Queen: The Complete Works

by Georg Purvis

  TONY IOMMI: IOMMI (Brian May)

  Divine Recordings 72435 27857 2, October 2000

  Brian contributed additonal guitar to the tracks ‘Goodbye Lament’ and ‘Flame On’ for Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi’s Iommi album.

  BOB GELDOF: SEX, AGE & DEATH (Roger Taylor)

  EAGCD187, 2001

  Roger contributed drums and backing vocals to his good friend Bob Geldof’s album Sex, Age & Death, though there’s no official word to which songs Roger contributes. Joshua J. Macrae is also featured on drums and percussion, as well as production engineering.

  GOOD ROCKIN’ TONIGHT: THE LEGACY

  OF SUN RECORDS (Brian May)

  Sire WPCR 11170, 2002

  Brian is on ‘(I Don’t Want Nobody) Teasin’ Around (With Me)’, on the Japanese-only release.

  ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK:

  MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (Brian May)

  Hollywood Edel 0110302HWR, 2002

  Brian provided lead guitar to Foo Fighters’ re-recording of Pink Floyd’s classic ‘Have A Cigar’.

  DON NIX: GOING DOWN –

  THE SONGS OF DON NIX (Brian May)

  Evidence ECD 26125-2, October 2002

  Brian contributed guitars to Don Nix’s ‘Going Down’.

  PROCOL HARUM: THE WELL’S ON FIRE

  (Roger Taylor)

  CD Eagle (Red) 20006, 2003

  With a band featuring Gary Brooker (lead vocals, piano), Geoff Whitehorn (guitars), Matthew Fisher (organ), Matt Pegg (bass guitar) and Mark Brzezicki (drums), Roger contributed backing vocals to Procol Harum’s ‘Shadow Boxed’, released on The Well’s On Fire in 2003.

  THE YARDBIRDS: BIRDLAND (Brian May)

  UKCD FN22802, April 2003

  Brian is on ‘Mr, You’re A Better Man Than I’.

  TIM STAFFELL: aMIGO (Brian May) aMIGO Records aMOO 1, 2003

  For years, it had been rumoured that Tim Staffell, erstwhile vocalist, bassist and songwriter with Smile who was now making a comfortable living as a commercials director and designer, was planning on making a solo album. In 2001, he confirmed the rumours by forming a new band, aMIGO, and stating that he was going to record an album. The impetus of the album came from Tim’s son Andrew, a drummer who had suggested that father and son record some material together.

  Once a core band was formed – featuring Tim on vocals and guitar, Andrew on drums, Richard Lightman on bass guitar and John Webster on keyboards – sessions began in January 2002 at Aftertouch Studios. Sessions continued into 2003, with guest musicians Snowy White (former auxiliary guitarist with Pink Floyd), Morgan Fisher (whom Tim had worked with in the 1970s), former one-time Smile keyboardist Chris Smith, and others like Peter Hammond, Dave O’Higgins, Corrina Silvester, Johnny Griggs, Rob Tolchard, Peter Hammerton, Martin Shaw and Keith Johnson.

  Brian’s contributions were recorded last. ‘Doin’ Alright’ and ‘Earth’ had been early Smile favourites and, initially, Tim had wanted to drastically rearrange them; he quickly decided, however, to leave well alone and remain faithful to the original recordings. Brian duetted with Tim on both songs and provided additional guitar, and Tim later said that his former bandmate’s contributions were the highpoints of the album.

  SOUNDTRACK: SPIDERMAN 2 (Brian May)

  Interscope Records, June 2004

  Brian contributed lead guitar to Jimmy Gnecco’s ‘Someone To Die For’, released on the soundtrack to Spiderman 2, and produced by Rick Rubin.

  ZUCCHERO: ZUCCHERO & CO (Brian May)

  Polydor 981990, 2004

  Brian contributed guitar to two of Zucchero’s latest songs: ‘Il Mare Impetuoso Al Tramonoto Sali Sulla Luna E Dietro Una Tendina Di Stelle...’ and ‘Madre Dolcissima’.

  PETER KAY: ‘(IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO?’

  (Brian May and Roger Taylor)

  During rehearsals for the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour, Brian and Roger took some time to appear in the video for British comedian Peter Kay’s 2005 Comic Relief single, a cover of the 1971 single ‘(Is This The Way To) Amarillo?’ Like the other stars of the video, Brian and Roger are seen running with Peter; the three were filmed in front of a green screen that showed footage of Buckingham Palace while giving a handclap similar to ‘Radio Ga Ga’, before the scene cuts to Peter with other guests. Kay would later join the band at their May 2005 Manchester concert for a version of this song.

