| inmsthebest 16.04.2006 13:04 |
Hi there. I know that Montserrat really liked and admired Freddie as a musician so much...she also loved him as a friend, and the other day I was watching one film about her and there was a place for Freddie there between all those magnificent operatic arias performances of her. Does any of you know why she was not there at the Freddie Mercury tribute in 1992? Maybe she had commitments and could not make it? I imagine that Brian and Roger invited her to sing in this event, but does anyone know for sure what happened? Thanks. |
| Sebastian 16.04.2006 14:55 |
More than a tribute to Freddie, that concert was a self-promotion orgy and a tribute Brian did to himself. |
| inmsthebest 16.04.2006 18:55 |
But do you know why Montserrat wasn't there, being as she was one of Freddie's friends and one of Freddie's most admired singers and misicians ever? You think they didn't even invite her? |
| Shadowlands 16.04.2006 19:49 |
Sebastian wrote: More than a tribute to Freddie, that concert was a self-promotion orgy and a tribute Brian did to himself.Now that's a tad harsh.... |
| Joma 16.04.2006 20:56 |
Sebastian wrote: More than a tribute to Freddie, that concert was a self-promotion orgy and a tribute Brian did to himself.Why do you think that? |
| scallyuk 17.04.2006 03:50 |
Sebastian wrote: More than a tribute to Freddie, that concert was a self-promotion orgy and a tribute Brian did to himself.Were you there Sebastian? Do you presume to speak fo the thousands of us who were there to pay tribute to Freddie ? I was and I was there when it was announced at the Brits. I know why some if not all of the peformers were there too. I asked them . If you weren't there STFU N |
| jasen101 17.04.2006 06:18 |
They did ask her but she couldn't do it...apparently she was already involved with another project at the time. |
| Jan78 17.04.2006 07:33 |
Freddie's day? So you think, Freddie cared for Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Seal, Lisa Stansfield and lots of others there? For me at least there were heaps of moments when I wondered what Freddie would have thought. Aretha Franklin wasn't there, Montserrat Caballé wasn't there, Prince wasn't there, Peter Straker wasn't there...singers and friends that meant a bit to Freddie. That tribute was a bit strange sometimes really. Jan |
| Jan78 17.04.2006 07:50 |
So we have a different concept of it. I wanted to see musicians that Freddie liked or loved as musicians or friends (well, yes, Elton John was there and Liza Minelli was there...). You wanted to see people that were influenced by Queen. Different points of view, I guess, nothing to argue about. But I so skip Bob Geldof every time. :-) Jan |
| inmsthebest 17.04.2006 08:53 |
jasen101 wrote: They did ask her but she couldn't do it...apparently she was already involved with another project at the time.Thank you:-) And yes, I agree with most of you that Sebastian's opinion might be a little harsh...I don't think neither Brian nor Roger nor John(the least of all, bless him)wanted this Freddie tribute concert as an excuse for their egos to show, I don't think their mood was too much into that. Freddie's passing surely was hard enough and they were still going through the pain. I heard Roger say they used it as a kind of help to transform their mourning into something joyful that Freddie would have loved. And I really think Brian was really moved when he sang TMLWKY, as Barry said. I thought the man was going to cry. It was a great performance. But I have to say I concur with the ones who said they missed Montserrat Caballé. At least they could have done some videotaped performance or speech. Really strange that didn't happen considering the willingness of Montserrat to talk about Freddie and in such a devoted way she does. Anyway, I have seen a pic from the MIH promo, and she was there with Brian, I found that maybe they got on well in the end. |
| john bodega 17.04.2006 10:12 |
Sebastian wrote: More than a tribute to Freddie, that concert was a self-promotion orgy and a tribute Brian did to himself.Your grasp of music theory grants you no common sense in any other field it seems. They were doomed to fail in your view from the get-go I think. What would have happened if they'd picked all Freddie songs? People would have bitched that nobody could get it right like Freddie (heck, they already did complain about that). If they'd picked songs that Freddie didn't write, they'd come up against people like you saying it's a Brian May Tribute Concert. I saw plenty of Freddie footage, plenty of Freddie songs, and the thing was named after him. I don't see a problem here. Was it that they didn't play any ABBA or something? |
