FREE - "Be My Friend" - their best-ever version - live
Музыка
Audio only, the band 'Free' play live their song "Be My Friend", a bonus track from the remastered CD "Highway", also on their new-ish CD 'BBC Sessions'. THIS VERSION is the best version (IMHO) of a fans' favourite, Paul Kossoff also viewed this song as their best work. However, on this live version Paul Rodgers' vocal performance is just extraordinary, from the very first "Oooh", but from 2:20 he really lets rip. He even chuckles a few times at 2:33 - 2:47 when he realises how powerfully on-form he is.
This version of this song is amongst my top three all-time favourite songs from any artist. It also includes my favourite piece of PR improvisation at 4:56
"Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby,
that's all I gotta say
so I'll say it again
Baby Baby Baby"
I compiled the video myself utilising footage downloaded from KZread, occasionally with some of my own added effects and filters.
My plan here is to make available a few of my favourite recordings not easily available, or not well-known, or simply underrated.
Please check out my other videos.
Comments are always welcomed.
Пікірлер: 534
Andy Fraser’s bass playing is always overlooked and is top,top class!!!
I was listening to this when it first came out in 1970. I'm still listening to it today in April of 2021. Enough said.
@torfrida6663
3 жыл бұрын
Me too. Those were the days of immortal music.
@hrhrae1959
Жыл бұрын
I first heard it in 1973, in India. We always got music a little later. But I've been listening to it ever since.
@billyhong5071
Жыл бұрын
Sam!
@jamescourt4703
11 ай бұрын
Same as. I was 16 when I first heard this gem. Now 52 years later it sounds just as good.
@richardyoung7415
10 ай бұрын
I WAS A 16 YEAR OLD TEENAGER WHEN THIS CAME OUT I,M A 69 YEAR OLD TEENAGER STILL LISTENING A GEM . PEACE TO YOU ALL MY FRIEND'S. 🙏✌️😎🏴
Everything about this song is so damn good.
I was deprived most of my life since I am 56 and just discovered Free. They are trully equals Led Zeppelin. And Pauls Kossoff guitar riffs gives me chill.
@DhirenJ2009
2 жыл бұрын
Likewise 👍🏻👍🏻
@markhunter8554
2 жыл бұрын
Imagine Robert Plant admitting that Free was the equal of Led Zeppelin. 😊
@donjohn2695
Жыл бұрын
Free was better than Zeppelin
@raniedoyle9846
6 ай бұрын
They are better than led Zeppelin
@neillbaxter9613
6 ай бұрын
Led Zeppelin if they took a minimalistic approach
They are the ultimate band in every respect. Was so very fortunate to see them play at Eel Pie Island and the Marquee when right at the top of their game. Rodgers has more soul in his voice than almost anyone. Koss brings a tone from his playing that no-one can match. Kirke lays such a simple but solid beat. It drives everyting. As for Fraser, untouchable. Put altogether and you have musical magic!
The perfect rock ballad. Fraser was an extraordinary songwriter as well as being a sublime bassist. You had so much talent Andy. Goodbye.
One of the best blues rock bands ever
paul kossoff is a lighthouse for those who need beauty of music
Paul Rodgers and Stevie Marriot. Simply the best singers I have ever heard.
@martinclayton7260
5 ай бұрын
Try listening to Terry Reid, his voice is somewhere between Steve Marriott, Paul Rogers, and Rod Stewart.
@ln8300
3 ай бұрын
John fogerty as well
Saw them on the Isle of Wight 1970 great memory.
2023. Still love them... ❤️👌 I'm 66..Nice regards from Croatia ❤️
Paul Rodgers? The best of the best!
Great version. I was lucky enough to see them live twice back in the day. The two Pauls always get a lot of praise but Andy's bass playing gave them something very special and Simon numbered John Bonham amongst his fans. This was my "breakup song" when I split from my first true love and I couldn't bear to listen to it for 15 years!
