| Sebastian 04.08.2012 19:05 |
This was one of the most ambicious components of my late website, so it's time to try to resurrect it here. Queen [I] December 1971: The five released demos + some unreleased things. Self-produced. (ca.) April 1972 to (ca.) June 1973: Sessions for the first album, except TNCD. Produced by John Anthony & Roy Baker. ---- Queen II: 4th to 6th August 1973: 16 takes of SSOR + 4 takes of FTS. Produced and engineered by Roy, with Nick Bradford as assistant. Some point later on: Other songs produced by Roy, engineered by Mike and possibly featuring Neil Kernon as assistant. Some point later on: Roy working with Gasolin' in Copenhagen, leaving Queen with Robin Cable. Mix-down stage: Presumably with Roy. January 1974: Brian finishes up the opening track. ------- Sheer Heart Attack: 7th (possibly) to 28th July 1974: Preliminary recordings in Wales. They tracked Flick of the Wrist (including backing vocals), Happy Little Fuck (including vocals), You're Young and You're Crazy (no vocals), Banana Blues (no vocals), Lap of the Gods Part 2 and Stone Cold Crazy. Four of those songs most likely required Brian for the backing track, so he probably wasn't too ill at that point. August 1974: A week of May-less recordings at Wessex Sound. Those may have included backing tracks for Killer Queen, Lily of the Valley, Lap of the Gods and Leroy Brown. A lot of time was spent on percussion overdubs - in fact, this was the band's album with the most percussion overdubs ever. One week later: Overdubs at AIR Studio 4 (the control room, IIRC). Brian was there. One week later: A second session at Wessex, this time with Brian. They probably recorded Dear Friends and She Makes Me at this point as well as having some bits redone with him (e.g. some, not all, of the harmonies on Killer Queen). Final stage (September): Now I'm Here + mixing at Trident. The album was then sent to the Mastering Lab in Los Angeles. -------- A Night at the Opera: 27th October 1974: God Save the Queen. June 1975: KYA retake at SARM. The tape would still be owned by Trident and the mixed would be labelled on 2nd July. Early-to-Mid August: Rehearsals at the Ridge Farm. 18th August: By this point, at least three songs had been started off: You're My Best Friend, Fred's Piano Thing and Wreck of the Old '39. 22nd August: Preliminary mix of Fred's Piano Thing at the Roundhouse in London. Late August or early September: Members of the press attend some backing vocal overdub sessions for the lead single at Scoprio Sound Studio in London. Some photos survive. At this point, all backing tracks for the album have been finished but certain overdubs haven't been done yet (e.g. the harp and the tap dancing sound). September: Both sides of the lead single are finished and mixed. Work continues at various studios simultaneously. October - November: The album is finished and mixed. ----------- A Day at the Races: June: Rehearsals at the Ridge Farm again. The initial plan is to go to countryside Portugal and record the album there using The Manor Mobile, but they scrap that and decide to stay in England. 'Races' would be the third (of five) albums to be completely recorded in England. Manor tapes dated July list six songs: Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (same length as the album), Millionaire Waltz (ditto), You Take My Breath Away (N/A - by the way, that also debunks the myth that they hadn't recorded it by the time they played it at Hyde Park), Simple Man (slightly shorter - they possibly overdubbed the outro later), Drowse (slightly shorter as well - they possibly looped the intro for the outro later) and Somebody to Love (a minute and a half shorter - they probably added one or two sections later). Roger was quoted on Music Life ('82 IIRC) that they'd started Teo Torriatte at The Manor as well... I don't know if it was a mistake on his part or if there were sessions later on (both strong possibilities). London sessions were at SARM, Wessex and Advision. Those include overdubs for the seven aforementioned songs, plus the whole of You and I, Tie Your Mother Down, Long Away and the famous intro/outro. The STL video was at Wessex. ----------- News of the World: July: Sessions begin at Basing Street in Notting Hill. The first song they record is It's Late, possibly followed by both of John's compositions and All Dead, All Dead. Feelings, Feelings is also probably from these sessions, as are some backing tracks for other things. August: Sessions finish at Wessex in Highbury. They include most of the overdubs. Mixing takes place at Sarm in Aldgate. ---------- Jazz: Sessions began in Montreux in July 1978 and lasted at least until Freddie's birthday (5th September). The Tour de France passed by Montreux on Brian's birthday (19th July), so they possibly recorded Bicycle Race in late July or early August, which means that's a Swiss song, not French. Sessions finished in France in October, but they could've started at any point between early September and ... one or two weeks before the whole thing was put to bed. Apparently, DSMN is part of those later sessions. --------- The Game: If and I mean *IF* the accounts on CLTCL are true (it being recorded on the very first day of the sessions and Ratty having to take