I was determined not to start this article by mentioning that Andy Fraser, the bassist with legendary rock band Free, co-wrote the worldwide hit All Right Now. I was going to leave it till much further down, not make too big a deal of it. But, after hearing him talk so passionately about his long career, his recovery from cancer, living with AIDS, from which he nearly died, and his renewed outlook on life, there really seems no other way than to start by saying that he is, indeed, all right now.

“I can’t believe that I’m feeling like I do now,“ says Andy. “You won’t believe how incredibly fantastic feeling normal is, you don’t fully appreciate that until you’re nearly gone. I turned 61 a couple of weeks ago and I feel like a teenager! I can’t believe it.“

Andy must have felt great as a teenager – he was just 15 when he began his professional career, playing bass for legendary blues guitarist John Mayall in 1968, and only 16 when he formed Free with singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke.

In 1970, Andy and Paul Rodgers wrote All Right Now for the album Fire and Water, and it was a Number One hit in more than 20 territories, led to the band playing the Isle of Wight festival in 1970 to 600,000 people, and has received more than 4 million radio plays to date.

The band split in 1971, reformed later that year, and Andy left again in June 1972 before the group disbanded finally in 1973.

Forty years on, people still can’t get enough of that song, and Andy is constantly asked to play it at his gigs.

“There are a few songs that if I don’t play them I would be in physical danger,“ he laughs. “I’ve surrendered to that. I love Free, but that was then and this is now, I live in the present. I haven’t discarded the past, I’ve built on it and it’s created a great foundation for my life and career – but I don’t want to be doing cover versions of my own songs 40 years later.“

How does he feel when All Right Now comes on the radio? “To tell you the truth, it still sounds like the same three-chord demo that we did 40 years ago. It doesn’t sound like Beethoven, so I haven’t got too big-headed!“

Andy is playing The Bull Theatre in Barnet this weekend with local singer, guitarist and songwriter Tobi Earnshaw, 18, who Freetime interviewed when he was signed to Andy’s McTrax label, aged just 16.

“I recognised in Tobi a true artist who can not only write great songs, but who’s also an incredible guitarist,“ says Andy, who now lives in California. “I’ve played with some of the best guitarists in the world and I would class Tobi as one of them. He’s open and looking to the future, he’s fresh – and he’s been a kick up the butt to me, too.

“It’s funny – I used to have the nickname Toby, then I had a band called Toby after Free split, and my bass is called Tobias,“ Andy laughs, “so this is probably the right guy!“

Nurturing young talent such as Tobi’s is part of Andy’s new-found ethos of helping others, developed since coming close to death from his illnesses.

“Now I’ve sorted myself out, I feel I can look outwards and be more socially conscious and aware, what can I do for everybody else?“

This also takes the form of social and environmental activism and awareness-raising through his music, and he is currently working on a docu-drama with his daughter Hannah, who is a professional underwater model and photographer, about ocean pollution and the “wanton killing of fish“.

“That is where my hope and faith lie,“ says Andy. “I’ve been given a second chance so I feel I want to make my contribution to the world before I finally do kick the bucket.“

  • Andy Fraser, with support from Tobi, plays The Bull Theatre, High Street, Barnet on Sunday, July 28 at 8pm. Andy’s book All Right Now: Life, Death and Life Again is available from McTrax.com. Details: 020 8441 5010, thebulltheatre.com