George Lee

The group Free Soul, founded by the mysterious Sir Joe Quarterman in the early '70s, belongs in the "I don't know what it is, but I know what I like" category, and this state of confusion certainly extends to the sidemen involved in the project, such as guitarist George Lee. In terms of commercial success, the Quarterman experiment resulted in a Top 30 single, "So Much Trouble on My Mind," followed later in 1972 by the group's one and only album. This effort came and went without that much support from the marketplace, but soul music diggers, the kind who look for lost gold as well as enjoy its sheen, have succeeded in creating interest in this LP as well as a follow-up single on Mercury, "Get Down Baby." Critics who have discovered Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul in retrospect have compared the group to the best of James Brown, including the use of political material such as "Give Me Back My Freedom," "Live Now Brothers," "Way They Do My Life," and "Let Me Be What I Am." The aforementioned Mercury single, which didn't even manage to crack the Top 50, was included on one of the Polygram label's Funk Funk compilations. About the group leader, little is known except that like many artists in this genre he began singing in church choirs and had several other combos before forming Free Soul. Guitarist Lee is sometimes confused with a Louisiana zydeco guitarist of the same name who has played with various members of the Frank family band, including both father Preston Frank and son Keith Frank. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide