Hi I thought I would talk to you about Queen's vocals. All four of them sung right? WRONG,Freddie of course you always heard singing,Brian you heard sometimes,Roger could sing but was quiet but as for John he could sing but wasn't comfortable singing but on the FWBF and IWIA videos he is seen 'singing' so whats up with that?
Freddie, Brian and Roger did vocals. John says he never sang live or in the studio, but there are some boots around in which you can hear him sing according to some people (I don't hear it but....).
John said in 1982 that on studio he didn't participate very often. That's different to NEVER
He said that live he did little backing vocals but he'd never call himself a singer
Hi all John sang on bv's on all Albums up to anato when live he sang in all including the 1992 tribute concert his mike was set at 50% of Rogers and 75% of Spike Edney's
On every credit for every Queen album from Queen to Made in Heaven Freddie, Roger and Brian are down as the vocalists, no mention is made to John contributing at all.
So it is a bit presumptuous to assume John added vocals when he clearly didn't. We've had this argument before Seb when you thought John added vocals to Jesus. I respect you and your website is indeed excellent but misleading fans on hearsay and personel opinion is bit daft when you consider all the other brilliant stuff on the website.
I don't want this to turn into another row but at the risk of contradicting myself my personel opinion is that John's voice is probably in the mix at the end of Let Me Entertain You.
Surprising really because Fist Through A Window contains some of the most sublime vocal performance especially the middle eight.
My site, currently, is far from being great or brilliant. I'm not misleading anyone, everybody is free to believe what he/she wants.
Yeah credits don't mention John, but do they mention who plays the organ of 'Liar'? the piano of 'Flash'? do they mention that Brian played piano of 'All Dead'? I can name more examples besides the albums without credits for the band members (The Game, Hot Space, The Works, Miracle)
In fact the 'Opera' credits don't mention Brian and Roger singing either, except for the songs '39, Good Company, Bo Rhap and I'm In Love With My Car. That would mean that all the voices in Death On Two Legs, You're My Best Friend, Sweet Lady and Prophet's Song are by Freddie where clearly the others are there. That would mean too that there's no Roger in '39.
'News' doesn't mention Fred on backing vocals, so that would mean that all the harmonies are either Brian or Roger except in 'All Dead'. In 'Champions' and 'Who Needs You' it's obvious that Fred sang harmonies. Moreover Brian isn't credited on piano in this album, as I mentioned before
So we can't consider credits a 100% proof. Neither are the quotes (Brian has said 4 different stories about Show Must Go On, all of them contradicting the rest), neither is my site. I'll add more on the John thing later on this same thread.
So here it goes:
This subject hasn't been so overdiscussed by the queen members, but still I could get some quotes. I've NEVER seen the word NEVER in a quote by John. Many times there are comments of "John can't sing" or "the three of us/them (Brian, Roger and Freddie)" or stuff like that, but never I've seen "John NEVER sang". He said he can't sing, but Brian can't play harp still he recorded. What I mean is that you don't have to be a singer to record some unison backing vocals. The parts I think John sang in the studio aren't complex falsettos or low bassy notes, they're just unison singing. In fact I believe in some tracks like 'Rock It' there's not only John, but also members of the studio staff (like producers, engineers, etc). Uncredited of course, just like the organ of 'Liar', the piano of 'Flash', etc
Comments against my theory are:
Brian (1997): "I don't think he's ever been nearer than a couple of a inches to a microphone and made any kind of noise what so ever". - Pretty strong, isn't it?
Roger (1997): "I'm afraid I have to admit.. I have heard him sing.. and that's why you cant find him on the records"
Brian (2002): "John is not a singer" - that doesn't mean anything. Roger is not a pianist or a bassist but he recorded synths and bass in his solo albums and some Queen songs. Ringo is not a drummer but he played drums in many records and concerts. Brian is not a kotoist or a harpist but he recorded with those instruments once in 1975.
Comments favouring my theory are:
Roger (1976): "The three of us do most of the singing" - keyword: MOST, not ALL
John (1976): "Roy Thomas Baker taught us how he recorded our vocals over fifty times" - keyword: OUR, not THEIR. Although it's possible that with "our vocals" he means "Queen vocals" and doesn't neccesarily imply that he sings
Roger (1997): "There was a lot of vocalizing from, MAINLY the three of us. John was very much in the background with that"
John (1982): "Roger, Freddie and Brian do most of the vocal harmonies. I don't participate very often. On stage I do very little backing vocals, but I can't call myself a singer" - So, he doesn't participate very often, but that's different to NEVER. Brian didn't play piano very often but that doesn't mean he never played it, does it?
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For the next version of my site I'm going to specify in most cases that "all of them" sang. So, people who believes John sings can read it as "all FOUR of them". The ones who don't can read it as "all THREE of them" and we all are happy.
By the way:
> Roger could sing but was quiet
Come on! Listen to ANY queen concert and you'll note Roger sings in a lot of songs, much much more than Brian
Interesting stuff, but the unison vocals you mentioned has been confirmed by everyone (including Joe Elliott!!) as three voices double-tracked "so it comes out big".
What's this organ in Liar all about? I can only hear guitar, bass and drums. I like all this different takes on Queen songs it proves what a brilliant band they were.
Joe Elliot wasn't there as far as I know. Joe asked Brian about the big choir sound they got, Brian answered that it was made puttning Fred, Roger and himself unison and double-tracking and it came out big. But of course 100% of times it wasn't like that. The intro of 'Bo Rhap' is just Freddie, the harmonies of 'Leaving Home' are all Brian's, 'Great King Rat' (in the album) is just Freddie and Roger, etc.
If it was confirmed by everyone, can you please post here when did Fred, Roger, John, Roy, David, Mack, John Anthony, Robin Cable and all those people confirm that?
Liar organ can be heard at several points, mainly when the acoustic guitar enters, there's an organ chord in the background