A Cappella Arrangement of Fat Bottomed Girls

The 30th April saw the Annual Showcase 2008 of the Leeds University Union A Cappella Singers. The show also featured Head Row, whose first mp3 is featured on this website.

The show was fantastic, and the night was enjoyed by all, especially those of us who had put so much work into it and glad to see it go well.

I was particularly proud, for a number of reasons: I was singing with both the A Cappella Singers and Head Row; it was me who directed the A Cappella singers, set the time and brought everyone off with a flourish; it was my dad who arranged the version of Both Sides Now that A Cappella sang, and he was there to see us do it; and I arranged the version of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls that we sang!

When it came to arranging this song, I looked around on the internet of versions which had already been arranged on YouYube. I found some, but they all took the same attitude – for the instrumental parts of the original song, they imitated the instruments with their voices. What a novel idea!!… if it wasn’t thought of ages ago and incredibly effectively done by the Swingle Singers and practically every other A Cappella group on the planet. So, I wanted to do something which was more individual, that wasn’t just trying to replicate the exact sound of the original song with vocals only. So I started by transcribing the first part of the song exactly, the bit before any instruments come in. I then missed out the instrumental section altogether and replaced it with harmonised versions of the tune. At the chorus, I added a bass part that follows a bass guitar type of line. In the middle eight, I also avoid the twangy sound that would most accurately imitate the original version, but actually tried to make it a very open, quiet, serene sound, to create the greatest contrast to the chorus section.

I hope to do more arrangements like this, but at the moment, my time is fairly occupied doing university. I’m sure I’ll do some at some point though. Feel free to make suggestions as to songs!

I would like to thank Fikir (the president and mastermind behind the concert), Jimmy (the Head Row director) and everyone who sang for making is such a great night. I’m so proud of you all.

 

UPDATE 16/04/16: I’ve had various requests for copies of the sheet music for this, and now that I’m too busy to really respond to requests on this site, I’ve decided just to make it freely available here.  Note that this affords you my permission, but performance rights would need to be sought separately from the original copyright holder of the music (Queen).  Of course if you want to make a donation to me for the pleasure of using my arrangement, you can do so via PayPal to simeon@simeonjackson.co.uk.