Tons of Sobs


Tons of Sobs is the debut album by English blues rock band Free, released in the UK on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it did reach #197 in the US. Free are cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s even though this is the only album of their canon that can strictly be called blues rock. According to bass player Andy Fraser, the title effectively summed up the album.

Recording

Free were a new band when they recorded Tons of Sobs, and they were extremely young; none of them were yet twenty and the youngest, Andy Fraser, was just sixteen years old. They had achieved a following through constant touring, and their debut album consisted for the most part of their live set-list.
With the band signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records, Guy Stevens was hired to produce the album. He opted for a minimalist attitude to production, due to the extremely low budget of about £800, creating a very raw and raucous sound – although it may have been that the relative inexperience of the band was also a contributing factor to this. As such the album is a marked contrast in production terms from the band's later albums. The simple nature of the recording meant that many tracks translated well into a live setting and several songs from this album were still performed even when the band had written and recorded many more for subsequent records.
The majority of the album was recorded over the course of a few days in October 1968. Originally slated for a November release, the album was delayed to early 1969 due to the late addition of their cover of "The Hunter". This track was a mainstay in their live sets and was recorded in a December 1968 session at Stevens' insistence.

Track listing

;Side one
  1. "Over the Green Hills " – 0:49
  2. "Worry" – 3:26
  3. "Walk in My Shadow" – 3:29
  4. "Wild Indian Woman" – 3:39
  5. "Goin' Down Slow" – 8:20
;Side two
  1. "I'm a Mover" – 2:56
  2. "The Hunter" – 4:13
  3. "Moonshine" – 5:04
  4. "Sweet Tooth" – 4:54
  5. "Over the Green Hills " – 1:58
;Bonus tracks
Recent CD reissues contain several bonus tracks:
  2. "I'm a Mover" – 3:04
  3. "Waitin' on You" – 2:15
  4. "Guy Stevens Blues" – 4:39
  5. "Moonshine" – 5:09
  6. "Sweet Tooth" – 4:53
  7. "Visions of Hell" – 3:46
  8. "Woman by the Sea" – 3:30
  9. "Over the Green Hills" – 3:51

    Personnel

;Additional personnel

"Walk in My Shadow"