Yara 27.08.2009 17:48 |
I love this song as it is. I think it'is one of Brian's gems and it made for a very sweet and warm and fun moment on stage - Brian would toy around with the acoustic guitar, they'd chat with the audience during the introduction and Freddie would indulge in his New Orleans character. Those who haven't listened to the live performances could comment on what they think about the studio version: a) Do you like the song? b) If so, why? c) What's most interesting in the song to your taste? d) Is there any info or technical background you'd like to share or which appeals to you? And for those who have listened to some of the live performances, the KILLER question, of course: Which do you think is the best live version of this song? : -))) Queenzoners-collectors have to nail this one! :- ) I hope it turns out to be fun. "We keep on fighting to the end..", but it's been no bed of roses. Hehe. The website has these weird high and lows. :op |
doxonrox 27.08.2009 20:14 |
I love the live version of this song on Live Killers - the album version has too much guitar overdub that it kind of washes out the great chord changes and melody of the song. Also, the Live Killers version sounds like the band is having a blast playing it. Great fun. The biggest compliment I can give a song - I never get tired of hearing it. That's how I've always felt about Dreamer's Ball. |
coops 27.08.2009 23:33 |
" The things you have to do for money" pretty much sums up what Freddie probably thought of the song. I agree. |
pittrek 28.08.2009 01:51 |
The "Jazz" version is pretty boring, but the live versions are all amazing. One of the songs which always changes my mood in a very positive way, one of the songs which make you really relaxed |
on my way up 28.08.2009 02:19 |
I really like this song live. They sound so laidback(if they managed to do that it was at its best) and create a really intimate atmosphere. Some versions I really like are the Toronto'78 version and also Paris 1/3/1979, we have a video for that one and it looks great(very relaxed band, wonderful adlibs by Freddie:-) Live killers version is great too. |
Yara 28.08.2009 16:10 |
doxonrox wrote: The biggest compliment I can give a song - I never get tired of hearing it. That's how I've always felt about Dreamer's Ball. A good definition of a great song! It made me think of many songs I have been listening to for years and which still sound fresh to me. It's great when this kind of thing happens. : ) |
Yara 28.08.2009 16:13 |
on my way up wrote: I really like this song live. They sound so laidback(if they managed to do that it was at its best) and create a really intimate atmosphere. Some versions I really like are the Toronto'78 version and also Paris 1/3/1979, we have a video for that one and it looks great(very relaxed band, wonderful adlibs by Freddie:-) Live killers version is great too. Fully agree. They sound at ease and it seems they had a good time playing it. Yes, Sir, I'm going to check out the Toronto'78 version as soon as I can. : ))) |
Holly2003 29.08.2009 14:20 |
I like it. It's a bot of fun. However, it's of that it made it on to livekillers when both If You Can't Beat Them and It's Late were left out. IMO If You Can't Beat Them worked really well live, and I found it odd they dropped it from the live set so quickly. I guess Need Your Loving Tonight was a natural replacement though. If You Can't Beat Them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7-upFpwM9A It's Late http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPIspxNsGcg |
thunderbolt 31742 29.08.2009 14:24 |
It's always struck me as odd that Dreamer's Ball made it onto LK while Somebody to Love and Fat Bottomed Girls were left out. ...Check that last statement. I understand exactly why they left the two songs off--their three-part harmony was shaky at that point in time, and both songs make heavy use of it. It was logical, then, to leave those two off and play a simpler, acoustic number. Still, disappointing. |
Holly2003 29.08.2009 15:02 |
