there needs to be a rhythm guitar in the background. Kossoff's playing makes you glad that there isn't one because it would only intrude on his spellbinding flourishes. Such dexterity and nuance is enough to bring tears to your eyes and make you want to holler at the same time.

In other words, this cd is a seminal recording in the history of rocknroll, one of the great live performances in all of its flawed glory. The bonus tracks only confirm this claim all the more. The only problem with the cd is that it leaves you begging for more.

One note of interest though. We are told that all of the original songs of the album are included on this cd. My album also has a studio recording of My Brother Jake. Perhaps there was a difference in the American and British releases. But this omission does not detract from the depth of the cd. Plus, My Brother Jake is available on Molten Gold, which is also well worth owning.