  HANNAH JANE FOX: WE WILL ROCK YOU –

  AROUND THE WORLD (Roger Taylor)

  Roger produced ‘Stalker’, released on the iTunes-only download EP We Will Rock You: Around The World.

  MEAT LOAF: BAT OUT OF HELL III:

  THE MONSTER IS LOOSE (Brian May)

  Virgin 0946 3 77737 2 7, October 2006

  At the behest of his good friend Meat Loaf, Brian contributed some screaming guitar to ‘Bad For Good’ on Mr Loaf’s third instalment in the Bat Out Of Hell series, this time subtitled The Monster Is Loose.

  CLIFF RICHARD: TWO’S COMPANY – THE DUETS

  (Brian May)

  EMI 0094637707227, October 2006

  Brian played guitar on ‘Move It’, released on the star-studded album Two’s Company.

  DIANA ROSS: I LOVE YOU (Brian May)

  Angel 094637681220, October 2006

  ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was recorded for Diana Ross’ 2006 I Love You album, and Brian duly contributed a vastly different guitar solo, in addition to some rudimentary bass.

  MOMO CORTES: CONSTANTE CONTRADICCION

  (Brian May)

  2007

  Brian played guitar on ‘Tanto Amor No Es Bueno’, a Spanish re-recording of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’. Cortes was the original Galileo in the Spanish production of We Will Rock You: The Musical.

  LYNN CAREY SAYLOR: YOU LIKE IT CLEAN

  (Brian May)

  2007

  Alongside Danny Miranda and Spike Edney, Brian played guitar and contributed vocals to this American singer-songwriter’s debut album, You Like It Clean, specifically the tracks ‘If We Believe’ (an original composition and first released in 2002, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust) and ‘We Belong’ (a cover of Pat Benatar’s 1984 single).

  BANDAGED TOGETHER: BANDAGED TOGETHER

  (Brian May)

  TOGCD1, 2009

  Recorded for the Children In Need charity, this updated recording of The Beatles’ classic plea for peace during the Summer of Love features Brian on guitar, alongside a host of other star musicians: Hugh Cornwell, Sharon Corr, Cara Dillon, Andy Dinan, Troy Donockley, Ade Edmondson, Paloma Faith, Bryan Ferry, Finbar Furey, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Head, Red Hurley, Imelda May, Lee Mead, Beth Rowley, Heather Small, Clare Teal, Bailey Tzuke, Midge Ure, Hayley Westenra, and Terry Wogan (vocals), Terry Taylor (acoustic guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Bill Wyman (bass guitar) and Jason Rebello (piano).

  CATHERINE PORTER: GEMS FOR RUBY (Brian May)

  Nova B001RTYKPO, March 2009

  Brian played guitar on Catherine Porter’s re-recording of Queen’s 1976 classic ‘Somebody To Love’.

  MEAT LOAF: HANG COOL TEDDY BEAR (Brian May)

  Mercury 273 4097, April 2010

  Brian, alongside Steve Vai and Rob Cavallo on guitars and Justin Hawkins on backing vocals, contributed guitar to Meat Loaf’s ‘Love Is Not Real (Next Time You Stab Me In The Back)’.

  TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS:

  RED LIGHT FEVER (Brian May and Roger Taylor)

  RCA 8897684982, April 2010

  Both Brian and Roger contributed their respective instruments on Taylor’s second solo album outside of the Foo Fighters, Red Light Fever, though they weren’t on the same tracks: Brian played on ‘Way Down’ and ‘Don’t Have To Speak’, while Roger was on ‘Your Shoes’.

  KERRY ELLIS: ANTHEMS (Brian May)

  Decca 2740128, September 2010

  Brian was almost immediately smitten with Kerry Ellis’ voice since she was cast as Meat in We Will Rock You: The Musical, and went to great lengths to secure her a
record deal – not that her credentials as a West End favourite wouldn’t have helped anyway. Starting in 2006, Brian and Kerry worked on her full-length debut, recording material only when the two of them were available to do so in between other commitments; what emerged in September 2010 was a unique blend of orchestral rock and musical theatre. Brian acted as producer and arranger, and contributed guitars, bass, piano, keyboards and backing vocals, while the few guest musicians were friends of Brian’s: Roger played drums with Keith Prior on ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ (itself recorded in 2005 and taken from the We Will Rock You: Around The World EP), Taylor Hawkins on drums on ‘Defying Gravity’ and ‘I’m Not That Girl’ and Rufus Taylor, Roger’s son, on drums on four of the songs.

  Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t to everyone’s tastes, and while Brian’s heavy-handed gushing over her talents and arrogant dismissal that anyone who disliked the album was small-minded, critics and fans alike cocked an eyebrow at the involvement. The album performed respectably enough, entering the UK charts at No. 15, before it fell the following week to No. 78, and then dropped out entirely. Two singles – ‘I’m Not That Girl’ from Wicked, backed with ‘Dangerland’, and ‘Anthem’ from Chess – were released in the fourth quarter of 2010, but both failed to chart.

  However, the album was significant for two reasons: first, it got the normally songwriting shy Brian to write two new songs – ‘Dangerland’ and ‘I Can’t Be Your Friend’, the latter title with Don Black – both of which could have fit in nicely on The Cosmos Rocks (intriguingly, he opined that ‘Some Things That Glitter’, here pointlessly retitled as ‘I Loved A Butterfly’, was written for Kerry’s voice, and not Paul Rodgers’). Secondly, it riled him from his post-Queen + Paul Rodgers ennui, and changed his stance on touring: in May 2011, he set out for a month-long UK tour with Kerry, and appeared rejuvenated and thrilled to be on a stage again. For its faults, and countering any claims that the album was an ego trip for Brian, Anthems may have relit that musical spark in Brian, that had been lacking for several years – and who in their right mind would deny a man of his age a little fun every now and then?

  BOB GELDOF: HOW TO COMPOSE POPULAR

  SONGS THAT WILL SELL (Roger Taylor)

  Mercury 274 745-2, February 2011

  Roger is listed as providing backing vocals and percussion on Geldof’s first album in ten years, though no details have sneaked out on the specifics of which tracks.

  PART SIX

  OTHER MEDIA:

  RADIO, VIDEO, INTERACTIVE, STAGE

  A. BBC RADIO SESSIONS

  Queen’s BBC radio appearances weren’t particularly frequent, given their long history: they recorded only six sessions proper between 1973 and 1977 (three each for Bob Harris and the late, great John Peel) and broadcast only a handful of specially performed live concert performances. Two of the studio sessions were released in December 1989 by independent label Band Of Joy on a record called Queen At The Beeb. This went out of print rather quickly, but Hollywood Records offered their own version in March 1995 titled Queen At The BBC, which included the same songs from the 1989 release. Both of these albums featured material recorded during the first and third sessions from 1973, but why these sessions were chosen (seemingly at random) is anybody’s guess.

  In 1996, rumours circulated that EMI and Hollywood were going to release a double disc set called Live At The BBC with all twenty-four performances; three remastered songs – ‘My Fairy King’, ‘Doing All Right’ and ‘Liar’ – were even released on the second CD single of ‘Let Me Live’ in June 1996, with a sticker proudly declaring “from the upcoming release, Live At The BBC”. Unfortunately, EMI hadn’t offered anything new – the three songs had actually been taken from the 1989/1995 BBC release – and the rumoured album fell by the wayside. Given the success of other bands’ BBC releases around this time (The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and David Bowie, to name but a few), an updated release is badly needed to supplant the fans’ current option: poor-quality downloads from the internet.

  Queen Productions has started to rectify this issue, finally releasing some of the rarer and more interesting selections on the 2011 deluxe reissues of each respective album, hinting that a more complete set will be available in the not-too-distant future. To add further fuel to the rumour fire, the discovery – and subsequent BBC TV broadcast – in 2009 of Queen’s 1975 Hammersmith concert led many to speculate that an all-encompassing box set of the BBC sessions, with the DVD and CD of the Christmas Eve show, will be released. As ever, Queen fans wait with a mixture of baited breath and scepticism.

  JOHN PEEL’S SOUNDS OF THE

  SEVENTIES (SESSION 1)

  • Recorded: 5 February 1973 • Broadcast: 15 February 1973 • Venue: Langham 1 Studio • Producer: Bernie Andrews • Engineer: John Etchells

  ‘My Fairy King’ (4’06), ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ (3’48), ‘Doing All Right (4’11), ‘Liar’ (6’28)

  Queen’s first radio session took place before they had established themselves as a household name; they hadn’t even released a single yet. As the band were recording their debut album at the time, they were more concerned with finalizing the result instead of rushing out to record four fresh versions of songs they had painstakingly worked on for the past few months – though they knew that this kind of exposure would be exceptional. So, a compromise was drawn, with the band delivering the backing tracks of four songs, with new vocals recorded by Freddie (and Roger).

