| fras444 12.01.2015 21:59 |
There have been some great discussions on this site in regards to the subject of the making of MIH and how John and Roger initiated the first steps towards this emotional project then when Brian finally decided to get involved, it also coincided with John appearances becoming much less which brought up some rumors of a bust up between the two... Also the very little lack of interaction between the two on stage and during the separate song writing days they along with John and Roger, have never co-written any songs.. which got me thinking.. What was John's and Brian's relationship like both within the band Queen 1972-86 88-91 92-95 and now and outside the band.. Out of all members in Queen, would these two would have to share the more mysterious relationship between each other..? |
| Sebastian 13.01.2015 06:13 |
Only the two of them know, and for a lesser extent Roger... as far as it's been told, the four Queen members were friends and colleagues but they were not besties who would spend every waking moment together. They'd see each other in the studio and for concerts and rehearsals, and some band meetings (which would often take place in the studio) to decide on where to go, etc., as well as video shootings, but it's not like two of them would routinely go partying together on their day off, except for Freddie and Roger, according to the former's driver, but that was still not a frequent occurrence. As for the professional relationship between John and Brian, that one cannot be sussed out either, but at least we as public (or even as researchers) can see some patterns, patterns that at the end of the day do not paint a picture. The fact John and Brian didn't get together to write a song doesn't mean they hated each other. From what it's been said, Freddie didn't get together with Roger to write a song either (it was more like 'bugger off and I'll make it a hit' sort of thing) and it doesn't mean they weren't close. If anything, according to what people like Jim and Peter (Jones) have said, Freddie was closer to Roger than he was to John or Brian; still, we can see that 'in the office,' he was probably collaborating more closely with John (Cool Cat, etc.) or Brian (Mother Love, Is This the World, etc.). |
| liam 13.01.2015 20:28 |
Brian and John's relationship certainly seems the least close. John regularly stood on the drum platform and smiles at Roger. There are also many photos of John and Roger together. However, there is very little interaction between Brian and John on stage and very few photos of them together, laughing or talking. |
| sgs8789 13.01.2015 23:20 |
Quite honestly who cares!!!! These are two separate human beings and if Queen were to be broken down into it's most basic parts it was simply 4 guys that could create, play and arrange some great music but at the end of the day they went home to ???????????????????? |
| tomchristie22 13.01.2015 23:58 |
OP obviously cares :P The dynamics between the band members are an interesting thing, it's reasonable to want to know about them as fans. |
| master marathon runner 14.01.2015 03:10 |
Guessville Arizona. |
| Elektra 14.01.2015 06:55 |
I think they were like creative brothers the 4 of them had their own different connections with each other |
| Heavenite 14.01.2015 07:09 |
Yes, I agree! Brian and Roger were both pretty mild mannered really. I doubt there would have been any fundamental problems between them. Making no songs together might be more to do with tastes |
| miraclesteinway 14.01.2015 07:34 |
Later in their careers they all had separate lives though didn't they, I mean, Freddie never really socialised with the band did he? He said in an interview once that they were all into different things, so didn't tend to socialise together and he didn't make a big deal out of it. It was probably the same for John, Brian and Roger. John was the first member of the band to start a family, and probably settled into the role of family man quite well I guess. Brian and Roger aren't really on record as socialising all that much together either. That doesn't necessarily mean they don't get on. We've probably all got work colleagues that we don't hang out with all that much, even if we've worked quite closely together. |
| Hoopsie 14.01.2015 07:34 |
