Born Free (Matt Monro song)

"Born Free" is a popular song with music by John Barry, and lyrics by Don Black. It was written for the 1966 film of the same name and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Lyricist Don Black managed British singer Matt Monro at the time, and he and Barry asked him to record the song for the film's soundtrack. The producers of the film considered the song uncommercial, however, and deleted it from the print shown at its Royal Command premiere in London. When Monro, who attended the event, made Black aware of the edit, they lobbied the producers to restore it, citing the burgeoning commercial success of the song. Monro's interpretation appeared over the closing credits in a shortened version recorded especially for the film, which enabled it to qualify for the Academy Award. Monro's complete commercial recording was released on the film's soundtrack album and became the singer's signature tune for the remainder of his career.

Roger Williams, Andy Williams, and Frank Sinatra all recorded cover versions. Roger Williams' version reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult contemporary chart for six non-consecutive weeks in September/October 1966, while Andy Williams' version was not released as a single. Ed Ames recorded a version of the song in a 1968 album. "Born Free" also appeared on the Vic Reeves album I Will Cure You. Released as a single, this version peaked at #6 in the UK Singles Chart in 1991.

Born Free

Born Free is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilderness of Kenya. The movie was produced by Open Road Films Ltd. and Columbia Pictures. The screenplay, written by blacklisted Hollywood writer Lester Cole (under the pseudonym "Gerald L.C. Copley"), was based upon Joy Adamson's 1960 non-fiction book Born Free. The film was directed by James Hill and produced by Sam Jaffe and Paul Radin. Born Free, and its musical score by John Barry, won numerous awards.

Plot

When George Adamson is forced to kill a lioness out of self-defense, he brings home the 3 orphaned cubs she had been trying to protect. The Adamsons tend to the three orphaned lion cubs to young lionhood, and, when the time comes, the two largest are sent to the Rotterdam Zoo, while Elsa the Lioness (the smallest of the litter) remains with Joy. When Elsa is held responsible for stampeding a herd of elephants through a village, John Kendall, Adamson's boss gives the couple three months to either rehabilitate Elsa to the wild, or send her to a zoo. Joy opposes sending Elsa to a zoo, and spends much time attempting to re-introduce Elsa to the life of a wild lion in a distant reserve. At last, Joy succeeds, and with mixed feelings and a breaking heart, she returns her friend to the wild. The Adamsons then depart for their home in England; a year later, they return to Kenya for a week, hoping to find Elsa. They do, and happily discover she hasn't forgotten them, and is the mother of three cubs.

Born Free (Kid Rock album)

Born Free is American artist Kid Rock’s eighth studio album. It released on November 16, 2010 with the title track being its lead single. The album is a rock and roll collaboration produced by Rick Rubin featuring several high profile artists such as, T.I., Sheryl Crow, and Bob Seger. This is Kid Rock's first album not to feature a Parental Advisory sticker. It is also described as a country music album. Kid Rock described it as "very organic blues-based rock and roll". Cable network TBS used the title track, "Born Free", for its coverage of the 2010 Major League Baseball postseason. It was announced on June 16, 2011 that Born Free was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipments in excess of one million copies. This gives Kid Rock his sixth Platinum album certification in the US. A Michigan only promotion was released with the album. It was a 4 song EP called "Racing Father Time".

Release and Promotion

The album's lead single was the title track. The songs promotional push included being the theme for the MLB Playoffs,European Music Awards and the CMA Festival. He also performed "Times Like These" at the American Music Awards and "Care" at the Rally for Sanity. This led to a debut of 189,000 copies sold and landing at number five on the billboard top 200. VH-1 aired the Isle of Malta concert special. The following single "God Bless Saturday" became the secondary theme song for ESPN's College Game Day. The third single "Collide" saw him reunite with Sheryl Crow and go on a joint tour together. "Purple Sky" failed to chart and the final single was "Care" with rapper TI and depending on the version Martina McBride,Mary J Blidge or Angelenna Pressly of the Pistol Annies. The song lead to a 12 city charity tour,all the money from the tour went to 12 cities personally choice for donation.

Born Free (Milt Jackson album)

Born Free is an album by vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded in 1966 and released on the Limelight label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ken Dryden awarded the album 4 stars stating "This obscure mid-'60s record by Milt Jackson has few surprises, though many jazz fans would be suspicious that the theme from the movie Born Free would turn into a viable jazz vehicle. Jackson's funky treatment of this normally laid-back piece works very well".

Track listing