| Abramelin 07.08.2014 15:50 |
This was a sort of a lost year for Queen, with only 6 gigs played in total which I have never understood the reason for. I believe they also took 8 months to sign a recording contract - a ridiculous amount of time. They even turned down a great offer in early 1972 from Charisma, the label Genesis were on, and could have really set the ball rolling there and perhaps they could even have released their debut album in '72. Weren't they really hungry to get their foot in the door???? Also, why were they not keen on gigging and getting as much live experience as possible and signing to a respectable record label (were they afraid they would always play second fiddle to Genesis??), I must admit that I really don't understand their thinking in 1972. A very strange year for them. So close yet so far - they could have made something in what was a very barren year for them apart from recording their debut LP. I would love to go back in time and meet them in June 1972, when they were struggling and recording the debut LP, just before it all took off! Rumour has it that their Marquee gig on 20 December 1972 was recorded and that Brian owns it. Not sure. Thx |
| andyb1968 07.08.2014 15:59 |
Brian has a lot of early recordings & memerobilia by all accounts ! |
| Nitroboy 07.08.2014 16:12 |
andyb1968 wrote: Brian has a lot of early recordings & memerobilia by all accounts ! I've seen lots of people claim this, however I have yet to see proof of the recordings :( |
| scottmax 07.08.2014 17:56 |
Nitroboy wrote:I suppose unless your friends with Dr Brian, you'll never find outandyb1968 wrote: Brian has a lot of early recordings & memerobilia by all accounts !I've seen lots of people claim this, however I have yet to see proof of the recordings :( |
| Djdownsy 07.08.2014 20:04 |
Abramelin wrote: This was a sort of a lost year for Queen, with only 6 gigs played in total which I have never understood the reason for. I believe they also took 8 months to sign a recording contract - a ridiculous amount of time. They even turned down a great offer in early 1972 from Charisma, the label Genesis were on, and could have really set the ball rolling there and perhaps they could even have released their debut album in '72. Weren't they really hungry to get their foot in the door???? Also, why were they not keen on gigging and getting as much live experience as possible and signing to a respectable record label (were they afraid they would always play second fiddle to Genesis??), I must admit that I really don't understand their thinking in 1972. A very strange year for them. So close yet so far - they could have made something in what was a very barren year for them apart from recording their debut LP. I would love to go back in time and meet them in June 1972, when they were struggling and recording the debut LP, just before it all took off! Rumour has it that their Marquee gig on 20 December 1972 was recorded and that Brian owns it. Not sure. ThxAfter the disastrous deal with Smile, I guess that they wanted to make sure that it was the right deal that they were signing up for. Plus, was there not three separate entities to the contract. A lot of negotiations there methinks. As for the gig situation, I'm going to speculate even more, but life probably took over, work, finishing degrees etc. Plus, maybe they struggled to get gigs. Seems implausible now, but I'm certain at one stage they were seen as 'some cover band with the odd average original song thrown in'! |
| Saint Jiub 07.08.2014 21:17 |
If you can believe Wiki ... From June to November Queen was working the on-call graveyard shift at the studio ... Hard to schedule a concert performances in that time period ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(album) |
| The Real Wizard 08.08.2014 01:30 |
^ indeed, they've said so plenty of times. They'd suddenly get a call to come in at 3am, and they had to be available. At one point they met Paul McCartney and they became friendly. Paul would book studio time for Wings and "not show up" so Queen could have some recording time. |
| Abramelin 08.08.2014 03:32 |
From June to November Queen was working the on-call graveyard shift at the studio ... Hard to schedule a concert performances in that time period ... Thanks for all the replies. I guess it kind of makes a little more sense now. Nothing seemed to be straight forward or easy for them that year. You are right that they were being promoted along with Eugene Wallace and Mark Ashton or something - no record label would sign only Queen. From 1974 onwards we have a wealth of stuff available, that is why I am fascinated most by 1972 & 1973 - the least documented Queen years. |
| Dim 08.08.2014 10:35 |
Charisma offered 25000 pounds deal. Genesis were its first priority band. Charisma didn't nothing in terms of sales with Genesis. |
| MadTheSwine73 08.08.2014 16:48 |
The Real Wizard wrote: ^ indeed, they've said so plenty of times. They'd suddenly get a call to come in at 3am, and they had to be available. At one point they met Paul McCartney and they became friendly. Paul would book studio time for Wings and "not show up" so Queen could have some recording time.I never knew that about Paul McCartney. That's awesome of him. |
| Sebastian 08.08.2014 17:12 |
As other posters said, Queen weren't a big band there, just another quartet of Zeppelin-ersatz long-haired college students playing rock 'n' roll covers and the odd blues-rooted original. They were lucky in '71 because Roger's mum had arranged the Cornish tour (for Smile) but otherwise they weren't fully devoted to the group at all. They were still studying, had jobs, girlfriends, and they were waiting for the demos to eventually attract someone's interest ... and eventually, they did. When Trident signed them, they started getting a weekly cheque and they got their equipment renewed. Their new job consisted of rehearsing for the album and being ready for any last-minute cancellation by paying Trident clients to quickly go and do as much as they could. All of that while they kept going on with their own academic and personal lives, which you would expect for four blokes in their early twenties living in early seventies' London and having a band. Brian was, in fact, a maths teacher in a school, until the Trident contract was signed. |
| dysan 09.08.2014 06:27 |
Great thread. Likewise I've had a fascination with 1972. I had a dream a few years back about seeing them play an empty venue that year (Camden's Dublin Castle, weirdly) and they were really good. I'm not sure how much this ads to the thread. I had time travelled for some reason and knew all about the future. It was good. |
| Abramelin 09.08.2014 13:57 |
Thanks to all who answered. Very good points, Sebastian. Still part of me would love to ask Brian or Roger about 1972, but I get the feeling that they don't seem too interested in that era at all and generally dismiss it as the time they were flat broke and starving.....which is a shame. I am endlessly fascinated by the band in '71, '72, and '73 - very character building years for them. 1972 being the odd man out with so little done, but as you said life got in the way. That was the year Freddie wrote Ogre Battle on electric guitar! |
| Sebastian 10.08.2014 14:32 |
Actually, Freddie wrote it on acoustic. And it's not like they did nothing ... most of the début album was recorded in 1972. |
| Oscar J 11.08.2014 09:14 |
True, though I think they should have kept the 1971 versions of the songs on the record. Those versions have much more feeling to them and are even better mixed IMO. In particular Keep Yourself Alive and Jesus kick the album versions' arses. |