Heartbreaker is the sixth and final album by the English rock band Free, that provided them with one of their most successful singles, "Wishing Well". It was recorded in late 1972 after bassist Andy Fraser had left the band and while guitarist Paul Kossoff was ailing from an addiction to Mandrax (Quaalude) and features a different line up from previous albums. Tetsu Yamauchi was brought in to replace Fraser, while John "Rabbit" Bundrick became the band's keyboard player to compensate for the increasingly unreliable Kossoff (singer Paul Rodgers played keyboards on the previous album 1972 Free at Last). Both Yamauchi and Bundrick had played with Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke on the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit during that period in late 1971 when Free had broken up for the first time. Also, several other musicians were used on the album. The album was co-produced by Andy Johns as well as Free themselves.
One immediate effect of Fraser's departure was the loss of the Fraser/Rodgers songwriting partnership that had hitherto provided the bulk of the band's catalogue. Hence many of the songs were written solely by Rodgers, although some are credited to the entire band as a symbolic gesture, including the single "Wishing Well". Bundrick wrote two of the album's eight tracks.
The track "Easy on My Soul" would later be re-recorded by Rodgers and Kirke with their subsequent band Bad Company. This version was released as the B-side to the band's second single "Movin' On".
The album was, by Free's standards, a huge success. It became their third top-ten album in the UK, peaking at No. 9, and reached No. 47 in the US, which was also a considerable success for the band. Also, the single release "Wishing Well" became their third-most successful single, reaching No. 7 in the UK. It is widely regarded as one of their definitive songs.
Free
Additional musicians