Freddie to Munich on the day of a Heathrow strike), then sessions began on 22nd June 1979 and lasted a couple of weeks which spawned CLTCL, Save Me, SASS and Coming Soon. Venue was Munich of course. Then there was another two-week or three-week run between February and March during which they tracked the rest of the album and put down some ideas for Flash Gordon as well. There's nothing official on A Human Body. Beautiful Day apparently comes from April. Album mastered in NYC, possibly during the spring. ----------- Flash Gordon: Early sessions (produced by Mack and the whole band, not just Brian) in Munich in February/March 1980. The album was NOT begun in 1979 despite numerous sources claiming that. They'd apparently finished recording it by June, and they did so in London, using Advision, Town House and Music Centre. Orchestra bits recorded in July at Anvil in Denham. The band re-did some bits in October (and that's the part Brian produced) at Utopia. -------- Hot Space: Sessions began in June 1981 at Musicland and the first batch ended in July. What was done at that point? No idea. Possibly bits of Cool Cat? August was basically a holiday for them, John staying in London and the other three going to America (Maylor to LA, Fred to NYC). It may have been during these days that Fred wrote Life Is Real. Late August to early September: Sessions at Mountain in Montreux. Songs begun there were Las Palabras de Amor, Calling All Girls, Put Out the Fire and Under Pressure. Note that, at that point, they weren't using drum machines yet. 11th September (yes, really) 1981: Freddie, Mack and Bowie finish the song in NYC. 21st September to 5th December: No recordings. Band travelling around Venezuela (touring), America (holidays, business meetings, etc), Mexico (touring), Canada (touring) and England (homecoming). 6th to 21st December: Sessions in Munich. This was possibly the first time they used drum machines. Songs they may have begun in those days include Back Chat, Staying Power, Dancer, Action This Day, Life Is Real and Body Language. 18th to 22nd January: Sessions in Munich by John and Roger only. 23rd Janury to late February: Sessions by the four of them, plus mixing. |
| dysan 05.08.2012 01:13 |
I can't verify any of that, but a great read. I've always been interested in the songs started and complete during different sessions - GSTQ for example and the age old questions of BR and SHA being started during earlier sessions. |
| Ghostwithasmile is BACK! 05.08.2012 06:36 |
Wasn't it in Freestone his book that Fred was writing some words of Life is Real on a airline tissue writing down " cunt stains on my pillow" during a flight to NY ? Always made me laugh cunt stains on my pillow ... |
| The Real Wizard 05.08.2012 11:34 |
Years of meticulous research compiled into a single post. Well done, sir. |
| Vocal harmony 05.08.2012 11:53 |
I would take this entire list with a very large pinch of salt. There are to many possibly, perhaps and maybe's etc. In order for this to be accurate the studio diaries from all the studios used would need to be looked at. Sept to dec 1981 the band where traveling around America and England?!!! Really? |
| The Real Wizard 05.08.2012 12:44 |
We may not have the studio diaries, but we do have someone like Sebastian who has spent a decade compiling information from interviews, articles and documentaries to paint an incomplete but still very detailed picture. December 1981 - yes, the band returned to England. What else would they do at the end of a world tour? |
| Sebastian 05.08.2012 13:02 |
>>> There are to many possibly, perhaps and maybe's etc. That's why I'm only using dates and places where there's enough evidence. >>> In order for this to be accurate the studio diaries from all the studios used would need to be looked at. It already is accurate, even without studio diaries. >> Sept to dec 1981 the band where traveling around America and England?!!! Really? Not just America and England. Also Venezuela, Mexico and the Federal Republic of Germany. |
| Sebastian 05.08.2012 13:16 |
And Canada! |
| pittrek 05.08.2012 13:44 |
The first post is great, but incomplete :-) |
| Hangman_96 05.08.2012 14:55 |
Where's Innuendo and the end of The Miracle? :-) |
| mooghead 05.08.2012 14:59 |
Queen 1 - early 70's Queen 2 - bit after that, bit before Sheer Heart Attack SHA - After Queen 2, before the Works etc.. mine is accurate too.... |
| Sebastian 05.08.2012 15:02 |
Works: December 1982: 'I Go Crazy' recorded at Basing Street in London. Summer 1983: Fred records a demo of 'Keep Passing the Open Windows' in Munich. August to October/November: Sessions in LA. They include preliminary works on Ga Ga, Break Free, Piece of My Heart and possibly many other things. November 1983 to January 1984: Sessions in Munich, including the final vocal on Ga Ga, plus mixing. ------- Magic: August 1985: Sessions in Munich, produced by Mack. One Vision possibly stems for those days, as do other things. OV would be finished at Maison Rouge in London. September 1985: Work on the Highlander OST begins at The Town House. It'd finish in January 1986. That includes nearly half of the album. David Richards produced those ones (partly). Fred not present in some of the October recordings as he was doing