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Free as a Bird (album)

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Free as a Bird
Supertramp - Free As a Bird.jpg
Studio album by
Supertramp
Released13 October 1987
Recorded1987
StudioOcean Way Recording (Hollywood, CA)
The Backyard Studio (Encino, CA)
GenrePop, dance-pop, synthpop
Length44:17
LabelA&M
ProducerRick Davies, Tom Lord-Alge, Supertramp
Supertramp chronology
The Autobiography of Supertramp
(1986) 		Free as a Bird
(1987) 		Live '88
(1988)
Singles from Free as a Bird
  1. "I'm Beggin' You"
    Released: October 1987[1]
  2. "Free as a Bird"
    Released: December 1987 (US)[2]
  3. "It's Alright"
    Released: 1988 (Europe)
For the single, see Free as a Bird (Supertramp song).

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.

The album was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesised dance beats and rhythms. Chief songwriter Rick Davies later recalled, "Free as a Bird was an experiment to try and be modern and build it up with computers and drum machines and have people come in one by one, which makes you lose the band spirit a little bit."[3] In the liner notes to the 2005 compilation Retrospectacle, Davies said, "Each time we went in, we would try to give it something a bit different. Free as a Bird was a lot more machine-based than anything we'd done before. That was good and bad, but it had some interesting songs on it."[4]

Discover more about Free as a Bird (album) related topics

Rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the blues and rhythm and blues genres of African-American music and from country music. Rock also drew strongly from a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical, and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a 44 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most popular genre of music in the United States and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Supertramp

Supertramp

Supertramp were an English rock band that experienced massive global success in 1979 with their seventh 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. Other longtime members included bassist Dougie Thomson, drummer Bob Siebenberg and saxophonist John Helliwell.

A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distributing releases from Polydor Ltd. from the UK.

Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology

Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology

Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology, also known as Gold in the U.S., is the first comprehensive compilation album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in October 2005.

Overview

Free as a Bird was the first Supertramp album to feature contributions from guitarist/vocalist Mark Hart. He would later become a full-fledged member of the group, as would trumpet player Lee Thornburg.

Despite the fact that "I'm Beggin' You" was a club chart-topping hit[5] and Free as a Bird's title cut was a minor hit, the album did not do well peaking at No. 101, making it the first Supertramp album since 1971's Indelibly Stamped not to crack Billboard's Top 100 on the album charts.

The band disbanded after the tour in support of the album and would not reconvene until 1997. They did so without bassist Dougie Thomson.

A remastered CD version of the album was released on 30 July 2002 on A&M Records. The remastered CD comes with all of the original album artwork, lyrics and credits.

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Mark Hart

Mark Hart

Mark Hart, is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp and Crowded House. As well as being a group member, touring and session musician for acts such as Ringo Starr, Hart has composed film scores and is a record producer.

I'm Beggin' You

I'm Beggin' You

"I'm Beggin' You" is a 1987 single by British progressive rock band Supertramp and one of two entries into the dance charts by Supertramp. "I'm Beggin' You" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play for one week, early in 1988. Unlike previous entries the single did not enter the Billboard Hot 100.

Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)

Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)

"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, the song achieved only marginal commercial success, with a top-25 showing on the Polish charts being a relative highlight.

Indelibly Stamped

Indelibly Stamped

Indelibly Stamped is the second album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 1971. It marked a dramatic change in direction to a more straightforward rock sound, and by admission of the band's own liner notes, "Travelled" is the only song with any resemblance to their debut album. Like their debut, this album was a commercial failure upon release, but in later decades it went gold in France and Canada. Original editions have a colour gate-fold cover and different text for the band name and album title. The cover photograph features the tattooed torso and arms of a topless woman. This is the first Supertramp album issued in the U.S.; the cover was in colour, but A&M pasted two gold stars over the nipples. The album was banned from a number of record stores in Australia, while others sold each copy inside a brown paper sleeve.

Artwork

Originally, the vinyl album featured four color variants – blue (pictured), green, yellow and pink. The bird in the picture was a cut-out.

The cover depicts a photograph of Georges Braque in his studio, painting a stylized bird. The bird silhouette also appeared on the LP and CD label.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine brief retrospective review dismissed Free as a Bird as "a colorless and tuneless collection of prog rock meandering".[7]

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AllMusic

AllMusic

AllMusic is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne.

The Rolling Stone Album Guide

The Rolling Stone Album Guide

The Rolling Stone Album Guide, previously known as The Rolling Stone Record Guide, is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from Rolling Stone magazine. Its first edition was published in 1979 and its last in 2004. The guide can be seen at Rate Your Music, while a list of albums given a five star rating by the guide can be seen at Rocklist.net.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes.