| rosedewitt 17.04.2006 10:18 |
i heard that montserrat caballe is quite ill, - when she was in germany she quitted a concert where i wanted to go and came the next year. i know that her health isn't so well (cerebral tumour?) maybe that's why she didn't went there. or maybe, as suggested, she was involved in another project, - ok she liked freddie and he admired her, but they weren't best friend now at all, so maybe she had a tour which was more important to her than the tribute concert. |
| carboengine 17.04.2006 11:05 |
inmsthebest wrote: Hi there. I know that Montserrat really liked and admired Freddie as a musician so much...she also loved him as a friend, and the other day I was watching one film about her and there was a place for Freddie there between all those magnificent operatic arias performances of her. Does any of you know why she was not there at the Freddie Mercury tribute in 1992? Maybe she had commitments and could not make it? I imagine that Brian and Roger invited her to sing in this event, but does anyone know for sure what happened? Thanks.The second paragraph tells why. carboengine: Posted: 5/28/2005 12:07:01 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ At first, I thought it was the strangest thing I had ever heard. I took it out later. Hmm, interesting. And later still. Now, it is one of my favorites. When Ms. Caballe is effortlessly singing those high notes, I get chills every time. This CD is an extraordinarily ambitious piece of work by Freddie. I am stunned by his musical genius. Going further I took out a library book named Montserrat Caballe casta diva by Robert Pullen and Stephen Taylor (copyright 1994.) What a life story! Chapter 12 is "1985 - 1988: Mercury Rising," which is bits and pieces about their collaboration for the CD. Primarily the chapter is about her career during those three years, but the book has a thorough index including a reference to why she did not partake in the Tribute concert. "It was because of her non-stop commitment to the EXPO's inaugural week, performing every night, that she was unable to take part in the Freddie Mercury memorial gala at Wembley Stadium. ... And attempts to televise her live backstage during one of the intervals in the performance and beam her contribution via satellite direct to London were frustrated by the discovery that, since the Mercury memorial was itself being telelvised live worldwide from London, it was impossible to obtain a satellite link into the city. ... Both, indeed, cherished plans for a future collaboration together, based upon a stage work Freddie wanted to write." |
| inmsthebest 17.04.2006 11:06 |
Rosedewitt:Freddie is indeed important to Montserrat, you can tell that from all the interviews she has given and in several movies about Freddie...and also in her own movie. And yes you're right, she's sick. Has been since 1975!. But her courage and love for life doesn't let her stop and stay in bed. She keeps on, I'm very sorry that the concert you were going to attend was cancelled. And I hope you get to see her sometime, she's just one in a million.;) |
| Bob-Plant 17.04.2006 11:50 |
Speaking of Brian being emotional at the Tribute concert, am I mistaken or did he seem very choked up during Crazy Little Thing as Robert Plant sang the "ready Freddie" part? I swear it looked like he was about to lose it there for a minute. |
| Sebastian 17.04.2006 12:15 |
I wouldn't ask for "all Freddie songs". Young Dudes was a great inclusion as well as Days Of Our Lives and The Show, they couldn't be more appropiate for the moment even if Mercury didn't compose any of them. And Who Wants To Live Forever. Still, there were more songs by Brian than by Freddie, there were more acts who were friends with Brian than with Freddie (Tony Iommi, for instance). It is true that Metallica etc were influenced by Queen but it wasn't a tribute to Queen, it was (or claimed to be) a tribute to Freddie, where of course Queen were the most important part of his career, but still they should've (in my opinion) focused more on what he wrote for the band. Even in Queen tours there were more songs by Freddie than the others, now in an alleged Freddie tribute there were more songs by Brian. Three or four songs by him would be fair enough imo, but the first 20 minutes of the concert are all of his creations, for instance. I'm not putting down the concert itself, I think it was a very good one and personally I prefer that Brian-Tribute (with GnR, Hetfield and the Leps) than a truly Fred-Tribute (with Prince, Jacko and Straker). But imo it wasn't a tribute to Freddie, it was a self-promotion device for Mr May. |