@alexvagias5295
2 жыл бұрын
Where did you see them-England?
@KKTR3
Жыл бұрын
It’s incredible
I first heard about Paul Kossoff in 1986 from his father, who used to go around schools in England and give a talk/performance/play about his son and how heroin killed him. I have been a huge fan ever since.
Words can’t describe how much I love Paul Rodgers. His voice and beauty is mesmerizing
@briansward08
4 жыл бұрын
Could sing the phone book.
@deborahrobertson8606
3 жыл бұрын
You're not alone! I remember watching them on TOTP when I was a little girl. Knew instantly that they had IT!!
@donjohn2695
11 ай бұрын
The greatest rock vocalist EVER Mr Paul Rodgers
what a voice..
Free were one of the best bands ever.
@turboplazz
4 жыл бұрын
the best band ever.
@dankowalski6925
2 жыл бұрын
No doubt
@donjohn2695
Жыл бұрын
Greatest blues rock band ever
Every version of every song always amazes me. His voice is sublime. But all band members were incredible. And what a name for a band - Free were the best and I don’t see that changing 😍
Without doubt one of their finest song ,what a voice,what a guitar player Paul Kossoff was got to one of the best of all time,Andy Fraser's bass was outstanding,Simon Kirke just just banged out that beat .I was privileged enough to have seen them in 1972 at Liverpool stadium quality band.
Always puts a lump in my throat, when I see Paul kossoff .
Spectacular...one of the greatest bands ever...Paul's voice is unique and Kossoff's guitar playing packs as much feel as Page's.
Paul Rodgers has the best voice and most passion than anyone else in the business. Best- looking guy on the planet. He gives everything he's got to every performance. Love this guy.
@dianafab4096
Жыл бұрын
I Agree 100%! Paul Is Simply The Best! The Voice Of Rock&Roll! 💘 Paul Rodgers!
Jesus I MISS bands and singing like this!
@pete7364
7 жыл бұрын
Agree today's musicians don't hold a candle to bands like Free, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Hendrix etc .............the list is endless
@pete7364
7 жыл бұрын
How I wish for late 60's early 70's music scene
@eily_b
6 жыл бұрын
Listen to Greta van Fleet or Kaleo. Young Rock bands. :)
A soulful band..never again will we we see this....
Paul Rodgers got to be the best Rock singer ever. Brilliant tune.
@dianafab4096
Жыл бұрын
Paul Is The Simply The Best! The Voice Of Rock&Roll! I Think Paul Is Way Better Than Robert Plant!
@cuchulainn3474
Жыл бұрын
@@dianafab4096 I don't know simply because, as a singer who can sing both Rogers and Plant, both are distinctly different voices, very different styles. Both are very influenced by blues, most certainly, but Rogers brought soul, whereas Plant brought folk into the genre of rock. Rogers and Plant had incredible raw power, but Plant really brought in power falsetto that Rogers never brought in. I'm not saying he couldn't but just not his style. Rogers was also always a blues man, whereas Plant moved around with genres, you can clearly hear in all the albums. He was more influenced by world music than Rogers was. Ironically, I think Plant would have been a better choice for Queen instead of choosing Rogers because Plant's vocals were far more similar to Mercury's, than Rogers' were. Without any shadow of a doubt, Rogers is the best soulful, blue rock singer.
@dianafab4096
Жыл бұрын
@@cuchulainn3474 Both Are Great Vocalists! I Prefer Paul Rodgers Over Robert Plant! Yes Paul Sings The Blue's! Also Multi Talented! Plays Instruments! Thank GOD They Are Still Around Making Music! Long Live Rock&Roll!
@donjohn2695
11 ай бұрын
I agree with you 100%
@caesarsmith4711
5 ай бұрын
Maybe next to Steve Marriot and Ian Gillan
R I P! Andy fraser and Paul kossoff may your memories live on forever in your music. Best british blues band ever!!
