Free as a Bird (album)

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.

For the single, see Free as a Bird (Supertramp song).

Free as a Bird
Studio album by
Supertramp
Released13 October 1987
Recorded1987
StudioOcean Way Recording (Hollywood, CA)
The Backyard Studio (Encino, CA)
GenrePop, dance-pop, synthpop, pop rock
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)

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]

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.

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]
New Musical Express2/10[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

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

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.

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.

Charts

Singles

Charts – Billboard (United States)[26]

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)[18]

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

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. 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. Mann, Paul (31 October 1987). "Supertramp: Free As A Bird". New Musical Express. p. 32.
  10. 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.
  11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 47, No. 9" (PHP). RPM. 5 December 1987. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  13. "dutchcharts.nl Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  14. "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.
  15. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  16. "swedishcharts.com Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  17. "Supertramp – Free as a Bird – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  18. "Supertramp > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  19. "allmusic ((( Free as a Bird > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  20. "Album Search: Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original (ASP) on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  21. "Les Albums (CD) de 1987 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  22. "Canadian album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  23. "French album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 June 2012. Select SUPERTRAMP and click OK. 
  24. "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979–1990". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano.
  25. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Supertramp; 'Free as a Bird')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  26. "Cannonball" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
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