I've read a few times that Deacon made several mistakes on jealousy but to keep the 'live' sound they left them in. Can anybody pinpoint where these are, I'm assuming its notes he's played that aren't in the chord because I can't here any technical faults.
I've also read where John has made a mistake or two on Sleeping on the Sidewalk but like you I can't find where these are. Considering this was a single live take and done after a few drinks we can forgive that slight faux pas. But Jealousy? Interesting.
I don't remember where on Jealousy his mistakes were, but they weren't too big. Back then, piano, bass and drums were recorded live and there were no repairings, while overdubs (guitars, vocals, percussion) could be re-done until they were virtually perfect.
Over dubbing instruments on the backing track would not be a problem.
Although Brums, Bas, Piano and Rythm guitar were recorded live in the studio they were still recording to multi track tape. The source of each input would always be well shielded from any other instrument, while this did not clear up ambient sound, it meant that each input on the desk had the majority of the signal from the instrument it was recording and not much else. Once recorded it would be very easy to go back and dropin any note, phrase, or beats that the band were not happy with.
Much has been made of the fact that Queen recorded their backing tracks live, but it should also be noted that very often they would play and record "live" but than take the most perfect 16 bars of a recording and make a drum loop on which to build on. Using this method mistakes can be re,recorded multiple times very easily until perfection is achieved.
Care to give specific examples?
Yes - punching in could be done. But no, they didn't do it. They opted for preserving the moment (during the Roy/Mike era, that is).
At the end of the day, a backing track that is 99% perfect but has the right chemistry is better than a backing track that is 100% perfect but has lost all feeling.
To quote Brian May and Frank Zappa:
"I was fortunate enough to meet Frank Zappa, a truly great rock musician, and a very unorthodox and innovative creator. He was already very ill when I met him (I was working with his son in L.A.) I told him I admired his skill and courage in improvising so much in his music, live in front of large audiences. He said, 'Courage? - What do you mean?!' I said that I was always very aware of the possibilities of making mistakes. He replied, 'How can you make a mistake? It is your solo, your guitar, and you are playing a piece of your own music. Who could possibly tell you you are making a mistake?!!'"
It is a good point, but if a note doesn't fit in structurally then it would stand out. Maybe not a mistake, maybe not what the musician intended to play either.
What does "fitting structurally" mean? I'm sure there are mistakes on many recorded songs, what I'm saying is that it's not always easy to pick out what is (and is not) a mistake.
For instance, if you had intended to play an F# bass note with a G major chord (for instance, as part of a descending scale), but instead, you play a G by mistake, you would not necessarily recognize it as a mistake by listening. Similarly, a jarring dissonant bass note might've been fully intentional, even if it's not appreciated by most listeners.
I'm willing to accept that the instances cited above are mistakes, but I would argue that we cannot be sure.
There may be some unintended notes, but they're in key, yo may not know. Playing in a straightforward key normallnhas a small range of "howlers" as I call them, the more musically schooled may refer to them as avoid notes. Examples are playing a C# over a Cmin or an F over an E major when playing in those particular keys.
FWIW there's a mistake by Brian on Fat Bottomed Girls when he "forgets" he's in dropped D tuning, and plays an F under his open G chord on the breakdown just before the "mortgages and homes" part.