@mattheartlion
9 жыл бұрын
Natalie Nitro Check out www.artistecard.com/smokestacklightnin another great British Blues Band in the making...
@Wouter_Vuijk
9 жыл бұрын
Natalie Nitro Of course a matter of taste, but I myself rate Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac a lot higher as a bluesband. Same regarding Savoy Brown, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, etc. As much as I really love FREE, I wouldn't call them a straight out blues band. This song, for example, being one of my favorites of the band (!) has nothing to do with blues. Have a nice day.
@2293465972156447385
9 жыл бұрын
Indeed i would also give Peter Green a high standard in blues also his prodigy Danny Kerwin.
@TheClemcaster
9 жыл бұрын
+Wouter Vuijk It is, as you say, a matter of taste; it is also the case that all of the bands that you’ve listed may have begun as straight blues bands, but certainly did not end up being so.
@SteveCounsel
8 жыл бұрын
+Natalie Nitro I know it's splitting hairs and they did start as blues band but i have to agree with some of the other comments Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac were a real blues band and hold the British Blues crown with John Mayall's Blues Breakers a close second. By this time Free did Highway they were a full on rock n roll band one of the great rock n roll bands I might add! I think the musical root of this song has much more in common with soul music than blues really and some of the other tracks on the LP gave a nod at country, love it, really beautiful, wonderful performance great band who are seriously underrated
That voice.......gives me goosebumps every time I hear Paul sing! Such passion and soul in every lyric, note, chord and beat!
The ultimate "less is more" attack to music. Just played enough to keep the feeling, and mood, alive eternally. No musical wanking allowed. This is how you make music that you won't be embarrassed to still listen to until the very end...
@The.extra_chromosome
6 жыл бұрын
obbor4 he deserved the title slowhand
@stuanhay
5 жыл бұрын
Couldn't have said it better, Obbor4:-)
@yvore1
5 жыл бұрын
OBBOR,, WHAT A FANTASTIC COMMENT !!!! CHEERS MATE!!
@TheNaKio
4 жыл бұрын
... till the very end.
@briangriffin6972
3 жыл бұрын
I had the privilege of seeing these live, Amazing how their music doesn't seem to have aged!!!
Free did Rock,with SOUL
I love the 70s.the best era for music.lately i visited the place were paul kossoff lived in and the wall he took the picture of tge album back street crawler.this man was one of the greatest ever lived.2023 and im still listening to free.👍👍⚘🌷🌷🤟🤟🤟🤟🙏🤟🙏🤟❤❤
Saw them around 1970 in Green's Playhouse in Glasgow. Sutherland Bros as support. 45 minutes late on stage, when they came, everyone was on their feet. Then on the seats, then on the armrests - at the end of the concert, we were standing with one foot on the back of our own seat and the other on the back of the seat in front, and everyone supported each other. I have seen the Who, Zeppelin, the Stones, etc. - this was the best live concert I have ever seen.
@blake7067
6 жыл бұрын
dervaig99 Free were better than Zeppelin??
@twomindz79
5 жыл бұрын
How times in England changed in a few years. The Doors toured in SEpt. 1968 and the crowd were seated with their minds blown. The 1970's brought the crowd participation.
@jonsouthgen
5 жыл бұрын
@@blake7067 ..This concert was epic.Saw Led Zep at the same venue two years later,Stairway and all. Believe me Rodgers and Kossoff blue the roof off. Absolutely magnificent.Seen a few hundred gigs since ..none better.
@blake7067
5 жыл бұрын
jonsouthgen ah yea Rogers etc were the business..great stuff!
@gregperry8181
5 жыл бұрын
dervaig99 Hi , the most underrated band of that era. I went to see them in Philly 1073 with Traffic. They announced that a band member broke his arm on the subway. I thinkMr. Kossoff probably broke the record for heroine consumption.
