| Mr.QueenFan 06.08.2014 14:30 |
I received the true FLAC version of this recording. It was sent to me by John S Stuart who owns the Jim Hutton tape that he bought directely from Jim. Not only he gave me the permission, but it was also his idea that this version should be shared among the Queenzone community. So i want to take this opportunity to publicly thank him for his nice gesture. All credit of this share goes to him. So, first things first: There are some noticeable differences between this version and the lossy version uploaded to Youtube: - This version sounds louder, as you would expect, and it has some tape hiss. And because this wasn't processed to reduce the tape hiss, or converted to a lossy format, you'll get a richer sound of the piano. Freddie Mercury had the magic touch on the paino, and this seems to be a very well rehearsed version of this song. For more information about the Jim Hutton tape visit the first page of this thread: link On the first page, John S Stuart recalled the origins of this file (i hope it's ok to post it here): "This track is genuine; and I am the collector. Many years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Hutton a wee while before he died, and I did indeed purchase the cassette from him. It may not have been Freddie's taste in music (I am not sure) but it was Jim's, and Jim would pester Freddie to play these sort of tracks for him. Freddie would respond with a few spontaneous bars - and then give up (I guess because he did not know the rest) and laugh it off as some sort of joke. (This is evidenced in other Garden Lodge tapes of a similar period). Regardless of what you read in the press (or hear otherwise), there was a genuine closeness between Freddie and Jim and when Freddie pissed Jim-off, and Jim went off in a sulky strop; Oftentimes Freddie would later "apologise" in his own way with some lavishly generous gift. But on one or two occasions, after very serious bust-ups; (and after brooding a while) Freddie would pretty quickly listen to one of Jim's favourite pieces of music, practice a few times, and then tape-record his version for Jim as some sort personalised peace offering, and special apology. These are Jim's recollections - not mine. " On the first page of this thread there's also a link provided by the user Chiefmouse for the complete Jim Hutton tape. This tape is LOSSY. It was converted to FLAC from mp3. So this version of "Send in the clowns" that i'm sharing today is the first file shared in true FLAC from the Jim Hutton tape. I hope the Queen community appreciates this as much as i do, because this is the type of things that will never get released on an "official" product. Remember that we're listening to the one and only Freddie Mercury who we all love. So, let's treat this with the respect it deserves. This is probably the most intimate and vulnerable Freddie Mercury you'll ever hear. Here's the link to the file: link Finally i just want to say that every comment is welcome. I would love to hear what each one of you think about this track. What do you think this track meant for both Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton. What are your thoughts? Cheers |
| ARMANDO MARTINEZ 06.08.2014 15:02 |
Thanks a lot! |
| Victorvil 06.08.2014 15:04 |
Thanks to JSS and to you MrQueenFan, for sharing this in lossless quality. It's always nice to hear Freddie play the piano. |
| soxtalon 06.08.2014 15:09 |
Much thanks to both of you! |
| Marknow 06.08.2014 15:32 |
Thank you both, great share. |
| BETA215 06.08.2014 16:02 |
Thanks to you and thanks to John S. Stuart! |
| Nitroboy 06.08.2014 16:17 |
Thanks a lot to both of you :) |
| John S Stuart 06.08.2014 17:06 |
I have not listened to this track for a while; but I am struck by how personally relevant this track is to the Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton story. As I wrote previously; "...on one or two occasions, after very serious bust-ups; (and after brooding a while) Freddie would pretty quickly listen to one of Jim's favourite pieces of music, practice a few times, and then tape-record his version for Jim as some sort personalised peace offering, and special apology." So we know that the track was created as an individualised communication between both, but after reflecting on the lyrics I wonder if Freddie was trying to say so much more? Isn't it rich? Are we a pair? Me here at last on the ground, You in mid-air. Send in the clowns. Isn't it bliss? Don't you approve? One who keeps tearing around, One who can't move. Where are the clowns? Send in the clowns. Just when I'd stopped Opening doors, Finally knowing The one that I wanted was yours, Making my entrance again With my usual flair, Sure of my lines... No one is there. Don't you love farce? My fault, I fear. I thought that you'd want what I want - Sorry, my dear. But where are the clowns? Quick, send in the clowns. Don't bother, they're here. Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer? Losing my timing this late In my career? And where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns. Well, maybe next year... Maybe this track was meant as some sort of private "in-joke" between Freddie and Jim? Maybe this was a "confessional" of something far more serious, and Freddie's way of sharing his thoughts about the early diagnosis of his fatal illness? "Making my entrance again, With my usual flair, Sure of my lines... No one is there". (Thematically similar to "The Show Must Go On"). "Isn't it rich?" (Sarcasm as in "I have wealth not health") "Isn't it queer?" (Self-apparent - but shares the same thematic ideas as the "Great Pretender") "Losing my timing this late In my career?" (Shares the same thematic ideas as the "Innuendo" album in general and the track "I'm Going Slightly Mad" more specifically). "Well, maybe next year". (Irony - Freddie knew there was to be no "next year"). Now I admit that am I listening to this track with 2014 ears, and therefore hearing the past through rose-tinted headphones, and could be listening-out for subtle clues which do not exist and are only the figments of my own imagination. But then again, perhaps the melancholic characteristics of both the "words" and the music was something that was not lost to Freddie or Jim either. If the above is possible - are we listening to a Freddie stripped of all his grandeur and pretence; the naked, raw emotion of one human being expressing feelings for another? Or is this an additional case of Freddie deliberately spitting courageously in the face of impending doom (ala the final "These are the Days of Our Lives" video shot?). |
| DragonflyTrumpeter83 06.08.2014 17:14 |
Thanks to you, Mr. Stuart, and to you, Mr. QueenFan. |
| GinjaNinja 06.08.2014 17:53 |
Lovely track, thanks JSS and Mr. QueenFan! |
| Mr.QueenFan 06.08.2014 18:13 |
John S Stuart wrote: But then again, perhaps the melancholic characteristics of both the "words" and the music was something that was not lost to Freddie or Jim either.What's very interesting is that the play for which this song was written "A Little Night Music", was about a character named Fredrik (phonetically it was Freddie's name in England): From Wiki: link "In an interview with Alan Titchmarsh, Judi Dench, who performed the role of Desirée in London, commented on the context of the song. The play is "a dark play about people who, at the beginning, are with wrong partners and in the end it is hopefully going to become right, and she (Desiree) mistimes her life in a way and realizes when she re-meets the man she had an affair with and had a child by (though he does not know that), that she loves him and he is the man she wants" (Fredrik). I don't have time to expand now, but i think there are lots of layers to the choice of this song. |
| John S Stuart 06.08.2014 22:19 |
Mr Queen Fan wrote: "What's very interesting is that the play for which this song was written "A Little Night Music", was about a character named Fredrik..." I did not know that; but a lead character called Frederick does seem a strange coincidence indeed. I do know though (that under Freudian psychology) I may be transferring my own emotions and experiences onto the track - and that these feelings will have nothing to do with Freddie whatsoever. That is a very logical and easily defensible stance to take, which I cannot argue against. However; in comparison to the other "Garden Lodge tapes" which feature "the party-animal Freddie", "the giggling like a schoolgirl Freddie", "the bombastic centre-of-attention Freddie", "the live life to the full" and "live life in the moment" Freddie, this tape seems particularly subdued. Again (in comparison to the other "Garden Lodge tapes") this IS a "lonely" - by that I mean on his own - and a particularly "retiring Freddie", a "pensive and perhaps more reflective Freddie". Indeed, It could be argued that this is a recording NOT of the Freddie Mercury we know at all, but of the inner Farookh Bulsara - the ghost inside the machine. The truth is we will never know. All we can ever do is compare this tape against it's companions and make our own conclusions. Perhaps it is these "what ifs..." that make this instrumental so hauntingly poignant ... |
| John S Stuart 06.08.2014 22:19 |
Post repeated |
| John S Stuart 06.08.2014 22:20 |
Post repeated |
| John S Stuart 06.08.2014 22:21 |
Post repeated |
| freddies bell end 06.08.2014 23:40 |
Beautiful post , John S. |
| freddies bell end 06.08.2014 23:44 |
What's that beaner, Rafael SommaSpic going to demand? Is he going to demand a Level 7 FLAC? Just be thankful we have this to listen to. You see, go with the flow, and things come around. |
| MarkRW 07.08.2014 02:34 |
Thanks guys - much appreciated. |
| Wijnand 07.08.2014 02:39 |
Thanks both of you! |
| pmatsynot 07.08.2014 03:04 |
thank you for the share |
| seagull 07.08.2014 03:53 |
Hi John, It is beautiful listening to this recoding. Thank you for sharing the story around the music, this makes the recording even more special. cheers Andy |
| Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon 07.08.2014 04:20 |
Thank you very much for sharing! |
| Rami 07.08.2014 05:54 |
Great! Thank you very much indeed - to both of you!! |
| MackMantilla 07.08.2014 08:54 |
Fantastic. Thank you and John! |
| Marknow 07.08.2014 09:08 |
Very interesting insight John thanks for sharing. |
| MercurialFreddie 07.08.2014 10:11 |
Thank you John for your insight. Could you tell us if you've heard the recording of Freddie playing Chopin and has the tape survived the test of time ? |
| andyb1968 07.08.2014 11:28 |
Wouldn't it be wonderful if Freddie had sung along ! I can hear it in my head when I play the track, now that would have been worth putting on the new album :-) |
| Ghostwithasmile is BACK! 07.08.2014 11:41 |
Thanks for the gesture Sir JSS. |
| vivaqueen 07.08.2014 13:11 |
thank you for this gift MERCI BEAUCOUP |
| John S Stuart 08.08.2014 03:10 |
