A song by Stuart Leathem
Little Freddie Goes to School
A brand new song featuring vocals by Freddie Mercury….. Coming 7th September 2015
‘Little Freddie Goes to School’ is a brand new track from Irish composer Stuart Leathem in which Leathem musically imagines a young Freddie Mercury’s journey to boarding school in India. The vocals on the verses are sung by Irish vocalist Esther Trousdale with Freddie’s voice taking the choruses.
The song will receive a World Premiere at the Official Freddie Mercury Birthday Party at the Casino Barriere Montreux, Switzerland on Saturday 5th September, 2015 before going on worldwide release on Monday 7th September. The Casino is also the home of the Queen Studio Experience Montreux (http://www.mercuryphoenixtrust.com/studioexperience)
The track samples two rare Freddie vocals taken from his original Barcelona sessions: ‘When this old tired body wants to sing’ – late night jam, and ‘The Golden Boy’ a cappella.
The release will in part benefit The Mercury Phoenix Trust, the HIV AIDS charity set up in Freddie’s name following his death in 1991.
“As a composer I don’t write many songs, usually big modern-classical Mike Oldfield-type works”, explains Leathem. “I am however a big admirer of Freddie, especially his work as part of Queen, and was very lucky to call his old producer Dave Richards my friend.
“It had always struck me how little he referenced his upbringing in his musical style. One could perhaps look at ‘Mustapha’ on the Jazz album but aside from that his childhood roots remained something closely guarded in every way.
“I have the pleasure of working regularly with the wonderful vocalist in Esther Trousdale and I decided to write a song about Freddie’s journey to boarding school in India, giving her the lead vocal. The initial idea was to fuse ethnic instrumentation with modern synthesis and create something quite different from anything Freddie himself composed (in terms of timbre).
“I was aware of the ‘When This Old Tired Body….’ track and loved the energy in Freddie’s vocal. It seemed to fit perfectly with the piece I was creating and, when placed into the track it throws the listener backwards and forwards through Freddie’s life at its tentative beginning, and near its end as he faced his illness.
“Lyrically the song focuses on the person of Freddie Mercury, and the idiosyncrasies that made him so unique, right down to the unorthodox way in which he hammered the piano.
“Essentially the track is a tribute to a shy boy who went on to achieve incredible things. It should also give the impression (just now and again) that the two vocalists are belting the song out on the same stage, with a wonderful Indian/Asian/Western fusion of musicians backing them.
“It is an alternative tribute to a wonderful artist, and he contributes in unmistakable fashion.
“I hope it makes people smile, and does some good for the MPT in the process.”
10% of every purchase of the track will go to the work of the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Fighting AIDS worldwide since 1992.
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‘Little Freddie Goes to School’
Words & Music – Stuart Leathem/Freddie Mercury
Vocals – Esther Trousdale featuring Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury appears courtesy of Mercury Songs Ltd.
“Little Freddie Goes To School” contains elements from “When This Old Tired Body Wants To Sing”(Mercury/Moran) and “The Golden Boy”(Mercury/Moran/Rice). Published by Mercury Songs Ltd. All rights reserved.
Stuart Leathem is a composer based in Northern Ireland. His diverse work has earned him critical acclaim. He was recently honoured as guest composer at Oxford University, England and his ‘Café for Lost Souls & Other Works’ concert and companion album have also brought recent success. Keep up to date with Stuart and his work on Twitter @stuartleathem or at www.soundcloud.com/stuartleathem
Esther Trousdale is a classically trained vocalist from N Ireland. She is a member of the prestigious Ulster Youth Choir. Esther was thrown together with Stuart Leathem when they were both commissioned to produce a wedding song in 2013. She went onto sing lead vocals on Stuart’s ‘Café for Lost Souls’ album and has earned acclaim for her vocals on his major works. Esther’s versatility as a singer is evident in her contribution to this new track, ‘Little Freddie Goes to School’.
If you are interested in finding out more about Stuart, you can do so at: