Little Queen

''Little Queen'' is the third studio album by American rock band Heart, released on May 14, 1977, by Portrait Records. The album was recorded and mixed at Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle, Washington, from February to April 1977. On June 29, 2004, a remastered version of ''Little Queen'' was released by Epic Records and Legacy Recordings with two bonus tracks.

Background

The group intended ''Magazine'' to be the official follow-up to their debut album ''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).

The Mushroom contract called for two albums, and the label 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. They took the five unfinished tracks for ''Magazine'' and added a B-side and two live recordings. The first release of the album in April 1977 included a disclaimer on the back cover.

The court eventually decided that Heart was free to sign with a new label but indeed owed Mushroom a second album. Therefore, Heart returned to the studio to re-record, remix, edit, and resequence the ''Magazine'' recordings in a marathon session over four days. A court-ordered guard stood nearby to prevent the master tapes from being erased.

''Little Queen'' was released on May 14, 1977, and the reworked version of ''Magazine'' was re-released on April 22, 1978. With the successful single "Barracuda", ''Little Queen'' outsold ''Magazine'' handily, eventually earning a triple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). However, the almost simultaneous 1977 releases also gave the band the distinction of having all three of their albums (''Dreamboat Annie'', ''Magazine'', and ''Little Queen'') on the charts at the same time.

"Barracuda"

After ''Dreamboat Annie'' became a million seller, Mushroom took out a full-page ad in the December 30, 1976, issue of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine touting the band's success, using the headline "Million to One Shot Sells a Million". The ad looked like the front page of the tabloid newspaper ''National Enquirer'' and included a photo from the ''Dreamboat Annie'' cover shoot. The caption read: "Heart's Wilson Sisters Confess: 'It Was Only Our First Time!'".

After this ad surfaced, a Detroit radio promoter asked Ann Wilson about her lover—referring to Nancy, thus implying that the sisters were incestuous lesbian lovers. Ann was outraged and retreated to her hotel room to write a song. When she relayed the incident to Nancy, she, too, was infuriated. Nancy joined Ann and contributed a melody and bridge. The song became "Barracuda", which peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remains one of the band's signature songs.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Little Queen''.

Heart

* Ann Wilson – lead vocals ; flute
* Nancy Wilson – acoustic guitar ; autoharp ; vocals ; mandolin ; piano ; electric guitar ; blues harp, lead vocals
* Roger Fisher – lead guitar ; mandolin ; electric guitar
* Howard Leese – lead guitar ; Mellotron ; acoustic guitar, piano ; vocals ; Moog bass ; electric guitar ; guitar ; grand piano, string arrangements, string conducting ; mandolin
* Michael DeRosier – drums ; tabla ; percussion ; timpani, chimes
* Steve Fossen – bass

Additional musicians

* Lynn Wilson Keagle – vocals
* Seal Dunnington – vocals

Technical

* Mike Flicker – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

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1977 albums
Albums produced by Mike Flicker
Heart (band) albums
Portrait Records albums