Andy Fraser
| Andy Fraser | |
|---|---|
Steve Winwood & Free in Amsterdam, 1970. From left to right: Winwood, Fraser, Rodgers, Kirke & Kossoff
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew McLan Fraser |
| Born |
3 July 1952 Paddington, London, England |
| Died | 16 March 2015 (aged 62) Temecula, California, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1968–2015 |
| Associated acts | Free, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Sharks |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson EB-3 | |
 Oral History, Andy Fraser reflects on his greatest musical influences. Interview date November 3, 2014, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library
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Andrew McLan "Andy" Fraser (3 July 1952 – 16 March 2015) was an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members of the rock band Free in 1968, at age 15.
Fraser was born in the Paddington area of Central London and started playing the piano at the age of five. He was trained classically until twelve, when he switched to guitar. By thirteen he was playing in East End, West Indian clubs and after being expelled from school in 1968 at age 15, enrolled at Hammersmith F.E. College where another student, Sappho Korner, introduced him to her father, pioneering blues musician and radio broadcaster Alexis Korner, who became a father-figure to him. Shortly thereafter, upon receiving a telephone call from John Mayall, who was looking for a bass player, Korner suggested Fraser and, still only 15, he was in a pro band and earning £50 a week, although it ultimately turned out to be a brief tenure.
Korner was also instrumental in Fraser's next move, to the influential band Free, which consisted of Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar) and Simon Kirke (drums). Fraser produced and co-wrote the song "All Right Now" with Rodgers, a No. 1 hit in over 20 territories and recognised by ASCAP in 1990 for garnering over 1,000,000 radio plays in the United States by late 1989. In October 2006 a BMI London Million-Air Award was given to Rodgers and Fraser to mark over 3 million radio and television plays of "All Right Now". Simon Kirke later recalled: "'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."
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