Vinyl plays with occasional light-crackles (play-graded). Cover looks good; a few creases near edges; some scuffing, tiny surface abrasions, and surface impressions (front/back); red check marks near songs on back. Inner-sleeve is original (generic white); bottom seam partially split. Spine shows significant wear. Noticeable shelf-wear along top-edge, bottom-edge is completely split. Wear to corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots. (Hole-punch in bottom-right.)
Loving and Free, by Kiki Dee, was recorded at the AIR Studios and Nova Studios in London between 28 April and 22 June 1973. In 1976 the title track was issued as an EP (b/w Amoureuse) and reached No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart. Loving & Free has masterful production by Elton John and Clive Franks, and if anything, it is as lovingly produced as it is performed. One of four strong Kiki Dee originals is the title track, which opens up this soulful album, reflected so beautifully in the cover photo of young Dee on a bicycle with flowers in a field. Elton John plays keyboards on seven of the ten tracks, including the short gospel piece If It Rains, written by Dee, and the Bernie Taupin/Elton John number Lonnie and Josie. Dee, performing the band Free's Travellin' in Style, adds blues/pop to the disc, the tune moving harder than most of the tracks on side one. Egan and Rafferty's You Put Something Better Inside Me plays with more heart than what Stealers Wheel did on their own, and fits this country-flavored pop record just perfectly. Rest My Head is the singer showing she can write, and like many of the tracks on Loving & Free, performed with members of Elton John's band from this era behind her. Amoureuse, written by Veronique Sanson and Gary Osborne, is unique in that it brings one of John's other songwriting partners into the mix. Jackson Browne's Song for Adam and the song which Elton John performed and put on the flip of one of his singles, Sugar on the Floor, conclude this album and make the sequel to Tumbleweed Connection so valid. That was one of Elton John's most heartfelt and non-commercial discs, and he gets to reprise it here. Loving & Free is an underrated, under-valued, ambitious, and completely forgotten work which shows Kiki Dee to be an extremely valuable artist who deserved all the support she got from her friends in the industry.