Queen: The Complete Works
Page 91
Minor complaints aside, Deep Cuts, Volume 1 is a good collection of Queen’s early material, and, apart from the inexplicable inclusion of ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, itself a single (the 1975 re-take would have been a better choice), is a worthy taster beyond the well-known material. While die-hard fans are encouraged to just make their own mixes, for a starting point to the average fan who has the three Greatest Hits and maybe A Night At The Opera and wants to know more without investing too much cash, Deep Cuts, Volume 1 is a good starting point.
DEEP CUTS, VOLUME 2
Universal/Island Records 277 178-2, June 2011
‘Mustapha’ (3’02), ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ (3’27), ‘Spread Your Wings’ (4’35), ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’ (3’07), ‘It’s Late’ (6’26), ‘Rock It (Prime Jive)’ (4’32), ‘Dead On Time’ (3’24), ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ (3’32), ‘Dragon Attack’ (4’19), ‘Action This Day’ (3’33), ‘Put Out The Fire’ (3’19), ‘Staying Power’ (4’12), ‘Jealousy’ (3’14), ‘Battle Theme’ (2’19)
Having got it sort of right with Deep Cuts, Volume 1, Queen Productions fell back several steps with the second volume. Despite a few glaring omissions (‘White Queen (As It Began)’ and ‘You And I’ especially), the first volume was a decent representation of the first five albums, diving deep into the catalogue and offering a few surprises along the way. Not so with Volume 2, a predictable and haphazard collection that offers nothing exciting or enticing to casual fans. The problem isn’t with the source material; there are plenty of songs to pick from in this time period (News Of The World through Hot Space), and the omissions are glaring. Where are ‘Get Down, Make Love’, ‘All Dead, All Dead’, ‘Who Needs You’, ‘My Melancholy Blues’, ‘Let Me Entertain You’, ‘In Only Seven Days’, ‘Leaving Home Ain’t Easy’, ‘Dreamers Ball’, ‘Need Your Loving Tonight’, ‘The Hero’, and ‘Calling All Girls’? If the point of the Deep Cuts series is to present the lesser-known material from Queen’s catalogue, then Volume 2 is a relative failure. True, only three of the songs appeared on a compilation (Queen Rocks) before, and five can be found on live albums, but the problem with Volume 2 is that it doesn’t dig deep enough. John Deacon is again under-represented, with only the superb ‘Spread Your Wings’ making the cut; it was during this period that the bassist really hit his songwriting stride, so to have only one of his songs here is a slap in the face to his abilities. Freddie, too, is represented by only three songs, with several of his better ones from this period being left behind.
The sequencing, too, is uninspired, with most of the songs bunched together according to album release, and the decision to close with ‘Battle Theme’ an odd one. Furthermore, there were chances to take on Flash Gordon inclusions; the second side is mostly bogged down with reprises of the main theme, but the one-two punch of ‘Execution Of Flash’ and ‘The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)’ would have been a nice, unexpected twist. While Taylor Hawkins, who helped Brian and Roger compile the album, shouldn’t be blamed for the running order, there’s an unnecessary emphasis on rock songs instead of the diversity from around this time. It’s true that Queen started to focus more on perfecting their arena rock skills, but News Of The World and Jazz were just as diverse as their first five albums, and the most predictable songs were chosen from these two albums.
It’s easy to get lost in quibbling over what should have been, and forget that these are really intended as tasters to the 2011 remasters catalogue, not as diehard fan-pleasing compilations; the die-hards will all make their own mixes, while casual fans with copies of Greatest Hits, News Of The World or The Game will probably be turned off by too many rare or obscure songs, so this track listing, flawed as it is to purists, is probably the safest compromise. But the definition of “deep” when it comes to these compilations has been blurred; the first volume was full of interesting selections unfamiliar to casual fans, but the second volume is the weakest of the trio, which is ironic, as the second volume pales in comparison to its predecessor, which is a shame, considering the strength of the deeper cuts on these five albums rivalled or often surpassed the quality of the hits.
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B. COLLABORATIONS
Over the years, in between Queen’s regular activities as a touring and recording band, the members have found time to loan their talents to many up-and-coming stars, as well as some of their peers. This section, listed chronologically, covers as many of these collaborations as possible; it comes as no surprise that Brian, being the most willing to jam or contribute musically to anything, comes out the leader in this section.