SOUL OVERLOAD!!!! it gives me chills
I love this song until the very end
Paul Rodgers got it! To the Bone to the Bone! Rock has never seen a lead vocalist like Paul!!! Fact!
I was a kid when Free were around, they simply for me were and are the greatest band in the world, 50 odd years later I still feel the same, I miss real music, real musicians, I know there are great artists out there but they don't make them like this anymore.
@freddyeltigre2327
3 ай бұрын
I'm 80 but Koss still puts goose bumps down my legs, Free a group that rocks your very soul! R.I.P. Koss and Andy !
This is what the word 'groove ' stands for.
Voice (as in what a great one.)....not a cliched "rock" performance in sight!
So many bands have tried and all failed to capture the rawness and class in every department. Brilliant.
He has so much passion in his voice around the 3:30 mark. He is the best singer in rock history!
This band was just pure talent!
If I was granted one wish as to what blues singer Id like to sound like, there'd be no contest, Paul Rodgers everytime...
could be free most underrated song, i love the rawness of this song,so sad and beautiful,we all need that special friend to give that helping hand,relief when we get it,sad when we don't,the vocals from paul rodgers so magic and the best rock frontman left alive,free the kings of blues rock.
What a great band 🇬🇧 🎼🎼🎼🎶🎶🎶🎶
Sometimes it's so good that I forget to hit the like button.
@chipdippelstein
7 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the reminder!
@markymarco2570
7 жыл бұрын
Sure thing!
@kelvinkiat9814
4 жыл бұрын
Damnnnnnnnn right brother
Still sounds great after all these years,one of my all time favourites just great.
Auch! Can I love this sound anymore. Rock’n’ Blues. 🖖🏻🇺🇸❤️
Free the best Rock Band all time..
Just 25 years old...gutted...rip Paul
SAW THEM AT THE ROUND HOUSE ,LONG TIME AGO BUT STILL REMEMBER ,GREAT GIG
Clarity of Kossoffs guitar in this version is great. Can't go past the Free Live CD version, the solo in that is superb.
Как жаль, что я их только сейчас открыла для себя. Гениальная группа!
@professor-productions
7 ай бұрын
Как жаль, что я их только сейчас открыла для себя. Гениальная группа!
Agreed..this is a sublime live to air version of a magnificent Andy Fraser song. Terrific band performance understating the magnificent vocals of Paul.
What a great track!those guys were superb!
Rodgers best singer in the last 60 years that i have heard a few close seconds but he is still doing it now what a legend
@professor-productions
7 ай бұрын
IMHO: Only Stevie Wonder might be better (that I have heard), but his catalogue of great (blues/soul) recordings is much smaller.
Some songs, not many, just melt your brain, wowwww.
a good vocalist I can listen to all day Rodgers I can listen to forever pure rock voice Free say it all
They don't make bands like this anymore and haven't in a long time. Music like this could have only been made and released in the 60's/early 70's. Such good memories. It fills me with so many emotions and there is so much passion here. The power of simplicity is so evident. I have to get this. Rodgers gets me everytime. Thanks for posting this.
Get where i belong, i love you so another 2 great ballads, many others too, freed my mind and my soul, still do ☮️
One of my favorites and a fabulous version.
Epic band ,,,,, the best year 70 80 s !! Rock old scool 🎸🎼😁🎵💉😵🎻🌴🏜🌴🎸
I've heard a lot of good music in my 53 years on Earth. But there is something about these guys that make them special
❤Free❤
I be love every version I’ve ever heard of this. But I think you’re right. This may be the best
2023 and still rocking
Russian guitar player Kossoff simply amazing! His minimalism is inimitable!
@helenbarber5980
Жыл бұрын
I wonder if he spoke Russian ?
@yaz1197
Жыл бұрын
@@helenbarber5980 His grandparents spoke Russian. Maybe the parents more or less knew Russian, but Paul himself most likely did not speak, I guess.
