| Queen ο In The Beginning (1971) |
Queen — In The Beginning
Location: London, England
Album release: 1971
Record Label: Not On Label (Queen) – MIKO QCD 01
Format: CD, Unofficial Release
Duration: 27:36
Tracks:
01. Keep Yourself Alive 3:38
02. The Night Comes Down 4:19
03. Great King Rat 6:52
04. Jesus 5:01
05. Liar 7:46
Personnel:
◊ John Deacon (bass)
◊ Brian May (guitar)
◊ Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano)
◊ Roger Taylor (drums)
Early members:
◊ Mike Grose – bass (1970)
◊ Barry Mitchell – bass (1970–1971)
◊ Doug Bogie – bass (1971)
Description:
◊ Around September 1971, Brian May met up with an old friend, Terry Yeadon, who was involeld in the setting up of a new recording studio in Wembley called De Lane Lea.
◊ The studio needed musicians to try out the new equipment they had installed - and preferable a band who could played loud ! The deal was that the musicians would record using the equipment, and the potential studio users would be on hand to hear and watch them. In return for their services the band could record their demos for free. It was an opportunity not to be missed and, of course, Queen jumped at it. Not only would they be able to make the all important demo tapes, but they would have amble occasion to meet producers and engineers, people who could be vital to their future.
◊ Spirit of rock: http://www.spirit-of-rock.com
FREDDIE MERCURY
Birth name: Farrokh Bulsara
Born: 5 September 1946, Stone Town, Zanzibar
Origin: London, England, UK
Died: 24 November 1991, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom
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BRIAN MAY
Birth name: Brian Harold May
Born: 19 July 1947, Hampton, London, England, UK
Notable instruments:
Red Special
Fender Telecaster
Website: http://brianmay.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROGER TAYLOR
Birth name: Roger Meddows Taylor
Born: 26 July 1949, Dersingham, Norfolk, England
Instruments: Drums, vocals, guitar, keyboards
Occupations: Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
◊ In 2005 he was voted by UK fans as the 8th greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a poll conducted by Planet Rock Radio. According to The Sunday Times Rich List he was worth £65 million as of 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN DEACON
Birth name: John Richard Deacon
Born: 19 August 1951, Oadby, Leicester, England
Notable instruments:
◊ Fender Precision Bass
◊ Music Man StingRay
◊ Fender Telecaster
Queen website about John Deacon: http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/members/john-deacon/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
History:
◊ Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar, guitars), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, incorporating more diverse and innovative styles in their music.
◊ Before joining Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile with bassist Tim Staffell. Freddie Mercury (then known as Farrokh/Freddie Bulsara) was a fan of Smile, and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques after Staffell's departure in 1970. ◊ Mercury himself joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to "Queen", and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album (1973). Queen enjoyed success in the UK with their debut and its follow-up, Queen II (1974), but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night at the Opera (1975) that gained the band international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks; it charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. Their 1977 album, News of the World, contained two of rock's most recognisable anthems, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions". By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world, and their performance at 1985's Live Aid is regarded as one of the greatest in rock history. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since then, May and Taylor have infrequently performed together, including a collaboration with Paul Rodgers under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers which ended in May 2009.
◊ The band have released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs. Estimates of their album sales generally range from 150 million to 300 million albums, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1990, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
Early days (1968–1974):
◊ In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College, and bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a band. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. The group called themselves Smile.
◊ While attending Ealing Art College, Tim Staffell became friends with Farrokh Bulsara, a fellow student who had assumed the English name of Freddie. Bulsara felt that he and the band had the same tastes and soon became a keen fan of Smile. In late 1970, after Staffell left to join the band Humpy Bong, the remaining Smile members, encouraged by Bulsara, changed their name to "Queen" and continued working together.When asked about the name, Bulsara explained, "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."
◊ The band had a number of bass players during this period who did not fit with the band's chemistry. It was not until February 1971 that they settled on John Deacon and began to rehearse for their first album. They recorded four of their own songs, "Liar", "Keep Yourself Alive", "The Night Comes Down" and "Jesus", for a demo tape; no record companies were interested. It was also around this time Freddie changed his surname to "Mercury", inspired by the line "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me," in the song My Fairy King. On 2 July 1971, Queen played their first show in the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Deacon and Taylor at a Surrey college outside London.
"Many of you will have read bits and pieces on the internet about Queen changing record companies and so I wanted to confirm to you that the band have signed a new contract with Universal Music...we would like to thank the EMI team for all their hard work over the years, the many successes and the fond memories, and of course we look forward to continuing to work with EMI Music Publishing who take care of our songwriting affairs. Next year we start working with our new record company to celebrate Queen's 40th anniversary and we will be announcing full details of the plans over the next 3 months. As Brian has already said Queen's next moves will involve 'studio work, computers and live work"
— Jim Beach, Queen's Manager, on the change of record label.
