Simon Kirke just earned his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of Bad Company, but that hasn’t stopped the drummer from speaking out about his other band, Free.
During a conversation with UCR’s Matt Wardlaw, Kirke insisted Free – his group alongside Paul Rodgers prior to the forming of Bad Company – was just as worthy of induction.
“People have always asked me about Free, you know ‘Why aren’t Free inducted?’ And I don’t know,” the drummer explained. “Quite honestly, I don’t know why. But my worry is that Free is so back in the past now, you know ‘68 to ‘73, that I’m wondering if it will ever happen. Because the majority of the committee, the voting committee, and I don’t know how many there are of them, but you know you got to be in your 70s to remember Free. And I just hope we don’t get left in the dust.”
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Kirke noted that Chubby Checker will be a member of 2025 class, nearly 40 years after he first became eligible. The singer’s example proves that time doesn’t always hinder an artist’s case for induction.
The Making of Free’s ‘All Right Now’
Free’s biggest single was “All Right Now,” the classic track that became a worldwide hit in 1970. During his conversation with UCR, Kirke recalled how the song came together.
“The story is that ‘All Right Now’ came from a bad gig, and we needed a song that was up tempo and people could dance to. I know it sounds old fashioned now. So ‘All Right Now’ was written to fill that gap.”
READ MORE: Why Paul Rodgers Didn’t Perform ‘All Right Now’ for 18 Years
Kirke admitted he and the rest of Free knew they had something special, even as they were recording “All Right Now.”
“The caliber of the song is measured by how many times you can play it without getting sick of it. And we just loved it every time we hit that,” the drummer recalled. “It just propelled us, and even though we had a few breakdowns, we had to start again, it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the song. And when we finished, we finished around probably one in the morning, and it was in Island records in London. And Chris Blackwell, who was the CEO of Island records, had an apartment above the studio, and we went and got him out of bed and said, ‘You got to hear this song, Chris.’ And he came down, sort of rubbing his eyes. He said, ‘This better be good.’ And yeah, it was, it was great.”
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Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
