| Henry V 27.06.2005 14:12 |
I'm curious who performed the piano solo on this track. |
| bohemian 11513 27.06.2005 14:42 |
Always thought it was Spike "the Fred" Edney!? ... of course it was our beloved and missed Fred... Bulsara aka Freddie "the Spike" Mercury! :-))) Quotation realy sucks nowadays!!!! Richard to the RESCUE... what has happend? amp amp amp, quot, quot,... cry, cry cry... quot, amp, quot, amp, quot, amp, endquotamp! :-))))) |
| Bohardy 27.06.2005 14:53 |
Clearly it's Mandel. Fred couldn't play like that in a million years. |
| bohemian 11513 27.06.2005 14:58 |
Bohardy wrote: Clearly it's Mandel. Fred couldn't play like that in a million years.Sorry, but even Freddies cats could do better (play) on the piano than Fred Mandel... :-))) |
| Suigi 27.06.2005 15:40 |
bohemian777 wrote: Always thought it was Spike "the Fred" Edney!? ... of course it was our beloved and missed Fred... Bulsara aka Freddie "the Spike" Mercury! :-))) Quotation realy sucks nowadays!!!! Richard to the RESCUE... what has happend? amp amp amp, quot, quot,... cry, cry cry... quot, amp, quot, amp, quot, amp, endquotamp! :-)))))WHOA. Could someone PLEASE fix the punctuation on this stankin' board? |
| marcio17@queenzone.com 27.06.2005 17:35 |
well my fellows, if you have noticed freddie´s solo in my fairy king, you would know that freddie had played that solo in living on my own, you know, after 11 years of more practica im sure it was peqace of cake,just look seven seas of rhye in the magic tour. any questions? fred mandel was justa keyboard guy |
| Ian R 27.06.2005 18:07 |
I'm sorry, but that is bollocks and Bohardy is spot on. |
| Bohardy 27.06.2005 19:43 |
Sorry marcio, but as my esteemed friend Ian says, you're talking big, hairy, sweaty bollocks. If you knew anything about playing the piano and music theory, you'd know how ridiculous your comment sounds. If anyone was "just a keyboard guy" (out of Mandel and Mercury, and meant in a pejorative sense) it was Mercury (obviously temporarily disregarding his vocal and songwriting prowess). Mandel is a session-musician type, which by default means he has a mastery of his instrument. I could teach you to play the riff to Seven Seas Of Rhye in about 5 minutes, and after half-an-hour of practice you'd be able to play it to a standard about 80% of Freddie's. If you practiced/played piano for 4 hours a day every single day for a year you probably wouldn't even be able to play the LOMO solo half as well as Mandel. Mercury basically wrote songs and accompanied himself on the piano. There's a big difference. |
| marcio17@queenzone.com 27.06.2005 22:44 |
well, i dont know what bullocks mean, jeje, so freddie´s worst piano player than fred? |
| Mr Drowse 28.06.2005 03:23 |
<2>marcio17@queenzone.com wrote: well, i dont know what bullocks mean, jeje, so freddie&#180;s worst piano player than fred?Freddie is by no means as good a piano player as Fred. Freddie adored Mandell's piano playing. |
| ~-:Moet et Chandon:-~ 27.01.2006 11:18 |
Old topic...sorry...was looking for the answer to this question. I.e. was it Fred or Freddie who played it, lol. Bohardy is clearly correct about Freddie's technical abilities compared to Mandel's, a session musician. Nonetheless, and this is a point which has been brought up countless times (maybe looking through slightly partial Queen-fan eyes, but anyway) but I still like Freddie's style of playing: simple, affected, unusual, powerful. Made up for what would have been obvious technical shortcomings. He made pieces sound grand. So while Fred Mandel could, for example, do a classy accompaniment to CLTCL, with the all sorts of obscure jazzy chords thrown into the mix, I still prefer many elements of Freddie's (often more-simplistic) style. Playing Bo Rhap is far easier than that solo in LOMO, but that piano track has been immortalised (and I love it to death) whereas LOMO is little known these days. Between Mandel and other of Queen's session musicians I prefer Edney's piano-style, clearly he has good technical ability: how did he compare to Mandel in that department? |
| Sebastian 27.01.2006 14:16 |
Spike wasn't a first-class pianist imo (as compared with Fred Mandel for instance) but he got enough ability for the stuff the band needed for their shows (Break Free intro and such don't require virtuosos) and perhaps he'd got better chemistry with them. With some few exceptions, Queen's music was never too demanding for piano-players. |
| kdj2hot 27.01.2006 17:34 |
I have to say I think this thread maybe driven by ignorance because I would assume they're talkinga bout the remix to Living on my own. Which obviously isn't played by Freddie. The piano solo thingie in the album version isn't nearly as grand or complicated and while Fred Mandel may have done the solo, it's not so amazing to think that freddie couldn't have done something close. Even though I haven't officially checked it out (shoulkd be easy to find out though) I would assume it was the dude in the pink at Live at the Bowl playing the piano because it sounds more like his style than Freddie's. |
| Thanks 27.01.2006 18:04 |
Mercury may have been technically able to play that part, but he would never have chosen to do so - it isn't his style of piano playing. |
| The Real Wizard 27.01.2006 21:30 |
Thanks wrote: Mercury may have been technically able to play that part, but he would never have chosen to do so - it isn't his style of piano playing.Absolutely not. Freddie wasn't a pianist like Mandel was. Freddie was a songwriter and entertainer who could play piano. Bohardy is right on the money. |
| Thanks 28.01.2006 12:37 |
You're disagreeing with me, but agreeing with Bohardy??? I think you should re-read what I wrote... |
| ~-:Moet et Chandon:-~ 28.01.2006 16:47 |