AL STEWART: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
(Roger Taylor)
CBS 32036, 1973
In addition to percussion on ‘Roads To Moscow’, Roger reportedly contributed to another song from Al Stewart’s Past, Present, And Future album.
EUGENE WALLACE: DANGEROUS (Roger Taylor)
EMI EMC 3067, 1975
Produced by Robin Geoffrey Cable (hence the connection) and Del Newman at Trident Studios, Roger contributed percussion on an unspecified track, though ‘Dangerous’ is very likely the song in question. The album, recorded during sessions for Queen in 1972, remained unreleased until 1975 and also featured Phil Chen, Phil Collins and Mike Moran (all of whom would work with a Queen member many years later).
FOXX: TAILS OF ILLUSION (Roger Taylor)
GTO GTLP 006, October 1975
Roger contributed backing vocals for Foxx’s Tails Of Illusion track ‘Survival’. The song was recorded at Sarm East Studios in August 1975, during sessions for A Night At The Opera.
EDDIE HOWELL: THE MAN FROM MANHATTAN
(Freddie Mercury and Brian May)
Warner Brothers WB 16701, 1976
During sessions for A Night At The Opera in August 1975, Eddie Howell was in Sarm Studios where he happened to run into Freddie and Mike Stone one day. The young vocalist asked the duo if they would help him produce a track that he was working on. Despite the workload that A Night At The Opera would inevitably bring, Freddie and Mike agreed, and sessions for the song began shortly thereafter.
It’s easy to hear Freddie’s fingerprints all over the song; it was transformed from Eddie’s original vaudeville vision, with trombones and brass, into an unmistakable Queen soundalike. With Freddie on piano, Barry De Souza on drums and Jerome Rimson on bass, Eddie, on acoustic guitars and lead vocals, sings about a conniving young man from New York City, whose “enemies flee at the sight of me”, shaking “at the sound of my name”. As a favour to Freddie, Brian contributed a suitably ‘Killer Queen’-like guitar solo, but Roger and John weren’t asked to participate because Freddie wanted to shy away from a carbon copy Queen sound.
When released as a single in 1976, the song didn’t chart, but it wouldn’t be completely out of place alongside the slighter numbers from Sheer Heart Attack or A Night At The Opera. Inexplicably, the song was issued on the 1998 Smile compilation Ghost Of A Smile, along with an unnecessary remix subtitled ‘Back Again’, and then again two years later on The Solo Collection.
TRAX
(John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor)
Reportedly, all four members of Queen contributed to this unreleased and now-erased album by Trax, recorded at Trident Studios during the A Night At The Opera sessions in August 1975. In what capacity or what songs were recorded remains unknown; Norman Sheffield confirmed that the tapes were deleted.
IAN HUNTER: ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY
(Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor)
CBS 81310, May 1976
The three vocalists – Brian, Freddie and Roger – contributed backing vocals to Ian Hunter’s ‘You Nearly Did Me In’, released on All American Alien Boy. The song was recorded during a break in the US A Night At The Opera tour at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland Studios in New York (a dream come true for the three self-professed Hendrix fans) and was produced by Roy Thomas Baker.
PETER STRAKER: THIS ONE’S ON ME
(Freddie Mercury)
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EMI EMC 3204, October 1977
Freddie’s actor friend Peter Straker was recording a solo album in 1977 and asked Freddie to produce some songs for him. This One’s On Me, released in October 1977, was produced by Freddie and Roy Thomas Baker (which led to Baker’s involvement on Jazz), and two singles – ‘Ragtime Piano Joe’ backed with ‘The Saddest Clown’, and ‘Jackie’ backed with ‘I’ve Been To Hell And Back’ – were released in September 1977 and February 1978 respectively. Several of these songs were included on bootleg albums over the years, erroneously credited as outtakes recorded by Freddie. In addition to the four tracks mentioned, the album included ‘Ada’, ‘The Day The Talkies Came’, ‘Heart Be Still’, ‘Annual Penguin Show’ and ‘Vamp’.
