sandrativadar 18.08.2009 10:37 |
QUEEN rocker BRIAN MAY had mixed emotions after hearing about the death of LES PAUL - because he failed to impress the guitar great when they met. May went online after news of Paul's passing broke last week (13Aug09), and found a clip of himself performing with the star in New York. The 62-year-old axeman remembered meeting Paul and taking the stage with him at Fat Tuesday's nightclub in the 1990s - but recalls the guitar innovator wasn't impressed with him. He says, "I only discovered yesterday that there is a clip on (video sharing website) YouTube of me playing with Les. I had no idea. If you watch it - it's only a fragment - you'll see that I'm mostly singing, not playing, like most guitarists did when they were guests at his Fat Tuesday's club. The reason was I didn't feel worthy of competing! "It was my only time of meeting with the venerable Mr. Paul. I don't think he was particularly impressed with me, except for the fact that I too had invented a guitar... but I don't think he welcomed that thought with much pleasure either." Paul died on Thursday (13Aug09) at the age of 94 following a battle with pneumonia. link Editor: Note, i think that the term "snubbed" is a bit of "poetic license" on behalf of the author.... |
Mr Mercury 18.08.2009 11:18 |
Very poetic licensing indeed. Just shows how some shit journalist can turn something quite innocent round to mean something else. |
Yara 18.08.2009 12:09 |
Les Paul, who met a whole lot of guitar players throughout his career and was by then still playing at 76 years-old, would be very unlikely to freak out in front of a rock artist just like a teenager. Les Paul was a sweet fellow. He behaved like that toward other musicians or people who wanted to talk to him. He was not dismissive of people in no way. I can say that because I saw him at the Iridium a couple of times and he'd never put down a guest in order to look superior. The journalist implies that Brian was somewhat resentful of Les by referring to Brian's declarations as "mixed emotions". Come on! Brian's just saying that he was there as a normal guest, that Les didn't go out of his mind and started screaming when he saw Brian entering the stage. Brian made it clear he was there pretty much as any other guest - he was not accorded a special treatment, which doesn't mean he was desdained or disrespected at all. There's a Queenzoner who was actually there at the Fat Tuesday - Rob Schoorl. He can say more about it. Anyway, I bet he has much more interesting things to say than this journalist. |
The Real Wizard 18.08.2009 12:55 |
All I can say is, wow.... I wouldn't be surprised if Brian would never write on his soapbox again if that's how self-serving embarrassments to journalism are going to twist it. |
Holly2003 18.08.2009 13:02 |
Some of you are missing the real story. Brian had to be restrained by Les Paul's 6-man team of ex-SAS bodyguards. Apparently Brian threatened to "unleash hell" on Les for not giving a hoot about Brian's Red Special (Les apparently remarked that it "still looks like a fireplace", which enraged May so much that he threw his clogs at the aging luthier). Paul Rodgers, who had been performing a private concert for Freddie Mercury nearby (he was Freddie's favourite singer, said May) heard about the snub, gatecrashed the show and took out three bodyguards with a series of blows to the head. However, by that stage Les Paul had left the building. And now he's dead: coincidence, or Paul Rodgers' secret ninja death blow? |
john bodega 18.08.2009 13:13 |
Well who is the REAL winner here? Brian May mightn't sell as many Red Special's a week as Les Paul did with his guitar, but Les Paul's dead and Brian got the last laugh. Reaper > Les Paul > Paul Reed Smith. His time will come. |
Yara 18.08.2009 13:17 |
Holly2003 wrote: Some of you are missing the real story. Brian had to be restrained by Les Paul's 6-man team of ex-SAS bodyguards. Apparently Brian threatened to "unleash hell" on Les for not giving a hoot about Brian's Red Special (Les apparently remarked that it "still looks like a fireplace", which enraged May so much that he threw his clogs at the aging luthier). Paul Rodgers, who had been performing a private concert for Freddie Mercury nearby (he was Freddie's favourite singer, said May) heard about the snub, gatecrashed the show and took out three bodyguards with a series of blows to the head. However, by that stage Les Paul had left the building. And now he's dead: coincidence, or Paul Rodgers' secret ninja death blow? And then Freedie went on to meet Adam Lambert in Christopher Street and had the time to tell him that, affraid of Paul, he had said that Paul was his favorite singer; but, deep in his heart and in the intimacy of a club down in the Village, he revealed that Adam Lambert was his favorite singer ever since Adam was born - there was a spin on his crying as a baby that made him special and turned everything into jelly. |
