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9195 - FREE - SONGS OF YESTERDAY, DISC ONE (2000)

FREE
''SONGS OF YESTERDAY, DISC ONE''
RECORDING DATE: OCTOBER 8 1968-DECEMBER 1973
OCTOBER 10 2000
5:55:24

DISC ONE (72:24)
1 Over The Green Hills (A New Stereo Mix) 03:23
2 Walk In My Shadow (Alternative Stereo Mix) 03:33
3 Wild Indian Woman (A New Stereo Mix) 03:42
4 Guy Stevens Blues (Previously Unreleased) 04:38
5 Visions Of Hell (Previously Unreleased) 03:51
6 I'm A Mover (Unused Mono 7' Mix) 02:54
7 Moonshine (Alternative Stereo Mix) 05:07
8 Woman By The Sea (Previously Unreleased) 03:19
9 Free Me (Previously Unreleased) 04:34
10 Long Tall Sally (Previously Unreleased) (Johnson, Penniman, Blackwell) 01:13
11 Broad Daylight (Original 7' Mono Mix) 03:07
12 The Worm (Original 7' B-Side) 03:02
13 Trouble On Double Time (Previously Unreleased) 02:35
14 Spring Dawn (Previously Unreleased) 04:05
15 I'll Be Creepin' (Previously Unreleased) 03:35
16 Sugar For Mr. Morrison (A New Stereo Mix) 03:17
17 Songs Of Yesterday (A New Stereo Mix) 03:34
18 Woman (Previously Unreleased) 03:38
19 Mourning Sad Morning (Alternative Stereo Mix) 04:58
20 Fire And Water (Alternative Stereo Mix) 04:08

DISC TWO (74:11)
1 All Right Now (Previously unreleased) 03:25
2 Oh I Wept (New stereo mix) 04:28
3 Remember (New stereo mix) 04:26
4 Don't Say You Love Me (New stereo mix) 06:23
5 The Stealer (Full version) 04:26
6 The Highway Song (Alternative stereo mix) 04:13
7 On My Way (Alternative stereo mix) 04:03
8 Sunny Day (New stereo mix with different vocals) 03:09
9 Ride On A Pony (Alternative stereo mix) 04:16
10 Love You So (New stereo mix with alternative vocals) 04:51
11 Soon I Will Be Gone (Previously unreleased) 03:14
12 My Brother Jake (New stereo mix) 02:56
13 Makin' Love (Only My Soul) (Previously unreleased) 03:55
14 Rain (Previously unreleased) 03:50
15 Get Where I Belong (Previously unreleased) 04:20
16 Only My Soul (Original 7' B-side) 02:25
17 Travellin' Man (Alternative stereo mix) 03:37
18 Molten Gold (Previously unreleased) 06:07

DISC THREE (70:53)
1 Little Bit Of Love (Alternative Mix) 02:31
2 Soldier Boy (Alternative Mix) 02:51
3 Sail On (Previously unreleased) 03:17
4 Guardian Of The Universe (Previously unreleased) 07:05
5 Child (Alternative Mix) 05:15
6 Honky Tonk Women (Previously unreleased) (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) 03:09
7 Lady (Previously unreleased) 04:36
8 Muddy Water (Previously unreleased) 03:46
9 Heartbreaker (Live Version) 05:40
10 Wishing Well (Previously unreleased) 03:37
11 Let Me Show You (Previously unreleased) 06:04
12 Let Me Show You {Original 7inch B-Side} 02:58
13 Muddy Water (Alternative Mix) 04:12
14 Common Mortal Man (Alternative Mix) 04:25
15 Heartbreaker (Alternative Mix) 06:24
16 Seven Angels (Alternative Mix) 04:55

DISC FOUR (74:55)
1 Ride On A Pony (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 05:33
2 Be My Friend (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 06:16
3 Fire And Water (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 04:02
4 The Stealer (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 03:52
5 Don't Say You Love Me (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 05:56
6 Mr. Big (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 06:27
7 I'll Be Creepin' (Live) 04:32
8 Free Me (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 06:38
9 Woman (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 04:18
10 I'm A Mover (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 03:43
11 Walk Iin My Shadow (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 04:18
12 Songs Of Yesterday (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 05:08
13 All Right Now (Live) (Previously Unreleased) 07:29
14 Crossroads (Live) (Robert Johnson) 06:36

DISC FIVE (63:01)
1 (I Just Wanna) See You Smile (Previously Unreleased) 03:06
2 Like Water (Previously Unreleased) 04:32
3 Zero BC (Previously Unreleased) 05:35
4 Ol'Jelly Roll (Alternative 7inch Mix) 02:35
5 Follow Me (Alternative 7inch Mix) 02:59
6 Fool's Life (Previously Unreleased) 04:13
7 I'm On The Run (Previously Unreleased) 04:33
8 Sammy's Alright (Previously Unreleased) 04:05
9 Hold On (A New Stereo Mix) 05:35
10 Tuesday Williamsburg (Previously Unreleased) 02:54
11 Unseen Love (Previously Unreleased) 04:32
12 Time Spent (Time Away) (Previously Unreleased) (Full Version) 18:14

REVIEW/AMG
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
****1/2 / *****
It's strange that a band with a song as immediate as "All Right Now" is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's the truth. Free was a powerful, majestic hard rock band at their peak, but they were also a little obtuse; a lot of their power came from their playing, and their songwriting was epic, but often elliptical. As such, they're for hard rock connoisseurs -- a band who gained a spirited, dedicated following largely because they took devotion to unlock their treasures, especially in the years following their breakup. For those fans, the five-disc Songs of Yesterday is a godsend. This is not a box for listeners with less than a consuming interest in the band (even if you think you want total immersion in Free, this will not be as effective as purchasing each of their albums) since this contains a wealth of unreleased material. Very few of the tracks are actual album tracks, most are alternate mixes or alternate versions, plus there are a lot of live tracks in the mix, as well. As long as you know what you're getting into, this isn't bad, especially since it refurbishes the band's canon for the dedicated, giving them fresh insights to familiar songs (even if the new mixes aren't necessarily better than the originals -- they just sound a bit brighter and more modern). For anyone else, it's a bit much, and it doesn't quite tell the story in the right fashion, since it really offers a mirror image, alternate version rather than the real thing.

BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Jason Ankeny
Famed for their perennial "All Right Now," Free helped lay the foundations for the rise of hard rock, stripping the earthy sound of British blues down to its raw, minimalist core to pioneer a brand of proto-metal later popularized by 1970s superstars like Foreigner, Foghat and Bad Company. Free formed in London in 1968 when guitarist Paul Kossoff, then a member of the blues unit Black Cat Bones, was taken to see vocalist Paul Rodgers' group Brown Sugar by a friend, drummer Tom Mautner. After deciding to form their own band, Kossoff and Rodgers recruited drummer Simon Kirke (since Mautner was at university) and 16-year-old bass phenom Andy Fraser from the ranks of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers; with the aid of Alexis Korner, who also suggested the name Free, the fledgling band signed to the Island label, issuing their bluesy debut Tons of Sobs in 1968.

Free's eponymous 1969 follow-up expanded on their roots-based sound, incorporating rockers like Albert King's "The Hunter" as well as muscular ballads like "Lying in the Sunshine" into the mix. Although both of the first two albums fared poorly on the charts, 1970's Fire and Water became a tremendous hit on the strength of the primal "All Right Now," a Top Five smash powered by Rodgers' gritty, visceral vocals. After headlining 1970's Isle of Wight festival, the group appeared destined for superstardom, but the LP Highway did not fare nearly as well as anticipated, and after a grueling tour which yielded 1971's Free Live, the band dissolved amidst ego clashes and recriminations.

While Rodgers went on to form Peace and Fraser founded Toby, Kossoff and Kirke teamed with bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick to record the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit. When none of these new projects proved successful, the original lineup of Free re-formed to record 1972's Free at Last, which launched the hit "Little Bit of Love." However, drug problems nagged the group, as Kossoff's longtime battle with heroin continued to worsen; soon Fraser exited to form Sharks with Chris Spedding, leaving Rodgers and Kirke to record the majority of 1973's Heartbreaker while a drug-addled Kossoff watched from the sidelines. Soon, the group disbanded again, this time for good: while Rodgers and Kirke went on to found Bad Company, Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler before dying of a drug-induced heart attack on March 19, 1976.

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