Track listing

All songs written by Rick Davies except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Alright" 5:01
2."Not the Moment" 4:37
3."It Doesn't Matter" 4:53
4."Where I Stand*"Davies, Mark Hart3:42
5."Free as a Bird" 4:25
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."I'm Beggin' You"5:30
7."You Never Can Tell with Friends"4:19
8."Thing for You"4:00
9."An Awful Thing to Waste"7:50
Total length:44:17
  • Called in digital platforms and Supertramp's official page as "Where I Stand with you". Always titled "Where I Stand" on any CD, LP or cassette.

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Rick Davies

Rick Davies

Richard Davies is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs, including "Rudy", "Bloody Well Right", "Crime of the Century", "From Now On", "Ain't Nobody But Me", "Gone Hollywood", "Goodbye Stranger", "Just Another Nervous Wreck", "Cannonball", and "I'm Beggin' You". He is generally noted for his rhythmic blues piano solos and jazz-tinged progressive rock compositions and cynical lyrics.

Mark Hart

Mark Hart

Mark Hart, is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp and Crowded House. As well as being a group member, touring and session musician for acts such as Ringo Starr, Hart has composed film scores and is a record producer.

Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)

Free as a Bird (Supertramp song)

"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, the song achieved only marginal commercial success, with a top-25 showing on the Polish charts being a relative highlight.

I'm Beggin' You

I'm Beggin' You

"I'm Beggin' You" is a 1987 single by British progressive rock band Supertramp and one of two entries into the dance charts by Supertramp. "I'm Beggin' You" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play for one week, early in 1988. Unlike previous entries the single did not enter the Billboard Hot 100.

Personnel

Supertramp

Additional personnel

  • Mark Hart – keyboards, guitars, vocals
  • Marty Walsh – guitar, background vocals
  • Lee Thornburg – trumpet, brass
  • Nick Lane – brass
  • Scott Page – brass
  • Lon Price – brass
  • David Woodford – brass
  • Steve Reid – percussion
  • Linda Foot – background vocals
  • Lise Miller – background vocals
  • Evan Rogers – background vocals
  • Karyn White – background vocals

Production

  • Rick Davies – producer
  • Tom Lord-Alge – mixing, co-producer on "It's Alright"
  • Supertramp – producer
  • Norman Hall – engineer
  • Bob Loftus – assistant engineer
  • Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – original LP mastering
  • Greg Calbi – remastering
  • Jay Messina – remastering
  • Richard Frankel – art direction
  • Richard Frankel – design
  • Raul Vega – photography

2002 A&M reissue The 2002 A&M Records reissue was mastered from the original master tapes by Greg Calbi and Jay Messina at Sterling Sound, New York, 2002. The reissue was supervised by Bill Levenson with art direction by Vartan and design by Mike Diehl, with production coordination by Beth Stempel.

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Rick Davies

Rick Davies

Richard Davies is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs, including "Rudy", "Bloody Well Right", "Crime of the Century", "From Now On", "Ain't Nobody But Me", "Gone Hollywood", "Goodbye Stranger", "Just Another Nervous Wreck", "Cannonball", and "I'm Beggin' You". He is generally noted for his rhythmic blues piano solos and jazz-tinged progressive rock compositions and cynical lyrics.

John Helliwell

John Helliwell

John Anthony Helliwell is an English musician, best known as the saxophonist, secondary keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional songwriter for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs.

Dougie Thomson

Dougie Thomson

Douglas 'Dougie' Campbell Thomson is a Scottish musician, born in Glasgow and raised in the Rutherglen area of the city. He was the bass guitarist of progressive rock band Supertramp during much of the seventies and eighties.

Bob Siebenberg

Bob Siebenberg

Robert Layne Siebenberg also known as Bob C. Benberg, is an American musician, best known as a member of British progressive rock band Supertramp, playing drums and percussion. He was the sole American in Supertramp's lineup, joining the band in 1973. His son, Jesse, joined Supertramp at the time of the release of the live album It Was the Best of Times.

Mark Hart

Mark Hart

Mark Hart, is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp and Crowded House. As well as being a group member, touring and session musician for acts such as Ringo Starr, Hart has composed film scores and is a record producer.

Marty Walsh (musician)

Marty Walsh (musician)

Martin Kevin Walsh is an American guitarist, songwriter, arranger, composer and record producer. In 1979 Walsh had the opportunity to play on his first Billboard charting song, "Love Pains", by Yvonne Elliman. During his career as a session musician in the 1980s, Walsh participated as a guitarist on hits "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" by Barbara Mandrell, "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton, "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer and "Heartlight" by Neil Diamond. Among Walsh's credits on albums of artists such as John Denver, Eddie Kendricks, Seals and Crofts, Julio Iglesias, Kenny Rogers and John Fogerty, he was also a touring musician with Supertramp., and took part in recording the albums Brother Where You Bound in 1985 and Free as a Bird in 1987. Walsh perform in three LeAnn Rimes' albums in the late 1990s, Sittin' on Top of the World (1998), LeAnn Rimes (1999) and I Need You (2001)

Scott Page

Scott Page

Scott Page is an American musician, technologist, and entrepreneur known for his saxophone and rhythm guitar work with Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and Toto.