In My Defence and Time, partly in London, partly in Munich. March 1986: Album finished. Presumably, they used several studios simultaneously: SARM, Maison Rouge, The Town House, Mountain, Musicland and Abbey Road. Possibly Milo as well... but unlikely. ----------- Miracle: January 1988: All four in London (perhaps Town House, but it could've also been Olympic). February: Three of them recording in London (Roger absent as he was touring). March: No work on the album - John was in France, Brian in LA, Roger was touring and Freddie was working on Barcelona (the album). April: Three of them working on the album in Montreux (Roger still touring, though not all the month). May: Roger, John and Brian working in Switzerland. Freddie was promoting Barcelona in ... well, Barcelona. June: All four in Montreux. July: Fred on holiday in Spain, John on holiday in France, Brian in LA (that's when he co-wrote TMLWKY), Roger recording with The Cross. August: John in France and the rest working on off-Queen projects (Barcelona, Back to the Light and MBADTK). September: All four recording The Miracle (then to be titled Invisible Men) in London. October: Break from Queen - John in France, Fred in Spain, Brian working on his solo album and Roger working with his other band. November: John, Freddie and Roger working on the Queen album, Brian working on his solo thing. December: Holidays for all. January & February 1989: All four in London (Olympic, I think) finishing the album and mixing it. ------------ Innuendo: November 1989: Work on the album begins in Montreux. Late December: They return to London for holidays. 12th March 1990: Work on the album resumed, but in England. Sessions would last until June, and Roger would miss some of them due to The Cross. Summer 1990: Work in Switzerland. Four songs already mixed at this stage (presumably Innuendo, Slightly Mad, ICLWY and DTSH). Brian misses some of these recordings due to Macbeth. 18th September: By this date they were back in London and they'd already named the album. Other songs done by this time were Headlong, Ride the Wild Wind and All God's People. November 1990: Album finished and mixed. --------- Made in Heaven: April 1980: IABD (piano + vocals) in Munich. 2nd September 1983: LML (piano + Fred's vocals) in Munich. May 1984: IWBTLY and MIH (piano + vocals) in Munich. May 1987: HFE in Spain (The Cross version). It was never a Queen track for AKOM. Early 1988: MLHBS (possibly). Autumn 1988: TMLWKY (except for the bass as John was on holiday) and perhaps some final details on MLHBS. January/February 1989: TMLWKY (bass). December 1989: Freddie writes AWT (did he record it then? Maybe, maybe not, maybe only partly). Late January 1991: Work on B-Sides for the Innuendo singles, but they save some for an upcoming album. Montreux. Spring 1991: More work in Montreux. Roger and Brian miss some of those sessions due to other commitments. August 1991: Fred goes to Montreux on holidays. He may or may not have recorded bits. October/November 1991: Last visit by Fred to Montreux. Spring 1993 - around 25th February 1994: Roger and John begin working intermittently on the posthumous project. March to June 1994: Brian joins the project and at that moment John goes on holiday. Summer 1994: Work by Brian on the MIH project. Autumn 1994: The three of them go to Metropolis to work together but very little (if anything) usable comes from those sessions as they find Fred's ghost too haunting. Brian resumes work on the album in Surrey, Roger goes on tour and John to Biarritz. Winter 1994: Sessions by the three of them at Brian's studio. Spring 1995: Separate sessions - Brian at Allerton Hill, John and Roger at Cosford Mill. Summer 1995: The three of them work together at the three locations. Late September 1995: Album finished and mixed. |
| Vocal harmony 05.08.2012 16:04 |
I'm not saying that a lot of time and work has gone into this, but, saying the band traveling around the list of countries mentioned in sept to dec 1981 reads like they were touring. Why else would they be traveling so much as a band. As the played no shows in America, England or Germany this could be taken as inaccurate as their is no other information available. It's the same where possible dates are given and possible songs, some read as pure guess work. In the last batch there is a line that says Freddie went to Montruex on holiday, where he may have or may not have recorded while there. Since no evidence is presented to say he did and there are no track names of what he worked on, why list it. It really isn't part of the known time line. If you go through these entries and disregard the maybe's and perhaps and whatever at least what you are left with will be closer to the fact and still be an interesting and more accurate timeline. |
| Sebastian 05.08.2012 16:22 |
