Queen Discussion Thread

Indeed. Some similarities but not enough to get in a huff over - and yes Brian after 30 years sought the people out to give them proper credit and royalties!



As noted they aren't the same...influenced by sure but not nearly close enough. Although they are similar and I'm sure Adam had it in mind :D



As noted by Prism, yes Vanilla Ice. it wasn't a different rhythm it was one added bass note.



Pretty pathetic. Brian later on noted that his daughter brought it to him and he thought it was crap. He backtracked later because he's too nice and said it was good in it's own right...Queen didn't sue but Hollywood Records did and they nabbed him on the piano part specifically as the bass was in question supposedly (to anyone logical it wouldn't be but I digress).

No worries! I am always happy to see new faces (or returning faces) commenting! Just glad you're enjoying it!

AH! So annoyed. I had this all done and I hit preview...and then I think I xed out thinking I had submitted it! Oh well back to the grind...

Brighton Rock

Written by: Brian May

Musicians:

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





- This is it! The song that Brian May's legendary guitar solo has built to and has been built from ever since! Started in Smile's Blag and built onwards in both concert and in the BBC version of Son And Daughter this is where it culminates. With a vocal intro and outro the meat of the song is Brian's riff-o-rama of delays, layers, and fretwork fireworks! An excellent solo

- Early titles of track included: Brighton Fuck, Happy Little Fuck, Happy Little Day, Blackpool Rock, Bognor Ballad, Southend Sea Scout, Skiffle Rock, and Herne Bay.

-Played live from the get-go! At first Brian would incorporate a live solo in it sometimes extending the track for a long amount, and sometimes it would be done without the long intro. After awhile Brian would just do the solo...and eventually no matter what solo he did it was often called the Brighton Rock Solo. Even the Olympics Closing Ceremony was called Brighton Rock but in truth there is only a few parts that are really reminiscent of the original track here.

QUOTES
- "I’d gotten away from Hendrix quite a bit by that time and I’d like to think that was more sort of developing my style really. Particularly the solo bit in the middle, which I’d been doing on the Mott the Hoople tour and sort of gradually expanded and has got more and more ever since. Although I keep trying to throw it out it keeps creeping back in. That involves the repeat device actually using it in time which I don’t think, had been done before up to that time. It’s a very nice device to work with because you can build up harmonies or cross rhythms and it’s not a multiple repeat like Hendrix used or even The Shadows used, which is fairly indiscriminate, sort of makes a nice noise. But this is a single repeat, which comes back and sometimes I’ll add a second one too. So you can actually plan or else experiment and do a sort of ‘phew’ type effect. So that was at its very beginnings on ‘Brighton Rock’ and it became more developed after that.” – Brian May - 1983 - Radio One

UNRELEASED VERSIONS:

EARLY VERSION (A.K.A. BRIGHTON FUCK)


- NOT essential listening.

- Played at a Queen convention complete with archivist Greg Brooks saying "Property Of Queen Productions" over the top.

- Obviously the lyrics are incomplete as Freddie sings a lot of "la-las". The bass is noticeably different at moments too.

UNRELEASED AND UNHEARD:

QUEEN II DEMO

- Apparently several early versions of the track originate from Queen II sessions. The above demo might or might not be from Queen II

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

LIVE KILLERS VERSION


- AUDIO only

- Features a LONG solo by Brian. Excellent version.

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM - 1986


- Just the solo. Actual video.

UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH 1975


- Full band version with some amazing work by Brian! Often the band would start Brighton Rock go into Brian's solo and then end with a snippet of Son And Daughter That is why the song ends a bit abruptly.

- If you watch you'll see liquid come off of Roger's drums...that's beer. He often poured beer on his drum heads to give him a thicker, more fluid sound (no pun intended!...ok maybe a little intended )

LIVE AT HOUSTON - 1977


- One of the greatest unreleased concerts...hopefully some day! This version is just the band version without the extended solo as Brian did a solo later in the gig.

LIVE AT THE OLYMPICS


- Includes a bit of Day-Oh from Freddie and the We Will Rock You performance with Jesse J

PERSONAL NOTES:

- The world's greatest guitarist doing what he does best. Pure Brian May. If I had one song to showcase what Brian does best, this is one of the top five I would put in the hat to choose from.

Next up, one of Queen's greatest hits, Killer Queen

Sheer Heart Attack

Tracks on the album:

1. Brighton Rock (May)
2. Killer Queen (Mercury)
3. Tenement Funster (Taylor)
4. Flick Of The Wrist (Mercury)
5. Lily Of The Valley (Mercury)
6. Now I'm Here (May)
7. In The Lap Of The Gods (Mercury)
8. Stone Cold Crazy (Mercury/May/Taylor/Deacon)
9. Dear Friends (May)
10. Misfire (Deacon)
11. Bring Back That Leroy Brown (Mercury)
12. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettos) (May)
13. In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited


Talon, I'm sorry to say I am not familiar with any of these tracks :-[ .... until QAL Kiev concert where BM played some parts of Brighton Rock. Even then I was unaware of the what BM was playing until somebody identified it. I just love it and I remember AL tweeting a YT of the Kiev concert starting with BM's guitar solo and I couldn't stop replaying it.

Another thing I noticed with BM's written songs they seem to really fit FM's voice. Not easy songs to cover.

OT... Talon, how did you discover AL?
1. You are an Idol watcher
2. Queen was in the AI-8 finale and AL and Kris Allen just happened to sing with them
3. You've heard of AL after Idol/possible QAL pairing

ETA: As I've told you I've never heard of Queen until I started following AL, kept mentioning it in his AI interview and made me curious when he said the reason he didn't want to cover Queen songs is he didn't want to sound karaoke :D ... so I thought, why would he say that? Then he mentioned FM and how some people compared his voice/range to FM. I googled FM and the rest is history ;D Thank you, Adam!

After Idol, still was not into their music then but more on who comprised the band?
Did buy the DVD: Becoming Queen
Was able to get hold of the Untold Story of FM :D

Now I'm addicted, thanks QAL concerts and you & your classes!