Thunderbolt wrote: It's always struck me as odd that Dreamer's Ball made it onto LK while Somebody to Love and Fat Bottomed Girls were left out. ...Check that last statement. I understand exactly why they left the two songs off--their three-part harmony was shaky at that point in time, and both songs make heavy use of it. It was logical, then, to leave those two off and play a simpler, acoustic number. Still, disappointing. Shaky? Hmmm.. Not sure about that. Both these songs were in the live set for later tours so that suggests the band were confident that they could do them well in a live setting. Still, imagine what an album Livekillers could've been with If You Can't Beat Them, It's Late, Somebody to Love and FBG included.better still, they should've released a live album after the 1976 tour, with all the great stuff off the first 5 albums. It's still not too late to do that, of course... |
Yara 29.08.2009 20:13 |
Someone commented on here in the past during a discussion about the Jazz album that John Deacon hated "If You Can't Beat Them" - given the fact it was Queen's first live album and they had a lot of songs which could feature on it, I guess John's dislike of his own song may have been a good reason for leaving it aside - "Spread Your Wing" and "You're My Best Friend" were already there as a good display of his talent as a composer. There were too many rockers and traditional pop-rock songs, so maybe they felt it necessary to give the listeners a fair notion of how varied their music and their concerts could be, thereby including "Dreamer's Ball" (defined as "nonsense" by Brian in the introduction) and "Get Down Make Love" in the release. Finally, there may have been a concern about promoting their last album, and then instead of adding "If You Can't Beat Them", another rocker and a song that Deacon was reluctant about, they opted for "Dreamer's Ball", filling the bluesy gap left by the absence of "My Melancholy Blues" with a song of their most recent release. That doesn't account for the absence of FBG, though. The way they played around with Dreamer's Ball on stage by having some chat with each other - one commenting on the other's tricks - and the audience, and by adding some vocal ad-libs to give it a sense of relaxation and improvisation too, turned it into a very suitable song for a live release, in my opinion. "It's Late" isn't there but there's a fair amount of songs from NOTW: We Will Rock You, Spread Your Wings, We Are The Champions, Sheer Heart Attack, Get Down Make Love - 5 songs: two rockers, a pop-rock ballad, a grandiose sounding hit and a "nonsense". As for Somebody To Love, I agree they may have deemed the live renditions from the Jazz tour to be lacking. Freddie's voice was not in a very good shape for most of the tour and they knew the song wouldn't be dropped from the setlist any soon, so they might have prefered to include some songs which were more likely to be abandoned later - not only Dreamer's Ball, but "Don't Stop Me Now", "Bycicle Race", "You're My Best Friend" and "Spread Your Wings" too. FBG - I can't see why the song didn't make onto the album. It's hard to explain: it was one of the highlights of their last album, it was not a traditional rocker as many other songs on the album. The problem with the vocal harmonies is unlikely to have kept them from releasing a live version of the song: they could easily have done some overdubs, just like in "Don't Stop Me Now". Anyway: If You Can't Beat Them - Despite John's own views, the song was wonderfuly played by Brian and beautifully harmonized and modulated from the A above the middle C to E - one of the best live vocal interactions between Roger and Freddie in my opinion. A great song which sounded even better live - it's really a pitty it didn't make into ANY live release. But...we can't always get what we want! : -)))) |
Queen On Ice 29.08.2009 21:28 |
That was a great post Yara. I don't normally read great long posts, but that was compelling throughout. Personally I love both the Live Killers and the album versions of Dreamer's Ball - they are both such fun to sing along to, and leave you feeling quite great inside - much like lot of Queen music I guess. I have not heard any other live version because I don't own any bootlegs after 1975 - and the two I have are completely ruined by hand-clapping. This is gonna sound silly, but in all my many years of loving Live Killers (since around 1988) It never occurred to me that STL was not on there. I guess that means I don't really miss it? Having watched WWRY (now Rock Montreal) so MANY times since 1984, and the other official video releases it features on, I have always had a firm idea of how it sounds live, and perhaps in my mind I always 'assumed' it was also on Live Killers. Weird. |
mike hunt 30.08.2009 00:24 |
