Wishing Well - Free 1972

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7" single, Italy, 1972.

1. A classic

The rock song Wishing Well by the British rock group Free was released as a single in the UK on 8 December 1972 and appeared as track #1 on the LP released the following month. It was a hit at the time, reaching number 7 in the charts during January 1973. It remains one of the band's most popular songs, next to 1970's All Right Now, and has become a rock class. Numerous bands and artists have recorded Wishing Well over the years since then, or included it in their live sets. The song remains popular with live audiences due to its distinctive and powerful descending opening riff, rocky beat throughout and singalong chorus line of Love and a peaceful world..... The original vocal performance by Rogers is notable, as are his many subsequent renditions, some of which can be seen on the videos below with bands such as Queen and Free Spirit.

Song writing credits on Wishing Well were apparently credited by Rogers to all the band members at the time of the recording for the Heartbreaker album during September-November 1972, namely Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Simon Kirke (drum), John Bundrick (keyboards) and Tetsu Yamauchi (bass). However, on the reverse of the original LP and the later 2002 Island Remasters CD, Paul Kossoff is not listed as playing guitar on the song, simply stating that Paul Rogers plays all the electric guitar elements. This is strange, as the credit would suggest he was directly involved in the original recording, and he played on a number of available live versions.

Rear cover of 2002 Island remastered CD edition of Heartbreaker.

The reality is that Kossoff did play on the song, and this apparently has been confirmed by Kirke, though the precise reference is not known. The following uncited Wikipedia entry notes the ambiguity around those involved in the Heartbreaker recording session and the subsequent editing and release of Wishing Well:

..... Kossoff was extremely resentful of [William Garrett] "Snuffy" Walden being brought in as a session musician to provide guitar tracks when the other band members' patience [over his unreliability] began to break. This exacerbated his [drug] problems even further, but on those occasions where recording went well he produced some notable work/ He is, in fact, far more prominent on this album than on the previous one [Free at Last]. He is uncredited on the hit single "Wishing Well", however, the lead guitar on the track is unmistakably Kossoff's, and Kirke has confirmed this. The credits on the original album sleeve are inaccurate; Kossoff plays on the whole of side 1 and the final track on side 2, "Seven Angels". Walden's guitar appears on tracks 2, 3, and 4 of side 2, so "Seven Angels" features both him and Kossoff. Walden also appears on some alternate mixes of "Wishing Well", but not on the version released for the UK single and album. The Free box set Songs of Yesterday (2000) features an alternate mix of "Muddy Water" with guitar by Walden, and an alternate mix of "Common Mortal Man" with guitar by both Walden and Kossoff.(Wikipedia 2024)

As noted, the guitar work on studio versions of Wishing Well - when it is distinguishable in the heavy and, at times, muddy mix - sounds like Kossoff, and is obvious in the Bracknell live recordings. It appears that his guitar is going through a Leslie distortion on the studio recordings. The remastered CD also notes inclusion of a US mix of the song. This is likely the one which is most commonly heard, on record and video, though it is difficult to distinguish with the original UK album mix, especially when heard in low grade streaming form, as opposed to higher grade CD or LP presentation. Neither is there any information on the mix which appeared on the original single release. So due to the Wikipedia quote it is even more difficult to identify which parts Walden and Kossoff are playing on the different studio versions. Not being a student of Walden's style, it is difficult to pick, and we do not know if Walden actually attempted to copy Kossoff's tone and playing during the session when he was not present.

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2. Recordings

Only two recordings of Wishing Well by Free with Kossoff are known to the writer, both from 1972 - the original studio recording/s from September-October and one live at Berkshire on 14 October.

* Wishing Well, Free Band, YouTube, 31 July 2018, duration: 3.41 minutes. Original 1972 studio recording. Possibly the mix for the US album release, and the one now most commonly heard through social media apps such as Spotify and Amazon Music.

* Wishing Well - Original UK album version, Island Records, 1972. YouTube, 26 April 2015, duration: 3.38 minutes. Original studio recording. Clearly features the guitar work of Paul Kossoff.

* Wishing Well, Bracknell Sports Centre, Berkshire, 14 October 1972. YouTube, duration: 4.10 minutes. Live sound board recording.

