THE ONLY TIME
YOU'RE SATISFIED
IS WITH YOUR FEET
IN THE WISHING WELL
Heartbreaker
is the sixth
and final
studio album
by the
English rock band
that provided them
with one of their
most successful singles
"Wishing Well".
It was recorded
in 1972
after bassist
Andy Fraser
had left the band
and while guitarist
Paul Kossoff
was ailing from an
addiction to Mandrax
(Quaalude)
and features a
different line up
from previous albums.
Tetsu Yamauchi
was brought in to
replace Fraser,
while
John "Rabbit" Bundrick
became the band's
keyboard player
to compensate for
the increasingly unreliable
Kossoff
singer
Paul Rodgers
played keyboards
on the previous album
1972 Free at Last
Both Yamauchi
and Bundrick
had played with
Kossoff
and drummer
Simon Kirke
on the album
Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit
during that period
in late 1971
when Free had broken up
for the first time.
Also,
several other musicians
were used on the album.
The album was
co-produced by
Andy Johns
as well as
Free themselves.
Recording
One immediate effect of
Fraser's departure
was the loss of the
Fraser/Rodgers songwriting
partnership
that had hitherto provided
the bulk of the band's catalogue.
Hence many of the songs
were written solely
by Rodgers,
although some are
credited to the entire band
as a symbolic gesture
, including the single
"Wishing Well".
Bundrick wrote two
of the album's
eight tracks.
Meanwhile,
Kossoff was extremely
resentful of
"Snuffy" Walden
being brought in as a
session musician
to provide guitar tracks
when the other band members'
patience began to break.
This exacerbated his problems
even further,
but on those occasions
where recording went well
he produced
some notable work;
he is in fact far more
prominent on this album
than on the previous one.
He is uncredited on
the hit single
"Wishing Well",
however,
the lead guitar
on the track is
unmistakably Kossoff's,
and Kirke has
confirmed this.
The credits on the
original album sleeve
are inaccurate;
Kossoff plays on
the whole of side 1
and the final track
on side 2,
"Seven Angels".
Walden's guitar appears
on tracks 2, 3, and 4
of side 2,
so
"Seven Angels"
features both him
and Kossoff.
Walden also appears
on some
alternate mixes of
"Wishing Well",
but not on the version
released for the
UK single and album
. The Free box set
Songs of Yesterday
( 2000)
features an alternate mix of
"Muddy Water"
with guitar by Walden,
and an alternate mix of
"Common Mortal Man"
with guitar by both
Walden and Kossoff.
Island Records boss
Chris Blackwell
disliked the band's
initial mix of the album
and drafted
regular engineer
Andy Johns
to solve the problem;
in January 1973
the album was
ready for release.
The track
"Easy on My Soul"
would later be
re-recorded
by Rodgers and Kirke
with their subsequent band
Bad Company.
This version was released
as the B-side
to the band's
second single
"Movin' On".
TRACKLIST
Come Together In The Morning
Travellin' In Style
Heartbreaker
Muddy Water
Common Mortal Man
Easy On My Soul
Seven Angels
Wishing Well
(US Mix)
(includes additional guitar overdubs by Walden)
Let Me Show You
(B-side single)
Muddy Water
(Alternative vocal)
Hand Me Down/ Turn Me Around
(prospective album track)
Lady
[Previously Unreleased]
Heartbreaker
(Rehearsal version)
Easy On My Soul
(Rehearsal version)
Heartbreaker
[Alternative Mix]
Honky Tonk Women
[Previously Unreleased]
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