All Right Now

Album

Good Parts

Label

Island Records

Genre

Hard rock

Composer(s)

Andy Fraser;Paul Rodgers

Entered Chart

Aug 15, 1970

Peak Date

Oct 17, 1970

Released

15 May 1970

Recorded

January 1970 Studio Trident, LondonIsland, London

Catalog #

A&M 1206

B-Side

Mouthful Of Grass

In the CD Molten Gold - An Anthology, Free drummer Simon Kirke explained: "'All Right Now' was created after a bad gig in Durham, England. Our repertoire at that time was mostly slow and medium paced blues songs which was alright if you were a student sitting quietly and nodding your head to the beat. However, we finished our show in Durham and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser. When we got into the dressing room, it was obvious that we needed an uptempo number, a rocker to close our shows. All of sudden, the Inspiration struck (bass player Andy) 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 10 minutes." >> This is the first hit song with vocals by Paul Rodgers. He later joined Bad Company and also played with The Firm and Queen. The song is about a guy who picks up a girl on the street and takes her home for sex. His opening gambit: Hey, what's your name? Maybe we can see things the same Then he lays it on smooth: Let's move before they raise the parking rate Once they go back to his place, she gets a little suspicious, so he tries to put her at ease: Don't you think that love can last? Maybe mentioning "love" wasn't the best idea, as she retorts: Love! Lord above Now you're tryin' to trick me in love This song really took off after Free's performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31,1970 at the East Aftom Farm, Aftom Down, where over 600,000 people attended. Los Angeles disc jockey Joe Benson told Paul Rodgers during an on air interview that "All Right Now" is playing over the airwaves somewhere around the world once every 45 seconds. >> Free weren't able to follow up this song with another hit, as the next single, "Stealer," stalled at #49 in America and didn't chart at all in the UK. In a Songfacts interview with Simon Kirke, he said: "It became a bit of an albatross around our necks, I have to say. Even though it elevated Free into the big leagues, it became a bit of an albatross because we couldn't follow it. It became a huge hit all around the world, only because we wanted to have something that people could dance to, but then, of course, we had to follow it up, and Island Records were desperate for us to follow it up. Really it was just a one-off for us, and when the follow-up to 'All Right Now' died a death – it was called "The Stealer" – and the album that followed, Fire and Water, from which 'All Right Now' was taken, when that didn't do very well, we took it to heart and the band broke up. So, in an indirect way, 'All Right Now' was not very good for the band, I have to say. But, by the same token, it's been such a durable song. I play it in my solo shows, I played it with Ringo Starr and I think one of the highlights of my career." The album version is over a minute longer than the radio edit, which had a shorter guitar solo. >> The song has soundtracked numerous commercials in the UK, most famously in 1990 when it featured in a TV ad for Wrigley's chewing gum, which generated enough interest to return the tune to the UK charts. "I can't keep track of where it's turned up," Paul Rodgers ruefully told The Independent April 7, 2010. "Island Records owned the publishing rights to all our songs in perpetuity. In theory, they're supposed to call me and ask, 'Can we use this song in this way?' but they often don't. I think if the money's good enough, they just go, 'Yes! Wrigley's? YES!!'" A less satisfactorily tie-in came when the song was used to advertise a foot-odor powder on television. "You use this stuff on your feet and the song comes on to signify that your feet are All Right Now, you see," Rogers said acidly. "I rang Chris Blackwell about it. He had it taken off pretty smartly." The song has been covered by many bands and artists, including Mike Oldfield, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, the Runaways and, ex-Wham! backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie. This topped a 2010 online fan poll by UK radio station Planet Rock for the "Greatest Rock Singles." Said Paul Rodgers: "When I started writing 'All Right Now' the lyrics and the melody flowed easily. It felt special and it's still special to me and the fans. It's a 'must play' in my solo set." Andy Fraser recalled the writing of the song to Mojo magazine October 2012: "We'd started work on our third album, Fire and Water and things were going well. The idea for 'All Right Now' came about on a rainy Tuesday night in some godsforsaken minor city - I can't remember where - in England. We were playing a college that could have held 2,000 but had something like 30 people out of their heads on Mandrax bumping into each other in front of us. They didn't notice when we came on or when we went off. Afterwards there was that horrible silence in the dressing room. To break the intensity, I started singing, 'All right now…come on baby, all right now.' As if to say, Hey, tomorrow's another day. Everyone else started tapping along. That riff was me trying to do my Pete Townshend. We listened to everything, though: The Beatles, Stax and Motown, Gladys Knight And the Pips was one of our main influences then. Paul (Rodgers) said he wrote the lyrics while he was waiting for us to pick him up for another gig. We used to have a dressing room amp, so every night we'd do the song and add a bit, until we tested it live." When Paul Rodgers teamed up with Queen in 2004 to tour as Queen + Paul Rodgers, this was a regular part of their set list and a crowd favorite.

(Fraser / Rodgers) 
 
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-woha 
There she stood in the street 
Smilin' from her head to her feet; 
 
I said, "Hey, what is this? 
Now maybe, baby, 
Maybe she's in need of a kiss." 
 
I said, "Hey, what's your name? 
Maybe we can see things the same. 
 
"Now don't you wait, or hesitate. 
Let's move before they raise the parking rate." 
 
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now. 
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now. 
 
(Let me tell you now) 
I took her home to my place, 
Watchin' every move on her face; 
 
She said, "Look, what's your game? 
Are you tryin' to put me to shame?" 
 
I said "Slow, don't go so fast, don't you think that love can last?" 
 
She said, "Love, Lord above, 
Now you're tryin' to trick me in love." 
 
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now. 
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now