Philadelphia Freedom
| Philadelphia Freedom | |
|---|---|
| Elton John | |
| publication | February 24, 1975 |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| text | Bernie Taupin |
| music | Elton John |
| album | Released as a single only |
Philadelphia Freedom is a song by the British singer and composer Elton John . The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin .
From the beginning, John planned to release the track only as a single and not as part of the album, which was currently in the works, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy . In the songs that John composed for his albums, he paid attention to melody and harmony, the extent to which these still had hit potential took a back seat. With Philadelphia Freedom, however, he wanted to produce a hit. And despite the length of over five minutes, which was not welcomed by radio program makers, he succeeded.
In North America, Philadelphia Freedom paved the way for a brilliant start for Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy , which was the first album ever to hit number 1 on the US album charts because of the many pre-orders .
background
Billie Jean King was the most famous female tennis star in the world in the late 1960s. John met her in 1972, was enthusiastic about her and because of her, tennis. As far as he could, he watched all of their home games, even dressed in team dress for them and cheered them on from his seat.
In 1974, King took on the role of coach of the Philadelphia Freedoms, a team of the then World Team Tennis League, and thus became the first woman ever to train a professional American tennis team that consisted not only of women, but also had men on the team.
In his enthusiasm, John Taupin asked to write a song text that he could dedicate to King and that would revolve around tennis, Philadelphia and the popular ideas of how to win against resistance anyway. In Elizabeth Rosenthal's book "His Song" Taupin is quoted as insisting that the text has nothing to do with tennis, the then modern Philadelphia sound or flag-waving patriotism. Nevertheless, the lines were interpreted as patriotic in the USA and thus fit perfectly into the time before the 200th anniversary of the US nation.
Philadelphia Freedom was composed in the summer of 1974 and recorded in August 1974 at the Caribou Ranch music recording studio in Nederland ( Colorado ). However, the release was delayed until the Philadelphia Freedoms team had completed their last game of the season.
review
The easily danceable rhythm, the driving violin arrangement, the concise drums in connection with a text that is reminiscent of freedom, departure and success, were the ingredients for a hit that had to be number one in its time.
B side
In the summer of 1974, John was on his way to Colorado. During a stopover in New York, he met with John Lennon . Lennon was recording the tracks for his album Walls and Bridges . John played some piano passages, sang in the background and bet Lennon that Whatever Gets You Through the Night would be a number one hit in the US. In this case, Lennon would have to perform in a concert with John.
John was proved right, and Lennon cleared his betting debt in a concert in Madison Square Garden , New York on November 28, 1974. The two sang three songs together. Lennon himself presented the last of these, I Saw Her Standing There , with the following words, which can also be heard on the live recording: “I'd like to thank Elton and the boys for having me on tonight. We tried to think of a number to finish off with so I can get out of here and be sick, and we thought we'd do a number of an old, estranged fiancé of mine, called Paul. This is one I never sang, it's an old Beatle number, and we just about know it ”(Eng .: I would like to thank Elton and the guys for having me with them tonight. We tried to finish off a number thinking about getting out of here on sick leave and we thought we were doing a number from an old, estranged fiance of mine called Paul. That's an old Beatles number that I never sang and we just know it like that).
Guitarist Davey Johnstone later summed up the extraordinary atmosphere in this concert, when Lennon was on stage :
“The whole thing was actually so dream-like, that I don't actually remember anything specific about it. I do remember I broke a string and played the solo (of I Saw Her Standing There) on five strings. It didn't sound that bad when I heard it back! I didn't really care. "
“Everything was actually like a dream, I can't remember anything in particular. I remember one of my strings broke and I only played the solo (from I Saw Her Standing There) on five strings. When I heard it again, it didn't sound bad at all. It really didn't matter. "
occupation
- Elton John - vocals, piano
- Davey Johnstone - electric guitar
- Dee Murray - bass guitar
- Nigel Olsson - drums
- Ray Cooper - tambourines, congas, rattles
- Gene Page - orchestration
production
- Producer: Gus Dudgeon
Charts
| Year | single | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Philadelphia Freedom | German single charts | 50 |
| 1975 | Philadelphia Freedom | UK Singles Chart | 12 |
| 1975 | Philadelphia Freedom | USA Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
Awards
| organization | status | date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA - USA | gold | April 1975 |
| RIAA - USA | platinum | September 1995 |
Individual evidence
- ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. Harmony Books, New York 1992, ISBN 0-517-58762-9 , p. 292.
- ↑ http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-20/sports/32747948_1_elton-john-america-bench
- ^ Susan Ware: Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women's Sports . The University of North Carolina Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8078-3454-1 , pp. 101 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed August 11, 2014]).
- ↑ Elizabeth J. Rosenthal: His song: the musical journey of Elton John , 1st publ. Edition, Billboard Books, New York 2001, ISBN 978-0-8230-8893-5 .
- ↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2475
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/song/philadelphia-freedom-mt0008873563
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated August 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Elton John / Discography # Chart placements
- ↑ http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/
