Description

A spinoff of Procol Harum, Freedom was formed by guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison. Both of them were in Procol Harum's line-up at the outset for their debut, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ single, but were ousted almost immediately when Procol singer, Gary Brooker, enlisted his former bandmates from the Paramounts, Robin Trower and Barry Wilson, as replacements. Freedom's early sound, perhaps unsurprisingly, echoed Procol Harum's in its prominent use of organ and piano, as well as heavy rock guitar, and like Procol Harum's early records, captured late British psychedelia as it was starting to inch towards progressive rock. Freedom wasn't a Procol Harum clone, though, with a somewhat poppier take on psychedelia that was closer to Traffic than Procol Harum. Their initial line-up only released two singles in 1968 before breaking up, also recording a soundtrack for an obscure Italian film by Dino De Laurentis, Attraction/Black on White. The soundtrack LP was given a limited release in Italy — so limited, in fact, that the group members themselves were unaware that it came out. In 1968, Harrison decided to reorganize the band completely and Freedom released some albums in the late '60s and early '70s that were in a much heavier, harder and bluesier style. They did get to tour the U.S. as support for Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull, and broke up in 1972 after some personnel changes. ‘Through The Years’ differs from their previous effort (Freedom At Last) in the greater length of the songs, which hover around the five-minute mark, and the jettisoning of blues and rock covers (which had comprised a good chunk of Freedom At Last) in favor of all-original material. On ‘Freestone’ they get close to a Jack Bruce-with-Cream mood; the opening piano tinkles of ‘Thanks’ are just different enough from the Beatles ‘Let It Be’ to avoid plagiarism. Not that Lennon-McCartney would have even come close to recovering their court costs if they had sought a turnover in publishing royalties, of course. 1971 Us press with thick gatefold cover. Cut out Track listing: 1. Freestone 2. Through The Years 3. Get Yourself Together 4. London City 5. Thanks 6. Toe Grabber