| Serry... 17.04.2006 12:42 |
No, no, no, no, no - of course performing of all-time Queen greatest hit ever "Las Palabras De Amor" with the guy on vocals whom Freddie have never heard about was more important than absent performing of "Love Of My Life" (Brian on guitar, Wembley on lead vocals)... Sure! |
| john bodega 17.04.2006 12:46 |
Sebastian wrote: I wouldn't ask for "all Freddie songs". Young Dudes was a great inclusion as well as Days Of Our Lives and The Show, they couldn't be more appropiate for the moment even if Mercury didn't compose any of them. And Who Wants To Live Forever. Still, there were more songs by Brian than by Freddie, there were more acts who were friends with Brian than with Freddie (Tony Iommi, for instance). It is true that Metallica etc were influenced by Queen but it wasn't a tribute to Queen, it was (or claimed to be) a tribute to Freddie, where of course Queen were the most important part of his career, but still they should've (in my opinion) focused more on what he wrote for the band. Even in Queen tours there were more songs by Freddie than the others, now in an alleged Freddie tribute there were more songs by Brian. Three or four songs by him would be fair enough imo, but the first 20 minutes of the concert are all of his creations, for instance. I'm not putting down the concert itself, I think it was a very good one and personally I prefer that Brian-Tribute (with GnR, Hetfield and the Leps) than a truly Fred-Tribute (with Prince, Jacko and Straker). But imo it wasn't a tribute to Freddie, it was a self-promotion device for Mr May.I can see where you come from, but it doesn't make quite a lot of sense. To look at it from purely a songwriting point of view, yes - there was more May written stuff (I think, I haven't done a check on that). I always thought the idea was really to just put on a very big show (which in itself is a tribute to Freddie, the master of big-show-putting) and give people one last vestige of that Queen thing (at the time, it was going to be the last one, wasn't it?). I can respect what you're saying Sebastian, but just because there weren't as many Mercury compositions, doesn't mean that it was a self-promotion tool. It's second-guessing a guy we don't even know to say that he'd use someone he worked with for twenty years to sell records. |
| beautifulsoup 17.04.2006 17:52 |
inmsthebest wrote: And I hope you get to see her sometime, she's just one in a million.;)I agree. I've been lucky enough to see/hear her in concert twice. :) |
| inmsthebest 18.04.2006 08:09 |
Barry © wrote: Surely Roger and John also had a say in the set list?Yes, I'm thinking the same thing... Serry... wrote: No, no, no, no, no - of course performing of all-time Queen greatest hit ever "Las Palabras De Amor" with the guy on vocals whom Freddie have never heard about was more important than absent performing of "Love Of My Life" (Brian on guitar, Wembley on lead vocals)... Sure!Serry, you had a good one there, LOL, and sure Freddie would have loved that Love of my life had been performed in his tribute. I really don't want to think that Brian used this tribute as a self-promorion of his music. Sebastian wrote: Even in Queen tours there were more songs by Freddie than the others, now in an alleged Freddie tribute there were more songs by Brian..Maybe that's the reason why he included so many of his own creations in this gig? Not that I agree with that. Surely Aretha Franklin, Montserrat Caballé and George Michael(who was there and did an excellent job) would have been some of the best Freddie's admired singers to be there at his tribute, and I don't think they are worse than May's friends. Also Mike Moran, where was he?. |
| Fone Bone 18.04.2006 13:02 |
The fact is Brian's songs outnumbered Freddie's by far during the FMT, and the QPR Tour for that matter. Considering Freddie was a much better songwriter and wrote most of Queen's best songs, it certainly is a bit unnverving. I don't think Brian saw the FMT as a mere tool to sell Back To The Light, that's just going too far, but were/are there egos issues involved ? Oh yes. Any band with multiple songwiters, be it The Beatles or Queen, is naturally very competitive. There is no denying that Freddie's death must have been very painful for Brian. But consiously or not, he must have thought something like :"Well, he's gone and I'm here, I stand for Queen's legacy, and MY songs are gonna be in spotlight from now on". Hence the Brian heavy setlists, the Brian heavy Queen releases (TYMD/FBG) etc Maybe the FMT setlist was also dependant on guest singers demands (like Los Palabres) and few singers (except George Michael !) were willing to tackle difficult Freddie songs. As for the QPR Tour, I'm sure Paul could have handled more Freddie songs, and Brian certainly wasn't pushing him too hard. (No Somebody To Love, no Killer Queen, but when they add ONE new Queen song for the US Tour it's Dragon Attack !) I mean four songs written by Freddie on a Queen tour, that doesn't make any sense. |
