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GibsonBass You became a member of the John Mayalls Bluesbreakers at the age of 15 and when you joined you went out and brought a new bass - was this when you got your Gibson EB3 or did you get that later with Free?
Andy Fraser I did a Saturday jam with Mayall at his house, got the gig. Had Sunday to wrap my head around it. Monday we went out and he got me a decent bass and stereo system, Tuesday I had to go before a Magistrate, and swear I would be in bed by 8 PM or something stupid - with a big smile and "Yes your honor", agreed that I would chaperoned in the workplace, as it were, and by Thurs. we were touring Europe 6, 7 nights a week, burning spliffs with Mick Taylor when Mayall wasn't looking. It wasn't the EB3 which I got at the beginning of FREE, but it was a decent bass, tho' I can't remember what it was. I do recall Mick Taylor had a beautiful Les Paul, which he played constantly - he is one good guitar player!
GibsonBass Did you do any recording or writing with John Mayall?
Andy Fraser Recording - not in the studio. Some radio shows [1] and I have learnt there have been some live recordings released, and as far as I know Mayall doesn't write with anyone. His material is basic Blues based, where before each song he would call out the key, count off the tempo, and we would play - end of story. We would collect our 50 pounds at the end of the week - a fortune for a 15 year old at the time, and yeah, forget record royalties...
[1] 5 tracks were recorded for BBC Top gear 26-4-1968, at least two of which have been released on several bootleg and import albums- Beano's Boys, The First Five Years, and In the Beginning. Tracks were: Picture On The Wall, Knockers Step Forward, The Last Time, Rock Me Baby, Oh, Pretty Woman
Go to part 3 - Free | Check out Andys own website
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