5.5.14 Happy Cinco de Mayo, Adam should be Peter Pan, more

Yes, it is a great story the guy in the article I quoted told! I hope he writes about how wonderful the concert was afterwards!

TALON'S TAKE:

If You Can't Beat Them

Written by: John Deacon

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Brian May - guitars, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals




- The title says it all in the case of John. After writing a few power ballads, and other very different numbers, John tries his hand at a rocker.

- Played live through 1979 but then dropped never to appear again.

- In a rare move, Brian plays all the guitar on a John track.

UNRELEASED LIVE PERFORMANCES:

LIVE IN PARIS - 1979

- This was one of the songs inexplicably left off the Live Killers album.

PERSONAL NOTES:
- It's a fun tune. It's not one that I jump too often or one of John's best, but it is a decent rocker by someone who didn't often write rock tracks. It's John's next rock track that is his best though.

CHANCES:

If You Can't Beat Them......1% -- I can't see it to be honest, but it would be an interesting take.

SUPPLEMENTAL:

With animated's post yesterday I thought this was appropriate:

Mother Love

Written by: Freddie Mercury/Brian May

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead vocals, keyboards (?), drum machine
Brian May - guitars, lead vocals (final verse), keyboards
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums


I don't want to sleep with you
I don't need the passion too
I don't want a stormy affair
To make me feel my life is heading somewhere
All I want is the comfort and care
Just to know that my woman gives me sweet -
Mother love ah ha

I've walked too long in this lonely lane
I've had enough of this same old game
I'm a man of the world and they say that I'm strong
But my heart is heavy, and my hope is gone

Out in the city, in the cold world outside
I don't want pity, just a safe place to hide
Mama please, let me back inside

I don't want to make no waves
But you can give me all the love that I crave
I can't take it if you see me cry
I long for peace before I die
All I want is to know that you're there
You're gonna give me all your sweet -
Mother love ah ha (mother love)

My body's aching, but I can't sleep
My dreams are all the company I keep
Got such a feeling as the sun goes down
I'm coming home to my sweet -
Mother love

(Mother love mother love love love love love)
God works in mysterious ways
Eeeeh dop, de dop, dep dop
I think I'm goin' back to the things I learnt so well in my youth


- This is it, the last song that Freddie Mercury recorded vocals on. He sang the first two verses, chorus, and bridge and then at that point told Brian he couldn't do it anymore today and would finish it next session...of course there was no next session :( That is why Brian sings the last verse.

- Rumors are there is a demo version with Roger on vocals. This may have been part of the aborted Brian-less sessions and may be one of the reasons Brian was not pleased. He did make comments that he felt it a really personal song with Freddie and that's why we probably didn't get Roger on vocals. That also shows as the first time since 1986, a Queen song was NOT credited to Queen but specifically to Freddie & Brian.

- The ending of the song features a fast forward medley that reportedly is a bit from every Queen song ever recorded.

- The final line is taken from "Goin' Back" which was the first single Freddie was on (as Larry Lurex)

QUOTES:

“It was never finished.. He never came back to do the final verse, but to the end, even when he couldn’t even stand, without propping himself up, he was just giving it his all. You can hear the incredible strength of his voice in that track, and the passion that he’s putting into it. And we’re making it up as we go along, you know. I’m scribbling words on pieces of paper and he’s grabbing them, and saying ‘Roll the tape. I’ll do this one.’ He knew that it might be the last time he was ever able to sing and, in that case, it was.” – Brian May – 1999

“In the last few weeks of his life, Freddie would say ‘Get me doing stuff. Write me more words, more words, more words. Give me stuff to sing, because when I’ve gone you guys can finish it off.’ Well this song was almost finished. He said, ‘Look, that’s about as much as I can do.’ He’d had a couple of vodkas. He’d gone totally for the middle eight, which you’ll hear on this, which is phenomenal, and then he said, ‘Look. It’s okay. I’ll come back in a few days and finish it off.’ Well that was the last time he was ever there, and so in the end I sang the last verse, because I didn’t want to mess with the format of it at all. I just wanted it to be as it was. And this was something which I sort of carried in my pocket for a couple of years – actually probably more than that – until the time when we were able to make the Made In Heaven album. And it’s a long story. I mean there’s more than two years of my life certainly in trying to assemble that material around the vocals that he’d left, and we all worked very hard on it. But what I wanted was to preserve that moment the best way I could and tell the story, and that’s what you hear. There’s a piece in the middle which to me represents you know, looking back on your life and stuff like that. But there was no morbidity in singing it. It was a kind of joyful thing – that’s all I can say. It’s a fairly serious song but it was – there was great joy in Fred finding these notes, finding this performance. I think it’s superb.” – Brian May – Virgin Radio - 2004

PERSONAL NOTES:
- It's hard to judge this song outside the circumstances. It's a haunting ballad and a fitting swan song of sorts for Freddie who never gave in.

CHANCES:
Mother Love.....0% -- No chance. WAY too emotional and personal of a song to to perform.

I so agree with you. Adam is too "heavy" to be Peter Pan, not by weight but by presence. All wrong and it would be laughable imo. Chris Colfer on the other hand, maybe too obvious a casting!