Love both live and studio versions of dreamer's ball. The studio version is awsome for it's guitar overdubs, vintage brian IMO. the live version is simply fun. Love the way freddie sings it live and band sounds great. A very underated track. |
Angeline 30.08.2009 00:44 |
The live version makes me think of being in Louisiana on a porch everyone having a little after dinner sing song, hot summer heat. I absolutely love it. You almost feel you're there with them, it's so intimate and close. Much prefer it to the album version, which is still great. |
Yara 30.08.2009 11:44 |
User "On My Way Up" commented above on a very good live performance of this song from their gig in Toronto in 1978. It's a wonderful version indeed, just like the one in Montreal in the same year. First of all because the sound quality is pretty good for an audience recording; second, because Freddie's voice was in good shape and allowed him to run more risks, with great results. The band sounds joyful, as it was often the case when they played this song, and Roger's vocals are wonderful - his tuning is very nice and he understates his voice a bit as an effort to reproduce some of the mellow and tender quality of Freddie's falsetto. After the song Freddie has a chat with the audience and plays around with the idea of bringing not an orchestra, but a jazz band, to perform with them, and some strippers too... : -)) This file was originally part of SirGH's share of "Toronto '78". Pittrek tagged the files and included the concert in his best of the best series for the year 1978: http://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/1111426.html. Here's the file: Dreamer's ball - Toronto '78 I just ask you, please, not to convert the file to mp3 or any other lossy format unless it's for your own private use. Enjoy! :op |
ITSM 31.08.2009 21:56 |
I think it's great that they for once didn't release just the hits. As somebody else mentioned, they really should release a live album from 1976 (or 1977), with the songs from the first 5 albums. The songs I miss the most to have on an official live record and DVD are: 1. Doing All Right 2. The Millionaire Waltz 3. You Take My Breath Away 4. Teo Torriatte (yes, we allready got the DVD version) 5. My Melancoly Blues 6. It's Late 7. The Prophet's Song 8. Great King Rat 9. It's a Hard Life (only on Rock in Rio VHS and fake DVD) 10. Cool Cat That's the first songs I remember that I really miss. Are these songs ever played live?: (I don't think so by the way) -My Fairy King -She Makes Me -Misfire -Pain is so close to pleasure -You and I -Jealusy -In only seven days -Machines (or back to humans) -Keep Passing the open windows |
The Real Wizard 01.09.2009 00:46 |
ITSM wrote: The songs I miss the most to have on an official live record and DVD are: 10. Cool CatThey never played this song live. The closest thing to it was Freddie referencing it once during Now I'm Here in 1982. Are these songs ever played live?: -Machines (or back to humans) Only this one was, somewhat, if you count the solo spots in 1984. Have a look at the 'Songs Played Live' section on my website, www.queenlive.ca, to see details on this subject. There may be a few surprises for you in there. |
Yara 01.09.2009 06:00 |
The link SirGH provided for his website is not working. To access SirGH's website, just click on the address in his signature or here: http://www.queenlive.ca Now I hope it works, let's see. :)) |
on my way up 11.09.2009 09:15 |
Yara Check out Sapporo 6/5/1979. Wonderful performance of the song. The way Freddie sings several lines is just...impressive! Even with his voice not in pristine shape he manages to give a lovely performance. LOML sounds incredible too. |
Yara 11.09.2009 14:42 |
on my way up wrote: Yara Check out Sapporo 6/5/1979. Wonderful performance of the song. The way Freddie sings several lines is just...impressive! Even with his voice not in pristine shape he manages to give a lovely performance. LOML sounds incredible too. Oh. Thanks so much. That was lovely. I’ll check it out. Ah, the nights his voiced was suffering a bit are among my favorites - he used to circumvent it with so much creativity and phrased or modulated the songs in such a way as to make them sound fresh over and over again. It’s a delight to listen to. Some aspects of his singing are still so underrated or ignored, I guess. And he had a delicious sense of humor, which does come out in such songs as Dreamer’s Ball. My next stop is Sapporo. I’m curious to listen to it now. Thanks a lot again. Take care. |