>>> saying the band traveling around the list of countries mentioned in sept to dec 1981 reads like they were touring. Touring isn't the only reason why bands travel. >>> Why else would they be traveling so much as a band. Meetings, recordings, rehearsing, family life, holidays. >>> As the played no shows in America, England or Germany this could be taken as inaccurate as their is no other information available. Yes, there is. The Fan Club Magazine at the time was VERY detailed, even going as far as mentioning dates of their flights and celebrity guests at their parties. They meticulously mentioned how the band first went to America, then Venezuela, then America again, then Mexico, then America again, then Mexico again, then America, then Canada, then America, then England, then West Germany and then England again. >>> It's the same where possible dates are given and possible songs, some read as pure guess work. They're not. Not giving an exact date and time is not the same as being pure guess work. Life is not black and white. We DO know, thanks to the tape boxes, etc., that Lover Boy, White Man, Drowse, Waltz, Breath and STL were recorded before the rest of the album; that's not guesswork, it's fact. I can't tell if Lover Boy was done on the 6th of July, but I can tell it was done in that month. Same for the timeline for SHA, where the tape box clearly states the six cited songs. >>> In the last batch there is a line that says Freddie went to Montruex on holiday, where he may have or may not have recorded while there. Exactly. If I had said 'he recorded there' or 'he didn't record there', that'd be inaccurate. I'm considering both options. >>> Since no evidence is presented to say he did and there are no track names of what he worked on, why list it. Because the available information tells us that much. >>> It really isn't part of the known time line. It is. >>> If you go through these entries and disregard the maybe's and perhaps and whatever at least what you are left with will be closer to the fact and still be an interesting and more accurate timeline. It wouldn't be any closer, as it wouldn't add anything to what already is there. It wouldn't be more accurate either, for the same reason. |
| paulosham 05.08.2012 16:28 |
This is quality stuff, thank you very much. |
| Mr.QueenFan 05.08.2012 18:51 |
Great research work Sebastian. I still have doubts on "A winters tale" too. I really doubt that Freddie could have sung "The Show Must Go On" or pretty much any other Innuendo song after "A Winters Tale" session. His voice is too strong on INNUENDO compared to "A winters tale". By this time it's pretty clear that Freddie's voice is losing strenght, culminating with "Mother Love". I don't have any evidence of this, but in this case, and FOR ME personally Freddie's voice is guiving all the clues. As i said before Great work Sebastian. And by the way, great site too. I remember discovering you site last year when you posted a link and i was IMPRESSED with it. You must have been doing this project for years, becuase the detail of separating segments of interviews to each song in particular- when applied- is really mind boggling. Thanks for all the Hard work. |
| Sebastian 05.08.2012 19:40 |
Yes, there are some mistakes on my list, AWT being one of them. |
| Wiley 05.08.2012 20:33 |
I always thought Freddie's vocals for Let me Live were from 1991 because it sounded more nasal to me. Still, Sebastian is right more often than he is wrong and he is widely known for doing his homework and validating any piece of info before reporting it as real. |
| liam 05.08.2012 22:23 |
Can anyone elaborate on 'Happy little fuck', 'you're young and you're crazy' and 'banana blues'. I have never heard of those. I'm assuming they are original titles of songs on the album. |
| tomchristie22 06.08.2012 01:15 |
Happy Little Fuck, Young And Crazy & Banana Blues were the working titles for Brighton Rock, Tenement Funster & Misfire respectively. |
| liam 06.08.2012 01:35 |
For some reason I just can't imagine Brian calling a song that! |
| Sebastian 06.08.2012 05:47 |
AFAIK, Mike Stone was responsible for some of those working titles. Fred's vocal on LML comes from 2nd September 1983. Only a verse was usable so Maylor had to sing the rest. Brian's a marvellous musician and a PhD, but that doesn't mean he can't swear. |
| liam 06.08.2012 09:55 |
I know that of course! He just seems so softly spoken and polite. |
| tcc 06.08.2012 10:02 |
liam wrote: I know that of course!He just seems so softly spoken and polite."Polite" ??? Just get him crossed about the killing of badgers and foxes and you will see how impolite he can be :-) |
| Sebastian 07.08.2012 08:31 |
liam wrote: He just seems so softly spoken and polite.'Seems' being a key word. |
| The Real Wizard 07.08.2012 08:58 |
Queen forums - where people who have done years of meticulous research are questioned by people who haven't. We have raised the bar yet again! And it's even worse at QOL. |
| Sebastian 07.08.2012 09:38 |
That's not exclusive to Queen forums. There are idiots everywhere, on- and off-line. |
| rhyeking 07.08.2012 11:45 |