© Brian May in 2010; David J. Cable/Arcadia Photographic UK
© Roger Taylor @ Queen + Paul Rodgers live in Vienna, Austria; own work
© John Deacon
| Queen ο In The Beginning (1971) |
Queen — In The Beginning
Location: London, England
Album release: 1971
Record Label: Not On Label (Queen) – MIKO QCD 01
Format: CD, Unofficial Release
Duration: 27:36
Tracks:
01. Keep Yourself Alive 3:38
02. The Night Comes Down 4:19
03. Great King Rat 6:52
04. Jesus 5:01
05. Liar 7:46
Personnel:
◊ John Deacon (bass)
◊ Brian May (guitar)
◊ Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano)
◊ Roger Taylor (drums)
Early members:
◊ Mike Grose – bass (1970)
◊ Barry Mitchell – bass (1970–1971)
◊ Doug Bogie – bass (1971)
Description:
◊ Around September 1971, Brian May met up with an old friend, Terry Yeadon, who was involeld in the setting up of a new recording studio in Wembley called De Lane Lea.
◊ The studio needed musicians to try out the new equipment they had installed - and preferable a band who could played loud ! The deal was that the musicians would record using the equipment, and the potential studio users would be on hand to hear and watch them. In return for their services the band could record their demos for free. It was an opportunity not to be missed and, of course, Queen jumped at it. Not only would they be able to make the all important demo tapes, but they would have amble occasion to meet producers and engineers, people who could be vital to their future.
◊ Spirit of rock: http://www.spirit-of-rock.com
FREDDIE MERCURY
Birth name: Farrokh Bulsara
Born: 5 September 1946, Stone Town, Zanzibar
Origin: London, England, UK
Died: 24 November 1991, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIAN MAY
Birth name: Brian Harold May
Born: 19 July 1947, Hampton, London, England, UK
Notable instruments:
Red Special
Fender Telecaster
Website: http://brianmay.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROGER TAYLOR
Birth name: Roger Meddows Taylor
Born: 26 July 1949, Dersingham, Norfolk, England
Instruments: Drums, vocals, guitar, keyboards
Occupations: Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
◊ In 2005 he was voted by UK fans as the 8th greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a poll conducted by Planet Rock Radio. According to The Sunday Times Rich List he was worth £65 million as of 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN DEACON
Birth name: John Richard Deacon
Born: 19 August 1951, Oadby, Leicester, England
Notable instruments:
◊ Fender Precision Bass
◊ Music Man StingRay
◊ Fender Telecaster
Queen website about John Deacon: http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/members/john-deacon/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
History:
◊ Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar, guitars), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, incorporating more diverse and innovative styles in their music.
◊ Before joining Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile with bassist Tim Staffell. Freddie Mercury (then known as Farrokh/Freddie Bulsara) was a fan of Smile, and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques after Staffell's departure in 1970. ◊ Mercury himself joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to "Queen", and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album (1973). Queen enjoyed success in the UK with their debut and its follow-up, Queen II (1974), but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night at the Opera (1975) that gained the band international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks; it charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. Their 1977 album, News of the World, contained two of rock's most recognisable anthems, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions". By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world, and their performance at 1985's Live Aid is regarded as one of the greatest in rock history. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since then, May and Taylor have infrequently performed together, including a collaboration with Paul Rodgers under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers which ended in May 2009.
◊ The band have released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs. Estimates of their album sales generally range from 150 million to 300 million albums, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1990, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
Early days (1968–1974):
◊ In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College, and bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a band. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. The group called themselves Smile.
◊ While attending Ealing Art College, Tim Staffell became friends with Farrokh Bulsara, a fellow student who had assumed the English name of Freddie. Bulsara felt that he and the band had the same tastes and soon became a keen fan of Smile. In late 1970, after Staffell left to join the band Humpy Bong, the remaining Smile members, encouraged by Bulsara, changed their name to "Queen" and continued working together.When asked about the name, Bulsara explained, "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."
◊ The band had a number of bass players during this period who did not fit with the band's chemistry. It was not until February 1971 that they settled on John Deacon and began to rehearse for their first album. They recorded four of their own songs, "Liar", "Keep Yourself Alive", "The Night Comes Down" and "Jesus", for a demo tape; no record companies were interested. It was also around this time Freddie changed his surname to "Mercury", inspired by the line "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me," in the song My Fairy King. On 2 July 1971, Queen played their first show in the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Deacon and Taylor at a Surrey college outside London.
"Many of you will have read bits and pieces on the internet about Queen changing record companies and so I wanted to confirm to you that the band have signed a new contract with Universal Music...we would like to thank the EMI team for all their hard work over the years, the many successes and the fond memories, and of course we look forward to continuing to work with EMI Music Publishing who take care of our songwriting affairs. Next year we start working with our new record company to celebrate Queen's 40th anniversary and we will be announcing full details of the plans over the next 3 months. As Brian has already said Queen's next moves will involve 'studio work, computers and live work"
— Jim Beach, Queen's Manager, on the change of record label.