Talon's Take:
See What A Fool I've Been"Written" by: Brian May
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Brian May - guitars
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums
- Issued as the B-Side to
Seven Seas Of Rhye this also became a bonus track on the 1991 Hollywood and 2011 Island remastering of
Queen II- Proof that while they didn't do it often, they could easily do the bluesy-rock of Led Zeppelin and the like...even if in this version, Freddie's vocals were a bit campy! Ok a LOT campy
- Why did I put "Written" in quotation marks? Because frankly while Brian gets writing credit for it, he readily acknowledged that he had heard an old bluesy tune and this track borrowed a bit musically from it. He tried to track it down to give the proper credit but at this time when there was no internet, and no easy way to find out he was unsuccessful in his searches. Years later it was discovered and Brian ultimately reached out to the musicians in question. They were bluesmen Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and the song in question was "The Way I Feel"
While still VERY different, some of the melody is definitely familiar grounds.
- Originally played by Brian with
Smile and perhaps as early as when he was in pre-Smile band,
1984- The band played this live sporadically during the 70s, often during the encore. It was usually used during the encore.
QUOTES:
- "A good thing just happened to me. Something which will enable me to give something back. (Good for my Karma!! !!!)
Ever since we used to play "See What A Fool I've Been" in the early days of Queen, I knew that I had borrowed the idea for the song from a performance I had seen on TV - of a visiting Blues company, which I remembered included Big Bill Broonzy, and Muddy Waters, Matt Murphy, and others. I only heard the song once, and there were no recorders to hand in those days (at least not where I lived !) What I remembered was just a chord sequence and a couple of lines - I worked it up into a song, actually for "Smile" before Queen, and it was a way for me to pursue an idea of using huge dynamics in a bluesy song to make it cut across heavy... if you know what I mean ...it was one of the ingredients of the Dreams of Queen in the early days .... When it came around to doing the label for the song (we used a very rough take of it for an early B-side) I could only put for the composer credit: "Traditional - arr. May" because I didn't know who had done the song which had inspired me. I always said I would eventually find out who the missing author was and credit him.
Well, it was much harder than I had thought. I looked in all the places I could think of, and many people have tried to find the song since then, but without success. I was beginning to think I dreamed the whole thing. We're talking about 30 years ago or more.
But this week I received a letter from Patrick Lemieux in Toronto, who had been corresponding with Greg Brooks, our archivist, with the news that he had found a track which matched up. It was a long search - the song had not appeared on any regular compilation, and Patrick had only found a clue when searching through lyrics on the Internet. The song was recorded only on one limited edition collection of the songs of Big Bill Broonzy and - SONNY TERRY and BROWNIE McGHEE. Under the title of "That's How I Feel" there it was. I finally received the copy Mr. Lemieux found for me this week .. and it IS the boy!!!! Big thanks to him!
It's a thrill. The song is actually very moving, has a train of thought very impassioned and real, and sounds as fresh as the day it was put down. I got the timing a bit wrong really in my own rendition, but the format is pretty close. Now I can take steps to get in touch and give them the credit and the writing royalties too. I hope they are still around to enjoy them! I will keep yo'all posted!
Cheers
Brian " - Brian May - Brian's Soapbox 2004
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS:
BBC SESSION 2 - 2011 Remix- ESSENTIAL listening.
- Although the original BBC Session 2 remains unreleased, Brian and his team not only released this track, but they remixed it, glossing it up and making it sound phenomenal!
- A far more straight forward vocal, and some alternate lyrics, this is Queen at the Led Zep best.
- The drums and guitars are both far more powerful in this version.
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:
BBC SESSION 2 VERSION (ORIGINAL)- NOT essential listening...IF you listened to the above 2011 version.
- This is the untouched version. It isn't much different in music or vocals than the remixed version, just not quite as clear but it is how it was recorded in 1973.
UNRELEASED AND UNHEARD:
QUEEN SESSION DEMOSMILE DEMO- It is more likely that a demo exists from the
Queen sessions than the
Smile sessions as they only recorded a few things as
Smile but you never know. Brian definitely played it with
SmileLIVE VERSION:
LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH 1975- A vocal that's more like the BBC session. It works quite well live and Brian really showcases his talents!
PERSONAL NOTES:
- I prefer the more straight forward vocal myself. Not that I mind camp vocals in general, but in this song it's a bit of a distraction. In fact though I'm glad to have both versions as the camp vocals give me a chuckle but to me the definitive version is the 2011 remixed BBC session. Just a powerful track in that version.
