All Right Now
Free, 1970. Solo by Paul Kossoff.
Kossoff's vibrato does the talking.
Paul Kossoff's solo is a model of restraint, built on space, bent notes and a famously intense vibrato rather than speed. He mixes fretted notes with ringing open strings and moves into B minor pentatonic shapes with carefully controlled bends, shaking each sustained note with a wide vibrato that even Eric Clapton admired. A Les Paul straight into Marshall heads gave him thick tone and sustain. The album version gives the solo more room than the single. Listen for the vibrato on the held notes; Kossoff shakes the string so intensely that each note seems to quiver with emotion.
All Right Now by Free is ranked #97 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Paul Kossoff and the song was released in 1970. It appears on 5 lists, placing as high as #9 (Magazyn Gitarzysta).
The story of All Right Now
All Right Now grew out of a flat show in Durham, in the north of England. Drummer Simon Kirke remembered the band walking off stage to near-silence and realising they lacked a rousing closer. In the dressing room at the Durham students' union building, bassist Andy Fraser suddenly started bouncing around singing the title hook, and the song was roughed out on the spot in what Kirke reckoned was no more than ten minutes. Fraser has broadly confirmed that account.
Paul Rodgers filled in the lyric, a playful back-and-forth in which a man chats up a woman in the street and she later accuses him of spinning her a line. Free sharpened the arrangement by playing it night after night on stage before taking it into the studio. They recorded it in January 1970 at Trident and Island Studios in London, producing themselves, with the stop-start riff and Rodgers' bluesy vocal framed by generous space.
Island released the song as a single on 15 May 1970, backed with Mouthful of Grass, ahead of the album Fire and Water. A tighter single mix, with a punchier rhythm guitar and a shorter solo, ran 4:14 against the album's 5:31. The single reached No. 2 in Britain and No. 4 in America and topped charts in Denmark and Sweden, with Free's set at that summer's Isle of Wight Festival adding momentum. Fire and Water became the band's breakthrough album.
The solo
Paul Kossoff's solo is a model of restraint, built on space, bent notes and a famously intense vibrato rather than speed. Guitar World's analysis notes how he mixes fretted notes with ringing open strings and moves into B minor pentatonic shapes with carefully controlled bends, shaking each sustained note with the wide vibrato that even Eric Clapton admired. Kossoff typically played a Gibson Les Paul straight into 100-watt Marshall Super Lead heads, favouring heavy strings and picks for tone and sustain. Guitar.com notes that it is not certain which of his Les Pauls was used at the January 1970 session, and that he played a stripped-finish Les Paul on Top of the Pops. The album version runs over a minute longer than the single and gives the solo more room to build.
Legacy
All Right Now became one of the defining British rock songs of 1970 and a permanent classic-rock radio fixture. By late 1989 it had passed a million US radio plays, earning an ASCAP award, and in 2006 BMI honoured it for three million plays. A 1991 remix returned it to the UK top ten. Its huge success proved a mixed blessing: follow-ups stalled and Simon Kirke later called the hit something of an albatross. The song lives on in Paul Rodgers' sets and as Stanford University's unofficial fight song.
Top 10 facts about All Right Now
The song was written in about ten minutes in the dressing room at Durham's students' union building, Dunelm House, after a poorly received gig.
WikipediaAndy Fraser came up with the hook by spontaneously singing the title while bopping around the dressing room.
WikipediaThe single mix and album mix differ: the single has more aggressive rhythm guitar and the album version features a longer guitar solo.
SongfactsFree's August 1970 Isle of Wight Festival set, before a crowd of roughly 600,000, helped propel the song's success.
SongfactsThe song earned an ASCAP award in 1990 for passing one million US radio plays, and a BMI Million-Air award in 2006 for three million.
WikipediaA 1991 remix by Bob Clearmountain took the song back to No. 8 in the UK.
WikipediaKossoff usually played a Les Paul Standard straight into 100-watt Marshall Super Lead heads, with Marshall bass speakers for a rounder sound.
Guitar WorldKossoff owned a 1959 sunburst Les Paul that he kept until his death in 1976, though it is uncertain whether it was used on All Right Now.
Guitar.comPaul Rodgers had a foot-powder commercial using the song pulled from the air.
SongfactsA Stanford Band arrangement serves as the de facto fight song for Stanford University's sports teams.
Wikipedia
Live versions
- Isle of Wight Festival (1970) Free played to a vast August crowd, a performance credited with boosting the single.
- Top of the Pops (1970) Kossoff appeared with his stripped-finish Les Paul on the BBC chart show.
- Queen + Paul Rodgers, Live in Ukraine (2008) Rodgers revived the song with Brian May and Roger Taylor during their collaboration.
Notable covers
- Rod Stewart Among the notable artists Wikipedia lists as covering the song.
- Mike Oldfield Named by both Wikipedia and Songfacts among the song's covers.
- Pepsi & Shirlie (1987) Pop duo named their 1987 album after the song.
- Stanford Band Marching arrangement became Stanford's de facto fight song.
In our lists
- One and Only — #12
- The Road Trip 50 — #22
- The 25 Greatest Blues Rock Guitar Solos — #11
- Solos in Hit Singles — #22
- Most Divisive — #10
Sources
- Magazyn Gitarzysta: 100 solówek wszech czasów [100 solos of all time] — #9
- Classic Rock (Louder): The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock — #17
- Złote czasy rocka: Najlepsze gitarowe solówki — #22
- Top 40 Weekly: Best 70s Guitar Solos: Top 40 Greatest of the Decade — #34
- Planet Rock: The 75 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #66
- Digital Dream Door: 250 Greatest Rock Guitar Solos — #190
- Wikipedia: All Right Now
- Wikipedia: Fire and Water (Free album)
- Songfacts: All Right Now
- Guitar World: Paul Kossoff blues-rock style
- Guitar.com: Paul Kossoff's 1959 Gibson Les Paul up close
What guitar was used on the All Right Now solo?
A gibson les paul through a Marshall amp, according to widely reported accounts.
Where does All Right Now rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#97 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 5 of them.
Who wrote All Right Now?
Bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers of Free wrote it in 1970.
What album is All Right Now on?
It is on Free's third album, Fire and Water, released by Island in June 1970.
Who played guitar on All Right Now?
Paul Kossoff played the guitar parts, including the solo known for its intense vibrato.
What guitar did Paul Kossoff use?
He was known for Gibson Les Pauls through Marshall heads, though the exact guitar on the session is uncertain.
Where was All Right Now written?
In the dressing room of Durham University's students' union after a gig that fell flat.