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HISTORICAL FACTS: Andy fraser - The Untold Story

“The chorus wrote itself, the chords took me about 10-15 minutes and then Paul came up with the verses while he was waiting for a lift to a gig the next day!”: How one of the greatest rock anthems of all time was created in the wake of a nightmare show

“It was this gigantic sound,” says super-fan Joe Bonamassa

MusicRadar

“We thought it was throwaway and argued against it being released. It's incredible to me that it was a single. I was just trying to do my best Pete Townshend!” How bassist Andy Fraser electrified a Free classic

When Andy Fraser joined Free in 1968, he arrived as a teenage guitarist, but his melodic bass style became essential to the band’s success

Guitar World

Former Free and Faces bassist Tetsu Yamauchi dead at 79

Tetsu Yamauchi replaced Andy Fraser in Free and Ronnie Lane in the Faces

Louder

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“Right before he died I was reminded of what I’d noticed all those years ago – that the notes he didn’t play were more important than the notes he did play”: A salute from one great bass player to another

Glenn Hughes pays tribute to the late, great Andy Fraser of Free

MusicRadar

“I used a Gibson EB-3 through my time with David, trying to get the same bass sound Andy Fraser got with Free”: How the late, great Trevor Bolder applied melodic flair to anchor this irresistible 12/8 rocker from David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane

Replacing longtime Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti in the Spiders From Mars, Bolder found himself writing basslines on the spot, a challenge he relished. On Drive-In Saturday, he hit the jackpot

Guitar World

“What led to the end of my time with Steppenwolf? Egos and drugs”: Michael Monarch was just 18 when he tracked one of the most iconic riffs of the ’60s –next came Janis Joplin, Jimmy Page and Free’s Andy Fraser

Fan of slide-based tuning recalls not being credited for his work with Janis Joplin, why he left Andy Fraser’s band, waiting to work with Roger Glover, and why Led Zeppelin couldn’t save Detective, his band with Michael Des Barres

Guitar World

“For Pink Floyd songs, David is happiest when I play an old Fender with a pick”: Session legend Guy Pratt on the Jazz Bass he bought from John Entwistle and how he conjured a “massive octave-pedal freakout” with Madonna

In addition to his main gig with David Gilmour, Guy Pratt has played bass on some monster hits, including Madonna’s Like a Prayer and Michael Jackson’s Earth Song

Guitar World

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“Posh tossers singing about nothing because they had nothing to protest about… it was part of the job to destroy Genesis and Yes”: Punk pioneer Captain Sensible loved plenty of prog – but had to hide it

The Damned guitarist on spending years ripping off the genre he professed to hate, and the obscure tracks he’d play on Desert Island Discs – if they’d ever let him appear

Louder

“Herbie Flowers was supposed to do the date, but he couldn't make it. So Bowie said to me, ‘You'll have to play bass’”: Trevor Bolder speaks out on his storied history with David Bowie

How could anyone who played bass on Ziggy Stardust not be a rock legend?

Guitar World

“I’d overslept and didn’t make the march... I was annoyed at myself and that’s where the idea for You’re the Voice came from. If you want to do something you have to go out and do it yourself”

How missing a demo inspired a protest anthem

MusicRadar

"There's magic in this band. There is real magic with these four members": Black Country Communion and the proud return of classic rock

Black Country Communion's new album V is the best one they’ve made so far. But will it be their last?

Louder

“People have long talked to me about that bass solo, but I never gave it a lot of thought”: Andy Fraser names the forgotten song that marked the pinnacle of his bass playing with Free

Having already sparked Free’s biggest hit, All Right Now, Andy Fraser once again proved that the bass can be a focal point as much as an accompaniment

Guitar World

"I remember this cold, damp day in Barnes Cemetery, lugging this plexiglas coffin around with Mickey Mouse": The curious story of Free's debut album

Recorded for just £800, Free’s Tons Of Sobs remains one of rock’s greatest debut albums

Louder

“John Paul Jones is one of the only musicians I’ve been around where I was starstruck. I asked him some stupid questions about Achilles Last Stand… but he was very kind!” Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament names 11 bassists who shaped his sound

From Dee Dee Ramone to Eric Avery, fretless to 12-string bassists, Jeff Ament believes all his influences can all be heard on the latest Pearl Jam album Dark Matter

Guitar World

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Louder

"I think everyone has some sort of death wish... but I don't want to die": The spectacular rise and tragic fall of Paul Kossoff

Paul Kossoff should have been one of rock and blues' great guitar heroes. Instead, the light of the Free and Back Street Crawler guitarist shone briefly – and burned out quickly

Louder

"Who knows where we would have gone had we not had that monster hit? It was the beginning of the end for us": The real story of Free, told by those who were there

Free burnt brightly and all too briefly: The story of Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke

Guitar World

“Bass should stand on its own. It’s as powerful as the guitar”: Conrad Lant on his disdain for Ampeg SVTs and how he bought Andy Fraser’s Gibson EB-3 for £50 – “It was the exact one he played on All Right Now!”

Venom, the original black metal band, have been invoking Old Nick since 1981. On the bass, meet Conrad Lant – ‘Cronos’ to the (black) masses

Guitar World

“My playing was a response to whoever said, ‘Bass should be felt and not heard’. To me, bass should be like warfare!” Derek Forbes, founder member of Simple Minds, on his five best basslines

Derek Forbes was Simple Minds’ bassist from 1978 to 1985. Here he explains how he was inspired by Andy Fraser and Stanley Clarke, why he prefers Precision to Jazz, and the influence of magic mushrooms...

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Louder

"A vision with the light shining through her dress" - the woman who inspired Free's All Right Now

The "raunchy and suggestive" All Right Now broke Free in America - although the band members' stories about the origins of their most famous song differ

Liverpool Echo

Teenager aiming for Olympics after grandad told him to try athletics

Sam Lunt went unbeaten last season and broke national records

Guitar World

Andy Fraser: “It was me trying to impersonate Pete Townshend, who was, to me, the all-time greatest chord king”

How Free’s worst ever gig inspired one of the most iconic bass solos in rock

The Guardian - US

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell: ‘I’m interested in what’s different’

In a wide-ranging new memoir, the impresario who worked with Bob Marley, Roxy Music and U2, talks about his incredible life in the industry

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