Crazy Little Thing Called Love
October 5, 1979
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a song by Queen from 1979, which was written by Freddie Mercury and appeared on the album The Game.
- Dwight Yoakam version 2.1
- 2.2 Diana Ross with Brian May
- 2.3 Other cover versions
Original version
Formation background
According to a statement from Freddie Mercury in Melody Maker issue of 2 May 1981, he wrote 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 not 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 could not work through too many chords and did Because of restriction I wrote a good song, I think. "
" It took me five to ten minutes for Crazy Little Thing Called Love. I have composed it on my guitar, which I can not play well, this was on a way a good thing, since I had only a few chords available. In this respect, disciplined me very well, because I just had to write within this small frame. I could not work with many chords and I think precisely because of this limitation, I have written a good song. "
The drummer Roger Taylor said in an interview that Mercury has written the song in ten minutes while he took a bath at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich during the break of a recording session. The former Queen roadie Peter Hince writes, however, in his book "Queen Unseen " that it was a bathtub in Munich hotel "Hilton on Tucherpark ". This is suggested that the Hilton was the root of Queen Hotel in Munich and is also geographically close to 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 took the song then with their new producer Mack in the Musicland Studios in Munich. According to reports, the song was recorded entirely in just half an hour, but Mack said the recordings would have taken six hours. On the recording Mercury played a rhythm guitar in Crazy Little Thing Called Love. In the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, London 1985, Mercury played the song for the first time with his guitar. Freddie Mercury played on a version of the song and the guitar solo, this version was lost.
On 5 October 1979, the piece as the first single of the album was coupled out and quickly reached commercial success. Among other things, the song reached number two on the British charts in the same year. In 1980 the song in the United States was a number -one hit and spent several weeks at the top. Also in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, the song was a number -one hit. In Brazil, the song was released on the international soundtrack of Tempos Modernos. On some editions of the single appeared depending on the market on the B - side of the live version of the song We Will Rock You and Spread Your Wings.
Contributors
- Freddie Mercury: vocals, rhythm guitar, backing 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 coverte the song on his 1999 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, it peaked in the U.S. country charts twelfth place in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 64 in the British charts Place 43 The Directed music video led Yoakam itself
Diana Ross with Brian May
Diana Ross coverte the song in 2006 on her album I Love You. Brian May played both guitar and bass.
Other cover versions
- In 1980, the Chipmunks who covered the song on their album Chipmunk Punk.
- In 2003, Canadian singer Michael Bublé coverte the song on his debut album Michael Bublé.
- The American singer Josh Kelley coverte the song in 2005 on the Queen tribute album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.
- The British band McFly coverte the song on their album Room on the Third Floor.
- The American band Maroon 5 coverte the song as a bonus piece on their album Hands All Over.