Andy Fraser Of Free

[gruffpuppy]

Originally posted by JimK
Gruffs-
When I resurrected this thread, I thought you'd swing by.
Now, I'm kinda miffed I never bought Pretties For You...held it in my hands many times, never pulled the trigger!
That's OOP, right?

My views on Easy Action and Pretties for you.
I like them but they are very raw, recorded bad, and sloppy.
I like them only because you can listen to some songs and pick out riffs. I.E. "Hey that became the riff to Dwight Fry" of "This song will get better and become Black JuJu"

[Rockin John]

Isn't it amazing how we're now discussing these bassists, what, 30 odd years after their time. I love it. For those of us who were around to witness it the first time, the current wave of interest comes as a real breath of fresh air.



John

[lost_in_space]

i am a big fan of Free myself, but i must say i found their performance at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 very disappointing. they were just dismal. all right now sounded like it was covered by the amateur band next door.

i haven't seen or heard the entire set but the excerpt i saw in the movie made me think that they could be very sloppy at times. probably why they did not make it big. bad co's a lot tighter.

[JimK]

Originally posted by gruffpuppy
My views on Easy Action and Pretties for you.
I like them but they are very raw, recorded bad, and sloppy.

Gruffs & Lost In Space-
...you have both mentioned 'raw' & 'sloppy'.
It's Rock 'N' Roll...it ain't supposed to be but 'so good'!
Gruffs, I do have Easy Action & I agree with your critique. I tend to be a completist, that's why I wish I had an uncensored copy of PFY.

LIS, I haven't heard that Live show; goin' by what Live stuff I have heard from that particular time & era, & this goes especially for all the electric Miles Davis stuff I adore...the quality of late '60s/early '70s Live 'Rock' shows ain't happenin'...at all! Maybe it was the equipment, maybe it was 'cause the soundmen & musicians were stoned...maybe some combination of all the above!
Anyway, the percentage of 'good' Live Rock albums vs. 'bad' Live Rock albums...from that era, pretty low, I assume.

Gweim-
I let ya in on a secret; I have written a tune, in my usual Latin-Funk kinda thing and...actually, I ripped off that opening bass figure from "Gutter Cat". Basically, thumb/pop the part in a faster tempo with accents here & there & you're there.

[gruffpuppy]

Originally posted by JimK

I let ya in on a secret; I have written a tune, in my usual Latin-Funk kinda thing and...actually, I ripped off that opening bass figure from "Gutter Cat". Basically, thumb/pop the part in a faster tempo with accents here & there & you're there.

Ok I will come clean, about 9 times out of ten when I come up with a sweat slap line or a group of tenth chords it takes me about ten minutes to realize that yes once again I am ripping off the progression from Gutter Cat.

[lost_in_space]

well JimK i totally agree. and paul kossoff probably couldn't remember his name on that day.

true, a lot of early live rock albums are crap. led zeppelin live bootlegs from the 70s are probably the worst in that category.

i am a massive fan of Miles electric stuff too. he too played at the isle of wight festival, but his show was edited out of the movie - probably too far out for the average british white kid. but then again, so was ELP, which pisses me off because they basically took out of the movie all the musically interesting stuff and left the boring, overheard & overhyped bands - joan baez (ho ho ho), moody blues, hendrix etc.

[JimK]

Originally posted by lost_in_space
i am a massive fan of Miles electric stuff too. he too played at the isle of wight festival, but his show was edited out of the movie - probably too far out for the average british white kid.

...too far out for the white kids here in the US, too!
The latest Live Electric Miles(It's About That Time)is from a Fillmore concert where Miles OPENED for The Steve Miller Band & Neil Young...wonder what those hippies thought of Miles & cohorts' idea of jamming?


Gruffs-
You too, huh?

[gruffpuppy]

Originally posted by JimK

Gruffs-
You too, huh?

If in reference to Gutter Cat, then yes. One of the first bass lines I truly fell in love with, and probably stuck in my head for a lifetime.
If not in reference to Gutter Cat then, Huh?
On another note a store in MA called Newbury Comics just received CD imports of Easy Action and Pretties for You. I haven't seen then on the web.

[JimK]

Yeah, in reference to "Gutter Cat"(& the 'ripping off' thereof).