Crazy Little Thing Called Love
| Crazy Little Thing Called Love | |
|---|---|
| Queen | |
| publication | 5th October 1979 |
| length | 2:42 |
| Genre (s) | Rockabilly |
| Author (s) | Freddie Mercury |
| Publisher (s) | EMI , Elektra (US) |
| Award (s) | Gold (UK, US) |
| album | The Game |
| Cover versions | |
| 1980 | The Chipmunks |
| 1983 | Gregor Larson, Brian Larson, Kris Hatlelid (instrumental) |
| 2003 | Michael Bublé |
| 2006 | Diana Ross (feat. Brian May) |
| 2010 | Maroon 5 |
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a 1979 song written by Queen , written by Freddie Mercury , and appeared on the album The Game .
Original version
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According to a statement by Freddie Mercury in the May 2, 1981 issue of Melody Maker , he composed Crazy Little Thing Called Love on his guitar in just five to ten minutes:
'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It's a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction I wrote a good song, I think.
“It took me five to ten minutes for Crazy Little Thing Called Love . I composed it on my guitar, which I can't play well at all, in a way it was just fine because I only had a few chords available. In this respect, it disciplined me very well, because I just had to write within this small framework. I couldn't work with many chords and I think it was precisely because of this limitation that I wrote a good song. "
Drummer Roger Taylor stated in an interview that Mercury wrote the song in ten minutes while taking a bath at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich during the break in a recording session . The former Queen roadie Peter Hince, on the other hand, writes in his book Queen Unseen that it was a bathtub in the Munich hotel "Hilton am Tucherpark". This is supported by the fact that the Hilton was Queen's main hotel in Munich and is also geographically close to the Musicland studio. Mercury wanted to record a rockabilly inspired piece in the style of Elvis Presley . After Mercury wrote the song, he returned to the recording studio and presented it to Roger Taylor and John Deacon . The three then recorded the song with their new producer Mack in the Musicland Studios in Munich. The song was reportedly fully recorded in just half an hour, but Mack said the recordings took six hours. On the recording, Mercury was playing a rhythm guitar on Crazy Little Thing Called Love . Freddie Mercury also played the guitar solo on one version of the song , but that version was lost.
On October 5, 1979, the piece was released as the first single from the album and quickly achieved commercial success. Among other things, the song reached number two in the British charts that same year. In 1980 the song became a number one hit in the United States and stayed on top for several weeks. The song also became a number one hit in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. In Brazil, the song appeared on the international soundtrack of Tempos Modernos . On some editions of the single, depending on the market, the live versions of the songs We Will Rock You and Spread Your Wings appeared on the B-side .
Contributors
- Freddie Mercury: vocals, rhythm guitar, background vocals, handclaps
- Brian May: lead guitar, backing vocals, handclaps
- John Deacon: bass guitar, handclaps
- Roger Taylor: drums, backing vocals, handclaps
- Reinhold Mack: Production
Cover versions
Dwight Yoakam version
The American country singer Dwight Yoakam covered the song in 1999 on his greatest hits album Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Dwight Yoakam's Greatest Hits from the 90’s . Yoakam released his version as a single, which reached number twelve in the American country charts, number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 35 in the UK charts. The music video was directed by Yoakam himself.
Diana Ross with Brian May
Diana Ross covered the song on her 2006 album I Love You . Brian May played both guitar and bass.
More cover versions
- In 1980 the Chipmunks covered the song on their album Chipmunk Punk .
- In 1983 the song was used in an instrumental version as the theme music for the Commodore 64 game "Frantic Freddie"
- In 2003 the Canadian singer Michael Bublé covered the song on his debut album Michael Bublé .
- The American singer Josh Kelley covered the song in 2005 on the Queen's tribute album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen .
- The British band McFly covered the song on their album Room on the Third Floor .
- The American band Maroon 5 covered the song as a bonus track on their album Hands All Over .
- Lynda Carter even named her 2011 album Crazy Little Things after the song she also covered
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Coryat: The Bass Player Book . Backbeat Books, San Francisco 1999, p. 59.
- ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
- ↑ 05-02-1981 - Melody Maker .
- ↑ The 20 Year Reign - 1979 . BrianMay.com , accessed November 8, 2016
- ↑ Brian's Planetarium Interview (German Press) December 14, 2001 (Interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung)
- ↑ a b Lou O'Neill Jr .: Lights! Action! Sound! It's That Crazy Little Thing Called Queen! . In: Circus , 1980. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ↑ QUEEN . In: Billboard , July 18, 1980, p. 33. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ↑ Reinhold Mack, Esq. . iZotope. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ↑ Crazy Little Thing Called Love . UltimateQueen , accessed June 29, 2011.
- ^ Neil Bayly: Jewel in the Crown . Guitar & Bass, January 2008, p. 28. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ^ Joel Whitburn (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
- ↑ David Kent (1993) (doc). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW
- ↑ Tempos Modernos - Teledramaturgia . In: teledramaturgia.com.br . Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Last Chance for a Thousand Years review . In: Allmusic . Retrieved June 4, 2009.
- ↑ Brian May: Out Today - Brian on Diana Ross Album In: Brian News October 06 . Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ Doug Stone: Chipmunk Punk - The Chipmunks . Allmusic , accessed July 10, 2011.
- ↑ YouTube video "C64 Longplay - Frantic Freddie"
- ^ Aaron Latham: Michael Bublé - Michael Bublé . Allmusic , accessed July 10, 2011.
- ^ J. Scott McClintock: Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen - Various Artists . Allmusic , accessed July 10, 2011.
- ^ Room on the 3rd Floor, Pt. 1 . Allmusic , accessed July 10, 2011.
- ^ Maroon 5 . Allmusic , accessed July 10, 2011.
- ↑ Entry on secondhandsongs.com (accessed on May 19, 2019)