As someone who tries to do meticulous research, even more so when writing an article for QOL, I can say my worst fear about it is getting a detail wrong. It's especially bad when I'm told that not only is X wrong, but "Geez, we discussed that in this 5 year old thread." Part of me knows mistakes will happen, while part of me wants to slap the commenter, not because I resent being corrected, but because mountains of research and accurate information seem to mean nothing because I didn't scour every thread in every forum since the dawn of the internet to find that tidbit. I think, "Well, if it's common knowledge, why isn't this commenter working to correct all the oft-repeated false information floating around out there?" I guess it's easier to just say, "You're wrong. Get a clue," than it is to be aggressive and to help disseminate accurate information. In the end, if I make a mistake, I fix it. If my info is out of date, I update it. I'll also add, with all the new and old documentation out there, research is a lot like archaeology, sifting through scraps to find what you need and hoping it all fits together coherently. It's also not as easy as it sounds dropping a few old perspectives on Queen/solo work, arrived at years ago when less was widely known and all you had were other people's conclusions in biographies and articles. You have to be ready to learn that a) what you previously believed may be entirely wrong, and b) what really happened affects the big picture you started off with. My articles, for example, go through at least 3 or 4 drafts. When I learn something like Neil Murray saying the Guitar Legends Festival was the start of his work with Brian, it means I could now place his recordings in a better chronological sequence. His bass parts were recorded *after* that. So, I shuffle bits around and suddenly find the necessity of doing so changes other positions of information. And on and on. In the end, I'm happy with it, but I hope I didn't overlook something or get something wrong. |
| Sebastian 07.08.2012 17:39 |
Or maybe Neil misremembered, that's another option to be considered, especially since it's been two decades and he's probably played with hundreds of artists before and since. |
| rhyeking 07.08.2012 18:23 |
No, it's accurate. It was just something I didn't know when I started writing the article and it explained a lot, actually. |
| Sebastian 07.08.2012 19:44 |
And you know it's accurate because...? (I'm not doubting you, I'm just asking) |
| rhyeking 07.08.2012 21:31 |
The recordings made before the Guitar Legends Festival feature bass players other than Neil. Those after, both on BTTL and AW tend to be just Neil or Brian, with the exception of "Another World". This is even true for the unused Heroes covers recorded specifically for that original album idea: "Maybe Baby" and "Marie's The Name." Besides, I have no reason not to believe Neil saying he started working with Brian as a result of the festival. It's reported in Jim Jenkins' post on QOL. I trust this source. |
| Sebastian 07.08.2012 23:31 |
Fair enough, I think that's sound evidence and, in the light of the available sources, I agree that's the most logical conclusion, and one with a strong chance of being true. |
| freddiefan91 08.08.2012 09:07 |
Sebastien are you still working on that website or are you not going to put it back up? |
| Sebastian 08.08.2012 09:39 |
I can't honestly say 'yes' or 'no' to that one. It'd be great to do it right for a change, so we'll see. Even in that case, though, don't expect anything anytime soon. |
| Sebastian 30.12.2013 13:43 |
More info, regarding Reinhold Mack: he was in America working with Billy Squier in October, which is why Brian worked with Alan Douglas for 'The Hero'. About fourteen or fifteen months later, Billy would record part of 'Emotions in Motion' in Munich, with Freddie and Roger singing backing vocals on the title track. Dino Solera had been hired to play sax on those sessions as well, and that's how he ended up on 'Action This Day'. |
| Mr.QueenFan 30.12.2013 18:44 |
Sebastian wrote: Flash Gordon: Early sessions (produced by Mack and the whole band, not just Brian) in Munich in February/March 1980. The album was NOT begun in 1979 despite numerous sources claiming that. They'd apparently finished recording it by June, and they did so in London, using Advision, Town House and Music Centre. Orchestra bits recorded in July at Anvil in Denham. The band re-did some bits in October (and that's the part Brian produced) at Utopia.In an interview made by Brian May to a Portuguese magazine that was covering their concert in Strasbourg, France wich according to Queenconcerts was 16.12.1980, this is what Brian had to say when questioned about Flash Gordon. Source: Musica & Som (translation: Music & Sound), number 61, March 1981. "Q: In today's show you've made reference to a new record- "Flash Gordon"- not yet released in France. Can you say something about that work? Brian: It's the OST of a new version of the movie "Flash Gordon". During the recording of "The Game" and specially in the 3 months tour across the States, we were approached by the famous movie director Dino De Laurentis through Electra, our label in the USA, with the purpose of composing the music to his new movie. We started by watching the original movie, the idea was growing on us, and we even managed to watch the making of some important scenes before we've made the final decision. And it was at the studio, while recording "The Game", that we accepted the invitation. So, we started the works at the end of April early May 80, when the movie was not completed yet, which made hour composition work harder, because we'd only have some scenes to use for inspiration. Flash Gordon was, therefore, recorded before, after and during our tour across the States, but the bigger part of that interesting experience was made in the English studios Town House, Utopia, and Advision. The movie is sci-fi. The record presents 18 tracks, 8 were composed by me." Apart for some grammar errors by me, this is what was said by Brian May. Remember that it was translated from English to Portuguese, and now to English again, but it adds some insight about the process. |
