Queen: The Complete Works (2 page)

SAMPLE ENTRY

TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU

(May/Musker/Lamers)

• A-side (Brian): 8/92 [5] • Album (Brian):
BTTL

• B-side (Brian): 6/93 [23] • Live (Brian):
Brixton

• Album (Queen):
Heaven
• A-side (Queen): 2/96 [15]

This indicates that ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ was released, in chronological order, as (i) a Brian May solo single in August 1992, reaching No. 5 in the chart; (ii) an album track on Brian’s
Back To The Light
; (iii) the B-side of Brian’s solo June 1993 single, reaching No. 23 in the UK chart; (iv) a live version on Brian’s
Live At The Brixton Academy
; (v) an album track on Queen’s
Made In Heaven
; (vi) a Queen UK single in February 1996, reaching No. 15 in the chart.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN PART THREE

Studio Albums

Compilation and Live Albums

Solo Albums – Roger Taylor

Solo Albums – Roger Taylor (with The Cross)

Solo Albums – Freddie Mercury

Solo Albums – Brian May

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

Where spelling and stylings of song and album titles vary over the years, I have favoured the earliest official release: while ‘Dreamer’s Ball’ and ‘The Prophet’s Song’ may be grammatically correct, they are printed as ‘Dreamers Ball’ and ‘The Prophets Song’, sans apostrophes, on
Jazz
and
A Night At The Opera
respectively. In the case of ‘rock and roll’ and its many variants, the same situation applies to the correct spellings of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley, ‘Born To Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll’.

Album variations are more of an exception than the rule. I have applied the title
Queen At The BBC
as the ‘official’ title of their 1989/1995 release since it is more universal than
Queen At The Beeb
, which only British readers might understand, while
Live At Wembley Stadium
takes precedence over
Live At Wembley ’86
.

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS EDITION

Since the original publication of this book in 2007, I was convinced that I was to be an author for the first and last time. Almost immediately, fans contacted me and very politely offered corrections and additional information, and I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to implement these changes for a second edition. The more I read through the book, the more errors I noticed (not necessarily factual), and while these might not have been noticeable to the average person, I found that almost every entry either had overly verbose prose or too many suppositions. (And who honestly cares what songs should have been singles?!) This book was meant to be a mix of fact and opinion, not a mix of hypotheses and guesses.

After publishing the book and figuring that was a good experience all around, I started talking with Pieter and Erin Cargill, webmasters of Queen Archives (
www.queenarchives.com
) and all around wonderful people, and we lamented the lack of an all-encompassing
Queen website, with lyrics, quotes, song information, discographies, concertography, sessionography, and so forth. That site became Queenpedia (
www.queenpedia.com
), which is still going strong to this day.

And yet, there’s something about the written, printed word that people love. You could try to curl up with a laptop and read a book, but it’s just not the same. Oh sure, e-Books are all well and good, but you don’t get the feel or the smell of a printed book; you can write in the margins of the book, correcting the author and adding your own notes and thoughts; you can pass it back and forth between friends, whereas with an electronic device, it would be like lending out $200 and hoping nothing goes wrong – if it’s dropped even once, well, forget about it.

So. With this edition, I asked permission to go through the manuscript and correct any errors that I had noted in the margins of my own copy, while consulting a “brain trust” of fans with whom I developed a reputation since the first edition was published. In the absence of any official word from the band, who remains tight-lipped on what’s in the archives, this “brain trust” was the next best thing – better, in fact, because they were able to add discussions to the mix. Queen fans are loyal and intelligent, and in the virtual presence of these top collectors, I felt like I had finally become one of them. Concerned with the possibility of being viewed as a turncoat – I was invited to this Mensa of Queen fans, and then suddenly am publishing a second edition with all the information I collected – I asked them what I should do: do I include all of the information we’ve been discussing, or do I include only what’s “common knowledge”?

Their collective response couldn’t have been more overwhelmingly positive, with the consensus being, “You
must
get the most accurate information out there!” While Queen Productions continues to sanction publication after publication of their history, the contents of their studio archives remains a scarcity. Imagine, if you will, a book much like Mark Lewisohn’s
The Beatles Recording Sessions
or
The Beatles Chronicle
. Fans don’t have access to that information, and yet they thirst for it constantly, much like they thirst for
Greatest Video Hits 3
or the fabled anthologies, first announced back in the late 1990s and still being pushed back.

