FREE HIGHWAY 1970 UK 1ST ISLAND PINK RIM SUPERB AUDIO

	£		50
	$		66

FREE ''HIGHWAY'' 1970 1st UK PRESSING CAT NO. 1LPS-9138 ON THE ORIGINAL ISLAND (PINK RIM) LABELS.  EARLIEST EVER -1U -1U MATRIX AND ALSO '1' TO '1' MOTHER STAMPERS. SUPERB AUDIO AT LEAST EXCELLENT PLUS CLOSE TO NEAR MINT ON ALL FREQUENCIES REALLY LOUD, CLEAR AND VIBRANT STEREO, COMPLETE WITH ORIGINAL ISLAND RECORD SLEEVE AND E.J. DAY COVER (EARLIEST WITH EMBOSSED AT THE REAR)

The Matrix

Side 1. ''ILPS 9138 A-1U'' (Only 1st UK Pressings)

Side 2. ''ILPS 9138 B-1U'' (Only 1st UK Pressings)

The Mother Stampers

Side 1. ''1'' ''O''         Side 2. ''1'' ''GH''

I have been a collector of vinyl for more than 30 years, with a collection of over 2,000 albums, the time has come to part with some of the collection. Over the coming months I will be listing some of the albums I have decided to part with here on ebay as well as on my bluesvinyl4u website, while the majority of my albums are blues related from all eras, there will be a mixed bag to chose from.

ARTIST DESCRIPTION (Scroll Down For Supersize Pictures)

Free were an English R&B style rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their song ‘All Right Now’.  Most remarkable about Free was the young age of the band members who first came together to rehearse at the Nag's Head pub in Battersea, London, on April 19, 1968. Bass player Andy Fraser, was only 15 years old and had been playing with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, while lead singer Paul Rodgers 18, lead guitarist Paul Kossoff 17, and drummer Simon Kirke 18. Kossoff and Kirke became friends when they played with Black Cat Bones. By November of that year they had recorded their first album ‘Tons Of Sobs’ for Island Records and, although it was not released until the following year, the album documents their first six months together.  The next album, Free, released in 1969, has a marked difference in the musicianship of the band as well as Paul Rodger’s voice.

Fire and Water - released in 1970 - was a huge success, largely due to the album containing the hit single ‘All Right Now’ that reached number 1 on the UK rock music charts and number 4 on the U.S. charts. The album reached number 2 in the UK charts and number 17 on the U.S charts making it the most successful Free album. Highway was their fourth studio album, recorded extremely quickly in September of 1970.

In April 1971 due to differences between singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the drug problems of guitarist Paul Kossoff, and inconsistent record sales, the band broke up. This led to the studio release of the live album in 1971 called Free Live!. Early in 1972 the band set aside their differences and reformed, and in June of the same year released Free at Last.

But all was not well with the band. After the release of ‘Heartbreaker’ in 1973 - recorded in November of 1972 Free disbanded in early 1973 with Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke going on to form Bad Company that same year. Andy Fraser went onto to form the band Sharks and then The Andy Fraser Band and Paul Kossoff would form the band Back Street Crawler.  On a flight from Los Angeles to New York on March 19th, 1976, Paul Kossoff died from drug-related heart problems at the age of 25.

British blues legend Alexis Korner played a part in the Free story, recommending Andy Fraser to the band, providing the name Free and encouraging their early efforts. The sound that would be a trademark of Free is heard in songs like ‘All Right Now’, ‘Trouble On Double Time, ‘Fire And Water’ and ‘Wishing Well’, with Paul Rodgers being known in the rock media as ‘The Voice’. Paul Rodgers would go on to explore the heavy blues stylings of Free again in his solo career during the '80s and '90s, and in the bands The Firm and The Law.

Most recently Paul Rodgers has joined the remaining members of Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor), as vocalist.

ALBUM DESCRIPTION (Scroll Down For Supersize Pictures)

 'Highway' was the fourth studio album by Free. It was recorded extremely quickly in September 1970 following the band's success at the Isle of Wight Festival. From a writing point of view Highway continued in the same vein as previous albums, with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser collaborating on seven of the nine songs. For the most part it was the easiest of their albums to record as they had achieved their desire to have a hit single and returned to the studio with renewed confidence.

