Vizz Tone Label Group artist: Amanda Fish - Free - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Free, from Amanda Fish and it's cool. Fish takes a raw pop edge with soul to create her own voice. Opening with 2020, a funky blues track Fish kicks off her shoes and captures that southern rock Muscle Shoals" feel with Dave Hays on guitar. Cool opener. Boogie track, Not Anymore has a great driving bass line and with Richard Rosenblatt spicing up the track on harp. Boogie! One of my favorite tracks on the release is Anymore with really nice soulful vocals and Chris Hazelton joining on organ. Blessed is full blown gospel style soul with Sarah Morgan on backing vocals and Ken Valdez on guitar. Alastair Greene kicks it into high gear on rocker, Going Down with super slide guitar. Very cool. Powerful soul ballad, You Could Be shows just how gripping Fish's vocals can be when she digs down and she does dig. Coyote Bill adds some hot flashes on guitar joined by Hazelton on organ. Hot and heavy. Another boogie track with hot slide is Here We Are and plenty of soul country sweat. Best blues vocals on the release show on Don't Mean A Thing with a lot of the emotion of Janis on Ball and Chain featuring very nicely articulated guitar soloing by Hays. With a change up, Fish switches to a raw, Courtney Love style for another super track. Wrapping the release is title track, Free, a solemn soul track with Fish accompanying herself on piano, joined by Hazelton on organ, and then springing into a full blown spiritual track with Hays and Carl Butler on guitar, Morgan on vocals, Glen James on tambourine and drums, and Fish of course on bass. This is a sneakily super release. Give it a couple of listens and see for yourself. 

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Free bass player Andy Fraser passes - Coincidentally Free guitarist died on this day in 1976 - Our thoughts are with his family

Andy Fraser, who co-wrote the rousing rock anthem "All Right Now" when he was the teenage bassist for the British rock band Free, has died in California at age 62.
Fraser had been living in the Southern California desert community of Temecula, where he died Monday, the Riverside County coroner said in a statement. The cause of death is not yet known and remains under investigation.
Fraser's daughter Hannah sent a lengthy statement to FOX411 about her father's passing on behalf of herself, her sister Jasmine, and her mother Ri. Here it is in full:
I'm so shocked and heartbroken by the loss of our amazing father Andy, who was a true force of nature. His endless passion for music has been an inspiration to the world for over half a decade. Using his creative talents to bring positive change to the world with a fearless commitment to honesty and justice has been a pivotal example for my life. He worked tirelessly on humanitarian projects such as Rock Against Trafficking, Gay Rights Issues, The Occupy Movement, Eco-activism, and he was producing a documentary on Ocean Conservation with me. 
Andy never did things by halves. He was a mover and a shaker, and had unfathomable depths of optimism, even when faced with the biggest challenges. He saw everything as an opportunity to make a difference, turning issues into art and uncovering layers of himself to share bravely with the world.

MR.BIG - FREE

Before there was Govt Mule... Before there was Bad Company... there was Free!
This is one of the most recognizable guitars on the planet...with Peter Green's Les Paul, SRV's Strat and Rory Gallagher's Strat! Kossoff died way too young!
Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.

Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"
Kossoff was the son of Margaret (Jenkins) and the British actor David Kossoff. His father was of Russian-Jewish descent. Kossoff started playing guitar in the mid 1960s, taught by session guitarist Colin Falconer, Paul became a professional at age 15 when he was a founding member of Black Cat Bones. The band played with touring blues piano player Champion Jack Dupree, did many supporting shows for Fleetwood Mac and other gigs with Fleetwood Mac cofounder Peter Green. Kossoff would jam and spend hours discussing blues playing and players. Kossoff's bandmate in Black Cat Bones was drummer Simon Kirke, and the two would go on to play on Champion Jack Dupree's April 1968 album When You Feel the Feeling you was Feeling
Kossoff's unhappiness with the end of Free and his drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist's health. On a flight from Los Angeles to New York on 19 March 1976, Kossoff died from drug-related heart problems.

Simon Kirke played drums from early age and by the time he was 14 he was playing semi-professionally

He left school at the age of 17 and was determined to become a drummer full-time. He held down a string of menial jobs during the day until he formed a new group called Free with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser. Over the next five years this remarkable group released several albums and singles, the most famous one being "Allright Now." " Even though they were relatively young as a group, Free left a musical legacy which lasts to this day. In 1973, Paul Rodgers and Simon disbanded Free and formed Bad Company with Mick Ralphs and Boz Burrell. Five of the six albums Bad Company released with Paul Rodgers are multi-platinum or gold. Their debut record includes the hit singles "Can't Get Enough" and "Movin' On." the band's legacy of hit songs continued with "Good Lovin' Gone Bad," "Feel Like making Love," and "Rock and Roll Fantasy." With the combined successes of Free and Band Company, you can turn on any rock station in the world and you are likely to hear Simons drumming.
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