FREE - Top Gear, BBC, Studio 1, London, UK 1968-07-15 FM

broadcast on Tope Gear with John Peel on July 21st 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)

Paul Rogers - Vocals
Paul Kossoff - Guitar
Andy Fraser - Bass
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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