| bitesthedust 18.04.2006 13:17 |
Fone Bone wrote: The fact is Brian's songs outnumbered Freddie's by far during the FMT, and the QPR Tour for that matter. Considering Freddie was a much better songwriter and wrote most of Queen's best songs, it certainly is a bit unnverving. I don't think Brian saw the FMT as a mere tool to sell Back To The Light, that's just going too far, but were/are there egos issues involved ? Oh yes. Any band with multiple songwiters, be it The Beatles or Queen, is naturally very competitive. There is no denying that Freddie's death must have been very painful for Brian. But consiously or not, he must have thought something like :"Well, he's gone and I'm here, I stand for Queen's legacy, and MY songs are gonna be in spotlight from now on". Hence the Brian heavy setlists, the Brian heavy Queen releases (TYMD/FBG) etc Maybe the FMT setlist was also dependant on guest singers demands (like Los Palabres) and few singers (except George Michael !) were willing to tackle difficult Freddie songs. As for the QPR Tour, I'm sure Paul could have handled more Freddie songs, and Brian certainly wasn't pushing him too hard. (No Somebody To Love, no Killer Queen, but when they add ONE new Queen song for the US Tour it's Dragon Attack !) I mean four songs written by Freddie on a Queen tour, that doesn't make any sense.George Michael apparently learnt nearly every Queen song performed at the tribute show during rehearsals to help the process. I think the set obviously did depend on who was able to perform that day, and perhaps if different people had of been there the setlist would have looked different. As someone says, look at the start - Tie Your Mother Down, I Want It All, Las Palabras De Amor, Hammer To Fall - all Brian songs. The first Freddie song to be played is Stone Cold Crazy. I still feel the majority of the setlist should've been Freddie's songs, regardless of who was picked - but then we don't know if Freddie's songs were rehearsed by the artists, perhaps they couldn't manage them successfully? Lisa Stansfield and Paul Young for example, are more suited to the pop side of Queen (Break Free, Ga Ga) rather than say, Liar or Flick Of The Wrist. Another aspect is that they wanted the setlist to be positive, so I don't think Death On Two Legs, for example would have been considered....I do know Brian suggested I Want It All to Roger Daltrey after he rang offering his services (watch the 10th anniversary DVD 2nd disc), I'm sure James Hetfield wanted to do Stone Cold Crazy...I think The Miracle would have been nicely done by someone like Paul Young, but it's all hypothetical now....thank goodness Peter Straker did not perform that night, as well.. |
| Sebastian 19.04.2006 10:10 |
> give people one last vestige of that Queen thing (at the time, it was going to be the last one, wasn't it?). Then it could have been named "Ex-Queen's Farewell Concert" or something like that, not actually focused on Freddie. Footage was all right and everything, and then to invite May mates and to sing his songs wouldn't be as hypocrit. > doesn't mean that it was a self-promotion tool. I agree to disagree. > It's second-guessing a guy we don't even know to say that he'd use someone he worked with for twenty years to sell records. Surely Brian never tried to use Freddie's (or the band's) name in order to justify something he did for himself. That's why he didn't release Driven By You the week Mercury passed away, that's why he's brave enough to use his own name (and Roger's) on the tour with Paul, and that's why he never has to say Fred admired Paul (sort of a secret for thirty years). > No, no, no, no, no - of course performing of all-time Queen greatest hit ever "Las Palabras De Amor" with the guy on vocals whom Freddie have never heard about was more important than absent performing of "Love Of My Life" (Brian on guitar, Wembley on lead vocals)... Sure! I couldn't agree more. What about having Metallica and GnR there ... I love the bands but I do know Fred did not. Then they could have labelled it "Queen Tribute" and so it would be ok. IMO. > Surely Aretha Franklin, Montserrat Caballé and George Michael(who was there and did an excellent