A Day at the Races (album)
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- For other uses, see A Day at the Races.
| A Day at the Races | ||
| Image:Queen A Day At The Races.png | ||
| Studio album by Queen | ||
| Released | 10 December 1976; 18 December 1976 (U.S.) | |
| Recorded | July-November 1976 at The Manor, Wessex and Sarm East, England | |
| Genre | Rock Progressive rock Hard rock Heavy metal | |
| Length | 44:24 | |
| Label | EMI, Parlophone (Europe) Elektra, Hollywood Records (US) | |
| Producer(s) | Queen | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Queen chronology | ||
| Image:Queen A Night At The Opera.png A Night at the Opera (1975) | Image:Queen A Day At The Races.png A Day at the Races (1976) | Image:Queen News Of The World.png News of the World (1977)
|
A Day at the Races is a rock album by English band Queen released in December of 1976.
The A Day at the Races album was the band's first self-produced album after co-producing their first four albums with Roy Thomas Baker (for Queen I, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera) and John Anthony(Queen I).
A Day at the Races was recorded at Sarm West, The Manor and Wessex Studios in England and engineered by Mike Stone.
The title of the album was a reference to the band's immediately preceding album, A Night at the Opera.
Both A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races were titles of films by the Marx Brothers.
A Day at the Races peaked at number 1 in the UK, in Japan and in the Netherlands. It reached number 5 on the US Billboard album chart and was Queen's first US album to ship Gold in the U.S.. It subsequently reached Platinum status in sales in the U.S..
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
Image:Audio-sample.png Indicates a ogg audio sample. For information on how to play the samples, see media help.
- Side 1
- "Tie Your Mother Down" (May) - 4:47 Sample
- "You Take My Breath Away" (Mercury) - 5:08
- "Long Away" (May) - 3:33
- "The Millionaire Waltz" (Mercury) - 4:54
- "You and I" (Deacon) - 3:25
- Side 2
- "Somebody to Love" (Mercury) - 4:56
- "White Man" (May) - 4:59
- "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" (Mercury) - 2:54
- "Drowse" (Taylor) - 3:45
- "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" (May) - 5:57 Sample
1991 Hollywood Records bonus tracks (US re-release):
- "Tie Your Mother Down (1991 Bonus Remix by Matt Wallace)" (May) – 3:44
- "Somebody To Love (1991 Bonus Remix by Randy Badazz)" (Mercury) – 5:00
[edit] Tie Your Mother Down
"Tie Your Mother Down" was written in Tenerife, when Brian May was earning his PhD in Astronomy in early 1975. He wrote it on Spanish guitar and thought he'd change the title and chorus later on, but Mercury liked it and they kept it that way. The song was performed live before recording. The album and single versions include Roger Taylor hitting a high E without falsetto in the last chorus.
[edit] You Take My Breath Away
"You Take My Breath Away" was written by Freddie Mercury and based on the harmonic minor scale. All of the vocals were done by him as well as the piano, and he performed it by himself at Hyde Park before recording it. There is a vocal interlude between this song and the next one that begins with a wash of vocals created by echoes (of a multitracked Freddie) regenerating in reverse, which gradually reintegrates into "you take my breath away."
[edit] Long Away
"Long Away" was composed and sung by May. He used a Burns Double Six 12-string electric guitar for the rhythm parts instead of his Red Special. He'd been wanting to use a Rickenbacker because he admired John Lennon, but he didn't get along well with the thin neck of the instrument.
[edit] The Millionaire Waltz
"The Millionaire Waltz" was written about John Reid (Queen's and Elton John's manager). It's another multi-key and multi-metre song like Bohemian Rhapsody, using abrupt arrangement changes and including Brian May doing multi-tracked guitar choirs.
[edit] You and I
"You And I" is John Deacon's song in the album. It features him on acoustic guitar and Mercury playing Elton John-esque piano parts.
[edit] Somebody to Love
"Somebody To Love" is the hit single of the album. It was Freddie Mercury's own favourite song and he wrote it with Aretha Franklin in mind. The band emulated a gospel choir via multi-tracking, and Mercury recorded a huge range of notes, going from a low A-flat (in the introduction) to a high E-flat two octaves and a fifth above it (at the peak of his cadenza before the end tag).
