I would like to know, what's the history behind that cover Roger published in 77.
I know he recorded in News of the World sessions, and did a peformance in Marc Bolan show, but nothing more.
I think it's as simple as him wanting to be his own man. He had a lot of creative juices by that point.
Even on Sheer Heart Attack (the song) he played every instrument, so he knew he was more than capable.
At that stage I think Roger was out on a limb, musically. He knew it and was glad his stuff got into Queen's music but wanted even more latitude. I suspect they all felt that at various times - with the possible exception of John.
Thanks for your answers!
And of course, I knew the first David76 answer was ironic ;)
I always think what would be a solo record by Freddie in the 70's...perhaps near to the record him and Roy Thomas Baker produced to Peter Straker...Who knows. Sure, better than Mr. Bad Guy (with some very good songs, but a letal 80's production).
I always liked I wanna Testify cover, to be honest, in my subjective opinion, one of the only good songs he did solo or with The Cross.
i was lucky enough to have this single (back in the mid80s) and it made me dig out the original (yellow label) version by the Parliaments.
it was an old reggae song from the 60s - and quite a nice tune to boot.
what was strange about Roger's version was that during the 70s it was vogue for classic rock artists (zep, eagles,
joe walsh, elvis costello, scorpions, clapton et al) to write and record a song with a reggae arrangement..
Roger did the reverse - he took a reggae song and changed the arrangement for the pop/rock audience.
Good reflexion brENskI, about Roger's version, becaus is true, about the artist you mentioned, and also that year was even more evidence with the punk rock explosion, and bands like The Clash or Bad Brains introduced reggae into their music.
and in a serious twist of irony - his very next solo single jumped on board the "rock bands do reggae" bandwagon.
Future Management - with it's distinctly Caribbean feel came a little too late - sounding like a Police (white reggae) clone....not surprisingly, it didn't even dent the home singles charts - peaking just inside the top50