job) would have been some of the best Freddie's admired singers to be there at his tribute, and I don't think they are worse than May's friends. Also Mike Moran, where was he?. Mike played piano on Somebody To Love and sang along with the other at the end. Too few imo. > The fact is Brian's songs outnumbered Freddie's by far during the FMT, and the QPR Tour for that matter. I can't complain about the Paul Rodger's thing, after all Brian is the main force behind that and (nobody's gonna convince me otherwise) he's craving for fame and glory to himself through it. Then, if Fred's family and John Deacon are stupid enough to let Brian and Roger carry on as "Queen", then they've got the right to perform as many of their own (or Paul's) songs as they want, or put Eminem on the intro. But the Tribute is a different matter. > Considering Freddie was a much better songwriter I disagree. Actually my top 5 Queen tracks are all Brian's: '39, Dreamer's Ball, Good Company, Teo, Save Me (in that order). > and wrote most of Queen's best songs Perhaps not "best-songs" in an absolute way. But most of the hits were his, yes. > I don't think Brian saw the FMT as a mere tool to sell Back To The Light Neither do I. I didn't mean "self-promotion" in a financial milieu, but concerning his desire to be on papers, TV and so on. > Any band with multiple songwiters, be it The Beatles or Queen, is naturally very competitive. To be fair, I think Brian has always been very respectful to Freddie in that matter. For instance when he admits Mercury composed 'Was It All Worth It' and others. Brian and Roger could have easily re-written history and put a lot of lies on a dead man's mouth in order to steal respect (and for a very minimal extent I think they have), but they keep telling how wonderful musician he was and it's wonderful from them imo. > There is no denying that Freddie's death must have been very painful for Brian. But consiously or not, he must have thought something like :"Well, he's gone and I'm here, I stand for Queen's legacy, and MY songs are gonna be in spotlight from now on". Yes. From a personal point of view, of course, even if we don't personally know the chap, it's obvious that losing a friend is not easy. But from a leadership sort of way it sorted all of his problems. > Hence the Brian heavy setlists, the Brian |
| inmsthebest 19.04.2006 14:32 |
All that is great, Sebastian,good post. Even if I don't agree that Brian wrote the best songs, I rather prefer listening to Freddie's songs, my favourite are Freddie's. But then again,returning to the tribute concert, Roger and John must have had something to do also with the setlist of the concert, I can't believe that Brian would say: "hey, guys, we'll play this song, that one, that one..." And the others just said: "OK, dude, as you like it":? There must have been a mutual agreement as to which songs would be performed that day. |
| john bodega 19.04.2006 15:24 |
"Then it could have been named "Ex-Queen's Farewell Concert" or something like that, not actually focused on Freddie." But he spent 20 years of his life in Queen! Please don't tell me that the Mr. Bad Guy album would've been a grand sendoff, of the kind one would broadcast around the world. "I agree to disagree." Aye, and I can understand why, you've made yourself clear. I can but say - we don't *know*, do we? I know how it can look, and it can look like many many things, depending on what you want to see in it, but I'm not Brian May, you're not Brian May... we don't know for sure. "That's why he didn't release Driven By You the week Mercury passed away" But Freddie *encouraged* him into releasing it as a single. And aren't release dates determined a little in advance? I know it sounds like bunk, but they probably had a schedule for some kind of release well before they knew Freddie would die *right then*. Maybe I'm wrong. But that's unfair of you to virtually say that Brian May marked out Freddie's death-day on the calendar like that. "that's why he's brave enough to use his own name (and Roger's) on the tour with Paul" Now this, I can sort of agree with. However, it is mostly 'Queen' music. I don't see how they can avoid throwing it in the title. "and that's why he never has to say Fred admired Paul (sort of a secret for thirty years)." This one, yeah - I always wondered why suddenly Paul Rogers was a hero, when he'd never been mentioned before. "There are several Fred's compositions Roger could have sung beautifully." Bah to that, he should've sung "Man on Fire". (I'm kidding by the way). "I mean four songs written by Freddie on a Queen tour, that doesn't make any sense." I