Thinking that the relationship between Brian and John was ________ (insert personal fanwank here) is inherently flawed. Over the course of their association I'd bet that their relationship waxed, waned, fluctuated, and assumed all sorts of states just like you and your hanging buddies. 20 years is a long time and both men changed over time. So what their relationship was in 1974 is probably nothing like it was in 1980 or 1991. Before they were dads and after they were dads. Before divorces/affairs, and after. Stuck together on an endless tour or during time off. Partying or recording. You get the drill. It's interesting to speculate, but drawing conclusions on complicated relationships based solely on how they interact onstage for two hours might be revealing and it might be bollocks. |
| tomchristie22 14.01.2015 09:16 |
Indeed. It's also not really fair to compare Brian and John's interactions to those between the others, because the symmetrical layout they usually stuck with on stage meant that Brian and John were further apart on stage than anyone else. That wasn't done because of the state of their relationship, it was done to make the stage look balanced. |
| *goodco* 14.01.2015 09:47 |
As for interaction on stage, the problem with the concert videos is that they generally focus on Freddie, so you don't get to see what is taking place elsewhere. While he's up on a catwalk, what the others do is generally unobserved. John interacted the way most bassists do...which is not all that much. Chuck Panozza of Styx was even more 'isolated', but that was his style. It seemed as though the only time he moved more than five feet, was when he would add backing vocals to 'Suite Madame Blue'. Having been a fill-in for a local band eons ago, I concentrated on my job, as the bass is so often unrelated to the vocals and the lead guitar. If I didn't, I would have been lost. Not everyone can be Michael Anthony or Flea. |
| The King Of Rhye 14.01.2015 09:59 |
tomchristie22 wrote: Indeed. It's also not really fair to compare Brian and John's interactions to those between the others, because the symmetrical layout they usually stuck with on stage meant that Brian and John were further apart on stage than anyone else. That wasn't done because of the state of their relationship, it was done to make the stage look balanced.I always wondered why Brian was on the right and John on the left (from the point of view of the audience).......always, without fail! (from every photo I've ever seen, anyway) Like, is there any particular reason for that, or is it just how they did it once, and stuck with it.....did Brian or John never say to the other, "lets switch sides tonight just for the heck of it"? I'm beginning to think I have too much time on my hands.......LOL |
| RafaelS 14.01.2015 10:33 |
I personally think that if it weren't for Freddie's illness, these 4 guys wouldn't never bonded as much as they did in the last 3 years of Freddie's life. I think at the end of the day, Freddie would have gone in something else like in producing, doing more operas who knows. But anyway, I think that if Freddie were still here, the result would be the same, the original Queen lineup would be gone. John would have retired anyway, regardless of Freddie's death. |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 14.01.2015 12:08 |
Oh, that kind of relationship. Dunno, sorry. :) Cheers, Ogre- |
| The King Of Rhye 14.01.2015 12:20 |
Maybe I am totally getting the wrong impression.......but judging by what I have read over the years from various sources, it would seem that the closest friendship among the band was that of Freddie and Roger, with maybe Brian and Roger 2nd? |
| gerry 14.01.2015 13:04 |
Freddie was more closest to Roger as they worked together in Kensington market before Queen ever existed, also i remember in an interview where freddie got asked about rows in the band and freddie said "The things i could tell you about Brian you just would not believe" the interviewer then asked fred "have you hit him yet" fred replied "no" but there's still time ha ha " Rows within Queen could get nasty and john used to leave and Fred, Roger, & Brian fought it out. i think john was uncomfortable a little with Brian & Roger but he adored Freddie. |
| joerijoerijoeri 14.01.2015 13:10 |
You old gossipy slag you Gerry! |
| gerry 14.01.2015 13:13 |
every site has a norris cole you know lol |
| Dave2843 14.01.2015 13:30 |
A bit off topic, the other day a work colleague who does shooting in his spare time mentioned he was talking to one of his shooting friends and said that he heard that Roger and John both shoot and it was known that they both joke about Brian being a vegan and his animal rights activities. Now, at first when i heard this i thought bull shit ! Then this morning on radio 2 Chris Evans mentioned Rogers shooting party. This is the first time i have ever heard that Roger does shooting. Surely Brian wouldnt be too pleased about his band mate shooting animals ? Edit : Just found this, apparently it is common knowledge. link |
