Keith Allison
Musician
Best known for
Songwriter
Keith Allison is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best remembered as the co-author, with Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders, of the country-rock standard “Freeborn Man.” Allison cut the song first as a 1967 Columbia single; Jimmy Martin and Glen Campbell each released cover versions in 1968, and Martin’s rendering carried it into the standard bluegrass repertoire.
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- Worked as a sideman and recording artist in the Los Angeles country-rock scene from the mid-1960s onward.
- Joined Paul Revere & the Raiders as bassist and vocalist in 1968 and stayed with the group through 1975.
- Co-wrote “Freeborn Man” with Mark Lindsay; the song was first released on Columbia in 1967 under Allison’s own name.
- Jimmy Martin and Glen Campbell both cut the song in 1968; Martin’s recording made it a bluegrass standard.
- “Freeborn Man” has since been recorded by the Grateful Dead, Del McCoury, the Bluegrass Alliance, and a long line of bluegrass acts.