[edit] White Man
"White Man" was written by May about the suffering of Native Americans at the hands of European immigrants. Its riff was used for the album intro, similarly to "Father To Son" and "Procession" some years before. This song would be the focal point for a Freddie Mercury vocal solo on the A Day at the Races tour and would serve as both a Mercury vocal solo spot and a Brian May guitar solo spot on the 1977/78 News Of The World tour.
[edit] Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
"Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" was written by Mercury and featured Mike Stone (sound engineer and co-producer) taking over the lead vocals for one line. ("Hey, boy, where'd you get it from? Hey, boy, where did you go?") Multi-tracked vocals enhanced the song as well as May's guitar choirs.
[edit] Drowse
"Drowse" was Roger Taylor's song in 6/8 having him playing rhythm guitar and timpani and doing all of the vocals. May played slide guitar during this and "Tie Your Mother Down" (the second guitar solo in the middle of the song).
[edit] Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)
"Teo Torriatte" was Brian May's tribute to the Japanese fans. He played grand piano, plastic piano and harmonium as well as guitar. The title is a mistranscription of "Te (w)o toriatte", meaning "Hold hands" in Japanese.
[edit] Singles
In the UK the first track to be released as a single was Somebody to Love on November 12 1976 (EMI 2565). It reached number 2. It is a good example of Queen's multi-layered vocal arrangements. Tie Your Mother Down followed on March 4 1977 (EMI 2593), reaching number 31. In the US, Somebody to Love was released on 10 December 1976 ( Elektra E45362) and reached number 13. It was followed by Tie Your Mother Down (Elektra E45385) in March 1977, which reached number 49. Both of these were released in Japan: in addition, Teo Torriatte was also released in Japan.
[edit] Personnel
- All lead vocals by Freddie Mercury except:
- Long Away: Brian May
- Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy: Freddie Mercury & Mike Stone
- Drowse: Roger Taylor
- All backing vocals by Queen except:
- You Take My Breath Away: Freddie Mercury
- Drowse: Roger Taylor
- Teo Torriatte: Queen and studio crew
- Octave vocals in Drowse by Roger Taylor
- Gospel choir in Somebody To Love by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor
- Angelical choir in You Take My Breath Away arranged and performed exclusively by Freddie Mercury
- All drums by Roger Taylor
- Gong at the intro by Roger Taylor
- Timpani in Drowse by Roger Taylor
- All bass guitars by John Deacon
- Acoustic guitars in You And I by John Deacon
- Acoustic guitars in Drowse by Brian May
- All electric guitars by Brian May except in Drowse (Roger Taylor)
- Slide guitar in Drowse by Brian May
- Guitar orchestra in The Millionaire Waltz performed exclusively by Brian May
- All pianos by Freddie Mercury, except Teo Torriatte (Brian May)
- Harmonium in Teo Torriatte by Brian May
- Plastic piano in Teo Torriatte by Brian May
[edit] Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | ||
| Japan | 1 | Gold | 130.000 | |
| Netherlands | 1 | 15.000 | ||
| United Kingdom | 1 | 24 | Platinum | 750.000 |
| United States | 5 | 19 | Platinum | 1.100.000 |
[edit] References
<references />
| Queen |
| John Deacon | Brian May | Freddie Mercury | Roger Taylor History | Live performances | Songs |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Queen | Queen II | Sheer Heart Attack | A Night at the Opera | A Day at the Races | News of the World | Jazz | The Game | Flash Gordon | Hot Space | The Works | A Kind of Magic | The Miracle | Innuendo | Made in Heaven |
| Live albums: Live Killers | Live Magic | Live at Wembley '86 | Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl | Return of the Champions |
| Compilation albums: Greatest Hits | At the Beeb | Greatest Hits II | Classic Queen | Queen Rocks | Greatest Hits III | Stone Cold Classics |
| DVDs: We Will Rock You | The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert | Greatest Video Hits 1 | Live at Wembley Stadium | Greatest Video Hits 2 | Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl | Return of the Champions | Super Live in Japan |
| Related Articles |
| Queen + Paul Rodgers | Smile | The Cross |
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