The recording in Coatham on 10 December does not appear to include Kossoff on the song late in the set, though he can be heard briefly at the beginning on songs such as Heartbreaker.

* 10 December 1972, The Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham, England. YouTube. duration: 57.31 minutes. Tracks: 01. I'm On The Run, 02. Heartbreaker, 03. Soldier Boy, 04. Come Together In The Morning, 05. Everyday I Have The Blues, 06. Child, 07. @35.20 Wishing Well, 08. Seven Angels, 09. Fire And Water, 10. All Right Now. Live sound board recording.

There are numerous post-Free live recordings of the song by Paul Rogers and various bands, though not with Rogers on guitar.

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3. Singles covers

Wishing Well was released as a 7" single around the world during December 1972, with Let Me Show You as the B-side. Some of the covers are illustrated below. They are usually based on two different images of the band in performance - one is a full group process, whilst the other is a replication of the cover of the Heartbreaker LP.

7" single, France, 1972.

7" single sleeve, Denmark, 1972.

7" single, Portugal, 1972.

7" single, Germany, 1972.

7" single, Spain, 1972.

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4. Non-Free videos

The following are selected video performances of Wishing Well by bands other than Free, including those associated with Paul Rogers. There is also a single video which uses the original recording a la MTV-style. The videos are arranged chronologically.

* [1979] Wishing Well, Blackfoot, 1979. YouTube, 8 November 2014, duration: 3.12 minutes. Studio recording.

* [1982] Wishing Well, Blackfoot, 1982. YouTube, duration: 3.10 minutes. Live, Zurich, Switzerland.

* [1984] Wishing Well, Garry Moore, 1984. YouTube, duration: 4.11 minutes. Live, Ireland.

* [1990] Wishing Well, Bruce Dickinson, 1990. YouTube, duration: 3.31 minutes. Live, Los Angeles.

* [1994+] VH1 Wishing Well, Free, circa 1994. YouTube, 21 March 2007, duration: 3.42 minutes. An MTV-style video with actors playing out a scene and the original music heard in the background.

* [2003] Wishing Well, Garry Moore, 2003. YouTube, duration: 4.14 minutes. Live @ Monsters of Rock.

* [2005+] Wishing Well, Paul Rogers & Queen, 9 May 2005. YouTube, duration: 4.30 minutes. Live, Sheffield, England. Numerous clips are available from various venues during this and later Queen tours. Other sites: Kharkov (4 May 2008); London (26 June 2008); Ukraine (12 September 2009).

* [2006] Wishing Well, Paul Rogers & Band, 2006. YouTube, 3 January 2013, duration: 3.31 minutes. Live, Glasgow. 

* [2008] Wishing Well Jam, Paul Rogers, Bad Company, Simon Kirke, Slash and Neal Schon, 18 November 2008,  YouTube, duration: 5.58 minutes. Live. 

* [2012] Wishing Well, Paul Rogers and Band, 31 May 2012, YouTube, duration: 4.55 minutes. Live, Chichester, England. Audience video.

* [2013] Wishing Well, The Quiet Warriors (band), 2013, YouTube, duration: 3.13 minutes. Studio recording. From the At Vance album.

* [2014] Wishing Well, Billy Merziotis & After Hours (band), 22 February 2014, YouTube, duration: 4.16 minutes. Live.

* [2018] Wishing Well, Paul Rogers & Free Spirit, 7 July 2018, YouTube, duration: 4.19 minutes. Live.

* [2018] Wishing Well, The Classic Rock Show, 23 February 2018, YouTube, duration: 3.47 minutes. Live.

* [2022] Wishing Well, Yoyoka (Japanese band), 27 April 2022, YouTube, duration: 5.12 minutes. Live.

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5. References

Heartbreaker (Free album), Wikipedia, accessed 10 August 2024.

Wishing Well (Free song), Wikipedia, accessed 31 July 2024.

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| Black Cat Bones 1966-68 | Free Live! 1968-72 | Free, Sydney 1971 | Gigs 1968-73 | Paul Kossoff Guitars | Posters | Walk In My Shadow 1968 | Wishing Well 1972 |

Last updated: 3 August 2024

Michael Organ, Australia

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