All Right Now
1970 song by Free
"All Right Now" is a song by English rock band Free, released on their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970). It was released by Island Records, a record label founded by Chris Blackwell. Released as the album's second single, "All Right Now" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In July 1973, the song was re-released, peaking at number 15 on the UK chart. In 1991, a Bob Clearmountain remix of the song was released, reaching number eight on the UK chart.
"All Right Now" was recognised by American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers in 1990 for accumulating over 1,000,000 radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989. In 2006, the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3,000,000 air plays of the song in the USA. The song remains as a staple track of classic rock radio.
It was covered by artists such as Mike Oldfield, Witch Queen, Rod Stewart, Pepsi & Shirlie (All Right Now) and GNR. A version arranged by the Stanford Band is the de facto fight song of Stanford University athletic teams.
01Composition
According to drummer Simon Kirke, "All Right Now" was written by Free bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers in the Durham Students' Union building, Dunelm House. He said: "'All Right Now' was created after a bad gig in Durham. We finished our show and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser. It was obvious that we needed a rocker to close our shows. All of a sudden the inspiration struck Fraser and he started bopping around singing 'All Right Now'. He sat down and wrote it right there in the dressing room. It couldn't have taken more than ten minutes." Fraser has agreed largely with this history.
02Reception
Billboard called it a "funky beer blues swinger" that's a "mover from start to finish." Record World said that the song "lays a hunk of heaviness on your head" and "will establish [Free] once and for all."
03Chart history
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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04Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
05Personnel
- Paul Rodgers, vocals
- Paul Kossoff, guitar
- Andy Fraser, bass, piano
- Simon Kirke, drums
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “All Right Now”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Free all right now.png by Island Records, 6014 016 or the graphic artist(s), Fair use
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