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Freedom…at last!  Grapefruit has recently collected the five albums recorded by Procol Harum offshoot Freedom in one handsome box set.  Born Again: The Complete Recordings has the band’s album discography plus a handful of bonus tracks for easy, one-stop-shopping.  Guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison were enlisted by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid to join them in the initial lineup of Procol Harum.  Royer played on their landmark debut single “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” but Harrison was replaced by producer Denny Cordell with studio drummer Bill Eyden.  When Eyden revealed he was on the single, though, tensions arose within the band’s ranks.  Royer and Harrison were shown the door just months after joining the nascent group.  With legal action threatened, Procol’s management offered a financial settlement that allowed the duo to form their own group, originally called The Freedom.  Bassist-singer Steve Shirley (whose voice bore more than a passing resemblance to Gary Brooker’s) and keyboardist Tony Marsh were enlisted, though Marsh was quickly replaced by Mike Lease.  Capitalizing on their notoriety, Freedom landed the plum assignment of providing a score to producer Dino DeLaurentiis’ film Attraction, or Nerosubianco.  Their psychedelic-meets-garage rock score (naturally redolent of early Procol) is heard on CD 1 of Grapefruit’s box, along with almost a dozen bonus tracks including a subsequent single for Mercury Records.  Freedom appeared in the film, too, including in a nude scene (!) befitting the dark sex comedy.  The soundtrack was only released in Italy.

Mike Lease departed the lineup not long after, and Harrison brought in an old friend, keyboardist Robin Lumley, to replace him.  Struggling to establish a musical identity, the bandmates teamed with Keith Mansfield (Dusty Springfield, Love Affair, The Marmalade) for the single “Kandy Kay” b/w “Escape While You Can.”  But brassy bubblegum pop wasn’t a natural fit for Freedom, and the group splintered – before ever making a proper album.  Harrison split with Shirley and Royer and brought in guitarist Roger Saunders and bassist Walt Monaghan (both of the band The Washington DCs).  1969’s Freedom at Last split the difference between psychedelia and a heavy rock, power trio sound.  It mixed original material with covers of varying success from The Beatles (“Cry Baby Cry,” probably the best of the lot), Aretha Franklin (a surprisingly good “I Never Loved a Man,” as “Never Loved a Girl”), The Zombies (“Time of the Season”), and Willie Dixon (“Built for Comfort”), among others.  Like the film soundtrack before it, though, Freedom at Last was denied a U.K. release and instead appeared only in France and Germany.  This reissue restores its original sequence which was shuffled on subsequent releases.

1970’s self-titled Freedom allowed the new trio to blossom further.  They embraced the heavy power trio sound on a set of mostly original material plus covers of Albert King (“Oh, Pretty Woman” – not the Roy Orbison song) and The Standells (Ed Cobb’s “Dirty Water,” reworked as “Frustrated Woman”).  Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Dusty Springfield) engineered the Trident Studios sessions which were remixed in the U.S. by Bill Szymczyk (Eagles, J. Geils Band) for American label ABC Records.  ABC also issued it at home on their Probe imprint.  Despite good reviews, it failed to gain much traction.  But they gained new management who paired them with another client, Black Sabbath, for high-profile gigs.  Soon, Freedom was signed to Sabbath’s home of Vertigo Records and teamed with Sabbath producer Rodger Bain.  Walt Monaghan was replaced by Peter Dennis before recording commenced with Vertigo.

Two albums resulted from the label affiliation: 1970’s Through the Years (which included the single “Thanks,” a curiously soft piano-driven ballad in the mold of early Elton John) and 1972’s Freedom Is More Than a Word.  Malcolm Koss produced the latter LP which featured additional guitarist Steve Jolly and a broader range of musical styles still indebted to blues and heavy rock.  It marked the end of the road for Freedom, however, as nominal leader Bobby Harrison had grown tired of the rock lifestyle.  Roger Saunders went on to join Medicine Head; Bobby formed Snafu with whom he had a measure of success.  He died in January 2022 at the age of 82.

Grapefruit’s new box, comprehensively annotated by producer David Wells and mastered by Simon Murphy, is housed in a clamshell case.  Each individual disc is stored in a mini-LP replica.  Freedom might not have been distinctive enough to compete with Procol Harum but their music remains enjoyable five decades on.  You’ll find order links and the track listing below.

Freedom, Born Again: The Complete Recordings 1967-72 (Grapefruit CRSEGBOX133, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Nerosubianco (Atlantic (Italy) LP ATL-LP 08028, 1968/9)

1. Relation
2. We Say No
3. Attraction (Black on White/With You)
4. Childhood Reflection
5. To Be Free
6. The Truth Is Plain to See
7. The Better Side
8. Born Again
9. Decidedly Man
10. Seeing Is Believing

Bonus Tracks

11. The Butt of Deception (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
12. You Won’t Miss (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
13. The Game Is Over (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
14. The Better Side (Early Mix/Single Vocal) (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
15. The Butt of Deception (Early Mix) (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
16. Born Again (Dry Version) (from Moving Image CD MIE 012, 2002)
17. Where Will You Be Tonight (UK Single Version) (Mercury single MF 1033, 1968)
18. Trying to Get a Glimpse of You (UK Single Version) (Mercury single MF 1033, 1968)
19. Where Will You Be Tonight (Extended Version)
20. Trying to Get a Glimpse of You (Extended Version)
21. Trying to Get a Glimpse of You (Demo Version)

CD 2: Freedom at Last (BYG (France) LP 529 325, 1969)

1. Enchanted Wood
2. Deep Down in the Bottom
3. Have Love, Will Travel
4. Cry Baby Cry
5. Time of the Season
6. Hoodoo Man
7. Built for Comfort
8. Fly
9. Never Loved a Girl
10. My Life
11. Can’t Stay with Me
12. Dusty Track

Bonus Tracks

13. Kandy Kay (Plexium single PXM 3, 1969)
14. Escape While You Can (Plexium single PXM 3, 1969)

CD 3: Freedom (Probe LP SPBA 6252, 1970)

1. Nobody
2. In Search of Something
3. Dusty Track
4. Man Made Laws
5. Ain’t No Chance to Score
6. Pretty Woman
7. Freedom
8. Frustrated Woman (Dirty Water)

Bonus Tracks

9. Nobody (Edited Single Version) (ABC (U.S.) single 45-11274, 1970)
10. Frustrated Woman (Dirty Water) (Single Version) (BYG (France) single 129 020, 1970)

CD 4: Through the Years (Vertigo LP 6360 049, 1971)

1. Freestone
2. Through the Years
3. Get Yourself Together
4. London City
5. Thanks
6. Toe Grabber

CD 5: Freedom Is More Than a Word (Vertigo LP 6360 072, 1972)

1. Together
2. Miss Little Louise
3. Sweaty Feet
4. Brainbox Jam
5. Direction
6. Going Down
7. Dream
8. Ladybird​