Born Free (John Barry Song)

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Born Free
Matt Monro
publication March 1966
length 2:37
Genre (s) pop music
text Don Black
music John Barry
Label Capitol Records
Award (s) Oscar ,
Golden Globe nomination
album Born Free (Soundtrack)

Born Free is a song from the movie Born Free - Queen of the Wild . It was written by John Barry (music) and Don Black (text) and sung by Matt Monro .

History of origin

After Thunderball , the title song of the movie James Bond 007 - Thunderball was Born Free , the second song that John Barry and Don Black wrote another. As James Inverne writes in his Don Black biography, the original director (who Inverne does not name) wanted to keep John Barry away from the film. After various problems, the director was replaced by executive producer Carl Foreman . Foreman didn't really want a theme song for the film, and he wasn't happy with Don Black's lines either. It's a film about lions, so the theme song should be about lions, cages and the like; a social comment, however, is not welcome. After lengthy arguments with Foreman, Barry and Black assumed that their song would be the theme song. It was only on the occasion of the film's world premiere in London that they found out that the theme music was an instrumental version of the song. Barry and Black tried unsuccessfully to bring the song back into the film. It was only months later when Roger Williams hit the US charts with a cover version that the producers recognized the song's Oscar chances and brought it into the film as the theme song.

Publication and charts

Matt Monro released Born Free as a single in March 1966.

However, chart successes only had cover versions:

Interpreter country Started Weeks Best placement
Roger Williams United States August 27, 1966 21st 07th
The hesitations United States January 6, 1968 10 38
Vic Reeves and The Roman Numerals Great Britain April 27, 1991 06th 06th

More cover versions

Born Free has already been covered by over 600 artists. Mainly interpreters from the 1960s and 1970s such as Frank Sinatra , Ike & Tina Turner , Connie Francis , Tony Christie , Al Martino , Trini Lopez , Roger Whittaker , Nancy Wilson , Andy Williams , Liberace , Bobby Vinton , Pete Fountain , Floyd Cramer , Wayne Newton , Jerry Vale , James Darren , Jim Nabors and The Lettermen recorded versions of the song. But various orchestral conductors such as Mantovani , Henry Mancini , Percy Faith , James Last , Nelson Riddle , Ray Conniff or Les Baxter played it.

Later cover versions came from José Carreras and Helena Vondráčková , for example .

Born Free became a song of freedom for South Africans of color during apartheid .

For the Born Free Foundation , Brian May and Kerry Ellis released a cover version in 2012 with text modified by Don Black .

A version of Born Free arranged by Hans Zimmer was played in the film Madagascar . The version of Andy Williams can be heard in the 12th episode of the first season of the television series Dexter .

The songs of the same name by Kid Rock and MIA are independent and not cover versions.

Awards

Born Free won the Academy Award for Best Movie Song in 1967 . In the same year the song was also nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category , but the award went to Strangers in the Night from Willkommen, Mister B. The song was also nominated for the Laurel Award in 1967, the award went to A Time for Love of murder second hand .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Inverne: Wrestling with Elephants - The Authorized Biography of Don Black . Foreword by John Barry. SMT Books, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-85712-371-8 , Barry, Black and Born Free (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 4, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Matt Monro - Born Free. In: Hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  3. ^ Born Free - Roger Williams. In: Billboard.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  4. ^ The Hot 100. In: Billboard.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2018 (English, 99th place).
  5. ↑ Born Free - The Hesitations. In: Billboard.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Born Free. In: Officialcharts. Accessed March 4, 2018 (English, open Chart Facts).
  7. ↑ James Inverne: Wrestling with Elephants - The Authorized Biography of Don Black . Foreword by John Barry. SMT Books, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-85712-371-8 , Hand in Hand With Brian Epstein - The Trials of an Agent (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 4, 2018]).
  8. ^ Frank Sinatra - The World We Knew. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  9. ^ Ike & Tina Turner - Let Me Touch Your Mind. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Connie Francis? - Time Alone Will Tell (Non Pensare A Me) / Born Free. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Tony Christie - The Greatest Hollywood Movie Songs. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  12. ^ Al Martino - Mary In The Morning. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Trini Lopez? - Now! In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  14. ^ Roger Whittaker - I Will Always Love You. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  15. ^ Nancy Wilson, Just For Now. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  16. ^ Andy Williams - Born Free. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  17. ^ Liberace - The Way We Were. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  18. ^ Bobby Vinton - Born Free. In: Hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Pete Fountain? - I've Got You Under My Skin. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Floyd Cramer - Here's What's Happening! In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Wayne Newton - The Wayne Newton 2-Record Show! In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Jerry Vale? - Time Alone Will Tell And Other Great Hits Of Today. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  23. ↑ James Darren - All. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Jim Nabors? - Try To Remember. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Lettermen * - A Time For Us. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  26. ^ Mantovani & His Orchestra *? - Hollywood (Musiques De Films - Love Story). In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  27. ^ Henry Mancini & Elmer Bernstein - In Highlights From Filmharmonic '70. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Percy Faith? - Percy Faith Plays Great Movie Themes. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  29. ↑ James Last And His Orchestra * - An Evening Out With James Last. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Nelson Riddle - Music For Wives & Lovers. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  31. ^ Ray Conniff And The Singers? - This Is My Song / Born Free. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  32. ^ Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus * - Brazil Now. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  33. ↑ José Carreras - Hollywood Golden Classics. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  34. ^ Helena Vondráčková - Film Melodies. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  35. ↑ James Inverne: Wrestling with Elephants - The Authorized Biography of Don Black . Foreword by John Barry. SMT Books, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-85712-371-8 , Barry, Black and Born Free (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 4, 2018]).
  36. ^ Born Free - Brian May & Kerry Ellis. (No longer available online.) In: Born Free. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018 ; accessed on March 4, 2018 .
  37. ↑ Various - Madagascar - Motion Picture Soundtrack. In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  38. ↑ Various, Daniel Licht - Dexter (Music From The Showtime Original Series). In: Discogs. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  39. ↑ Laurel Awards. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved March 4, 2018 .