agree with this, but at the same time they're up against a wall with that. Look at Bohemian Rhapsody - they use a tape for the intro because, well... LOOK what happened when Elton John murdered it??? Ok look in summation - yes, I can see where people come from when they criticise the setlist, because I agree with it. But these catchcries of 'self-promotion' don't sound at all fair to me, considering none of us actually know the guys. Can we not give them the benefit of the doubt? If it were just a case of Freddie leaving the band, for instance, and they were being obviously bitchy, then sure - it'd be fair to say maybe something dodgy is going on. But a guy died, they knew him for twenty years, and I refuse to just assume that they had only their own interests at heart (with the Tribute at least). I still think Roger Daltrey was best in show. |
| Sebastian 19.04.2006 18:15 |
> There are several Fred's compositions Roger could have sung beautifully I meant Daltrey, of course. Although Taylor's a brilliant singer as well. In other words: any Roger not surnamed Waters sings well. |
| john bodega 20.04.2006 00:35 |
Sebastian wrote: > There are several Fred's compositions Roger could have sung beautifully I meant Daltrey, of course. Although Taylor's a brilliant singer as well. In other words: any Roger not surnamed Waters sings well.Hahah right on. |
| inmsthebest 20.04.2006 16:15 |
Brian is too much of a kind and gentle person to be capable of such auto tribute to himself using the name of Freddie, who was like a brother to him. I can't take that. The three of them, Roger and John included must have had the setlist decision done together. Period. |
| john bodega 21.04.2006 10:31 |
inmsthebest wrote: Brian is too much of a kind and gentle person to be capable of such auto tribute to himself using the name of Freddie, who was like a brother to him. I can't take that. The three of them, Roger and John included must have had the setlist decision done together. Period.The thing that bugged me wasn't really the setlist. I felt that much was appropriate. It was the choice of singers + bands that played the thing. Guns'n'Roses? GUH. And Elton John might've been a pal, but really... he screwed up everything he touched that day. |
| bex 21.04.2006 10:52 |
Basically, from what I've gathered, when bands and artists heard about the tribute they put themselves forward because they admired Freddie or were influenced by him. Now Brian, John and Roger obviously wanted the day to go as well as possible with some entertaining music and I'm sorry but Freddie's music is so complicated and sung in such a high range that they are very few singers who can do it justice! I'm sure that the band just wanted the songs to sound good and if people couldn't pull them off then I say give them songs that they can manage and won't make the audience cringe! Look at Plant with Innuendo - everyone says what an embarrassment it was and artists didn't want that especially considering it was being broadcast to 1 billion people. Who are Brian, Roger and John to tell people like Guns n' Roses and Metallica that they cannot pay tribute to an artist they loved just because their style of music wasn't Freddie's cup of tea! How crushed would you be as a band if you were told that and I'm sure Bri, Rog and John are too gentlemanly to do such a thing. People on here must have a very low opinion of Brian if you think that after the death of a close friend the first thing on his mind is self-promotion. This is someone who I've only ever heard speak of Freddie in the highest terms, almost in an adoring tone. So there's my two pence, take it or leave it. |
| john bodega 21.04.2006 13:52 |
"Who are Brian, Roger and John to tell people like Guns n' Roses and Metallica that they cannot pay tribute to an artist they loved just because their style of music wasn't Freddie's cup of tea!" Well - they were in the perfect position to do so considering that they were running the show! Besides, Guns 'n' Roses and Metallica could easily have paid tribute by: A). Playing better songs B). Writing songs about Freddie. "People on here must have a very low opinion of Brian if you think that after the death of a close friend the first thing on his mind is self-promotion." Well - the point I was making, I wasn't trying to say that he 'was' or 'wasn't', but rather - we simply do not know. I have formed the opinion that the Tribute Concert was not self promotion. Those guys looked utterly miserable sometimes during that show (and inspired at others - take the audience participation during Somebody to Love), and since Queen were never convincing actors (Calling All Girls, anyone?) I tend to believe that in the Tribute at least, there was genuine emotion running the show. To reiterate - maybe it was a Brian May Tribute, but I really don't think so myself, and I wouldn't presume to judge his character when I don't even know the guy! :D |
