Andy Fraser

Andy Fraser - In Your Eyes - 1975 - CBS

Andy Fraser was, of course, the talented bass player, and songwriter with the wonderful British blues rock band, Free. In addition to his fluid, looping basslines, Andy Fraser also contributed to some of the songwriting for a lot of Free's classic songs. Andy split from Free on two occasions, first in 1971, going on to form Toby, with guitarist Adrian Fisher (later to join Sparks) and drummer Stan Speake. After a short-lived Free reformation in 1972 Andy teamed up with Chris Spedding to form Sharks. After the demise of Sharks and after a brief stint with Frankie Miller and Henry McCullough, Andy formed the Andy Fraser Band with Nick Judd (keyboards) and Kim Turner (drums).Some of the tracks on "In Your Eyes" sound similar to Free, as Andy Fraser's vocals are not unlike the great Paul Rodgers. However, if you can sing like Paul Rodgers, there's not much to criticise. "In Your Eyes" is good, soulful, R & B type rock, and if the late Paul Kossoff had played on this album, it would probably sound like a modern day Free album. Check out The Andy Fraser Band' s/t album @ AFB/ST

TRACKS

Train of Love
Let Your Love Come Out
Ease On Out
Be Good To Yourself
Gotta Steal Away
Listen To the Rain
Leave Your Love Light Shine
Talking Bout My Baby
Ain't No Substitute
Need Someone to Love

All songs composed by Andy Fraser

BAND

Andy Fraser - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Kim Turner - Drums
Nick Judd - Bass Pedals, Electric Piano



BIO (Wikipedia)

Andrew McLan 'Andy' Fraser (born 3 July 1952, in Paddington, West London) is an English musician, best known for his songwriting and bass playing with Free. He started playing the piano at five years old, and was trained classically until the age of twelve, when he switched to guitar. By thirteen, he was playing in the East End, West Indian clubs and, after being expelled from school at 15, he enrolled at the Hammersmith F.E. College. There, he met Sappho Korner, daughter of Alexis Korner, who subsequently became a father-figure to him. In 1968, Korner received a telephone call from John Mayall, who was looking for a bass player. Korner suggested Fraser and, at age 15, he was in a pro band and earning £50 a week, though it was a brief tenure. Korner was also instrumental in Fraser's next move, to the influential band Free, which consisted of Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar) and Simon Kirke (drums). Fraser produced and co-wrote the song "All Right Now" with Rodgers, a # 1 hit in over 20 territories and recognised by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989, and in 2000 an Award was given to Free by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed 2,000,000 plus radio plays in the UK. Free initially split in 1971, and Fraser formed a trio, Toby, with guitarist Adrian Fisher (later with Sparks), and drummer Stan Speake. Material was recorded but not released, and Fraser re-joined Free in December 1971. He left for the second time in June 1972. After leaving Free, Fraser formed Sharks with vocalist Snips (later Baker, Gurvitz Army), guitarist Chris Spedding plus drummer, Marty Simon. They were a good band, and Island's "Great White Hope of the 1970s". Despite being well received by the critics, especially for Spedding's tasteful guitar work, Fraser left after their debut album, First Water (1973). He then formed the Andy Fraser Band, a trio with Kim Turner on drums, and Nick Judd on keyboards. They released two albums, Andy Fraser Band and In Your Eyes, both in 1975, before that too folded. Attempts to form a band with Frankie Miller came to nothing, and Fraser re-located to California, to concentrate on songwriting. Fraser successfully crafted hits for Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, Rod Stewart, Paul Young and many others. To this day, Fraser's most famous composition is "All Right Now" recorded by Free with "Every Kinda People," which Palmer recorded for his Double Fun set in 1978 coming in an extremely distant second. Palmer's first chart hit in the U.S., the number is cherished for its message of interracial understanding. The Palmer version has inspired artists such as Chaka Demus, Randy Crawford and Amy Grant to cover it. In 1984, Fraser finally released another album of his own. Fine, Fine Line featured ex-Back Street Crawler drummer, Tony Braunagel, Bob Marlette (keyboards), Michael Thompson (guitar) and David Faragher (bass), with Fraser contributing vocals. He was later diagnosed with a form of cancer and, during treatment, contracted HIV. This explanation has been called into question by his recent revelation that he is homosexual. He played bass with former Free colleague, Paul Rodgers, at Woodstock 1994, but otherwise kept a low profile until 2005, when a new release, Naked and Finally Free, appeared. Since then, the album received strong praise from both fans and critics, including outlets such as VH-1 Classics, Sirius Radio, ABC Radio, Launch Radio, The New York Daily News and the Associated Press, among others. In early 2006, a comprehensive interview with Andy was conducted by Tom Guerra for Vintage Guitar magazine, covering Andy's entire career, influences, instruments and successes. In April 2006, Fraser responded to the revival of interest in his music by announcing two rare live shows at the Temecula Community Arts Theatre, in Temecula, California on 4 May. The shows, highlighted by an eight-piece band, were his first live performances since the Woodstock 1994 reunion. In 2008, Fraser wrote and sang the song Obama (Yes We Can) to support the campaign to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.