| Sebastian 30.12.2013 19:27 |
Great, thanks. Now, we know thanks to letters to the Fan Club in 1979, that they'd been approached long before their North American tour. I suppose there are many recording sessions they did which are unaccounted for. We know 'Under Pressure' was finished at the Power Station in NYC, because it's such a famous song and a lot has been said about it, but what about something like, for instance, 'One Year of Love'? The only details we know are the name of the arranger and the name of the saxophonist ... nothing has been said about who played the strings, or about where it was recorded... it's *assumed* to have been Munich because of Reinhold, but not necessarily (Mack could work *outside* Munich as well, and did so, many times). |
| Mr.QueenFan 13.01.2014 09:14 |
@ Sebastian, I'm bumping this thread so i don't have to start a new one. Brian wrote on his soapbox - jan 10 "No Big news"- that this week he's going to be working on Queen tracks. Maybe this are the sessions that Roger is supposed to work on too. I know you keep tracking of this things, but just in case... As far as i'm aware this new project already has at least 3 sessions. From memory: - the completion of two MJ tracks a couple of years ago; -This year they've already worked with a producer on those MJ tracks again. Not sure if it was the same tracks or a new track(s), since i got the impression that the two tracks mentioned above were already finished. -This October/November Brian has been working on Queen tracks alone; -This week Brian and possibly Roger will be working on some Queen tracks; John Deacon is not going to be part of this project as Brian already confirmed this in an interview. So, i still believe that we can count on having John playing in some Queen tracks that he recorded back then, but unfortunately the MJ tracks will not have John. |
| cmsdrums 13.01.2014 14:46 |
Mr.QueenFan wrote: . So, i still believe that we can count on having John playing in some Queen tracks that he recorded back then, but unfortunately the MJ tracks will not have John.Is there any possibility that Freddie would have asked John at the time to put some bass parts on those tracks? His playing style and personal taste were very much in that camp and would really have suited.... |
| Mr.QueenFan 13.01.2014 15:39 |
cmsdrums wrote:I don't think so. As far as i know, those sessions were recorded in the MJ studio in his house, and John wasn't present at those sessions. And in those days they were using synth bass a lot, John himself did it too on IWTBF. I would love to hear that Freddie created a synth bass line like he did on some songs for both Hot Space and Mr. Bad Guy. That would be a very positive surprise for me.Mr.QueenFan wrote: . So, i still believe that we can count on having John playing in some Queen tracks that he recorded back then, but unfortunately the MJ tracks will not have John.Is there any possibility that Freddie would have asked John at the time to put some bass parts on those tracks? His playing style and personal taste were very much in that camp and would really have suited.... |
| Sebastian 14.01.2014 06:19 |
IWTBF is not a synth bass. |
| Mr.QueenFan 14.01.2014 10:42 |
Sebastian wrote: IWTBF is not a synth bass.You're right, my mistake! I messed up, i was writing about the bass, but i was thinking about the story of John wanting a synth solo instead of a guitar one. |
| Mr.QueenFan 14.01.2014 10:42 |
edit. double post. |
| Sebastian 14.01.2014 11:47 |
Well ... sort of. It wasn't that John said 'let's have a synth solo instead of a guitar one'. Mandel recorded the solo on synth and John liked it, enough that he felt there was no need to re-do it on guitar. |
| Sebastian 11.12.2014 23:07 |
link There's evidence that at least part of 'Bo Rhap' (and two other 'Opera' songs) had been done by the 18th of August, thus rendering the '24th of August' start completely false. Yet another mistake/error from that 1995 SOS article. |
| beemack74 12.12.2014 23:15 |
Wow!! I love info like this!! When I bought "Made In Heaven" back in '95, I vaguely knew about the recording dates (year-wise) for the title track, IWBTLY, HFE, AWT and ML, but up until a few years ago I was convinced that LML, IABD and TMLWKY had all been recorded post Innuendo in 1991. Topics like this fascinate me!! |
| aion 13.12.2014 07:09 |
There's probably little information about it available, but I'm sort of interested in how Made In Heaven came together: when did they actually decide to make an album, and how did they choose the pieces for the puzzle? I assume that in 1991, with only 2 and a half songs worked on, they didn't actually intend to make an album, and Freddie's opinion about reworking his solo tracks wasn't asked as that hadn't even crossed their mind yet. They probably got the idea for an album in 1993-94, but I wonder if they considered working on any other tracks? The material on MIH suggests there were no other Freddie vocals from 1990-91 that could be used (no Face It Alone or Freedom Train for example), but were there any alternative options for songs like IABD or IWBTLY... |