MercurialFreddie wrote: Thank you John for your insight. Could you tell us if you've heard the recording of Freddie playing Chopin and has the tape survived the test of time ?The Chopin track is just another name for one of the four original tracks uploaded elsewhere in MP3 (or fake FLAC). Some say Bach, some say Chopin; regardless - it is out there. These are just of the problems with a corrupted gene pool. Fake FLAC, multiple titles for the same track (it keeps the fraudsters with trading material) and of course, there are always the "Mr. Robotos!". In sum; sorry, there are no extra tracks. |
| John S Stuart 08.08.2014 03:11 |
Ghostwithasmile is BACK! wrote: Thanks for the gesture Sir JSS.How about a response in kind? :-) |
| John S Stuart 08.08.2014 03:22 |
Mr.QueenFan wrote: Freddie Mercury had the magic touch on the paino, and this seems to be a very well rehearsed version of this song. CheersTo be honest, I don't really agree with you here. :-) I don't know if Freddie could sight-read (where's Seb when one needs him?) but this sound to me like some one who is not too confident and just making it up as he goes along. (I am reminded of all those demo's on the chop-em-out label). I am NOT saying he is "out of his depth" here, but I am saying it does seem spontaneous and basic. In contrast the Mike Moran "tapes" are much more technically accomplished. To me this is Freddie's "Zappruder". That is the subject matter transcends all the technical problems and records a very raw moment in history. |
| Sebastian 08.08.2014 03:28 |
Freddie learnt to sight read when he studied classical piano as a teenager, but he admitted he'd mostly forgotten how to do it by 1981 (when he said he'd sometimes go back to the sheet music if he'd forgotten how to play a piece). That's why he mostly used Nashville notation (letters for chords and notes) when composing and arranging, and in fact Mike had to 'translate' some Barcelona things to that notation for Fred. His strength, and that's something scores of classically-trained people lack, was in his ability to play by ear. He hadn't got perfect pitch, but his relative pitch was trained enough to be able to do a lot in that department, and he was also an outstanding composer and, as such, intuitively understood harmonic rules and patterns and could accurately anticipate which chord would usually go here and there. By the way, there's no Chopin piece. It's Bach. |
| MercurialFreddie 08.08.2014 08:08 |
Yes, the well tempered clavier is out there and I've heard Freddie's rendition but I meant Chopin pieces as mentioned in the thread Ultimate Collection : 1988 ->link |
| people on streets 08.08.2014 09:29 |
Thanks for this JSS. |
| dysan 08.08.2014 09:47 |
Thank you both for this. And excellent use of Zapruder by JSS. |
| John S Stuart 08.08.2014 10:49 |
MercurialFreddie wrote: Yes, the well tempered clavier is out there and I've heard Freddie's rendition but I meant Chopin pieces as mentioned in the thread Ultimate Collection : 1988 ->linkI guess this is what you are referring to: Freddie Mercury: Xmas At Freddie’s - Garden Lodge Home Demos - 1988 - Freddie Mercury, Mike Moran, Peter Straker, Wayne Ealing, Peter “Pheobe” Freestone Girl From Ipanema - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Musical Excerpts 1 – 5 - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Misty - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Favourite Things - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Offenbach’s Tales Of Hoffman 1 & 2 - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Gilbert & Sullivan - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Chopin 1 & 2 - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Trolley Song - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Prelude 1 - Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc I believe this tape has been shared before - but I do not know if it was actually "Chopin", or just some made-up title. Again, it is one of those things where by the same "Untitled track" is called various different things by various different people. But it is "out-there" and you may well already have it! |
| people on streets 08.08.2014 11:10 |
Mini dics = lossy. You should reconsider your archiving methods. Not hating, just saying. |
| MercurialFreddie 08.08.2014 11:55 |
Thank you John, yes I referred to the old thread. Sadly, only few tracks from the 1988 tape have been shared : The girl from ipanema, "f*ck off and die you fag/que sera sera" and "Rock a bye dixie". The rest is still in private hands so it all depends on generosity of the owner of the tape. |
| Ouzy 08.08.2014 13:10 |
Thank you for sharing that, lovely to hear and imagine Freddie sitting at the piano playing :) |
| musicland munich 08.08.2014 13:52 |
Thank you ! Queenzone at it's best ! |
| waywardgenius 08.08.2014 15:49 |
Whilst I appreciate the share, frequency analysis does not show that this is truly lossless. Also, testing the FLAC decoded to WAV only shows a CCDA probability of 43%. I suspect this share is mp3 sourced at some stage. |
| jurgan10 08.08.2014 16:28 |
^ Minidisc = ATRAC compression |
| jabbo5150 09.08.2014 15:08 |
Thanks for this! |
| tassilo 26.08.2014 11:50 |
Thank you so much for this one! |
| people on streets 27.08.2014 15:48 |
jurgan10 wrote: ^ Minidisc = ATRAC compressionIndeed. And ATRAC = lossy. Any serious collector wouldn't archive on minidisc. Expecially since we live in a day and age were portable hard drives cost next to nothing. Of course, things were different in the past, but it might be a good reason to restart archiving the 2014 kind of way. Again, not hating, just saying. |
| TheVisibleMan 27.08.2014 15:56 |
thank you for the share. |