Queen Discussion Thread

He started using it when he was learning...WHen he was around the house he didn't want to buy plectrums so he would use anything he could find around the house:









:D The coin was stopped being produced in 1970. I guess he collected a few at first But eventually he started minting his own!! So he'll never run out now!







He doesn't use much else besides the Red Special :D But I do know that he at least sometimes uses a normal pick for some sounds on his acoustic guitar.

Great questions!

The Queen Extravaganza take on a Queen show would be kind of cool. The trick would be finding the right people who A. are good enough to tackle the songs and B. were not quite big enough to take the ego hit of being one of three or four singers...

Another I would love to see a full show (or QE type show) with Queen would be Gary Cherone - a great rocker but he could sing the quiet ones quite well as well...and I could see him being open to it...Possibly more open to it than Tom Chaplin. But your combination would work quite well It would just be personal desire to see Gary as he is my second favorite singer and I saw him a few times with Extreme (2nd best show I ever saw in my life....a PHENOMENAL show) and with Van Halen twice (he got a raw deal with that gig)

Killer Queen

Written 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 VERSION


- 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.

LIVE AT THE RAINBOW - 1974


- Early early version, featuring a very young Freddie and the whole band was very into it.

UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

LIVE AT EARLS COURT - 1977
EARLS COURT 1977 - Q3 Posted

- 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!

QAL - LIVE AT MSG - 2014

- One of the more polarising moments of the tour as Adam lounges on a purple chaise while afterwards spitting water on the audience. Adam fans ate it up, anti-Adams thought it vulgar. BUT the song itself was done well.

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!

NEXT up is Roger's track on the album and one of my favorite Roger tracks! An ode to youthful rebellion and good fun rock and roll...Tenement Funster

Wow thanks for the links talon, will check them out asap

Isn't it Brian that plays the Under Pressure riff in the Rock Montreal version? Sounds like a guitar to me but then I'm still a little bit deaf in one ear ;D

I've always found it strange that no one has covered Killer Queen as far as I've heard. I do think it's one that would more suit Tom than Adam, cause Tom's got Freddie's falsetto down where as Adam would mostly likely go for the less-campy-more-operatic head voice. I think Marc Martel would do a good job too.