TALON'S TAKE
Killer QueenWritten by: Freddie Mercury
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, piano, jangle piano, finger snaps
Brian May - guitars, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, triangle, Aeolian chimes, backing vocals
- Queen's first big international hit! Issued as a Double-A side (which meant actually 2 singles at once) with
Flick Of The Wrist. The pairing hit #12 in the US and #2 in the UK. Around the world it hit #23 in Australia, #3 in the Netherlands, and #27 in Japan.
- Inspired the name of the villain in the Queen musical,
We Will Rock You- Brian May has said (though I don't have the exact quote) this is his favorite of all his guitar solos mainly because it fits the song perfectly - something he always strived for - not speed or amazing power or individuality in his guitar track - but how the guitar track/solo fits the song.
-Amazingly the song was never performed in full! It was only performed as part of a medley!
QUOTES
- "Well,
Killer Queen I wrote in one night. I’m not being conceited or anything, but it just fell into place. Certain songs do. Now,
The March Of The Black Queen, that took ages. I had to give it everything, to be self indulgent or whatever. But with
Killer Queen I scribbled down the words in the dark one Saturday night and the next morning I got them all together and I worked all day Sunday and that was it. I’d got it. It gelled. It was great.” – Freddie Mercury – Melody Maker – 1974.
- "People are used to hard rock, energy music from Queen., yet with this single, you almost expect Noel Coward to sing it. It’s one of those bowler hat, black suspender numbers – not that Noel Coward would wear that. It’s about a highclass call girl. I’m trying to say that classy people can be whores as well. That’s what the song is about, though I’d prefer people to put their own interpretation upon it – to read what they like into it.” – Freddie Mercury – NME – 1974
- "We’re very proud of that number. It’s done me a lot of proud. It’s just one of the tracks I wrote for the album, to be honest. It wasn’t written as a single. I just wrote a batch of songs for the
Sheer Heart Attack album and when I finished writing it, and when we recorded it, we found that it was a very, very strong single. It really was. At that time it was very, very unlike Queen. They all said, ‘Awwwwwwwww.’ It was another risk that we took you know. Every risk we’ve taken so far has paid off.” – Freddie Mercury – Record Mirror – 1976.
- "When we put out
Killer Queen everybody thought that it was the most commercial. I was worried that people would put us in a category where they thought we were doing something light. Sheer Heart Attack was, in my mind, quite heavy and dirty, and
Killer Queen was the lightest and cleanest track, and I was worried about putting it out. But when I heard it on the radio I thought, ‘It’s a well-made record and I’m proud of it so it doesn’t really matter.’ Plus, it was a hit, so fuck it. A hit is a hit is a hit.” - Brian May – Guitar For the Practicing Musician – 1993
- "
Killer Queen was the turning point. It was the song that best summed up our kind of music, and a big hit, and we desperately needed it as a mark of something successful happening for us.” – Brian May
- "The first time I heard Freddie playing that song, I was lying in my room in Rockfield (Studios), feeling very sick. After Queen’s first American tour, I had hepatitis, and then I had very bad stomach problems and I had to be operated on. So I remember just lying there, hearing Freddie play this really great song and feeling sad, because I thought, ‘I can’t even get out of bed to participate in this. Maybe the group will have to go on without me.’ No one could figure out what was wrong with me. But then I did go to the hospital and I got fixed up, thank God. And when I came out again, we were able to finish off ‘Killer Queen.’ They left some space for me and I did the solo. I had strong feelings about one of the harmony bits in the chorus, so we had another go at that too,” – Bran May
- "There’s nothing cluttered about
Killer Queen There’s a fantastic amount going on but nothing ever gets in the way of anything else. I was pleased that the solo went along with that. Everything is crystal clear. And when the three voices of guitars are all doing little tunes of their own, it feels almost accidental that they go together. I was pleased how it came out.” – Brian May
UNRELEASED AND UNHEARD:
ACETATE VERSION- Supposedly an acetate version appears in which the only difference wa additional intro finger snapping.
