Love You So: Free’s touching tribute to a friend

Ron Counte

Love. I’m willing to bet that it is the single most common song subject. Those three little words ‘I love you’ can be heard on countless tracks across the decades. But how often do you hear the sentiment expressed in a way that is genuinely moving?

There have been some creative attempts to write love songs with a difference. The admirable Your Song by Elton John doesn’t even contain the word ‘love’. In 1975 10cc famously sang I’m Not In Love, a genuinely affecting love song.

But in my book the finest love song of all uses only two of those three magic words in its title. Free were an outstanding, though perhaps underrated, band. They could serve up blues numbers with an intensity and passion belying their years. When Free came together in 1968 lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were 19, a year older than guitarist Paul Kossoff, while bassist Andy Fraser was, incredibly, just 16. Their debut album Tons Of Sobs was released in 1969 and their worldwide hit All Right Now came out in May 1970.

Central to the band’s sound was a wonderful economy of playing. They were the musical embodiment of the phrase ‘less is more’. Their music rarely contained a single superfluous note. Kirke’s minimalist drumming underpinned the inventive bass work of the mercurial Fraser, leaving space for Kossoff’s marvellously tasteful guitar work. To cap it all, we were graced by the voice of Paul Rodgers, considered by many, including me, to be the greatest rock vocalist of all time.

However, there was a deep sadness underlying Free. Kossoff struggled with terrible drug addiction which would ultimately take his life. His story is a truly tragic one. Blessed with a stunning technique that even Eric Clapton envied, he could produce the most beautiful sounds. It was said, with some justification, that he could make the guitar cry. But mandrax and heroin addiction ruined his life and led to the break-up of the band in 1971 as his condition spiralled out of control. At one point Rodgers and Kirke kidnapped him from a drugs den and took him to rehab, but he escaped and soon returned to the destructive junkie lifestyle.

In desperation the band reformed in 1972, believing it was the only way to save Kossoff. They released the album Free At Last but the old problems quickly re-emerged. Fraser had had enough and quit. Bassist Tetsu and keyboard player Rabbit Bundrick were brought in to bolster the band in his absence and the aptly titled Heartbreaker album followed in 1973 but by now Kossoff was barely able to contribute. It was the end of the band. Kossoff did manage a short solo career, also littered with unpredictability and chaos, but his heart finally gave out in early 1976. He was 25.

This is the context in which to view the song Love You So. It appeared on the album Highway in 1971, the last studio album by the group in its original incarnation, though the writing was already on the wall and the band must have known that the game was nearly up, given Kossoff’s state.

It is a superb album, containing such gems as The Stealer, Be My Friend, Ride On A Pony and Soon I Will be Gone, but the standout track for me is Love You So. It is hard not to conclude that this was at least in part Rodgers’ heartfelt goodbye to his troubled bandmate.

The lyric is delivered in a powerfully sincere way. It begins with a heartfelt dedication to a lover soon to depart:

And by the way, before you go

I’d like to say, I love you so

If it’s goodbye, maybe for good

I will not cry, maybe I should

The song, co-written by Kirke, slowly builds:

Oh how this year has slipped away

We shed no tears, so why today?

And all this time has made me feel

Love is no crime and love is real

Then follows the deeply poignant bridge:

Remember me when you’re far away

I’ll remember you no matter where I stay

And all I’ve got to say

Is that I love you so

With Rodgers’ soulful timbre the song is simply heartrending. The band never got the chance to play Love You So live so it was a thrill to have been able to see Rodgers perform it on his Free Spirit tour in 2022.

I was lucky enough to see Paul’s father David Kossoff perform his one-man show in 1976. When Paul survived against all expectations following a heart attack in 1975 David announced a countrywide charitable tour in celebration. But it had hardly begun when Paul died on a flight from LA to New York. David carried on with the tour as a memorial. I remember him saying that he didn’t know much about modern music but added: ‘People tell me my son was the best blues guitarist in the world.’

David, an actor, writer and story-teller famed for his monologues, dedicated the rest of his life to campaigning against drugs. He died in 2005 aged 85.

Love You So is without doubt my favourite song. A few years back it appeared in a documentary about the band, played over a photomontage of Paul Kossoff. As the song concludes we hear the aching parting plea from Rodgers…

I know you can’t stay, but I love you anyway

Was there ever a more touching paean to lost love than this?

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