  The result is underwhelming, though, at the time, these unheard-of songs from Queen, especially ‘My Fairy King’ (which hadn’t been performed live), were a real treat to the band’s early fan base. There’s not much to praise here in hindsight, though: Freddie’s lead vocal isn’t drastically different on any of the songs, excepting the odd ad-lib here and there, but the real treat of the session is to hear Roger sing lead vocal on the final verse of ‘Doing All Right’, an arrangement which hadn’t been attempted by the band in either the studio or the live setting. Unfortunately for Queen fans, Band of Joy picked perhaps the least interesting session to release on Queen At The Beeb.

  BOB HARRIS’ SOUNDS OF THE

  SEVENTIES (SESSION 2)

  • Recorded: 25 July 1973 • Broadcast: 13 August 1973 (without ‘Keep Yourself Alive’) • Repeat: 24 September 1973 (with ‘Keep Yourself Alive’) • Venue: Langham 1 Studio • Producer: Jeff Griffin • Engineers: Chris Lycett and John Etchells

  ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ (4’21), ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ (3’41), ‘Liar’ (6’28), ‘Son And Daughter’ (6’00)

  When the band returned to Langham 1 Studio to record another radio session, Queen had just been released and they appreciated as much exposure as possible. Another odd arrangement was struck up, in which the band brought two master tracks – ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ and ‘Liar’ – and recorded new lead vocals, and then performed two new renditions of ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ and ‘Son And Daughter’, which could be undertaken rather quickly as they were fairly standard blues numbers.

  The appearance of ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ was interesting, as the band hadn’t included it on their debut album despite the fact that it was an integral part of their live show, usually performed as an encore. ‘Son And Daughter’, more indicative of Queen’s live show at the time, was extended to nearly twice the running time of the album version, allowing for plenty of improvisation from the three instrumentalists. Freddie altered the “a woman expects a man to buckle down and shovel shit” line to end with “shhh” the first time around, and changed it to just “it” when repeated. The improvisation featured plenty of feedback and was one of the first recorded appearances of the ‘Brighton Rock’ solo that had already become a favourite in the live setting.

  Excepting the two pre-recorded songs, this session offered a tantalizing glimpse into Queen’s live sound at the time, which would be explored more fully during the next radio session.

  IN CONCERT (RADIO
ONE)

  • Recorded: 13 September 1973 • Broadcast: 13 September 1973 (without Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley)

  • Venue: Golders Green Hippodrome • Producer: Jeff Griffin • Engineers: John Etchells and Paul Deley

  ‘Procession’ (1’26), ‘Father To Son’ (4’57), ‘Son And Daughter’ (6’44), ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ (4’20), ‘Ogre Battle’ (5’24), ‘Liar’ (6’56), Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley (‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’, ‘Stupid Cupid’, ‘Be Bop A Lula’, ‘Bama Lama Bama Loo’, ‘Jailhouse Rock (reprise)’) (3’47)

  A good month before Queen’s official European tour in support of their debut album, the band were approached by the BBC to perform a concert specifically for radio use. The band agreed and rehearsed diligently for about a week before the taping to ensure that things went smoothly. With a restructured set list, including three new compositions from the upcoming second album and a smattering of concert favourites and old hits, the band launched into a surprisingly raw and thrilling set with an opening salvo of ‘Procession’ (which was broadcast over the PA system) and ‘Father To Son’, distinctly rearranged and lacking the “a word in your ear” coda.

  The band was in truly fine form here and, while the performance wouldn’t be long enough for a standalone release, it really does deserve to be officially released in some form. The between-song commentary from DJ Alan Black isn’t particularly enlightening, though there’s a moment when he introduces each band member, and, using the debut album’s liner notes as a reference, calls John “Deacon John”. Freddie is heard to remark on mic, “No, it’s not.”

  The original broadcast lacked the concluding Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley, and rumours have circulated over the years (by no less than Greg Brooks in his book Queen Live) that ‘Hangman’, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ and ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ were all performed after ‘Ogre Battle’, with ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ closing the first part of the set. If these songs were performed that night, they haven’t yet seen the light of day. In addition, Black clearly stated that the band would not be performing “their first single”, though, again, this might have just been added for broadcast purposes.