DEMOS- Supposedly there are some recording sessions of the track which feature vocals and studio chatter
OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE KILLERS VERSION- Audio only and as part of a medley it has an abrupt ending.
ROCK MONTREAL VERSIONMONTREAL 1981 - Q3 Posted- Includes some banter between Freddie and the crowd which leads to John starting the riff to
Under Pressure leading Freddie to tell him to fuck off jokingly!
- Again part of a medley.
UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE AT THE RAINBOW - 1974RAINBOW 1974 - Q3 Posted- Early early version, featuring a very young Freddie and the whole band was very into it.
LIVE AT EARLS COURT - 1977- A bit later on featuring Freddie in one of his worst unitards
I love it. I love the bit with John hitting the triangle once!
PERSONAL NOTES:
- This was the first real hit and can still be heard occasionally on classic rock radio today. It was the song to me that suddenly said Queen weren't just a hard rock/metal band. They had more depth and the future was limitless really. A great piece of work overall that has never dated.
- The last time it was played (still in medley form - was 1985. So it lasted quite awhile in the set list despite not being played in full). BUT at the same time no other singer has attempted it. Possibly because it is so camp that no one tries. Paul couldn't have done it. I can't imagine anyone at the Freddie Tribute...I thought that Adam was the best chance they had at doing the song...and still think it could work. We'll have to see!
CHANCES:
Killer Queen.....70% -- At one point I would have said that there was very little chance. However putting things together, it's getting to the point that I'd be surprised if the DIDN'T play it.
SUPPLEMENTAL:
Too Much Love WIll Kill YouWritten by: Brian May/Frank Musker/Elizabeth Lamers
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead vocals
Brian May - guitars, piano, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums
David Richards - keyboard programming
- Issued as a single in the UK where it hit #15 and in the US where it hit #118
- Initially demoed as a Queen song during
The Miracle sessions before being abandoned. Resurrected by Brian for his
Back To The Light sessions and then again for the
Made In Heaven sessions.
- Queen fans are torn on their favored version. Some fans prefer Freddie's more powerful vocals while some prefer Brian's more emotional take (given he lived the lyrics).
ALTERNATE VERSIONS:
Video Version- A film by a young British director.
- Adds more atmospheric sounds than anything.
Promo EditPROMO EDIT- For the US mainly, this is a bit of a butchering taking out a few lines of a verse so that it no longer even rhymes.
Vocal Demo- From 1989
The Miracle sessions, this is one of the Freddie takes - slightly different from final version used.
BRIAN MAY SOLO VERSION SAMPLES:
STUDIO VERSION- From Back To The Light in 1992, it is done quite differently to the way Queen did it. Many people prefer THIS version in actuality. Perhaps because it meant so much personally to Brian, that he was able to get it across more.
GUITAR VERSION- GREAT version. Instead of Brian singing, he lets the Red Special do the singing. A very nice version indeed! Quite the alternative.
LIVE VERSIONS:
QUEEN - APRIL 1992 - THE FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE- The track makes it's debut. It's Brian and Spike. It is piano and vocals only. Brian gets quite emotional during the track however.
BRIAN MAY LIVE IN BRIXTON 1993- For his full scale tour, Brian added the guitar and made it more of a traditional power ballad. My favorite Brian version!
QUEEN + LUCIANO PAVAROTTI - 2003- From Pavarotti and Friends in 2003, Queen did a short set. Brian performed it solo at a previous P&Friends set and Pavarotti noted how much he enjoyed the song. So he decided to sing it with Brian this time around. A great version even if Brian's voice is a bit dwarfed by the legend...it would have been interesting to see Freddie sing with the big man!
QUEEN + KATIE MELUA - 2005- At the 46664 gig, Paul Rodgers took a brief respite while young singer/songwriter Katie Melua took lead on the track, the first and last time it was played on the QPR stage and the last time Queen (or Brian) has performed the song!
CHANCES:
Too Much Love Will Kill You......40% -- At any time Brian could whip this one out. He loved this song for a long long time. It's best chance though would be to be one of the "songs of the day" in the acoustic section.
.
I love it. I love the bit with John hitting the triangle once!