FREE
Top Gear Session
BBC Studio 1, London, UK
July 15, 1968

Producer: Bernie Andrews
Engineer: Pete Ritzema

Broadcast on Top Gear with John Peel on July 21, 1968

Lineage: broadcast > unknown gen > wav > flac

Tracks:
00 - Waiting on You (omitted)
01 - Walk in My Shadow
02 - Moonshine
03 - Free Me (early version)

Total time 11:50


Paul Rogers - Vocals, Harmonica
Paul Kossoff - Guitar
Andy Fraser - Bass, Vocals
Simon Kirke - Drums

This is the earliest known recorded FREE live performance ever. On July 15th 1968, even before they recorded "Tons of Sobs" (October 1968), FREE did a session / audition for BBC radio. In the end, the result seemed to be ok for BBC and so it got broadcast a few days later on Top Gear with John Peel. The band recorded four songs, but "Waiting on You" has been released officially, so I had to omit it. Most of you would know it anyway. But these remaining three tracks have not been around too much I think, so here they are. Free Me stands out the most, if not only for it being an early version of the song, much faster and with a different arrangement.

Simon Kirke remembers:
"I think that was one of the biggest moments of my life. I know it must have been for Koss. We recorded it on a Wednesday, I think, and it came out on Sunday afternoon. We all got round to the radio to listen. We were all saying �oh that was too slow� or, �we should have done this�. I think the four songs were interspersed in the programme. At the end Peel said, �I think we're going to hear a lot more from that band�. It was thrilling."

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First uploaded to DIME by olvator in May 2011.
This reseed by propylaen in March 2015.

Enjoy!