LONNIE DONEGAN: PUTTIN’ ON THE STYLE
(Brian May)
Chrysalis CHR 1158, February 1978 [51]
Brian was asked by Lonnie Donegan to contribute to the original skiffle musician’s comeback album, Puttin’ On The Style. Excited by the possibility to record with his hero, Brian provided guitar on ‘Diggin’ My Potatoes’ and ‘I’m Just A Rolling Stone’, though only the former was released. The album was recorded at Wessex Studios between July and September 1977, was produced by Adam Faith, and also featured other notable contributions from Ronnie Wood, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Rory Gallagher.
HILARY HILARY: ‘HOW COME YOU’RE SO DUMB’ /
‘RICH KID BLUES’ (Roger Taylor)
Mainly Modern UA STP 2, 1980
Essentially a Roger Taylor solo recording – produced by Roger, he also co-wrote the A-side with vocalist Hilary Vance while providing keyboards, drums, guitars and bass on both songs – and recorded during sessions for The Game in June 1979, this single was released just before Flash Gordon came out. Roger explained, “I’ve known Hilary for years but I didn’t know she could sing until an old girlfriend told me. She was singing with a band in pubs occasionally so I rang up to ask for a tape and thought it was awful, [though] her voice was really good. It’s very deep-sounding. I wrote the song with some help from Hilary and did the instrumental parts but my name isn’t all over the sleeve. I don’t want to do a Paul McCartney!”
QUARTZ: ‘CIRCLES’ (Brian May)
MCA 642, 1980
Metal band Quartz cut their teeth supporting Black Sabbath and AC/DC in the mid-1970s, and their debut eponymous album, released in 1977, was produced by Brian’s friend and Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Brian was duly asked to contribute guitar to a potential album track, ‘Circles’, which also featured Sabbath frontman and latter-day reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne on backing vocals, though the song would remain unreleased for three years, before being released as a B-side to ‘Stoking Up The Fires Of Hell’, from Quartz’s second album, Stand Up And Fight. The song was released as a bonus track on the 2004 deluxe edition of their debut album.
GARY NUMAN: DANCE (Roger Taylor)
Beggars Banquet Bega 28, September 1981 [3]
Roger contributed to the tracks ‘Crash’, ‘You Are You Are’ and ‘Moral’.
MEL SMITH: ‘JULIE ANDREWS’ GREATEST HITS’
/ ‘RICHARD AND JOEY’ (Roger Taylor)
Mercury MEL 1, 1981
In addition to producing this single by UK comedian Mel Smith, Roger also provided backing vocals. The song was released in 1981 but failed to chart.
KANSAS: VINYL CONFESSIONS (Roger Taylor)
Kirshner Kir 85714, 1982
Roger contributed to the tracks ‘Right Away’, ‘Diamonds And Pearls’ and ‘Play The Game Tonight’.
BILLY SQUIER: EMOTIONS IN MOTION
(Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor)
Capitol EST 12217, October 1982
Recorded in January 1982 during sessions for Hot Space, Billy Squier’s Emotions In Motion featured Freddie and Roger singing backing vocals on the title track. An edited version was later released as a single but didn’t reach the charts.
HEAVY PETTIN: LETTIN’ LOOSE (Brian May)
Polydor HEPLP1, 1983
Brian produced Heavy Pettin’s 1983 release, Lettin’ Loose, which was recorded at Townhouse Studios in May 1983. Three singles – an edited version of ‘Rock Me’, ‘In And Out Of Love’ and ‘Love Times Love’ – were released in support of the album. The other tracks were ‘Broken Heart’, ‘Love On The Run’, ‘Victims Of The Night’, ‘Shout It Out’, ‘Devil In Her Eyes’, ‘Hell Is Beautiful’ and ‘Roll The Dice’.
UNRECORDED JAM SESSION (John Deacon)
In 1983, John and an assembled group of friends – including tennis players Vitas Gerulaitas and John McEnroe (who switched their rackets for guitars), Scott Gorham, Martin Chambers, Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs – convened at a rehearsal studio for a jam session, though nothing was actually recorded.
MAN FRIDAY & JIVE JUNIOR:
‘PICKIN’ UP SOUNDS’ (John Deacon)
Malaco MAL 1211, 1983
Written by John and Robert Ahwai, this would evidently lead to The Immortals, a sideband that John formed to record ‘No Turning Back’ for the film Biggles in 1986. This rap track featured prominent bass by John and was later released as a single but failed to chart.
