All Right Now
| "All Right Now" | |||||||||
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| Single by Free | |||||||||
| from the album Fire and Water | |||||||||
| B-side | "Mouthful of Grass"/"The Hunter" | ||||||||
| Released | 1970 | ||||||||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | ||||||||
| Genre | Hard rock | ||||||||
| Length | 5:29 4:13 (single version) |
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| Label | Island, A&M (US/Canada) | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Andy Fraser/Paul Rodgers | ||||||||
| Producer | Free | ||||||||
| Free singles chronology | |||||||||
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"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[1] "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed by Chris Blackwell. In 1991, the song was remixed and re-released, reaching #8 on the UK singles chart.
"All Right Now" was a #1 hit in over 20 territories and was recognised by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989.[2] In 2006 the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3 million air plays of All Right Now in the USA.[3]
The song has recently found a home as part of the encore set for Queen + Paul Rodgers. Before "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", it offers the fans one more chance to sing along. One of the engineers during the recordings of "All Right Now" was Roy Thomas Baker, who would later become Queen's producer (he mixed "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Don't Stop Me Now" among others).
According to drummer Simon Kirke, "All Right Now" was written by bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers in the Durham Students' Union building, Dunelm House.[4] However, Paul Rodgers stated whilst performing with Queen that he wrote the lyric of "All Right Now". This remark can be heard on the Queen + Paul Rodgers CD, Return of the Champions, when "All Right Now" starts.
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[edit] Versions/Mixes/Arrangement
There are (at least) two mixes of Free's "All Right Now". The most popular version heard on classic rock stations is 5:29 and a shorter mix is 4:13. The shorter one has a more complex guitar riff at the lead-in. The difference appears in the first seven seconds of the two tracks before Rodgers' "Whoa, whoa, whoa". The jazzier riff is apparent throughout the entire recording; there are also several slight variants to the bassline; this version has the click track accidentally mixed into it. When the band sent the album off to be mastered, they then pressed all the records, finally one of the members noticed it in the mix when he heard the song on the radio. Furthermore, there are two mixes of the common 4:13 version. The first is the original '1970s' version; this was later remixed using exactly the same vocal track, but replacing the guitars and drums with heavier, rockier sounding ones. There is an outtake version on their box-set, and a version on Free Live!#
The striking absence of bass guitar during the song's verses may be informed by the same arrangement feature on the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women (1969), which, moreover, also begins with several bars of unaccompanied drumming.
[edit] Use in the media
- This song is used in TV series Supernatural, as the closing music for season one episode Skin.
- A UK advert for Wrigley's chewing gum in the late 1980s and early 1990s used this song.
- This song was used in an episode of The Sopranos. In the episode The Ride, the song plays while Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti happen upon bikers who are robbing a liquor store.
- This song was featured on the American Beauty Soundtrack.
[edit] Personnel
- Paul Rodgers – lead vocal
- Paul Kossoff – electric guitar
- Andy Fraser – bass guitar
- Simon Kirke – drums
[edit] Cover versions
"All Right Now" has been covered by many bands and artists; the most popular are by The Runaways in 1975 (as a demo), (Rick) Santers [1] in 1984, Rod Stewart in 1985, ex-Wham! backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie in 1987, and by Scottish girl band Lemonescent in 2003. It has also been sampled in Tone-Loc's song "Funky Cold Medina" in 1989. The Who covered it at a concert in Passaic, New Jersey on September 11, 1979. The Sweet once covered this song at a 1976 concert following the death of Paul Kossoff in Santa Monica, California with Ritchie Blackmore guesting on guitar .[5] Sawyer Brown covered "All Right Now" as a part of their 2008 tour.
"All Right Now", recorded by Mike Oldfield (produced by Tom Newman), with vocals by Wendy Roberts and Pierre Moerrlen, was issued as a one-sided promotional blue flexi-disc 7" single in 1979. The single was given only to Virgin Records executives and was never issued to the public, making it one of the most elusive collectors' items in the Oldfield catalogue. Its catalogue number is "Virgin TT-362".[6]
Since 1976, "All Right Now" has been the de facto fight song of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band. The band and the student section all jump in the air when the song starts.
Steve Miller acknowledged that the intro to his 1976 #1 single "Rock 'n Me" was a tip of the hat to All Right Now. "Yeah, it's a tack on the wall for Paul. I did one concert in the two years that I was off the road. I went to London and played with Pink Floyd...it was a big, huge outdoor show so we needed a big rock and roll number that was really going to excite everybody. I just put it together and didn't think much about it."[2]
Christina Aguilera covered this song in 2000 at a concert, and it appeared on her My Reflection DVD.
David Cook covered this song during Top 20 week on American Idol: Season 7.
Paige Miles also sang this song on American Idol as her Top 24 performance.
White Noise perform this song regularly at their gigs in Playa Flamenca
Nightshade perform this song regularly at their gigs in Playa Flamenca
Chris Holder covered this song but changed the lyric from All Right Now to 'All Night Long'.
Ali Campbell covered the song on his 2010 album 'Great British Songs'.
ApologetiX recorded a parody version called "Go Right Now" on their album Jesus Christ Morningstar
Bad Company, the supergroup with Free singer Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke, covered this song in a 2002 concert, appearing on their In Concert: Merchants of Cool live album.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Song title 912 - All Right Now
- ^ Paul Rodgers: Biography. iTunes
- ^ Broadcast Music Inc. London Awards 2006
- ^ Mckay, Neil (5 November 2008). "All Right Now for Free tribute show". The Journal (Newcastle). http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/11/05/all-right-now-for-free-tribute-show-61634-22185571/.
- ^ YouTube - Sweet featuring Ritchie Blackmore - All Right Now (Live 1976)
- ^ "Rare Tracks". Amarok (Ommadawn.net). http://amarok.ommadawn.net/mike/discog/extras/raretracks.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
[edit] External links
- History of 'All Right Now' from the Stanford Band
- MP3 of the Stanford Band's version of All Right Now from http://www.fightmusic.com
- 'All Right Now' as played by the Penn Band
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