"Free as a Bird" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Supertramp | ||||
from the album Free as a Bird | ||||
B-side | "Thing For You" | |||
Released | December 1987 [1] | |||
Genre | Pop rock [2] | |||
Length | 4:20 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rick Davies | |||
Producer(s) | Rick Davies, Supertramp [3] | |||
Supertramp singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Free as a Bird" on YouTube |
"Free as a Bird" is the title track from Supertramp's 1987 album of the same name. Released as a single at the end of that year, [1] the song achieved only marginal commercial success.
The music video for "Free as a Bird" was produced by Sue Pemberton and directed by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckenger. [4]
Cash Box said that "Rick Davies sets an easy groove with his patented, bluesy keyboard style, and takes you to a gospel out-chorus." [5]
In 1988 "Free as a Bird" was performed on the Dutch pop music television series, TopPop . [6]
It is the only song from the album of the same name that survived the accompanying tour. Live recordings were released on Live '88 and It Was the Best of Times .
"Free as a Bird" also appears on Supertramp's 1992 best-of album The Very Best of Supertramp 2 and the later compilation Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology .
7" vinyl, Cassette
According the Free as a Bird and The Very Best of Supertramp 2 liner notes. [7] [8]
Other personnel
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
---|---|
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [1] | 95 |
UK Singles (OCC) [9] | 95 |
Supertramp were a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. They experienced their greatest global success in 1979 with their sixth album Breakfast in America. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, the group were distinguished for blending progressive rock and pop styles as well as for a sound that relied heavily on Wurlitzer electric piano. The group's lineup changed numerous times throughout their career, with Davies being the only constant member throughout its history. The classic lineup, which lasted ten years from 1973 to 1983, comprised Davies, Hodgson, Dougie Thomson (bass), Bob Siebenberg (drums) and John Helliwell (saxophone).
Crime of the Century is the third studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in October 1974 on A&M Records. Crime of the Century was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in many countries, most notably in the UK, Canada and Germany where it peaked in the Top 5 while also making the Top 20 in Australia and France. It was an improvement over their previous sales in the US, but still only peaked at No. 38, with the US hit being "Bloody Well Right". "School" was another popular track, particularly at album rock-oriented radio stations. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US in 1977 after the release of Even in the Quietest Moments.... In Canada, it was eventually certified Diamond. The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg, saxophone and clarinet player and vocalist John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. The album has received critical acclaim, including its inclusion in Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".
Crisis? What Crisis? is the fourth album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 1975. It was recorded in Los Angeles and London – Supertramp's first album to have recording done in the US.
Free as a Bird is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in October 1987, and their last album of new music for A&M Records.
Some Things Never Change is the tenth album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in March 1997.
Is Everybody Listening? is a live album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 2001.
Slow Motion is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in April 2002.
"The Logical Song" is a song by English rock group Supertramp that was released as the lead single from their album Breakfast in America in March 1979. It was written primarily by the band's Roger Hodgson, who based the lyrics on his experiences being sent away to boarding school for ten years. The song became Supertramp's biggest hit, rising to No. 7 in the United Kingdom and No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2001, a cover version by the band Scooter returned the song to the top 10 in several European countries.
"Dreamer" is a hit single from British band Supertramp's 1974 album Crime of the Century. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1975. In 1980, it appeared on the band's live album Paris. This live version was also released as a single and hit number 15 on the US charts, number 36 in the Dutch Top 40, and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. When "Dreamer" had been released in 1974, its B-side "Bloody Well Right" was more popular in North America leading it to chart instead, at No. 35 in the US and No. 49 in Canada, with "Dreamer" only charting in Canada, that being at No. 75. "Dreamer" also appeared on Roger Hodgson's album, Classics Live, recorded on tour in 2010.
"My Kind of Lady" was the second single from Supertramp's 1982 album …Famous Last Words…. The song is a '50's-style mid-tempo love ballad; it peaked at #16 for USA Billboard Adult Contemporary and #31 for USA Billboard pop singles. The lead and backing vocals were all sung by Davies, who harmonizes with himself by switching between his natural voice and a falsetto vocal. The echo-treated and natural sounding voice was sung in Davies' baritone. The falsetto passages were double tracked and mixed with a phaser. Despite being released as a single, the track was not performed live.
It Was the Best of Times is the third live album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in April 1999. The album title makes use of the opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
The Very Best of Supertramp 2 is a best of album by the English rock band Supertramp originally released by A&M Records in November 1992.
Live '88 is the second live album by the English rock band Supertramp released in October 1988 on A&M Records.
The Very Best of Supertramp is a greatest hits album by the English rock band Supertramp, originally released by A&M Records in June 1990.
"Bloody Well Right" is a song by English rock band Supertramp from their 1974 album Crime of the Century. It appeared as the B-side of the single "Dreamer" in 1974. Listeners in the United States preferred it to the A-side, and "Bloody Well Right" became their breakthrough hit in the country, peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
70–10 Tour is a series of live albums from the English rock band Supertramp's 70-10 tour, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the band. Each concert from the tour was recorded and released on CD or as an MP3 download. Although "Don't You Lie to Me" only appears on the album from the second Paris concert, the final show of the tour, there are few differences in set lists.
In the Still of the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 8, 1989, by Columbia Records and continues the trend that began with his 1986 collaboration with Henry Mancini, The Hollywood Musicals, in that the project is devoted to a specific theme that ties the songs together. Mathis hints at the theme for this album in the liner notes for his 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection, where he gives his thoughts on the 1964 Little Anthony and the Imperials song "I'm on the Outside Looking In" that he covered for his 1988 album Once in a While: "That was group singers' kind of material. I was singing other stuff. It wasn't the picture of the lone crooner standing in the spotlight. That's what I was doing when all this other stuff was going on. I never listened to it until it was brought to my attention by [that album's producers] Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff." Mathis chose to continue his work with Bunetta and Chudacoff on this project, which focuses on "this other stuff" that Mathis refers to: pop and R&B hits from the 1950s and 1960s.
"Babaji" is a song by English rock band Supertramp, written by Roger Hodgson and also credited to other band member Rick Davies. First released on their 1977 album Even in the Quietest Moments..., it was subsequently released in Europe and in Australia as the follow-up single to "Give a Little Bit".
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