| inmsthebest 22.04.2006 13:10 |
Zebonka12 wrote: The thing that bugged me wasn't really the setlist. I felt that much was appropriate. It was the choice of singers + bands that played the thing. Guns'n'Roses? GUH. And Elton John might've been a pal, but really... he screwed up everything he touched that day.Fair enough.I agree. Elton John did a mess. It was terrible...but anyway Freddie for sure would have liked him to be at his tribute...so, well, like you said he might have chosen songs which were not so beyond him, maybe something easier to sing.... The problem is: Did Mr. Freddie Mercury sing any easy song? |
| john bodega 22.04.2006 15:02 |
"The problem is: Did Mr. Freddie Mercury sing any easy song?" The only one that's in my range is I'm Going Slightly Mad. And maybe Tie Your Mother Down. To wit, the guy had a way with music, and you'd have to be pretty skilled to make anything listenable out of a Queen song. |
| Sebastian 23.04.2006 10:19 |
Paul Rodgers (Freddie's all-time secret idol) could've sung Slightly Mad since he likes it (although he called it 'Simply Mad') |
| john bodega 23.04.2006 13:12 |
Sebastian wrote: Paul Rodgers (Freddie's all-time secret idol) could've sung Slightly Mad since he likes it (although he called it 'Simply Mad')Nuno Bettencourt called it Simply Mad once in a guitar magazine interview. I've got that magazine still actually, it's from 1991 and has a couple of funny pictures of Brian in it. of course, if he did sing Slightly Mad (just for arguments sake) he'd probably throw "HIT ME WITH YOUR HEART AND WITH YOUR SOUL" in odd places throughout it. |
| bitesthedust 25.04.2006 16:10 |
For those of us (myself included) who believe most (in my opinion at least 90%) of the setlist should have been Freddie songs, what songs would you have put in to replace Brian's songs, and who would have sung them? |
| Sebastian 25.04.2006 21:13 |
Gary could have done something like Bicycle or Killer Queen, instead of Hammer To Fall. I think he deserved more than one number. Maybe Lisa doing I Was Born ... can't quite picture that but who knows. And Annie Lennox doing It's A Hard Life maybe ... it wouldn't be any like Freddie's but it'd be an interesting experiment and Brian could've arranged a nice guitar duet with Iommi. Seal doing Mother Love would be nice imo as well as Roger Taylor singing Don't Stop Me. A non-Freddie's song that could have been included is Great Pretender. And I think Mike Moran should have a lot more than just playing on one song and singing along another ... after all, he was apart from the other Queennies, the person whom Freddie shared the most musically. |
| john bodega 26.04.2006 01:27 |
"Seal doing Mother Love" I didn't quite like his Who Wants To Live Forever, but I actually think it would've been nice to hear him sing Mother Love. Here's another point that I have some thoughts about. Why didn't they include any MiH stuff? I know the album was 3 years away from completion, but surely they could've thrown some snippets around? Maybe they hadn't found all the songs yet? (Mental picture of Brian stumbling across a tape labelled "It's a Beautiful Day, 1980" and smacking himself). |
| beautifulsoup 26.04.2006 09:32 |
Zebonka12 wrote: (Mental picture of Brian stumbling across a tape labelled "It's a Beautiful Day, 1980" and smacking himself).:D |
| bitesthedust 26.04.2006 13:36 |
Bicycle Race would have been interesting by Gary Cherone...of course Extreme included that in their medley. |
| kdj2hot 26.04.2006 13:46 |
Fone Bone wrote: I'm sure Paul could have handled more Freddie songs, and Brian certainly wasn't pushing him too hard. (No Somebody To Love, no Killer Queen, but when they add ONE new Queen song for the US Tour it's Dragon Attack !)You're insane if you think Paul rodgers could sing Somebody to Love. |
| kdj2hot 26.04.2006 13:48 |
Sebastian wrote: Seal doing Mother Love would be nice imoSeal singing a song that wasn't even close to being finished? Yeah, that's a realistic thought. |
| Sebastian 26.04.2006 20:17 |
He could've sung the verses Fred had already written and recorded ;) |
| Jan78 26.04.2006 20:58 |
btw, maybe we can clear something up please. I think I remember that Bob Geldof said that "Too Late God" is a song that he wrote together with Freddie. The Solo Collection doesn't feature any of it, and even Geldof's album doesn't credit the song to Freddie in any way, unless secretly. So what's the story about this? Sorry, but it's bugging me for a few years now. Jan |