| The King Of Rhye 14.01.2015 13:44 |
I think Brian ang Roger disagree obviously, but he seems to be the kinda guy that it wouldnt get in the way of any relationship that he has with Roger...........he seems like a very tolerant sorta guy, I guess is what I am trying to say.... |
| The King Of Rhye 14.01.2015 13:52 |
(King Of Rhye tangent alert #34587!) It kind of reminds me of my friendship with a woman who I worked with a few years ago at a restaurant.......I'm basically an anti-religious libertarian sort. of guy....she was more or less a born-again Christian......we were the last two people that should have got along, but damn if we didnt.....:D |
| tomchristie22 14.01.2015 18:31 |
The King Of Rhye wrote:They swap over a couple of times in the Rainbow concert. It's easier to just do so on a stage that size than it would've been on the Magic tour for instance, I guess.tomchristie22 wrote: Indeed. It's also not really fair to compare Brian and John's interactions to those between the others, because the symmetrical layout they usually stuck with on stage meant that Brian and John were further apart on stage than anyone else. That wasn't done because of the state of their relationship, it was done to make the stage look balanced.I always wondered why Brian was on the right and John on the left (from the point of view of the audience).......always, without fail! (from every photo I've ever seen, anyway) Like, is there any particular reason for that, or is it just how they did it once, and stuck with it.....did Brian or John never say to the other, "lets switch sides tonight just for the heck of it"? I'm beginning to think I have too much time on my hands.......LOL e.g. I think it's in Father to Son, they're completely swapped over for a decent amount of time. |
| The King Of Rhye 14.01.2015 20:52 |
hmmm....I havent seen that dvd yet...........maybe I shouldnt then...........it just wouldnt seem right! lol |
| gerry 15.01.2015 03:05 |
Dave2843: I do not agree with shooting animals at all, and i can see where Brian would be hacked off with Roger doing this terrible thing. Brian is a gentle sensitive guy who stops and thinks about wild life and nature where Roger is wreckless and could not care less, just blow its head off sort of guy. |
| miraclesteinway 15.01.2015 05:08 |
Roger seems more into the rock and roll lifestyle out of all of Queen, and now he seems to be growing in to the role of Country Gent, shooting and fishing, and spending money. Brian seems to be more the sensitive moral conscience type of person. I guess it doesn't make one person better than the other, I've no idea what either of them are like to actually interact with on a day to day level since I have never met either of them, or John, and I'm pretty much too young to have met Freddie although I do remember him on TV a lot when he was still alive. Not the same as meeting. Obviously. I do have one little Freddie anecdote for you - a man I know who is a piano tuner once met Freddie in '75 in a venue he was tuning in, and he helped Freddie to carry his bags into the dressing room. Tough butch piano tuner with more body mass than tact said to me about the incident 'oh, aye, even then he was a little - well - effeminate, like, and I says to mysel' - oh aye, what's this then?' I found myself kind of spitting back at him 'what did you expect?' |
| OwenSmith 16.01.2015 19:14 |
Dave2843 wrote: A bit off topic, the other day a work colleague who does shooting in his spare time mentioned he was talking to one of his shooting friends and said that he heard that Roger and John both shoot and it was known that they both joke about Brian being a vegan and his animal rights activities.Shooting game is rather different to ill thought out culling badgers or having hounds tear foxes apart painfully. Many game animals have excessive populations doing damage to the countryside because we killed all their predators, the numbers have to be kept down somehow and game shooting barely makes a dent in the numbers. And most game shooters eat what they shoot or it goes into the food supply. "No wildlife must ever be killed" is a naive statement. Humans have messed with the ecosystem so much that it cannot be left to its own devices, we took out all the control mechanisms (mostly predators). Red deer are destroying Scotland due to their excessive numbers, the trees can't grow back because deer eat all the saplings. Right I'll get off me hobby horse now... |
