Out of all the early compositions written by Jagger/ Richards, "I'm Free" is one that had so much promise but was seemingly very rushed in the Rolling Stones own recording and didn't meet its potential until the band revived it in their 1969 concerts.
However, one year before the Stones revival, upstate New York show band Wilmer & The Dukes cut a fully realized version of the song that, to my ears, takes it to its full potential (perhaps the Stones themselves heard this version which caused them to revisit the song? hmmmmm)
Wilmer & The Dukes were one of those bands that played the bar/ fraternity circuit that were oh-so-common in the 60's; judging by their brilliant reading of this song, the band must have been a fantastic live group.
from 1968...
6 comments:
Wilmer and the Dukes were indeed an incredible live band...far more powerful than the garage bands that developed in the wake of the Beatles. Check out their first single "Give Me One More Chance" on the same label – an original tune that is an underground rock & soul classic. This might sound far-fetched but Wilmer was a huge influence on Eric Bloom, lead singer of Blue Oyster Cult. Check out this article for Eric's account of Wilmer and the Dukes: http://www.hws.edu/alumni/pssurvey/winter09/dukes.aspx
so you saw/ heard EVERY garage band that developed in the wake of the Beatles to say that Wilmer and The Dukes were better than ALL of them. Hmmmm....
More infos...and thanks for this gemm!
A Wilmer and The Dukes show was Upstate NY's equivalent to the Stax-Volt Revue. Live, they were almost euphoric. "Give Me One More Chance" STILL gets played frequently on Upstate NY oldies stations...a local classic, and it was also huge in Toronto where (I believe) it reached #1. Seek out their sole LP. Every track is a killer.
yeah I think Wilmer and the Dukes could probably outplay any garage band of that late 60's era. And I like the description that they were Upstate NY's own little Stax Volt style band. Saw them on a local R and B tv show in 68 and they COOKED. As exciting as Sly back then.
We were lucky to be avid followers of the Dukes in Rochester in the '60s. We often saw them 3-4 times per week and hired them for an amazing cabin party. Wilmer's voice was chillingly great-never heard a bad note. They were also very approachable.When they played "Green Onions" the dance floor filled up and a couple hundred teenagers did that line dance in unison.
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