Very sad new, especially for bass players of my generation (I’m two weeks younger than Andy was). He and Jack Bruce were my inspiration and greatest influences in my early bass playing years.
My condolences to his family and friends.

Sorry to hear that.

Amazing to think he was only 15 when he started with Free. One of the best bands to come out of these Isles. RIP.
Nice link BTW – sums up the band perfectly

pedropete – Member
Amazing to think he was only 15 when he started with Free.

And with John Mayall before that – shit, was I ever envious…..

Should never have sold my EB-3 either.

He played the bass line on ‘Mr Big’ when he was 17 😯

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNwwUiKERR4[/video]

🙁

Never got to see them live as a band, still listen to their albums though.

He played the bass line on ‘Mr Big’ when he was 17

Amazing.

I was lucky enough to see them and I still reckon Free Live is one the finest albums ever released.

He played the bass line on ‘Mr Big’ when he was 17

It’s not eactly a hard bass line. My daughter can play it and she’s 13. 😀

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlVluy9V9M[/video]

Agreed nickc, young musical talents are not rare. Back then writing innovative stuff was a lot easier than now another couple of generations have filled the gaps. My son writes and I try to work out if I’ve heard it before. It would be better if musical copywrite lasted only as long as a pharma patent or at least died with the author.

It’s not eactly a hard bass line. My daughter can play it and she’s 13.

Big difference between playing a line and coming up with it in the first place.

It’s not eactly a hard bass line. My daughter can play it and she’s 13.

Maybe not, but nothing sounded like it before and I’m not sure of anything else since in a rock/blues song. It’s the innovation of coming up with it in the first place and having the balls to do it. At 17!

nickc – Member

It’s not eactly a hard bass line. My daughter can play it and she’s 13.

Including the solo? Because if she can, and with the same feel as Andy Fraser, I take my hat off to her. I used to think I got close, but that was all – even with the benefit of an EB-3….

Sad times. Dad saw Free a few times including at Fairfield Halls.

This is a decent set:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nInNSokA73g[/video]

I has assumed we were referring to the solo. Even I could play the basic riff and I don’t play bass.

It’s not eactly a hard bass line. My daughter can play it and she’s 13.
Maybe not, but nothing sounded like it before and I’m not sure of anything else since in a rock/blues song. It’s the innovation of coming up with it in the first place and having the balls to do it. At 17!

This! ^^
A talented youngster can follow a complicated guitar riff or bass-line, or whatever, but, to create the riff, bass-line, solo, in the first place, that’s where the real talent comes in.
You can look at a Mondrian, and think, “bugger, I could do that!”
Yes, anyone could, but ‘anyone’ couldn’t come up with that way of combining the shapes, lines and colours in the first place.
I saw Laura Marling on her first proper tour, fantastic voice, good guitarist, but it was the quality of her songwriting that stood out, at the age of 18-19. Look at Kate Bush, wrote The Man With The Child In His Eyes at 14!
Very sad to hear about Andy, it’s a shame that real differences existed between him and Paul Rogers that prevented them working together to properly re-master the entire Free back-catalogue; the one album of re-mastered tracks is incredibly good.
Without Koss, though, there could never be any kind of Free re-union, the combination of talents in that one band, at their ages, was a one-off.
Sadly, I was too young to ever get to see them live. 😐
RIP, Andy, you’ll be very much missed.