Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)
"Free as a Bird" | ||||
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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, with a top-25 showing on the Polish charts being a relative highlight.
Overview
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]
In 2012, Something Else! ranked "Free as a Bird" as the 3rd worst song by Supertramp in their list of the 5 worst Supertramp songs, calling it ..."painful to listen to" and "Utterly uninspired".[7] Although John Helliwell's saxophone solo was noted as being "decent".[7]
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.
Discover more about Overview related topics
Track listing
7" vinyl, Cassette
- "Free as a Bird" – 4:20
- "Thing For You" – 3:59
Personnel
According the Free as a Bird and The Very Best of Supertramp 2 liner notes.[8][9]
- Rick Davies - vocals, keyboards, producer
- John Anthony Helliwell - saxophone
- Dougie Thomson - bass
- Bob C. Benberg - drums
Other personnel
- Supertramp – producer
- Mark Hart – vocals, guitar and keyboards
- Marty Walsh – guitar
- Linda Foot – backing vocals
- Lise Miller – backing vocals
- Evan Rogers – backing vocals
- Karyn White – backing vocals
Discover more about Personnel related topics
Charts
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
---|---|
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[1] | 95 |
Poland (LP3)[10] | 24 |
UK Singles (OCC)[11] | 95 |
Discover more about Charts related topics
Source: "Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, November 8th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_a_Bird_(Supertramp_song).
Further Reading

Supertramp

Crisis? What Crisis?

...Famous Last Words...

Free as a Bird (album)

Some Things Never Change

Slow Motion (Supertramp album)

Afternoons in Utopia

Take the Long Way Home (Supertramp song)

Dreamer (Supertramp song)

Goodbye Stranger

Give a Little Bit

It's Raining Again

My Kind of Lady

It Was the Best of Times

The Very Best of Supertramp 2

Live '88 (Supertramp album)

The Very Best of Supertramp

Bloody Well Right
References
- ^ a b c "Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ "Free as a Bird" at AllMusic
- ^ "Free as a Bird" (back cover). Supertramp. A&M. 1988. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Video Track" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 #13. United States. 3 March 1988. p. 52. Retrieved 13 February 2021 – via worldradiohistory.com.
- ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. January 30, 1988. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
- ^ Supertramp - Free As A Bird • TopPop. TopPop (Television production). Netherlands: AVRO. 9 April 1988. Retrieved 13 February 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b Perplexio (17 August 2012). "Supertramp Songs That Sucked: Gimme Five". somethingelsereviews.com. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- ^ Free as a Bird (liner notes). Supertramp. A&M. 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Haverty, Doug (1992). The Very Best of Supertramp 2 (liner notes). Supertramp. A&M. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ "free as a bird" (in Polish). LP3. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
Categories
- 1987 singles
- 1987 songs
- A&M Records singles
- Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers
- Articles with hAudio microformats
- Articles with short description
- CS1: long volume value
- CS1 Polish-language sources (pl)
- CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes)
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Single chart called without song
- Singlechart called without artist
- Singlechart making named ref
- Singlechart usages for Dutch100
- Singlechart usages for UK
- Songs written by Rick Davies
- Supertramp songs
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