Little Queen

For other uses, see Little Queen (disambiguation).
Little Queen

Cover photography by Bob Seidemann
Studio album by Heart
Released May 14, 1977
Recorded Kaye Smith Studios, Seattle, Washington, February–April 1977
Genre Hard rock, folk rock
Length 39:26
Label Portrait
Producer Mike Flicker
Heart chronology
Dreamboat Annie
(1976)		 Little Queen
(1977)		 Magazine
(1977)
Singles from Little Queen
  1. "Barracuda" / "Cry to Me"
    Released: May 1977
  2. "Little Queen" / "Treat Me Well"
    Released: May 1977
  3. "Kick It Out" / "Go On Cry"
    Released: December 1977
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
PopMatters(mixed)[4]

Little Queen is the second studio album released by the American rock band Heart. It was released in May 1977 on Portrait Records, and re-released in 2004 with two bonus tracks.

Overview

The group intended Magazine to be the official follow-up album to the debut Dreamboat Annie. However a contract dispute with their label Mushroom Records, resulted in the group signing with the newly formed Portrait Records, a division of CBS Records (now Sony/BMG).[5]

The contract called for two albums and Mushroom took the position that they were owed a second one. On that basis, Mushroom attempted to prevent the release of Little Queen and any other work by Heart, and took the four unfinished tracks for Magazine, added some studio outtakes and live material, and released the album with a disclaimer on the cover.[5]

The dispute dragged on for about two years and ended with the court deciding that the band was free to sign with another label, but that Mushroom was indeed owed a second album. So, Heart went back to the studio to re-record, remix, edit, and re-sequence the recordings in a marathon session over the period of a few days. A court ordered guard stood nearby to prevent the master tapes from being erased.[5]

Little Queen was released 14 May 1977 and Magazine was re-released 22 April 1978. With the hit single "Barracuda" on it, Little Queen outsold Magazine handily, eventually achieving 3x Platinum status.[6] However, the almost contemporary release also gave the band the distinction of having all three of their albums on the charts at the same time.[5]

"Barracuda"

After their first album became a million seller, the label took out a full-page ad in Rolling Stone magazine touting the band's success, using the headline "Million to One Shot Sells a Million".[7] The ad was mocked up to look like the front page of the National Enquirer. The ad included one of the photos from the Dreamboat Annie cover shoot, but with Nancy and Ann looking into the camera. The caption under the photo read: "Heart's Wilson Sisters Confess: 'It Was Only Our First Time!'".[5]

Just after the "First Time" ad appeared, a Detroit radio promoter asked Ann Wilson where her lover was, referring to sister, Nancy. Ann was outraged and retreated to her hotel room and began writing a song. When she relayed the incident to Nancy, she too was outraged. Nancy joined Ann and contributed a melody and bridge. The song became "Barracuda", which peaked on the charts at No. 11[8] and remains one of the band's signature songs.

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Barracuda"  Ann Wilson, Roger Fisher, Nancy Wilson, Michael DeRosier 4:21
2. "Love Alive"  A. Wilson, Fisher, N. Wilson 4:22
3. "Sylvan Song" (Instrumental)N. Wilson, Fisher 2:12
4. "Dream of the Archer"  A. Wilson, Fisher, N. Wilson 4:30
5. "Kick It Out"  A. Wilson 2:45
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
6. "Little Queen"  A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Fisher, DeRosier, Howard Leese, Steve Fossen 5:10
7. "Treat Me Well"  N. Wilson 3:25
8. "Say Hello"  A. Wilson, Fisher, N. Wilson 3:36
9. "Cry to Me"  A. Wilson, N. Wilson 2:52
10. "Go On Cry"  A. Wilson, Fisher, N. Wilson 5:53

Personnel

Heart

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1977 RPM100 Albums Chart (Canada)[10] 2
Billboard 200 (USA)[11] 9
GfK Dutch Charts[12] 9
Australian Albums Chart[13] 22
German Albums Chart[14] 34
UK Albums Chart[15] 34
Swedish Albums Chart[16] 44

Singles

Year Title Chart Position
1977 "Barracuda" RPM100 Singles (Canada)[17] 2
German Singles Chart[18] 8
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[8] 11
Swedish Singles Chart[19] 14
Austrian Singles Chart[20] 16
GfK Dutch Charts[21] 29
Ultratop Belgium Charts (Flanders)[22] 30
New Zealand Charts[23] 37
"Little Queen" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[8] 62
RPM100 Singles (Canada)[24] 67
"Kick It Out" RPM100 Singles (Canada)[25] 67
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[8] 79

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
USA RIAA 1994 3x Platinum (+ 3,000,000)[6]
Canada CRIA 1977 2x Platinum (+ 200,000)[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "Heart - Little Queen review". All Music. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Altman, Billy (30 June 1977). "Heart: Little Queen : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 372. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ↑ Horning, Rob (9 August 2004). "Heart: Little Queen / Dog & Butterfly / Bebe Le Strange (reissue)". PopMatters. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, Wilson, Cross: 13 - Natural Fantasies
  6. 1 2 "RIAA Searchable database: search for "Little Queen"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Mushroom Records Ad" (JPG). Mushroom Records (Canada). Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Little Queen Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Saulnier, Jason (15 March 2012). "Roger Fisher Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 27, No. 19, August 06 1977". Library and Archives Canada. 6 August 1977. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Little Queen Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Heart – Little Queen (album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ↑ "Album – Heart, Little Queen". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  15. ↑ "Artist Chart History - Heart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Heart – Little Queen (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 3, October 15, 1977". Library and Archives Canada. 15 October 1977. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Single – Heart, Barracuda". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "Heart – Barracuda (song)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Heart – Barracuda (song)". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Heart – Barracuda (nummer)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  22. ↑ "Heart - Barracuda". Ultratop (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Heart – Barracuda (song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  24. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 4, October 22, 1977". Library and Archives Canada. 22 October 1977. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  25. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 11, December 24, 1977". Library and Archives Canada. 24 December 1977. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  26. ↑ "Gold Platinum Search for Heart". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 July 2014.

References

Wilson, Ann; Wilson, Nancy; Cross, Charles R. (18 September 2012). Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll. It Books (New York City: HarperCollins). ISBN 978-0062101679. 

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