gabby
Member
Action with Vision is making a positive difference.? Joel Barker
Posts: 2,459
Location:
|
Post by gabby on Jul 19, 2012 19:05:07 GMT -5
Thanks, Talon.
My next question will be about Spike Edney. Per his tweet months ago he said he joined Queen in the late '80s and he was the 5th Queen member. This means he was with Queen when Freddie was still alive and performing live, right? IMO, he seems to be a "forgotten" member. Is it because Queen is "exclusive" only for the 4 creative artists who wrote and record/perform their songs? Was he ever in their recorded album or just in live performances? This may not be the case but since I've heard of him, he seemed to be really low key and seemed to be just contented with the role he played and does not get much recognition.....maybe from casual Queen fans. How is he received by the Queen fans? Does he have his own band such that Queen is just a part time gig he does when available? Just curious.
|
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Jul 19, 2012 20:51:39 GMT -5
Ahh Spike Edney. For all intents and purposes he is Queen's fifth member. BUT he is NOT an official member of the band. Spike was a musical director/session musician with a lot of different artists like Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats. Meanwhile after the 1981 South American tour, Queen decided they wanted to have a touring keyboardist so that Freddie wouldn't be as chained to the piano during the show. This way they could have the keyboards while Freddie could prance around and entertain. Queen's first keyboardist was a man by the name of Morgan Fisher. For an unknown reason he was replaced by Fred Mandel on the US tour. Then in 1984 Fred Mandel had a previous commitment so they needed someone else. Enter Spike Edney. So Spike basically became the touring keyboardist although in truth he definitely is more than that. His keyboards did appear a bit on A Kind Of Magic, but no other album. He did tour with Queen on every tour since 1984. He also joined Roger Taylor's sideband The Cross. With them he helped Roger record the first album and wrote and recorded 2 further albums and toured three times. He played at the Freddie tribute and after the Cross disbanded Spike joined Brian May's touring band for both of his solo tours and was on both QPR tours. He is more than just a keyboardist although no one but Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John will be members of Queen. He has been involved with the making of the We Will Rock You musical, and was also involved with helping Roger design, audition, and direct the Queen Extravaganza tribute act. His own band? Kind of. Spike's All Stars are not a full time band per se. From their website: Founded by renowned musician and musical director, Spike Edney, THE SAS BAND is the "Ultimate All-Star Band." Featuring a world class band, the artists and musicians who appear with The SAS Band (a.k.a. Spike's All-Stars) are some of the world's greatest Rock and Pop performers. Since their debut in 1994, The SAS Band have made various television appearances and performed at an array of international high profile public concerts, major corporate events and exclusive private parties around the world. These performances include The Prince's Trust "Party in the Park" and the Mandela 46664 concerts in Cape Town, Hyde Park, London and Radio City Music Hall, NY. Corporate clients feature Microsoft, Harley Davidson, HSBC and McClaren Mercedes, amongst others and Phil Collins, Queen, Rod Stewart, Bob Geldof and The Rolling Stones are a few members of the rockistocracy who have requested Spike to put something memorable together for their wedding, or a special event. Having toured and recorded with some of the greatest names in Rock history for over 35 years, it is from this extensive network of musician and rock star friends, which Spike calls upon to put together each unique show. www.sasband.com/SAS_Band.phpThey do a Christmas gig and Roger and Brian have performed with them in the past (Rog more than Brian to be honest). I think Queen fans like Spike but view him as a step above a hired gun. If Spike wasn't at a Queen performance there wouldn't be an outrage or anything -- surprise maybe. But they do like him and think he does his job well enough. He seems like a very valuable piece able to be a music director as well as a multi-instrumentalist. This is from last Christmas when Roger performed the David Bowie track Heroes with the SAS Band. |
|
gabby
Member
Action with Vision is making a positive difference.? Joel Barker
Posts: 2,459
Location:
|
Post by gabby on Jul 20, 2012 11:40:24 GMT -5
Talon, what can I say? YOU are just a font of information especially about Queen. Thank you again. Read an article (from UltimateGuitar.com - link below) a while back about Brian May: I guess the guy was responding to claims Queen is just doing the performance (QAL) for money :D And if you didn’t already think that Brian May could be bada-s enough (on top of being an astrophysicist), he’s most likely the only electric guitar player that has currency minted with his face on it! You may know that May uses a British six*&@^# coin as a guitar pick because it plays a part in getting his signature tone. However, six*&@^#s were discontinued in 1970. In order to keep using the six*&@^#, the Royal British Mint made May his own custom six*&@^#s with his likeness printed on it. Brian May is money. Then added this which is really AMAZING! And as amazing as Freddie Mercury was, you can’t forget how incredibly talented the other members of Queen were and how integral they all were to developing and executing their unmistakably unique, polished sound.
For instance, it’s no surprise that Brian May offered a distinctive and innovative guitar presence, but he also wrote many Queen songs and loved working in the studio. His interest in layering guitars helped shaped Queen’s massive and rich studio sound, which was really brilliant considering the analog recording technology available to them in their earlier days. Check out this video of May explaining the recording process behind "Keep Good Company", off 1975’s "A Night At The Opera"; he meticulously arranged his guitar parts to sound like a jazz band, mimicking HeWhoCannot amedet and trombone parts purely through his tone, tremolo unit and harmonics. Just incredible.