Tom Lord-Alge

Tom Lord-Alge

Tom Lord-Alge is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground floor of the Marlin Hotel.

Audio engineer

Audio engineer

An audio engineer helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the "technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels. The physical recording of any project is done by an engineer... the nuts and bolts."

A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distributing releases from Polydor Ltd. from the UK.

Charts

Singles

Charts – Billboard (United States)[25]

Year Single Chart Position
1987 "I'm Beggin' You" Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1
1988 Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 48
Adult Contemporary 42

Official Charts (United Kingdom)[17]

Year Single Chart Position
1988 "Free as a Bird" UK Singles Chart 95

Discover more about Charts related topics

Kent Music Report

Kent Music Report

The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 1987. From June 1988, the Australian Recording Industry Association, which had been using the top 50 portion of the report under licence since mid-1983, chose to produce their own listing as the ARIA Charts.

RPM (magazine)

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.

Sverigetopplistan

Sverigetopplistan

Sverigetopplistan is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish Recording Industry Association. Before Topplistan, music sales in Sweden were recorded by Kvällstoppen, whose weekly chart was a combined albums and singles list.

Swiss Hitparade

Swiss Hitparade

The Swiss Hitparade is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.

UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The Official Albums Art, previously the UK Albums Chart, is a list of albums ranked by sales and audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays. It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and found on the OCC website as a Top 100 or on UKChartsPlus as a Top 200, with positions continuing until all sales have been tracked in data only available to industry insiders. However, even though number 100 was classed as a hit album in the 1980s until January 1989, since the compilations were removed this definition was changed to Top 75 with follow-up books such as The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums book only including this data. As of 2021, the OCC still only tracks how many UK Top 75s album hits and how many weeks in Top 75 albums chart each artist has achieved.

Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Often, a recording act will be remembered by its "number ones", those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 list in May 1967, and acquired its current name in March 1992. Its previous names include the Billboard Top LPs (1961–1972), Billboard Top LPs & Tape (1972–1984), Billboard Top 200 Albums (1984–1985) and Billboard Top Pop Albums (1985–1992).

List of music recording certifications

List of music recording certifications

Music recording certifications are typically awarded by the worldwide music industry based on the total units sold, streamed, or shipped to retailers. These awards and their requirements are defined by the various certifying bodies representing the music industry in various countries and territories worldwide. The standard certification awards given consist of Gold, Platinum, and sometimes Diamond awards, in ascending order; the UK also has a Silver certification, ranking below Gold. In most cases, a "Multi-Platinum" or "Multi-Diamond" award is given for multiples of the Platinum or Diamond requirements.

Music Canada

Music Canada

Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leading independent record labels and distributors.

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique

The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in 1922 and has 48 member companies.

Productores de Música de España

Productores de Música de España

Productores de Música de España is the national organisation responsible for the music charts of Spain. It is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) group for Spain. Promusicae is based in Madrid, Spain at Calle María de Molina, 39.

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1933 by Francesco Braga. It operates a secretariat based in London, with regional offices in Brussels, Hong Kong, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Nairobi.

Source: "Free as a Bird (album)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 18th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_a_Bird_(album).

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Further Reading

Supertramp

Breakfast in America

Crime of the Century (album)

Crisis? What Crisis?

Even in the Quietest Moments...

...Famous Last Words...

Brother Where You Bound

Some Things Never Change

Slow Motion (Supertramp album)

Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology

In Square Circle

Cannonball (Supertramp song)

It Was the Best of Times

The Very Best of Supertramp 2

Live '88 (Supertramp album)

The Very Best of Supertramp

Bloody Well Right

I'm Beggin' You
References
  1. ^ "Supertramp singles".
  2. ^ "Supertramp singles".
  3. ^ Bollenberg, John "Bobo" (26 June 2000). Interview with Rick Davies, John Helliwell, Jack Douglass, and Georges Ohayon, ProgressiveWorld.net.
  4. ^ Schinder, Scott (2005). Supertramp – Retrospectacle (The Supertramp Anthology) (2005, CD).
  5. ^ "I'm Beggin' You" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Supertramp - Free As A Bird". Discogs. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Free as a Bird at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 857. ISBN 0195313739.
  9. ^ Sheffield, Rob; et al. (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 797. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 47, No. 9" (PHP). RPM. 5 December 1987. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  13. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.Note: user must select 'Supertramp' from drop-down.
  14. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. ^ "swedishcharts.com Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Supertramp – Free as a Bird – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Supertramp > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  18. ^ "allmusic ((( Free as a Bird > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  19. ^ "Album Search: Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original (ASP) on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  20. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1987 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  21. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  22. ^ "French album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 June 2012. Select SUPERTRAMP and click OK. 
  23. ^ "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979–1990". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano.
  24. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Supertramp; 'Free as a Bird')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  25. ^ "Cannonball" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
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