Tons of Sobs

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Tons of Sobs
Tons Of Sobs.jpg
Studio album by
Free
Released14 March 1969 (1969-03-14)
RecordedOctober, December 1968
StudioMorgan, Willesden, London
GenreBlues rock[1]
Length38:55
LabelIsland
ProducerGuy Stevens
Free chronology
Tons of Sobs
(1969) 		Free
(1969)

Tons of Sobs is the debut album by English blues rock band Free, released in the UK on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it did reach number 197 in the US.[2] Free are cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s, even though this is the only album of their canon that can strictly be called blues rock.[3] According to group bassist Andy Fraser, the title effectively summed up the album.

Recording[]

Free were a new band when they recorded Tons of Sobs, and they were extremely young; none of them were yet twenty and the youngest, Andy Fraser, was just sixteen years old. They had achieved a following through constant touring, and their debut album consisted for the most part of their live set-list.

With the band signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records, Guy Stevens was hired to produce the album (he later became notable for producing early albums for Mott the Hoople and the Clash's legendary album London Calling [1979]). He opted for a minimalist attitude to production, due to the extremely low budget of about £800, creating a very raw and raucous sound – although it may have been that the relative inexperience of the band was also a contributing factor to this. As such the album is a marked contrast in production terms from the band's later albums. The simple nature of the recording meant that many tracks translated well into a live setting and several songs from this album were still performed even when the band had written and recorded many more for subsequent records.

The majority of the album was recorded over the course of a few days in October 1968. Originally slated for a November release, the album was delayed to early 1969 due to the late addition of their cover of "The Hunter". This track was a mainstay in their live sets and was recorded in a December 1968 session at Stevens' insistence.

Professional reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[4]
Rolling Stone(negative)[5]

Track listing[]

Side one
  1. "Over the Green Hills (Pt. 1)" (Paul Rodgers) – 0:49
  2. "Worry" (Rodgers) – 3:26
  3. "Walk in My Shadow" (Andy Fraser, Simon Kirke, Paul Kossoff, Rodgers) – 3:29
  4. "Wild Indian Woman" (Fraser, Rodgers) – 3:39
  5. "Goin' Down Slow" (James Burke Oden) – 8:20
Side two
  1. "I'm a Mover" (Rodgers, Fraser) – 2:56
  2. "The Hunter" (Booker T. Jones, Carl Wells, Donald Dunn, Al Jackson, Jr., Steve Cropper) – 4:13
  3. "Moonshine" (Fraser, Kirke, Kossoff, Rodgers) – 5:04
  4. "Sweet Tooth" (Rodgers) – 4:54
  5. "Over the Green Hills (Pt. 2)" (Rodgers) – 1:58
Bonus tracks

Recent CD reissues contain several bonus tracks:

  2. "I'm a Mover" (BBC session) (Rodgers, Fraser) – 3:04
  3. "Waitin' on You" (BBC session) (B.B. King, Ferdinand Washington) – 2:15
  4. "Guy Stevens Blues" (Rodgers, Fraser, Kirke, Kossoff) – 4:39
  5. "Moonshine" (Alternative vocal) (Fraser, Kirke, Kossoff, Rodgers) – 5:09
  6. "Sweet Tooth" (Early take and alternative vocal) (Rodgers) – 4:53
  7. "Visions of Hell" (Fraser, Rodgers) – 3:46
  8. "Woman by the Sea" (Fraser, Rodgers) – 3:30
  9. "Over the Green Hills" (BBC session) (Rodgers) – 3:51

Personnel[]

Additional personnel
  • Steve Miller – piano (thumping)
  • Guy Stevens – producer
  • Andy Johns – engineer
  • Mike Sida – front cover photograph
  • Richard Bennett Zeff – inside cover photography

References[]

  1. ^ "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums of All Time". Classic Rock. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Free Tons of Sobs Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  3. ^ V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues (Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), pp. 700–2.
  4. ^ Free: Tons of Sobs at AllMusic
  5. ^ Leimbacher, Ed (18 October 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. No. 44. San Francisco, California. p. 37.

Bibliography[]

  • Strong, Martin C. The Great Rock Discography, 6th edition. Edinburgh: Canongate Books 1994, 2002. pp. 392–3.
  • Sutcliffe, Phil. Notes to Tons of Sobs by Free. Universal Island Records Ltd. 1968, 2001.

External links[]

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