This article was published (02/24/2012) after the QAL collab (Sonisphere) was announced
|
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Jul 20, 2012 15:54:45 GMT -5
I love that clip  The whole DVD that is off of - The Making Of A Night At The Opera is AWESOME. It goes into such detail and I love the little acoustic singalongs. BTW the other gentleman in that clip is Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme :D My second favorite band! This is from the same DVD with Roger talking about I'm In Love With My Car - the sheer musicality of these gentlmen. It also has a small clip of Rog singing and playing an acoustic version... |
|
gabby
Member
Action with Vision is making a positive difference.? Joel Barker
Posts: 2,459
Location:
|
Post by gabby on Jul 20, 2012 16:45:44 GMT -5
Talon, before I place an order can you please verify if this is the DVD that you are talking about? Thanks. Queen - Classic Albums: The Making of Night at the Opera Synopsis: "Queen: The Making Of A Night At The Opera" tells the track by track story of the album through new interviews with Brian May, Roger Taylor and producer Roy Thomas Baker along with archive interviews with Freddie Mercury and contributions from photographer Mick Rock, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Ian Hunter from Mott The Hoople amongst others. Illustrated by classic live footage, much of it from the Hyde Park free concert in 1976, and in depth studio analysis the film gives an intimate portrait of the making of a true classic album and is a worthy addition to our acclaimed and highly successful Classic Albums series.
|
|
|
|
Post by lambo on Jul 20, 2012 17:17:56 GMT -5
BTW the other gentleman in that clip is Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme :D My second favorite band! Oh Extreme are awesome. Get The Funk Out :wub: One thing I really love about Queen is all the vocal arrangements and multi-tracking. I find it really fascinating. I heard the BoRhap harmony lines isolated a few years back and it all just meshes together SO perfectly! |
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Jul 21, 2012 7:36:03 GMT -5
That would be the one! A great track by track look at their seminal album - in depth. :D Oh Extreme are awesome. Get The Funk Out ![]() One thing I really love about Queen is all the vocal arrangements and multi-tracking. I find it really fascinating. I heard the BoRhap harmony lines isolated a few years back and it all just meshes together SO perfectly! - :wub: Extreme is phenomenal - Gary Cherone is quite a singer himself - I'm sure he screams too much during his rockers for some but he CAN sing like an angel also....LOVE them. And they are big Queen fans too! As far as the vocal arrangements and multi-tracking go, it is quite amazing. Freddie had Bohemian Rhapsody all mapped out in his head! I remember also when Paul commented about making The Cosmos' Rocks album he was amazed how Brian just had the harmonies in his head and after a little work BOOM there was that big Queen sound. |
|
lynne
Member
Posts: 2,277
Location:
|
Post by lynne on Jul 21, 2012 9:31:21 GMT -5
:'(I just found this thread. Thanks, Talon, for sharing so much interesting information!
|
|
gabby
Member
Action with Vision is making a positive difference.? Joel Barker
Posts: 2,459
Location:
|
Post by gabby on Jul 21, 2012 14:42:06 GMT -5
Talon, just found this and really chocked me up...
Who Wants to Live Forever demo version with vocals by Brian May's daughter.
I wonder if she was in Ukraine or one of London shows to watch her Dad. Do you know if any of Brain May's children pursue music career wise?
Uploaded by pablocamoranesi on Jul 4, 2008
BTW I did order that DVD. Thanks.
|
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Jul 21, 2012 15:13:06 GMT -5
You're welcome lynne Gabby - yes, I always thought that was an adorable version - "whoopsie!" Brian's kept his kids fairly out of the spotlight. This demo is all I know of Louisa. Jimmy May, his oldest son has dabbled in music but nothing professionally. He is now a physiotherapist: www.jimmymay.co.uk/Emily May though has definitely been at least the closest to music even though she is actually a biologist. In 2000, Brian recorded the instrumental (and one song) score to a French film called Furia. And Emily appears on one track as an apparition vocal singing the basic theme of the film... and for reference here is the ballad that has Brian singing on it, "Dream Of Thee": They might have been in the Ukraine...but more likely the London shows. Emily and Jimmy did join their dad as backing vocalists on a song in the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001...not a great vid though: AND while we're on the subject - Rufus isn't the only musical Taylor. Although Rufus is definitely the most prolific, touring with We Will Rock You, playing on Brian May and Kerry Ellis' Anthems tour BUT The kid responsible for partially writing Radio Ga Ga  Felix Taylor grew up and recorded a lead vocal for a song with his old man under the monniker Felix and Arty (as in R. T.) |
|
The whole DVD that is off of - The Making Of A Night At The Opera is AWESOME. It goes into such detail and I love the little acoustic singalongs. BTW the other gentleman in that clip is Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme :D My second favorite band!
Felix Taylor grew up and recorded a lead vocal for a song with his old man under the monniker Felix and Arty (as in R. T.)