| Chrisallstar 17.01.2015 11:14 |
John played bass on some of Brian's solo tracks and also played bass on some Anita Dobson songs. If they didn't like each other Brian would have asked another bassist and or John would have said no. I think John and Brian just drifted apart on the 90s and so John and Roger. |
| Sebastian 17.01.2015 12:34 |
You don't need to like a person in order to invite them to a recording session. You don't need, by the same logic, to dislike a person in order not to have invited them to a recording session. |
| Chrisallstar 17.01.2015 13:12 |
Yeah cos Brian doesn't know any other bassists! This ridiculous speculation about Brian and John is infuriating. |
| Hoopsie 17.01.2015 15:06 |
All fanwankers need to understand the simple concept of correlation =/= causation. |
| The King Of Rhye 17.01.2015 16:56 |
Chrisallstar wrote: John played bass on some of Brian's solo tracksSome? To my knowledge, he was only on Nothing But Blue, or is there something I'm forgetting about? |
| luthorn 17.01.2015 18:10 |
I wonder where does BM and RG and JD stand on Jesus? perhaps JC is a friction point; other than that it could be the badgers. |
| The King Of Rhye 17.01.2015 19:02 |
It's either Jesus or the badgers? (lol......what a strange sentence) I don't think any member of Queen's ever said anything about their religious views, so I'd say thats nothing but speculation........ |
| Sebastian 17.01.2015 19:05 |
Roger did - he said he hated religion. So no, it's not ALL speculation. |
| matt z 18.01.2015 06:19 |
I dunno about personalities. But as long as they had fakers. .. Brian and John should have produced an album by jellyfish and continued their careers as performers. Roger had been persistent as a writer until this last boring album (full of previously released stuff) People who write songs with acoustic pianos and guitars are almost always better songwriters. As for the severance. It's fair to say that the arrangements John and Roger had done didn't have the structural "queen guitar sound" that the band was known for. ... How could it have? Still m.. I'd love to hear that. Stopping short of selling my left ball. They were professionals. I'm certain at this point John fed into the fear of AIDS and now regrets the time he DIDN'T spend with Freddie. Probably thought he'd die away and drank his time off trying to FORGET Freddie's illness and misery. But that is all speculation. John and Brian. .. that's a helluva story. NOBODY has the answers about that but John and Roger. Brian has recently said that seeing Q+ AL is just as good as Freddie. He is either trying to extol the arrangement beyond rationality or pretty much insane |
| The King Of Rhye 18.01.2015 07:13 |
Sebastian wrote: Roger did - he said he hated religion. So no, it's not ALL speculation.Hm..........did Brian and/or John ever say anything about it? Like I said before, Brian seems to be the kind of guy that wouldn't let opposing religious views get in the way of a working relationship.........just my guess. tho...... |
| Sebastian 18.01.2015 07:31 |
They probably said loads of things, just not in public, or I haven't read them yet (remember that I'm still completely unaware of 99.99% of what they've said and done). John's wife's Catholic, so I can suppose/infer (as opposed to 'know for certain') he at the very least respects religious views. |
| kammi_mercury 01.02.2015 01:24 |
I feel like they were rivals. They barely did interviews together & they never interacted on stage. At least fake it for the crowd! I mean, Flea from RHCP said that he used to be intimated when playing with guitarist John Frusciante, because he thought that Frusciante was more musically inclined than him. |
| BETA215 01.02.2015 01:51 |
The King Of Rhye wrote: Maybe I am totally getting the wrong impression.......but judging by what I have read over the years from various sources, it would seem that the closest friendship among the band was that of Freddie and Roger, with maybe Brian and Roger 2nd? I'm used to hear this: John-Freddie | Brian-Roger Also John-Freddie > Freddie-Roger > Roger-Brian And Freddie-Brian in his last times. Depends in the time, really. |
| BETA215 01.02.2015 01:58 |
The King Of Rhye wrote:Chrisallstar wrote: John played bass on some of Brian's solo tracksSome? To my knowledge, he was only on Nothing But Blue, or is there something I'm forgetting about? Maybe he is referring to the Anita Dobson tracks - I Dream Of Christmas and Silly Christmas? |