JEFFREY OSBOURNE: STAY WITH ME TONIGHT
(Brian May)
A&M AMLX 64940, August 1983
Brian provided guitars on the tracks ‘Stay With Me Tonight’ and ‘Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right’, which were recorded at the Mad Hatter Studios in Los Angeles during April 1983, while Brian was in town to record Star Fleet Project. ‘Stay With Me Tonight’ was later released as a single.
BILLY SQUIER: SIGNS OF LIFE (Brian May)
Capitol EJ 2401921, September 1984
Brian appears on the track ‘(Another) 1984’.
SIDEWAYS LOOK (Roger Taylor)
unreleased, 1985
Around this time, the production team of Taylor/ Richards were approached by Virgin Records and asked if they could produce one of their new signings, a Scottish group called Sideways Look. Material was recorded in March before Queen’s Australasian tour, with a potential single titled ‘Bulletproof Heart’, and hopes were high. Unfortunately, Virgin decided against the project and dropped it, much to Roger’s annoyance.
JIMMY NAIL: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT (Roger Taylor)
Virgin CD VIP 111, April 1985
Actor Jimmy Nail, who starred in the film Morons From Outer Space and the television show Auf Wiedersehen Pet, released a cover of the Rose Royce single ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’, which was produced by Roger and David Richards. The song was released in May and, in addition to the standard single version, an extended version was also released on 12” single. The song, also included on the album Take It Or Leave It, was backed with ‘Night For Day’ and reached No. 3 in the UK.
FEARGAL SHARKEY: ‘LOVING YOU’ (Roger Taylor)
Virgin VS 770, June 1985
Produced by Roger and David Richards, with Roger also providing drums and synthesizers, the single by former Undertones front man Feargal Sharkey reached No. 26 in the UK.
CAMY TODOROW: ‘BURSTING AT THE SEAMS’
(Roger Taylor)
Virgin VS 816, September 1985
Recorded at Mountain Studios in the summer of 1985, Camy Todorow’s ‘Bursting At The Seams’ was produced by Roger and David Richards and featured Roger on drums. Two additional mixes – a ‘backroom version’ and an instrumental one – were released on the 12” vinyl single in September 1985.
ROGER DALTREY: UNDER A RAGING MOON
(Roger Taylor)
10 PIX 17, October 1985
Later released as a single in March 1986, Roger Daltrey’s ‘Under A Raging Moon’ was the title track of his latest solo album and was a tribute to The Who’s late drummer, Keith Moon. Roger Taylor, along with Martin Chambers, Cozy Powell, Stewart Copeland, Zak Starkey (who would later join The Who in 1996 as their permanent drummer), Carl Palmer and Mark Brzezicki, provided a brief drum solo during the song’s finale.
ELTON JOHN: ICE ON FIRE
(Roger Taylor and John Deacon)
Phonogram HISPD 26, November 1985
At Sol Studios in London during September 1985, Roger and John recorded their contributions to two Elton John songs: ‘Too Young’, which was released on the Ice On Fire album in November 1985, and ‘Angeline’, which was held back until the follow-up, Leather Jackets, in October 1986.
DEBBIE BYRNE: THE PERSUADER (Roger Taylor)
EMI EMX 430032, 1985
Roger contributed to ‘Fools Rush In’.
CHRIS THOMPSON: RADIO VOICES (Brian May)
Ultra Phone 6.25922, 1985
Brian is on parts 1 and 2 of ‘A Shift In The Wind’.
VIRGINIA WOLF: VIRGINIA WOLF (Roger Taylor)
Atlantic 781 274-1, February 1986
Roger and David Richards produced Virginia Wolf’s eponymous debut album, recorded at Eel Pie Studios in London during the autumn of 1985. ‘Waiting For Your Love’ was released as an edited single with ‘Take A Chance’ on the B-side, and a further, US-only single, ‘It’s In Your Eyes’ backed with ‘Don’t Run Away’, was also released. The remaining tracks were ‘Are We Playing With Fire’, ‘Make It Tonight’, ‘Only Love’, ‘Livin’ On A Knife Edge’, ‘For All We Know’ and ‘Goodbye Don’t Mean Forever’.