All Right Now (1970) – Free

I can’t help but think of AC/DC and the Rolling Stones when this comes on. That punchy, wide-open guitar riff feels like something straight out of their playbook – only this song actually predates AC/DC by a few years. What really hooks me is the clipped, almost percussive strumming that gives the riff its circular, jangly grit.. Listen from 0.03 to 0:08 to catch the bit I mean – it repeats through the whole track and just sounds fantastic. Lyrically, there’s no grand philosophy here: it depict a man who encounters an attractive woman on the street and initiates a sexual encounter.

Learning that this song dates back to 1970 gave me a jolt. I assumed it came after the bands it now reminds me of, but the influence kinda runs the other way. All Right Now arrived as a bridge between late-60s blues-rock and the heavier, harder-edged sound that would define the 70s – proto hard rock, even an early hint of what glam and arena rock would become. It was innovative for its moment and helped shape where countless bands later took their music. A full-throttle rocker that somehow never wears out, no matter how often you play it.

The remaining of this article was mostly comprised from the Wikipedia references below:
All Right Now is a song by English rock band Free, released on their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970). It  peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 4 on the US causing quite a splash on both sides of the big pond. In 2006, the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3,000,000 air plays of the song in the USA. The song remains as a staple track of classic rock radio.

Composition

According to drummer Simon Kirke, “All Right Now” was written by Free bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers in the Durham Students’ Union building, Dunelm House. He said: “‘All Right Now‘ was created after a bad gig in Durham. We finished our show and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser. It was obvious that we needed a rocker to close our shows. All of a sudden the inspiration struck Fraser and he started bopping around singing ‘All Right Now’. He sat down and wrote it right there in the dressing room. It couldn’t have taken more than ten minutes.” Fraser has agreed largely with this history.

Legacy

Although renowned for their live performances and non-stop touring, their music did not sell well until their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the hit “All Right Now”. The song helped secure them a performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people. In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock. By the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played in more than 700 arenas and festival concerts.

[Verse 1]
There she stood in the street
Smiling from her head to her feet
I said, “Hey, what is this, now, baby?” maybe
Maybe she’s in need of a kiss
I said, “Hey, what’s your name, baby?
Maybe we can see things the same
Now don’t you wait or hesitate
Let’s move before they raise the parking rate”
Ow!

[Chorus]
All right now, baby, it’s all right now
All right now, baby, it’s all right now

[Interlude]
Let me tell you now

[Verse 2]
I took her home to my place
Watchin’ every move on her face
She said, “Look, what’s your game, baby?
Are you tryin’ to put me in shame?”
I said, “Slow, don’t go so fast
Don’t you think that love can last?”
She said, “Love, Lord above
Now you’re tryin’ to trick me in love”

References:
1. All Right Now – Free
2. Free (Band) – Wikipedia

About observationblogger

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand