Rock ’N’ Roll Fantasy:
The Musical Journey Of Free And Bad Company David Roberts THIS DAY IN MUSIC Fascinating oral history of Brit-rock legends.
“The only band I know to go on without thinking they’re superstars,” Ritchie Blackmore recalls in this glossy 400-page homage to all things Free-related.
His statement goes a long way to explaining the outpouring of affection the book includes, with starry-eyed giggoers, long-term associates and an eclectic celebrity fan club (Joe Elliott, Slash, Bob Mortimer, Paddy McAloon) all lining up to sing the praises of both Free and Bad Company in paragraph-sized reminiscences. That’s made all the more remarkable when you consider that Free’s first two albums didn’t even chart.
Rock ’N’ Roll Fantasy lives up to its name by chronologically tracing the band’s circuitous path from the days when they were wide-eyed teenagers. “I used to sit in class and watch the smoke billowing out of the steel works… that was my future,” Paul Rodgers recalls of his school days in Middlesbrough, never imagining the glittering future which lay ahead of him. In doing so, it brings their story to life via an endless supply of quirky details provided by both acquaintances and the band members themselves. So we learn that Paul Kossoff did a mean Ena Sharples impression to defuse simmering inter-band tensions, Andy
Fraser turned down an offer to join The Faces for the sake of his liver (“I knew I couldn’t handle the drink”), and, later, Rodgers and Jimmy Page rarely saw eye to eye in The Firm.
Inevitably it’s the first half of the book, covering the rise and demise of Free, that is the most compelling. Fraser (who sadly died in 2015) is quoted recalling the band’s first rehearsal, at the Nag’s Head in Battersea (“It was instant magic”), while we discover that Island Records boss Chris Blackwell almost lost out on signing them to due to his insistence that they change their name to the Heavy Metal Kids.
While Paul Kossoff’s tragic death at just 25 is handled sensitively, it’s the Free members’ combustible chemistry that intrigues, with the global success of All Right Now only accelerating their breakup (“It became a bit of an albatross around our necks,” says Simon Kirke).
“When Free broke up, we felt a sense of loss,” recalls Brian May, who eventually found himself living out his own rock’n’roll fantasy when Rodgers became the vocalist with Queen.
All in all, the book is a worthy companion piece to David Clayton’s definitive Free biography Heavy Load. ■■■■■■■■■■