@helenbarber5980
Жыл бұрын
@@yaz1197 Was his Mum Russian ,I'm guessing that she wasn't, that's what happened in my family - my Father was Polish and my Mum was Welsh so unfortunately my Father did'nt teach us his language
Paul has never sung this song the same twice. Actually I don’t think he’s ever sang a song the same twice. He’s a special dude. They all are and were
I made a list last week with friends of my 10 best albums ever......Tough since I bought so many in my life.....Wanna know my number 1 ? Free.....Fire and water from 1970. Their third album. This is my best album ever. What a band they were....R.I.P. Kossoff....
This is as deep and raw as it could be! They dug down deep! And came up with gold!
So was I ..it’s now 2023…uk best band
What a fucken song... The vocals are unstoppable, but the band is so tight. Amazing stuff.
Simply mind-blowing stuff!
I can't breath when I hear this song. It's too much.
@matsiesmith2425
8 жыл бұрын
+Ellen Yarbrough I understand.....so much passion and emotion!
@Mikemackem
8 жыл бұрын
+Ellen Yarbrough Only a woman would say that.
@eyarbroughzone
8 жыл бұрын
What makes you say that? It's scary...the wailing of the victims of war and what a voice.
What I love about Proper live music is that, it is different every time it is performed.
Class, Sheer class. Wish we could turn back the clock.
Back in 1970 i was 11 years old and starting to think i knew stuff. I loved this band, and thought their music was fantastic, its great to look back at this video and see i had some stuff bang on. Back then a friend came back from the shops and told us he had gone into an independent record shop and asked the man if they had any "Free" records, to be gruffly told "we sell em ere", i still giggle today when I remember my friends’ youthful indignation at the man’s apparent ignorance. Oh delight!
At boarding school I well remember the real joy of the wonderful Free's releases .... those REALLY 'were the days'! PS Rodgers is still as good as ever. Extraordinary. Rick jethrotullfloydfree
Simon Kirke's unmistakeable drumming - truly sublime . For me best drummer to watch ........EVER !!!!!!
an all time favorite of mine wow..... this is almost anguish the feeling of love is coveyed so powerfully, Its fantastic! makes all the hairs on my neck stand up & my tummy feel strange....
Love them Guys❤am listening to this lovely song in 2023 n still loving it ❤ 😍 💕 💖
I remember seeing them. Live a few times at the Winter Gardens Bournemouth in 70 71 They closed with The Hunter. IOW in August 70. Judt a brilliant band.
Paul Rodgers is still a class vocalist, always has been. "Sir" Paul Kossoff was a genius who sadly left us far too early .... I shudder to think what he could have achieved. RIP Koss and Andy Fraser....
nice truce guys, just chill and enjoy Paul's voice. Yes one of THE great voices in Rock, in my top 3. Loved his work with Bad Co too
Pitching is good on every note every time. Makes for pleasant listening.
Brilliant, and still sounds good today , still missing you Shirl
Amazing the great PR
this could be free's most underrated song,everyone should hear this so fucking good,and i want someone to hold me,and tell me everything will be fine,i hate being alone at night,sometimes.
Love this song...great version too.
only such a song as this comes from one who understands the true value of a person and is why Paul is so powerfully on form
Simon and Andy working on a blasting groove, hats off
Free forever
his voice is amazing .....he sings this with so much heart...like hes pleading with all hes got.love Mr Rogers always have and always will x
RIP .. ANDY FRASER,,,
got this saved in my blues based rock category!!!:) oh hell yes
Pure magic.....jesus this is so good!!!!!
No matter how many times I listen to this version I still get goosebumps.
I love this song so much, great version as well. RIP Kos, we miss you
Wow this upload is so awesome. Thanks for sharing the great music of Free!
I saw them in the 70's and sadly they were not on form that night. This is amazing and helps delete the memory of one of my favourite bands unable to perform because of the evil of drugs.
Great version of a great song from one of the greatest bands ever! Thanx for sharing it!
Great, great version!