Queen: Complete Works
was my attempt at something similar, a printed collection of everything that’s known, and everything that isn’t common knowledge. At the time, it was complete, but the problem with having a book printed is that it’s almost immediately obsolete. In the intervening four years, so much new information has come to light (for instance, the ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ retake wasn’t actually from the 1972 debut album sessions, but from July 1975; not to mention
The Cosmos Rocks
and Queen’s fortieth anniversary) that tackling the edits to this book became a massive undertaking. Happily, after spending four years perusing other interests, my interest in Queen rekindled with the announcement that they were signing with Universal Records and that deluxe remasters of their entire studio discography were on the way.

So what can you find here that’s different from the first edition? Well, with the new information and a lot of rewritten entries, this is practically a new book entirely. If you’re feeling adventurous, you’re more than welcome to hold up the two editions for a side-by-side comparison, but I urge you to instead put on your favourite Queen album and read up on it and the related songs.

Oh, and have a pencil ready – just in case you need to make some notes and send them my way.

This section addresses known live (and occasional studio) performances by the multitude of bands featuring John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor before they came together as Queen, together with a postscript describing the formation of the band and their progress towards towards making the first Queen album.

In some cases, information is scarce: in lieu of set lists, only known songs performed at any given concert are provided. The itineraries, if they can be called such, are sadly incomplete, and it’s unlikely that a full schedule of live performances will ever materialize.

1957–1963: EARLY PERFORMANCES

Roger Meddows-Taylor was involved in a band at the tender age of eight. The Bubblingover Boys, with mutual friends from the Bosvigo Primary School, performed just one concert at a school dance during the summer of 1957; instead of appearing on drums, Roger strummed a ukulele. Unsurprisingly, The Bubblingover Boys folded shortly after the dance, leaving Roger without a band until 1963, when he formed Beat Unlimited with Mike Dudley on guitar and David Dowding on bass. This time, Roger initially switched to guitar, though he would finally take the drummer’s seat once the band changed their name to The Cousin Jacks. (They also went under the name of The Falcons.) Roger’s new band would occasionally play at a local Liberal club, with one of their favourite songs being ‘Wipe Out’, giving Roger a chance to show off his skills. The Cousin Jacks disbanded in 1965, by which time Roger had decided that a career in music was for him.

Meanwhile, in Panchagni, India, Farookh Bulsara was attending St Peter’s Boarding School and had befriended four other young musicians: Derrick Branche (who later appeared in the 1970s sitcom
Only When I Laugh
), Farang Irani, Bruce Murray and Victory Rana. In complete contrast to the persona he would later adopt as Freddie Mercury, Farookh was reserved and was happy to bang away on a piano while Bruce took the role of front man and vocalist. The Hectics, as the band was called, formed in the spring of 1959 and would practise in a spare dormitory at St Peter’s, later becoming the unofficial school band and appearing at school dances and functions. Humble beginnings, yes, but it gave Farookh his first taste of being on stage; little did anyone know, least of all his band members, what was in store just a decade later.

1984

Autumn 1964–Winter 1968

Musicians
: Dave Dilloway (
guitar
), John ‘Jag’ Garnham (
rhythm guitar, vocals
), Brian May (
guitar, vocals
), John Sanger (
piano, vocals
), Tim Staffell (
vocals, harmonica
), Richard Thompson (
drums
)

Repertoire included
: ‘Go Now’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘I’m A Loser’, ‘Help!’, ‘Jack Of Diamonds’, ‘I Wish You Would’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Little Egypt’, ‘Lucille’, ‘Too Much Monkey Business’, ‘I Got My Mojo Working’, ‘Walking The Dog’, ‘Heart Full Of Soul’, ‘Bright Lights, Big City’, ‘Chains’, ‘Little Rendezvous’, ‘I’m A Man’, ‘Bye Bye Bird’, ‘Dancing In The Street’, ‘Eight Days A Week’, ‘I’m Taking Her Home’, ‘My Generation’, ‘Cool Jerk’, ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’, ‘My Girl’, ‘Shake’, ‘(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone’, ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’, ‘Whatcha Gonna Do ‘Bout It?’, ‘Substitute’, ‘How Can It Be’, ‘Dream’, ‘Sha La La La Lee’, ‘So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)’, ‘Stone Free’, ‘She’s Gone’, ‘Knock On Wood’

Known itinerary
:

October 28, 1964: St Mary’s Church Hall, Twickenham

November 4, 1964: Girl’s School, Richmond