Barcelona (song)
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Barcelona is a song by rock singer Freddie Mercury and opera singer Montserrat Caballé . It was released as a single in 1987 and in 1988 with a longer intro on the album of the same name, Barcelona . The composition and the text related to Caballé's native city of Barcelona are by Mercury and Mike Moran . On the occasion of the 1992 Summer Olympics , the title was released again as a single.
History of origin
Mercury recorded the duet Barcelona, composed in 1987, with the ( Catalan ) opera singer Montserrat Caballé , whose voice and charisma fascinated him. The recordings were produced by Mercury and Queen co-producers David Richards and Mike Moran . Numerous guest musicians took part, including the percussionist Frank Ricotti .
Publications
On October 26, 1987, Barcelona was released as a single (length: 4:25). On the B-side you can hear Exercises in Free Love, composed by Mercury and Moran , sung by Montserrat Caballé . The 12 " maxi single contains an" Extended Version "(7:04) from Barcelona . The video for the single was made by David Mallet , who had previously directed numerous video clips of Queen and Mercury. One year after the single was released followed on 10 October 1988, named after her album Barcelona . Since the album version of the title track (5:37), the intro contains the "Extended version", it is significantly longer than the single version. on the occasion of the Olympic Games of the song was . again in July 1992 released as a single Numerous television stations sent as part of the Olympic sports broadcasts regularly excerpts of the play - the new edition of the Single therefore also includes one of the BBC shortened so-called "TV Edit" (1:17) from Barcelona to. charts was the title was more successful in its re-release than the first edition: In some countries, including Great Britain, the single almost reached the top position with number two USA the song was released as a single neither in the eighties nor in the nineties.
Barcelona is also featured on Mercury's posthumously released compilation albums The Freddie Mercury Album (1992) and Lover of Life, Singer of Songs - The Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo (2006). The single version was also released on Queen's album Greatest Hits III in 1999 . Mercury's extensive box set The Solo Collection , released in 2000, contains a large number of original recordings of the title from 1987, including numerous demo versions .
Two versions of Barcelona in 5.1 surround sound appeared on the video collection Freddie Mercury - The Video Collection , released in 2000 (which is also included in The Solo Collection ).
Performances
Five months before the single was released, Mercury and Caballé performed the title for the first time on May 29, 1987 as a playback lecture in the “Ku” club at the “ Ibiza 92” festival, which was co-organized by the Spanish television station TVE (Televisión Española).
As part of the “La Nit” festival on October 8, 1988 in Barcelona on the occasion of the arrival of the Olympic flag from Seoul , both presented their title Barcelona again in playback mode - two days before the album was released . The performance was broadcast live on television; the three pieces presented are included in a revised form in Mercury's compilation The Video Collection , published in 2000 .
It was not performed as part of the 1992 Summer Olympics because after Mercury's death as a result of his AIDS illness in November 1991, Caballé could not consider another duet partner, according to the BBC. Before the Champions League final between Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou stadium on May 26, 1999, Caballé performed Barcelona live, accompanied by Mercury in the form of a video recording projected onto the stadium screens.
Cover versions
The English tenor Russell Watson recorded a cover version with guest singer Shaun Ryder (former singer of the band Happy Mondays ) , which appeared on Watson's debut album The Voice in 2000 . His 2006 compilation The Ultimate Collection also includes the title.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sources for chart placements: UK DE CH , accessed on August 9, 2018.
- ↑ BBC Radio2 - Sold on Song - Top 100 - Number 41.Retrieved July 28, 2010 .
- ↑ Queen's Greatest Hits 3rd In: h2g2. BBC , accessed July 28, 2010 .