Holly2003 18.08.2009 13:26 |
Yara wrote:Holly2003 wrote: Some of you are missing the real story. Brian had to be restrained by Les Paul's 6-man team of ex-SAS bodyguards. Apparently Brian threatened to "unleash hell" on Les for not giving a hoot about Brian's Red Special (Les apparently remarked that it "still looks like a fireplace", which enraged May so much that he threw his clogs at the aging luthier). Paul Rodgers, who had been performing a private concert for Freddie Mercury nearby (he was Freddie's favourite singer, said May) heard about the snub, gatecrashed the show and took out three bodyguards with a series of blows to the head. However, by that stage Les Paul had left the building. And now he's dead: coincidence, or Paul Rodgers' secret ninja death blow?And then Freedie went on to meet Adam Lambert in Christopher Street and had the time to tell him that, affraid of Paul, he had said that Paul was his favorite singer; but, deep in his heart and in the intimacy of a club down in the Village, he revealed that Adam Lambert was his favorite singer ever since Adam was born - there was a spin on his crying as a baby that made him special and turned everything into jelly. Throw in a scare story about foreign immigrants and a long career in British journalist awaits you. :) |
Mr Mercury 18.08.2009 13:58 |
Zebonka12 wrote: Well who is the REAL winner here? Brian May mightn't sell as many Red Special's a week as Les Paul did with his guitar, but Les Paul's dead and Brian got the last laugh. Reaper > Les Paul > Paul Reed Smith. His time will come. You are also forgetting about the curse of Brian. Remember that? |
john bodega 19.08.2009 03:43 |
If this doesn't prove it, NOTHING will. |
thomasquinn 32989 20.08.2009 06:36 |
The point remains: Les Paul was notoriously full of himself, and apparently rather envious. |
Kamenliter 24.08.2009 00:12 |
I was there that night as well (I recorded the short set w/ Brian and Les Paul that's on the trading circuit). I can tell you and you can hear on the tape, that Les was very nice to Brian on stage. I think Brian that night felt a bit intimidated and out of place at the moment. Bear in mind this was at the point that he still had to keep private that Freddie was ill. He was also doing his 'tour' of radio stations, playing along live in studio to Queen tracks. He definitely seemed very apprehensive "letting loose" that night. There was the feeling in the crowd that we were just dying for Brian to let it rip, but he only started to get into it at a few moments. I'm figuring they decided beforehand for Brian to do 'Early Morning Blues', which, of course, has a vocal. I think he sounded great! The second tune they did, was a jam in C, so it was only instrumental. There were parts though, where Brian could have been playing more, but was holding back, seemingly. There are some very nice parts, too, though. All in all, though, it was a very magical night and you could feel the energy from the crowd and stage in the air. I know I'll never forget it. |
catqueen 24.08.2009 08:45 |
Yara wrote:Holly2003 wrote: Some of you are missing the real story. Brian had to be restrained by Les Paul's 6-man team of ex-SAS bodyguards. Apparently Brian threatened to "unleash hell" on Les for not giving a hoot about Brian's Red Special (Les apparently remarked that it "still looks like a fireplace", which enraged May so much that he threw his clogs at the aging luthier). Paul Rodgers, who had been performing a private concert for Freddie Mercury nearby (he was Freddie's favourite singer, said May) heard about the snub, gatecrashed the show and took out three bodyguards with a series of blows to the head. However, by that stage Les Paul had left the building. And now he's dead: coincidence, or Paul Rodgers' secret ninja death blow?And then Freedie went on to meet Adam Lambert in Christopher Street and had the time to tell him that, affraid of Paul, he had said that Paul was his favorite singer; but, deep in his heart and in the intimacy of a club down in the Village, he revealed that Adam Lambert was his favorite singer ever since Adam was born - there was a spin on his crying as a baby that made him special and turned everything into jelly. Quick, phone the Daily Mail or something! |