It was their last album to be recorded in a position of success and security, as its failure contributed to the emotionally-insecure Kossoff's growing drug addiction and the band's temporary split, from which it never truly recovered. Some, including Simon Kirke, also cite the death of Kossoff's idol Jimi Hendrix (which occurred during the sessions for this album), as an important factor in his eventual breakdown.

Much to the band's disappointment, the album only reached number 41 in the UK album charts number 190 in America, not generally enough to register on chart listings. The single release ‘The Stealer’ failed in the UK also, and reached only number 49 in America.

The album received a lukewarm critical reaction. The single release ‘The Stealer’ had not been Island Records boss Chris Blackwell's first choice: he had wanted to release ‘Ride on a Pony’ but this was changed at the band's insistence. Some, such as engineer Andy Johns, blamed the album cover which was aesthetically flat compared to previous releases and did not display the band's name. It was believed that some fans who otherwise would have bought the album failed to notice it because of this.

Track Listing

1    "The Highway Song" - Fraser/Rodgers

2    "The Stealer" - Fraser/Rodgers/Kossoff

3    "On My Way"- Fraser/Rodgers

4    "Be My Friend - Fraser/Rodgers

5    "Sunny Day"- Fraser/Rodgers

6    "Ride on a Pony"- Fraser/Rodgers

7    "Love You So" - Rodgers/Kirke

8    "Bodie"- Fraser/Rodgers

9    "Soon I Will Be Gone"- Fraser/Rodgers

Musicians

Paul Rodgers - Vocals

Paul Kossoff - Guitar

Andy Fraser - Bass

Simon Kirke - Drums

I have carefully played the album twice before listing at high volume and am pleased to say that it plays through with absolutely no skips, jumps loud clicks or any groovewear interference. In fact the album plays close to near mint with loud and vibrant crystal clear stereo reproduction almost through the entire album I only heard one significant tick and that was between track 1 and 2 of side one. I could only hear a minimal amount of static/dirt noise through the whole album and certainly nothing which I found that detracted from the superb music.

THE VINYL

On initial visual inspection the vinyl is really superb, the glossy heavy vinyl looks beautiful and lies perfectly flat on the turntable, on initial visual inspection I can see no sounding needle marks at all, not a hint of groovewear. Only under an angled light can any slight sleeve removal type marks be seen.

THE COVER 

This is the original EJ Day & Co. Ltd unlaminated cover with the embossed photo of the band on the rear. The fragile nature of these covers means they are very prone to wear. This cover has no tears or writing but does show a minor amount of storage wear to corners and bottom edge, the spine shows rather more wear and rubbing with the writing pretty worn. Front and rear are clean with minor amount of aging.

THE LABELS 

The pink rim Island labels are in superb condition with no marks or writing and with no spindle wear.  Only under strong angled lighting can a limited amount of spidering be seen on side one and barely any on side two. The labels reflect that this album has not been overplayed in any way.

THIS ALBUM WILL BE SENT IN A LARGE BOX WITH CARDBOARD STIFFENERS THE VINYL AND COVER WILL BE INSERTED SEPARATELY IN POLY SLEEVES AND WRAPPED WITH PLENTY OF BUBBLEWRAP FOR ADDED PROTECTION.

I have tried to give an honest assessment of the item listed. I have played the item track by track and again given my honest view on the audio quality. The photos I have taken are intended to give you the clearest impression of the visual quality. Please note, photos are the actual item for sale.

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions regarding the album or details regarding the listing.

Shipping 

USA \ Canada \ Japan \ Australia - 11.76 GBP Including International Signed For Delivery With Insurance & Tracking

EUROPE - 8.76 GBP Including International Signed For Delivery With Insurance & Tracking

UK FREE - Sent by Recorded Delivery

All items are covered by insurance up to a value of £36.00 for loss or damage in transit. Higher value insurance can be arranged for an additional charge.Some countries however have a maximum value for insurance purposes.  Items will be dispatched by Royal Mail signed for 1st class delivery. normally the next working day on receipt of cleared funds. Tracking details are will be e-mailed to the winning bidder after dispatch.

I offer a postage discount for multiple purchases, but buyers must pay for the items as they are won.  

New ebayers with low, poor or no real history, please contact me before bidding otherwise bids will be cancelled

I WILL BE LISTING MORE BLUES RELATED ALBUMS ON THIS SITE OVER THE COMING WEEKS PLEASE BOOKMARK ME

Please view my other rare  Blues And Blues Related 1st UK pressings

Listed Now On Ebay at wwwbluesvinyl4ucom

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