| john bodega 27.04.2006 07:48 |
"You're insane if you think Paul rodgers could sing Somebody to Love." Aye. There's blues and soul and stuff, then there's gospel. They've similar roots, but they're oh so different in delivery and I don't think Paul Rodgers could do that song. I love being proven wrong. But - I'll stick to me guns on this score. "Seal singing a song that wasn't even close to being finished? Yeah, that's a realistic thought." Well what do you mean 'wasn't even close to being finished'? For one nobody actually knows when Brian's verse was done (the lyrical difference suggests that it was either a while before or after Freddie did his bits - take for example "I don't want to sleep with you/I don't want a stormy affair", compared to "My body's aching/My dreams are all the company I keep" - I say they're apart, but I just don't know which was first). There were the makings of a song there, they already had a beat, the chord progressions would already have been there (heck, A Winter's Tale was played/programmed by Freddie, wasn't it?). I know it would've been an awful effort, but if they wanted to, they could have included a song like Mother Love. |
| beautifulsoup 27.04.2006 08:09 |
Zebonka12 wrote: "Seal singing a song that wasn't even close to being finished? Yeah, that's a realistic thought." Well what do you mean 'wasn't even close to being finished'? For one nobody actually knows when Brian's verse was done (the lyrical difference suggests that it was either a while before or after Freddie did his bits - take for example "I don't want to sleep with you/I don't want a stormy affair", compared to "My body's aching/My dreams are all the company I keep" - I say they're apart, but I just don't know which was first).There's an interview/article on Brian's website in which he says that they used his third verse demo in the final cut. Don't know about the rest - if there were any lyric changes, or whatnot. |
| Sebastian 27.04.2006 09:08 |
There couldn't be lyric changes since the person who'd sung them was dead. |
| john bodega 27.04.2006 11:10 |
Sebastian wrote: There couldn't be lyric changes since the person who'd sung them was dead.Brian's not dead yet! Well - I was unaware that there'd been any interview that said stated the demo lyrics had been used. My mistake. Point being, a song existed, they might have done something with it, but it might've been more work than it was worth. What *I* would have done would have been to play Freddie's last takes a capella, and let the crowd listen to that. It would've been ghostly and moving, in my opinion. The song had never been heard before by the general public, and probably would've made the MiH version even more moving, given people's memories of first hearing it at the Tribute. Well. That's what I woulda done, but I'm frequently wrong! |
| Sebastian 27.04.2006 12:10 |
I meant Fred's parts of course :) |
| john bodega 27.04.2006 13:33 |
Sebastian wrote: I meant Fred's parts of course :)Hehe I know. :D I guess the unfortunate thing about the Tribute is - there's so *many* good ideas that could've been used that weren't, but at the end of the day, to include all of them probably would've taken about three weeks. There's a lot you can do when paying tribute to Freddie Mercury, |
| beautifulsoup 28.04.2006 09:42 |
Zebonka12 wrote: Well - I was unaware that there'd been any interview that said stated the demo lyrics had been used. My mistake.Hey - I only found that info totally randomly - while doing an unrelated search on Google for, believe it or not, "Brian May" "height." Go figure. ETA: CRAP. It's not there anymore! I had saved the link, and it no longer works. I also searched Brian's website, but I really think it was taken down. But I do know that the article is from the Sun Express, April 28th, 2002. Crap. I shoulda copy/pasted the text instead of e-mailing myself the link. |
| inmsthebest 29.04.2006 06:49 |
Zebonka12 wrote: Hehe I know. :D I guess the unfortunate thing about the Tribute is - there's so *many* good ideas that could've been used that weren't, but at the end of the day, to include all of them probably would've taken about three weeks. There's a lot you can do when paying tribute to Freddie Mercury,Yes, many things, and if they had listened to all the fans ideas, they would have gone absolutely nuts. I guess everyone of us would have a good idea for that tribute. It seems that they did the best they could, given the circumstances. Brian, Roger and John, I mean. |