| Sebastian 14.12.2014 01:34 |
Here's that topic: link And a related one: link |
| Sebastian 17.07.2015 03:02 |
Bumped. |
| thomasquinn 32989 17.07.2015 04:46 |
What evidence is there of additional tracks having been recorded during the Queen (I) sessions? Aside from "Mad The Swine", that is. I mean, it's fairly unusual for a beginning band to have a surplus of actual recordings at the time of a first album. Even someone like Bruce Springsteen, who is well-known for recording much more than could possibly fit on an album, didn't have much of a surplus for his first two albums. |
| Sebastian 17.07.2015 05:50 |
In fact, you've just given me a great idea for a thread. |
| thomasquinn 32989 18.07.2015 04:50 |
Glad to be of service, but I would still like to know what information there is about other songs recorded during the Queen I-sessions. |
| Sebastian 18.07.2015 05:23 |
None that I know of. There's of course the whole thing about 'Hangman' and the theory about a Trident take of 'Night Comes Down', even though it's far more likely that the latter never existed and that's why they used the demo. |
| Sebastian 30.04.2016 06:27 |
Bumped. |
| dudeofqueen 05.05.2016 08:47 |
Nothing to add - other than what a brilliant piece of work; wonder if Greggy-Weggy Brooks has anything even remotely close to this that is all his own work......? |
| Sebastian 05.05.2016 09:16 |
Well, he can do something way, way better, since he's got access to a lot of information I'll never even come close to. |
| dudeofqueen 05.05.2016 10:26 |
Sebastian, RE: >>Well, he can do something way, way better, since he's got access to a lot of information I'll never even come close to. What he *CAN* do, *SHOULD* do and *WILL* do are entirely different beasts. What he'll *PROBABLY* do, based on previous evidence, is take your fine work and pass it off as his own without acknowledging you at all as the source. The fat, beardy one is a bit like Led Zeppelin really.........all things considered........ |
| Sebastian 05.05.2016 11:15 |
I don't mind. As long as Queen research moves along, it doesn't matter who does it and/or who takes credit for it. |
| Kuijpy 05.05.2016 16:20 |
Hello, My name is Sabastian, What I wrote is RIGHT what they write is WRONG. You think that you're so good in all the things about Queen Studiorecordings, it irritates me. |
| Sebastian 05.05.2016 16:59 |
Kuijpy wrote: Hello, My name is Sabastian, What I wrote is RIGHT what they write is WRONG.Good for you! Kuijpy wrote: You think that you're so good in all the things about Queen Studiorecordings, it irritates me.Why am I such an important part of your life? |
| Kuijpy 06.05.2016 09:19 |
Youre an arrogant bastard, and I hate that kind of people. Greg Brooks and You, scary guys |
| Sebastian 06.05.2016 10:04 |
Kuijpy wrote: Youre an arrogant bastard.No, I'm not. I don't consider myself superior to other people and my parents had already married by the time I was conceived (and, as a result, long before I was born). So there: neither arrogant nor a bastard. Kuijpy wrote: I hate that kind of people.Oh, I'm so scared! |
| Sebastian 21.07.2016 09:20 |
The exact dates of Sex Pistols recordings can help us trace a more precise possible timeline for the incidents: 'Anarchy in the UK' was recorded on November the 11th 1976, suggesting the incident of Johnny Rotten interrupting Fred while he was playing piano might have happened around that time. By then, Queen had almost finished 'Races' and were basically giving final tweaks to the mixes. 'Seventeen' and 'Body' were recorded in May and June 1977, respectively. By the time Queen went to Wessex, the Pistols had already left (they did a couple of demos four miles away in Soho), which suggests the 'Simon Ferocious' episode took place either before the actual 'News of the World' recordings (maybe Queen were there just rehearsing, or Fred was visiting Roger during the 'Testify/TV' sessions or working with Peter Straker or someone else) and/or after the 'Bollocks' ones (Pistols went there to pick-up a tape or something)... or maybe it didn't happen in Wessex at all, but somewhere else (e.g. EMI offices before the Pistols were dropped). |
| The Real Wizard 21.07.2016 12:53 |
Excellent detective work, as always ! |
| Sebastian 25.07.2016 22:27 |
We've got a date and recording for the moment Fred saw Montsy for the first time: Tuesday 3rd of February 1981. link |
| Sebastian 04.01.2017 10:22 |
Bumped. |
| dudeofqueen 05.01.2017 07:58 |
Sebastian, re: >>'Seventeen' and 'Body' were recorded in May and June 1977, respectively. By the time Queen went to Wessex, the Pistols had already left (they did a couple of demos four miles away in Soho), which suggests the 'Simon Ferocious' episode took place either before the actual 'News of the World' recordings (maybe Queen were there just rehearsing, or Fred was visiting Roger during the 'Testify/TV' sessions or working with Peter Straker or someone else) and/or after the 'Bollocks' ones (Pistols went there to pick-up a tape or something)... or maybe it didn't happen in Wessex at all, but somewhere else (e.g. EMI offices before the Pistols were dropped). I never believed this story from the minute Freddie was quoted. It's a cracking quote and just the sort of thing that would GUARANTEE some column inches at the time. |
