Dreamboat Annie is the debut album by the band Heart, released in 1976. It contained three hit singles which became staples on FM radio. Producer Mike Flicker of Mushroom Records, a newly formed Canadian label, helped the group to polish their sound and obtain a recording contract with the label.
Background
The album
The album was first released in Canada by the small Mushroom Records label. After it became a Canadian hit, Mushroom formed a U.S. division and released Dreamboat Annie in the Seattle area, where Heart's members had lived and played before relocating to Canada in the early 1970s.[1] The group and their label worked together to build success for the album city by city.[citation needed] According to Flicker, this was part of a plan to convince record distributors that Mushroom had a hit record, so that the album would get national distribution.[citation needed]
Subsequent events
However, the group's relationship with the label began to deteriorate. Mushroom paid for an advertising campaign celebrating the sales of Dreamboat Annie which read "It was only their first time together" and showing a photo of Ann & Nancy Wilson leaning up against each other with only heads and bare shoulders visible, as on the cover of the album. The band had not been consulted and was furious with this. Hence, relations were already strained when the group and the label tried to re-negotiate their contract. With the success of Dreamboat Annie, the group expected the label to raise their royalty rate substantially. However, Mushroom refused to pay more money and said it did not want to release a second Heart album.
Placed in the position of presenting this unacceptable offer to the group, Flicker broke off negotiations with Mushroom. The group left the label, believing that their contract allowed them to do so as long as Flicker was no longer working with the label.
Mushroom believed the contract allowed it to release a second Heart album, so it created and released Magazine using material created prior to the band leaving the label. Meanwhile, Heart were in the process of releasing Little Queen with their new record company Portrait Records. Heart took Mushroom to court over Magazine, wanting the album taken off the market. The court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could remix several tracks and re-do vocals before re-releasing the disc. Hence, two versions of Magazine were released, one before the release of Little Queen, and a remixed version after the release of Little Queen. See Magazine for information about the differences between the two versions.
By the early 1980s Mushroom Records was out of business and Heart's two albums for the label were purchased and re-issued by Capitol Records.
Technical
The album was recorded on an Ampex MM1000 16-track tape recorder (which formerly belonged to United Artists) at the Can-Base Studios in Vancouver, BC, which were later renamed to the current Mushroom Studios. It was the first major hit album recorded there.
Track listing
All songs written by Ann Wilson & Nancy Wilson except as noted:
- "Magic Man" - 5:28
- "Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)" - 1:10
- "Crazy on You" - 4:53
- "Soul of the Sea" - 6:33
- "Dreamboat Annie" - 2:02
- "White Lightning & Wine" - 3:53
- "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song" - 3:20
- "Sing Child" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Steve Fossen, Roger Fisher) - 4:55
- "How Deep It Goes" (A. Wilson) - 3:49
- "Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)" - 3:50
Singles
The following singles were released from the album, with the highest charting positions listed.
Album credits
Personnel
- Ann Wilson - lead & background vocals, flute, acoustic guitar on track 9, violin
- Nancy Wilson - guitar, 12 string guitar & background vocals, piano
- Roger Fisher - guitars
- Howard Leese - guitars, keyboards, percussion & background vocals
- Michael DeRosier - drums on tracks 6 and 8
- Steve Fossen - bass
with:
- Dave Wilson- drums on track 1
- Kat Hendrikse- drums on tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 & 10
- Duris Maxwell- drums on track 9
- Brian Newcombe- bass on track 9
- Ray Ayotte- percussion
- Rob Deans- keyboards
- Geoff Foubert- banjo & background vocals
- Mike Flicker- timpani
- Tessie Bensussen- background vocals
- Jim Hill- background vocals/guitars
- Patrick Collins- mastering
- Rofl Henneman- engineering
Chart performance
Album charts
| Chart |
Peak
Position |
| United States |
7 |
| United Kingdom |
36 |
Album certifications
- U.S. Certification: Platinum (1,000,000 as of Nov. 1976) - RIAA
Trivia
The album cover was designed by current Emily Carr Institute communication design instructor Deborah Shackleton.[citation needed]
References