I agree with Sebastian who says that Spike wasn't a firt-class pianist, as was Mandel. In fact I've been confusing my pianists, lol sorry, it's Morgan Fisher who I do not like! I've been re-listening to some Mandel stuff and I must say his relative "virtuosity" is apparent when compared to, let's say Spike Edney. And indeed I do like Mandel; it's in the case of Fisher that I prefer Edney. Nonetheless, for all his lack of technical ability or virtuosity I still think Freddie's sense of drama and blend of charisma/eclecticism (and genius?) certainly makes his piano playing worth listening to. Something really special. Whereas wit Mandel, I feel that I'm just listening to another virtuoso pianist at work. |
| The Real Wizard 30.01.2006 14:34 |
Thanks wrote: You're disagreeing with me, but agreeing with Bohardy??? I think you should re-read what I wrote...I do disagree with you! Freddie was not an A+ pianist who could play songs like Living On My Own. His technique and general knowledge of the piano's capabilities were pretty basic in comparison to guys like Fred Mandel, Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, or whoever else is very widely-known as an accomplished keyboardist. Freddie was a decent player, but nothing like the guys mentioned above. |
| Asterik 02.02.2006 11:01 |
I think Freddie actually under-estimated himself-in my view he was a very good player- not classically trained or anyhting but I'd rather have Freddie's reliability than the jazzy inter-song tinkling of Mike Garson- one of the many things that makes David Live an appalling live album. Did Fred Mandel play in Japan in '82, because who ever it was was amazing on Crazy Little Thing from disc 2 of On Fire- Spike was good at Wembley but this chap was a virtuoso- it added so much to the rendition. |
| Lester Burnham 02.02.2006 11:22 |
Yup, that was Fred Mandel on CLTCL. I often wonder why he wasn't asked to do The Works Tour with them, considering he had played synths on half of the songs on the album or so... |
| Sebastian 02.02.2006 13:55 |
Mandel was hired by Elton John and Supertramp |
| Rompez 02.02.2006 17:00 |
It's a shame realy. He is much better than Spike (forget about Morgan Fisher) IMHO. |
| Thanks 03.02.2006 16:37 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote:I promise you I never suggested Fred was a technician...Thanks wrote: You're disagreeing with me, but agreeing with Bohardy??? I think you should re-read what I wrote...I do disagree with you! Freddie was not an A+ pianist who could play songs like Living On My Own. His technique and general knowledge of the piano's capabilities were pretty basic in comparison to guys like Fred Mandel, Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, or whoever else is very widely-known as an accomplished keyboardist. Freddie was a decent player, but nothing like the guys mentioned above. If I had said "Even if he had been technically able, he wouldn't have played in that style", would that have been clearer? |
| The Real Wizard 03.02.2006 21:01 |
Thanks wrote: If I had said "Even if he had been technically able, he wouldn't have played in that style", would that have been clearer?Nope! Because if Freddie had different abilities, his music may have reflected those abilities. Even so, how can anyone know why Freddie went in the directions he did, and potentially ignored other directions? He never talked about that kind of stuff. |
| Bohardy 04.02.2006 10:20 |
I'm with Bob. There's no way Fred would be the same musician, had he had the pianistic skills of Mandel. How proficient you are on an instrument surely defines the kind of musician you are and the music you play. It's inconceivable to think that if Fred was a piano virtuoso he would predominantly be plonking out chords a la Killer Queen or Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy. What would be the point in practising absolutely all the time every day, pushing yourself and boring yourself at the same time to reach your goal of technical proficiency only to then say "Right, now I've done that I'm gonna go back to just play Grade 5 standard stuff for the rest of my life". If his skills were on a par with Fred Mandel's or, say Mike Moran's, I've no doubt that Queen wouldn't exist, or at least have continued to exist once Fred attained that level of virtuosity. |
| abe 04.02.2006 10:42 |
Asterix, to answer your question regarding the Bowl concert, it is Morgan Fisher who is playing the piano, who I think was miles ahead of Spike Edney, we only have to look at that concert to see, also look at the Saturday Night Live performance and hear Morgan Fisher play the piano, like Eddie Van Halen to a guitar!!! Queen thoroughly enjoyed Fisher's playing piano with them on concert, and from what I have read it was only due to Fisher's unavailability that he wasn't able to go on The Works tour, hence Edney was brought into the fold from then onwards, a fine player as well, but no Fisher. |
| Lester Burnham 04.02.2006 11:18 |
I though Fisher's piano work on the Live At The Bowl DVD was fairly standard, and he was relegated to mostly synths anyway; the only piano was on Crazy Little Thing. But what Asterik was talking about was on the bonus disc; that was indeed Fred Mandel, who really added a different texture to the song. I remember hearing that Fisher didn't accompany them to the US and Japan because he loathed flying, and, as P–... er, Thanks, said, Mandel wasn't on the Works tour because he was working with Supertramp and Elton John instead. Shame, that. |
| Rompez 04.02.2006 13:15 |
Not Morgan Fisher but Fred Mandel played piano at Saturday Night Live performance. |
| abe 04.02.2006 20:55 |
Well if that is Mandel playing CLTCL then I am mistaken, however it is that both players look identical in the Bowl concert and on SNL. Fisher does have the long curly hair right?? |
| Sebastian 05.02.2006 01:14 |
link link |
| Asterik 05.02.2006 07:36 |
Thank you for all your answers. |
| abe 05.02.2006 20:48 |
Thankyou Sebastion for the correction, yes I totally agree, Mandel is the superior player by a mile, I just had the names mixed up with the wrong people. |
