Name: Butterflies Are Free – The Original Recordings 1967-72
Brand: The Free Design

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

ACME355CDX

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2020-11-27

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Cherry Red (ADA)

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5013929335530

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Total Cap

4 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

The Free Design

Genre GB

Classic

Label GB

The Free Design was a vocal group from Delevan, New York, known for their jazzy pop music. Their unique sound can be described as a blend of sunshine pop and baroque pop. The original lineup consisted of siblings Chris Dedrick, Sandy Dedrick, and Bruce Dedrick, with younger sister Ellen Dedrick joining later on. Near the end of their initial career, Stephanie Dedrick also became a member.

After disbanding in 1972, The Free Design made a comeback in 2000 when they recorded the song "Endless Harmony" for the Beach Boys tribute album "Caroline Now". This experience reignited their passion for music and led to the release of their full-length album "Cosmic Peekaboo" in 2001, featuring the original lineup. Sadly, Chris Dedrick passed away from cancer at the age of 62 on August 6th, 2010.

If you enjoy artists such as *Eternity's Children*, *Harpers Bizarre*, or *Margo Guryan*, then you will definitely appreciate The Free Design's enchanting melodies and harmonies. With influences ranging from *The Cyrkle* to *The Association*, this talented vocal group has left an indelible mark on the world of pop music.

Meticulously curated box sets featuring exceptional audio quality, stunning visuals, and exclusive bonus content. Explore genres, eras, and artists to find the perfect addition to your collection.

Box Sets

4CD collection of original material by The Free Design. The Dedrick children, Chris, his brother Bruce, their sister Sandra and their younger sisters Ellen and Stefanie, were born into a world of music. Their father, Art, was a trombonist and arranger, their mother a music teacher who played French horn. Uncle Rusty, a jazz trumpeter with Red Norvo.

Under the influence of the Hi-Lo’s and Peter, Paul and Mary, The Free Design rose through the folk scene of the Greenwich Village coffee houses, achieving national prominence with the enchanting Kites Are Fun. They would prove to be at least the artistic equals of such popular contemporaries as The Association, The Mamas and the Papas, The Fifth Dimension and Harper’s Bizarre, but without quite matching their commercial success.

Rather than be dictated to and diluted by the majors, they chose to commit to the artistic freedom and potential to develop offered them by the producer Enoch Light through his independent set up, Project 3. While his label might not have been able to provide the resources of a Columbia or RCA, he believed in the group, gave them carte blanche and hired some of the finest session musicians in New York to back them.

The decision to put their art first was justified by the extraordinary quality of the seven albums recorded between 1967 and 1972. We have Enoch Light’s vision and the group’s brave decision to stick to their guns to thank for the fact that this splendid music exists today.

During the 1990’s The Free Design enjoyed a renaissance. The enthusiastic reevaluation of their work by a new generation of international musicians; Cornelius, Beck, Stereolab and the High Llamas, who insisted that The Free Design be placed among the all-time greats of vocal harmony; to be spoken of in the same sentence as The Beach Boys and The Carpenters.

With exceptions, The Free Design were at their most pure in recordings of their own compositions. Kites Are Fun, Bubbles, Kije’s Ouija, My Brother Woody, Ivy On A Windy Day, Starlight, Daniel Dolphin, I’m A Yogi, My Very Own Angel, and the Dorian Benediction, each adorned by the baroque fantasy quality which is uniquely theirs. Breathtakingly original songs full of playful, nostalgic lyrical imagery; sometimes surprisingly dark; always enormously listenable.

Whilst the arrangements reflected Chris Dedrick’s classical training and eclectic taste, the beautifully detailed sound must be attributed – at least in part – to the legendary sound engineer Phil Ramone, a magician whose emphasis on subtlety and nuance in performance conceived such creations as The Girl from Ipanema by Astrud Gilberto, Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard by Paul Simon, the Bob Dylan album, Blood On the Tracks, and, of course, Bubbles by The Free Design.