If you look up the definition of ‘Downer’ in the Oxford English Dictionary there’s just a picture of Free Highway there. True story.
Free were on top of the world in 1970, they released the mighty Fire And Water in June, ‘All Right Now’ was the mega hit rocker they craved, they played to much acclaim at the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival* and so when they reconvened to make Highway all looked good. Shame.
Paul Kossoff had a difficult relationship with fame and a regrettable one with drugs, the death of his friend Hendrix during the sessions affected him badly. Check out those numb, cold-looking, Jonesing miseries pictured in the gatefold, this was not going to be a happy time. Allied to a partial shift towards a more rural Band-influenced style of music (‘The Highway Song’ has more references to farmer’s daughters than the Themyscira chapter of the Young Farmer’s Guild), Highway suffered from a lack of coherence.
Released only four months after Fire And Water** in December ’70 Highway flopped.
My initial reaction to Highway was that it was a mess of styles and unrealised intentions and that ‘Bodie’ was the worst thing Free had ever committed to vinyl. Having spent a week with the album I now think that Highway is a mess of styles and unrealised intentions and ‘Bodie was the worst thing Free had ever committed to vinyl, but there are some real moments here.
Right, the good:
- The Stealer: menacing slow masculine blues funk, it sounds like sex-soiled sheets smell the next morning.
- Sunny Day: a cold wintry sun at best. That title has to be ironic, surely? I like the delicate mood this one paints.
- Ride On Pony: loose limbed funk, with some great cutting Kossoff guitar.
The bad:
- On My Way: utterly unmemorable.
- Love You So: nice enough ballad, but this is Free for god ‘sake! Higher standards apply.
- Soon I Will Be Gone: as above with more of a cowboy touch, better.
Which only leaves the great:
- Be My Friend: possibly the best song they ever committed to vinyl.
I admit I am capable of hyperbole^, in fact I am probably better at it than anyone else who has ever lived, but I’m not yanking your ding-dong here, far from it. ‘Be My Friend’ is stately, dignified and soulful beyond belief. Paul Rodgers, simply one of my favourite singers ever, gives his best vocal here. The plaintive tone of the piece is beautifully emphasised by some economical but affecting guitar from Kossoff and Andy Fraser’s piano. As a song it is a lot closer to the sounds of Stax than any blues rock, the backing gets a touch Isaac Hayes at the end.
It is tempting to read a desperate heartfelt plea from Paul Kossoff into ‘Be My Friend’, a sad yearning for stability and peace of mind as he slipped beneath the waters of his habit. It was written by Fraser and Rodgers, as usual though.
It is a beautiful heartfelt song.
So there it is, Free were simply too good, played far too well, were too inspired to make a wholly poor LP and Highway has enough on it to justify its existence, enough to dip into occasionally. It is an album that suffers by comparison to the skyscrapingly great heights of their previous works, maybe that is just the inevitable consequence of releasing 4 LPs in a 20 month spell since March 1969. No wonder the guys look tired in the gatefold.
It is no coincidence that Highway had the worst cover art of any of Free’s albums. A poorly-conceived washed out, almost pixelated image of the band members heads with each quadrant made up of the tiny letters spelling the band’s name. The LP title is all you would read without magnifying glass and there are stories of fans not realising the LP was by Free and of reviews attributing it to ‘that Highway band’.
LP covers are important folks.
1096 Down.
PS: I love the hilarious disconnect between band and audience here, for God’s sake at least try and look like you haven’t been forced to go to the gig at gunpoint:
*possibly watched by my granny, sadly I will never know.
**bands really having to work for a living back then.
^which until I was about 21 I thought was pronounced hyper-bowl. True story.
