Free as a Bird (album)

Free as a Bird is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in October 1987.

Free as a Bird
Studio album by Supertramp
Released	13 October 1987
Recorded	1987
Genre	Pop, dance-pop, synthpop
Length	44:17
Label	A&M
Producer	Rick 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
"I'm Beggin' You (A. Straight Pass / B1. Mad House Mix / B2. Dub)" Released: 1987 "Free as a Bird (b/w Thing for You)" Released: 1988

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."[1]

Overview

The album was the first Supertramp album to feature contributions from guitarist/vocalist Mark Hart. He would later become a full-fledged member of the group.

Despite the fact that "I'm Beggin' You" was a club chart-topping hit[2] 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 colour variants – blue (pictured), green, yellow and pink. The bird in the picture was a cut-out.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine brief retrospective review dismissed Free as a Bird as "a colorless and tuneless collection of prog rock meandering".[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Rick Davies except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(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 Hart	3:42
5.	"Free as a Bird"		4:25

Side two

No.	Title	Length
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

Personnel

• Rick Davies – piano, organ, synthesizers, Fender Rhodes, vocals
• John Helliwell – saxophone, brass
• Dougie Thomson – bass
• Bob Siebenberg – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Mark Hart – 12-string guitar, electric guitar, synthesizers, vocals
• Marty Walsh – electric 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 – producer, mixing
• 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

Weekly charts Chart Position Australian Kent Music Report[4] 30 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[5] 34 Dutch Albums Chart[6] 32 French SNEP Albums Chart[7] 24 Spanish Albums Chart[8] 16 Swedish Albums Chart[9] 28 Swiss Albums Chart[10] 14 UK Albums Chart[11] 93 US Billboard 200[12] 101 West German Media Control Albums Chart[13] 23

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position French Albums Chart[14] 66 Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^^ France (SNEP)[16] Gold 99,800[17] Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] Gold 50,000^^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[19] Gold 25,000^^ ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

Charts – Billboard (United States)[20]

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)[11]

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

References

1. Bollenberg, John "Bobo" (26 June 2000). Interview with Rick Davies, John Helliwell, Jack Douglass, and Georges Ohayon, ProgressiveWorld.net.
2. "I'm Beggin' You" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Free as a Bird at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
5. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 47, No. 9" (PHP). RPM. 5 December 1987. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
6. "dutchcharts.nl Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
7. "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.
8. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
9. "swedishcharts.com Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
10. "Supertramp – Free as a Bird – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
11. "Supertramp > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
12. "allmusic ((( Free as a Bird > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
13. "Album Search: Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
14. "Les Albums (CD) de 1987 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
15. "Canadian album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
16. "French album certifications – Supertramp – Free as a Bird" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 June 2012. Select SUPERTRAMP and click OK. 
17. "Les Albums Or". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
18. "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979–1990". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano.
19. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Supertramp; 'Free as a Bird')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
20. "Cannonball" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.