Andy Fraser, Free’s Bassist, Dies at 62

He helped write the rousing rock anthem “All Right Now” as a teenager when he was the bassist for the British rock band Free, died on Monday, 16 March 2015,  in Temecula, Calif. He was 62. Fraser was born in the Paddington area of Central London and started playing the piano at the age of five. He was trained classically until twelve, when he switched to guitar. By thirteen he was playing in East End, West Indian clubs and after being expelled from school in 1968 at age 15, enrolled at Hammersmith F.E. College where another student, Sappho Korner, introduced him to her father, pioneering blues musician and radio broadcaster Alexis Korner, who became a father-figure to him. Shortly thereafter, upon receiving a telephone call from John Mayall, who was looking for a bass player, Korner suggested Fraser and, still only 15, he was in a pro band and earning £50 a week, although it ultimately turned out to be a brief tenure.Wikipedia Web Site AP, via NYTimes