"All Right Now" is a song by English rock band Free, released on their third studio album, '' Fire and Water'' (1970). It was released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, a record label founded by

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell OJ (born 22 June 1937) is a Jamaican-British former record producer and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall ...

. Released as the album's second single, "All Right Now" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. In July 1973, the song was re-released, peaking at number 15 on the UK chart. In 1991, a Bob Clearmountain remix of the song was released, reaching number eight on the UK chart. "All Right Now" was a number-one hit in over 20 countries and was recognised by

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

in 1990 for accumulating over 1,000,000 radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989. In 2006, the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3 million air plays of "All Right Now" in the USA. The song remains as a staple track of

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

radio. It was covered by artists such as

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

, Witch Queen,

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

, Pepsi & Shirlie ( ''All Right Now''), and GNR. A version arranged by the

Stanford Band The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) is the student marching band representing Stanford University and its Stanford Cardinal, athletic teams. Billing itself as "The World's Largest Rock and Roll Band," the Stanford Band ...

is the '' de facto'' fight song of Stanford University athletic teams.

Composition

According to drummer

Simon Kirke Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949) is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock Supergroup (music), supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and ...

, "All Right Now" was written by Free bassist Andy Fraser and singer

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

in the

Durham Students' Union Durham Students' Union, operating as Durham SU, is the students' union of Durham University in Durham, England. It is an organisation, originally set up as the Durham Colleges Students’ Representative Council in 1899 and renamed in 1969, wi ...

building,

Dunelm House Dunelm House is a Grade II listed building in Durham, England, built in 1966 in the brutalist style. It belongs to Durham University and houses Durham Students' Union. Its listing entry cites, among other factors, that it is "a significant Bruta ...

. He said: "'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." Fraser has agreed largely with this history.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it a "funky beer blues swinger" that's a "mover from start to finish." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that the song "lays a hunk of heaviness on your head" and "will establish reeonce and for all."

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

– vocals *

Paul Kossoff Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free (band), Free. In 2010, he was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest ...

– guitar * Andy Fraser – bass, piano *

– drums

References

External links

Lyrics
of live cover by

Queen + Paul Rodgers Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * ...

from '' Live in Ukraine'', from Queen official website * {{authority control 1970 songs 1970 singles Free (band) songs Rod Stewart songs Stanford University Pac-12 Conference fight songs Songs written by Paul Rodgers Songs written by Andy Fraser Island Records singles A&M Records singles Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Denmark