| Sebastian 05.01.2017 13:10 |
Wikipedia claims 'Bodies' was recorded in August 1977, which would potentially correspond with mid-'News' sessions. Needless to say, anyone could've added that datum without it necessarily being true and, unsurprisingly, no sources are given for it. |
| cmi 30.07.2017 12:21 |
Sebastian, Is there any new info to add...? |
| Sebastian 31.07.2017 00:42 |
Surely there is, but I ignore it. Lately, I've been thinking about buying Adrian Kerridge's book, which is partly about Lansdowne Studios, just to see if he mentions Queen's involvement. |
| Dim 03.08.2017 08:52 |
The classic albums documentary about Nevermind the bollocks album has extra about Queen ADATR recording sessions |
| Sebastian 03.08.2017 12:04 |
I've tweaked the lists a bit to correct a few things and add a couple of entries. Note that, assuming nothing from the Munich demos made it to the final cut of the 'Flash Gordon' OST, there were: - 6 albums recorded exclusively in one country (5 in England, 1 in West Germany). - 6 albums recorded in two countries (SHA, Opera, Jazz, Works, Miracle and Innuendo). - 2 albums recorded in three countries (Hot Space and A Kind of Magic). - 1 compilation/album recorded in four or five countries. All in all, Queen recorded in six or seven different countires. |
| cmi 07.08.2017 07:21 |
Thanks for update! |
| Rich Tea 07.08.2017 22:03 |
It was actually News Of The World Queen were recording in 1977. The extras on NMTB talk about Johnny Rotten & Sid Vicious meeting Freddie in the studio. Brian, Roger Steve Jones and John Lydon have talked about this since it seems the two bands actually got on really well. Roger played a Pistols track when he DJ'd on BBC Radio 2 a couple of years back. i'm mates with Captain Sensible of The Damned and he's told me Roger was a regular with Robert Plant & Jimmy Page at Damned gigs and when he met Queen at the BBC they all seemed grounded and friendly guys not what he expected at all. |
| Sebastian 07.08.2017 22:52 |
Rich Tea wrote: It was actually News Of The World Queen were recording in 1977.Yes but they first met a year earlier, during 'Races' sessions in 1976. People can bump into each other more than once. |
| rsroy 09.02.2018 10:04 |
Can anyone pinpoint for me the recording of I Want It All? Specifically where would the drums have been laid down and where was it mixed and mastered. I realise the 3 studios used fort The Miracle are in this thread but does anybody have any info regarding individual songs? Thansk! |
| Sebastian 09.02.2018 12:03 |
Unfortunately, I've no idea (though somebody else may). Sessions reportedly began at The Townhouse, so that could've been a strong candidate especially when we consider 'I Want It All' had been pre-written by the time they went there (which still doesn't prove it was the very first song they recorded for the album - it may have been, it may have been something else). |
| cmi 10.03.2018 10:52 |
I was surprised to find the DETAILED info about line-up of the 'Under Pressure' recording in David Bowie's LEGACY 2016 compilation: UNDER PRESSURE Produced by Queen and David Bowie Bass Guitar: John Deacon Guitar: Brian May Lead Vocals: Freddie Mercury Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals: Roger Taylor Lead & Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Paino, Saxophone: David Bowie Piano: David Richards Never knew there was a sax on the track (It seems HOT SPACE is the album which features two Queen tracks with sax)... Also it's strange that Freddie didn't play the piano or keybords on the track... It's a shame that such info can be found on Bowie's posthumous compilation release but never on a Queen album or compilation. Linear notes in the recent NOTW Box is a real shame... |
| Sebastian 10.03.2018 12:15 |
Frederick was growing disinterested in playing keyboards at the time, according to what Brian said in the GVHII AC. The sax on 'Under Pressure' is more noticeable thanks to the stems. |
| cmi 17.03.2018 20:38 |
Is it known for sure or not?: Was Mack around in Mountain Studio during 'Hot Space' sessions and 'Under Pressure' session in particular? Is it possible that all Mountain sessions were recorded with David Richards chief-engineering (not Mack)? 1. There's no Mack in production credits for 'Under Pressure'. 2. There's no Mack in line-up of 'Under Pressure' recording, but David Richards is. >11th September (yes, really) 1981: Freddie, Mack and Bowie finish the song in NYC. Probably Mack joined the process only on this stage for this song. |
| Sebastian 18.03.2018 02:20 |
As far as I know, yes: Mack was always there. He travelled back and forth to Switzerland, America, West Germany and England depending on where he was needed. |
| cmi 18.03.2018 02:53 |
Thanks, Sebastian. It's strange that he wasn't credited as a producer of 'Under Pressure' as well. |
| Sebastian 18.03.2018 06:57 |
Might have been an omission on their part. So much coke that night, apparently... |