Recorded in the summer of 1974, during breaks between sessions for
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the song was at the time the only song
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin had ever consciously written as a single, as John told journalist
Paul Gambaccini. John was looking to honor
Billie Jean King, and so asked Taupin to write a song called "Philadelphia Freedom" as a homage to her tennis team, the
Philadelphia Freedoms. In
His Song: The Musical History of Elton John, Elizabeth Rosenthal recounts that Taupin said, "I can't write a song about tennis", and did not. Taupin maintains that the lyrics bear no relation to tennis,
Philadelphia soul, or even flag-waving patriotism. Nonetheless, the lyrics have been interpreted as patriotic and uplifting, and even though it was released in 1975, the song's sentiment, intentionally or not, meshed perfectly with an American music audience gearing up for the country's
bicentennial celebration in July 1976. In the US, the song was certified Gold in 1975 and Platinum in 1995 by the
Recording Industry Association of America.
Billboard ranked it as the
number three song for 1975. The song was dedicated in part to "the
Philadelphia sound", which included the soul music of
the Delfonics and
the Spinners and the talents of writer-producers
Kenny Gamble,
Leon Huff, and
Thom Bell; John would work with Bell two years later on an EP that came to be known as
The Thom Bell Sessions. "Philadelphia Freedom" plays in
Philadelphia's
Franklin Institute IMAX Theater before every show as a tribute to the city's love for freedom and its impact on the country. The lyrics are also printed on the walls of the
Hard Rock Cafe in Philadelphia. John performed the song when he was invited to be a musical guest on the May 17, 1975 edition of
Soul Train. The B-side, a cover of
the Beatles' "
I Saw Her Standing There", is a live recording of the Elton John Band with
John Lennon at
Madison Square Garden on 28 November 1974. It was the last of three songs John and Lennon performed together that night; the performance would be Lennon's last concert appearance. Three songs from that collaboration were featured on the 1975 12" EP
Elton John Band featuring John Lennon and the Muscle Shoals Horns (
DJM). These recordings can also be found on the
Lennon box set and the remastered edition of John's
Here and There album.
Billie Jean King Elton John met Billie Jean King in 1973 and, according to reporters for CNN, they have since built a "powerful partnership in philanthropy, raising hundreds of millions of dollars...for equal rights and for
HIV/AIDS causes". Upon admiring and meeting King, John asked his long-term writing partner
Bernie Taupin to write the lyrics to what became "Philadelphia Freedom" and dedicate it to his friend, King, who was a member of the Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team. The label on the vinyl for this record reads "with Love to B.J.K. and the sound of Philadelphia." At the time, King had just been ranked the "World Number 1 women's player" for the fifth time in the previous seven years. Additionally, one reporter argued that she had "alter[ed] the gender perception of professional tennis with her victory against
Bobby Riggs in a highly publicized '
Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match." Though usually cheering from the sidelines at every match, John lost his voice cheering King on from a Los Angeles hotel. and 1973 saw the decision of
Roe v. Wade give women the right to choose to have an abortion. King made other steps in feminism in 1973 when she founded the
Women's Tennis Association and "convinced the
U.S. Open to award female champions the same prize money as men". Despite her success in the match and its historical importance, King told eltonjohn.com that they (she and Elton) did not want the song to be about tennis. "It's a feeling", she said. ==Reception==