For many, the names of Mercury and May, printed in brackets after the title of the song, mean more than Page and Plant or Lennon and McCartney. For a number of reasons, we were unable to talk with the first one, but it turned out with Brian May, the main poodle of rock, who, together with the new Queen, is going to Moscow.
Tell me, Brian, how did it happen that a serious guy, an astrophysics student, once got an electric guitar, and then went ahead and turned pampering into a profession?
I started to be interested in music and astronomy at the same time, around the age of eight. They got along well in me, so I can’t say that I left one hobby for the sake of another. West London, where I grew up, was a real musical anthill in the early sixties. Two of the Yardbirds went to my school, and the Rolling Stones played once a week at a club in Richmond, five minutes' walk from my house.
And so one fine day you came up with the fateful idea of making yourself a guitar.
No, buddy, I'm older than you think. I designed the guitar for myself much earlier. I really liked the sound of The Shadows, which Cliff Richard started with, and I wanted to reproduce it on my instrument.
How did you meet Freddie Mercury?
Fred was a friend of Tim Staffel, the guy who sang and played bass in my college band Smile. We had a group of three: Tim, Roger Taylor and myself. They played prog-rock, they could easily stretch five songs for three hours. Tim left us when he was called to another team. After that, Freddie declared: "I will be your singer!" And we answered: “Yes, well?”
You just admitted that it took a while for Mercury to be one of the most tinned mouthfuls of rock music.
And so it was. He was then working in a clothing store in the market in Kensington. When we met, Mercury started to put his pom-poms in my face. Freddie then studied to be a designer and most of the time he painted portraits of Jimi Hendrix. I still have a few pieces lying around somewhere. At that time, Freddie was a rather uncouth guy. It was then that he turned into a refined connoisseur of beauty, and then he rushed around the room like a windup and yelled something all the time. Many considered him crazy, and we often asked ourselves the question: “Does it really suit us?”
Well, when did your doubts dissipate?
Freddie had several qualities that convinced me: his overflowing enthusiasm and amazing faith in himself and all of us. In addition, he worked on his mistakes with pleasure: it was as if a strict teacher was sitting in his head, each time hitting him with a ruler on his hands. So Freddie was very easy to work with.
Is that why you have merged so well into a single whole?
We were lucky. We got along great with each other and never fought on tour. In the studio, everything was the other way around: everyone stood his ground to death. While working on albums, everyone constantly slammed the door and threatened to leave the group. All of us, contrary to popular belief, are very modest and shy people, and Freddie was the most shy of all. Naturally, he fought this by portraying the Lord God on stage!
Do you think Freddie's penchant for theatrical effects was a derivative of his sexual orientation?
Freddie was an extremely colorful character, but for quite some time I had no idea that he was gay. After all, he began to drive men backstage already in the eighties. In the early years, on the road, we constantly shared a hotel room with him, and at that time it was mostly girls who stayed with us at night. Freddie had a lot of them, and many were hopelessly in love with him. At the time, we thought that Freddie was, in modern terms, a metrosexual. Clothes and hairstyles worried him in the first place. Us, however, too, but Freddie in this matter would give odds to anyone.
Aside from your full head of hair, every other part of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle seems to have bypassed you.
No, I bit off my piece of threshold. But back in college, I made the decision to never take drugs because I wanted to make sure everything that was happening to me was really happening. I cherish my spiritual subtlety. I'm a very emotional person. Music once blew my mind and I don't need anything else. To this day, I have not tried a single drug. I am also afraid of aspirin.
How about a drink?
Well, I won’t lie, in my life I drank a couple of cans of beer, which is already there. But I haven't had a drink before performances since 1974. We were playing a concert in an open field on a farm in Pennsylvania. They opened for Mott the Hoople, and the organizers could not decide who to release first - us or Aerosmith. While the trial was pending, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and I decided to have a drink - and ended up having a bottle. When I got on stage, I could not figure out for a long time why the first chord I played lasted ten minutes. In addition, the field stank of manure. I remember thinking at the time, "Brian, this is all wrong, let's not do it again."
After that, success overtook you swiftly and irrevocably.
We slept well for many nights before waking up famous. On the eve of the recording of "A Night at the Opera" the band nearly broke up. We've already made a lot of money, but none of us have ever seen a penny in our eyes. It was a desperate situation. Freddie's piano was rented. Roger was told to save drumsticks. All this mess continued until John Reed, Elton John's manager, bought out our contract and signed us to another label. After that, everything went uphill.
And then Bohemian Rhapsody came in handy...
We were very pleased with the success of Rhapsody, but the main thing was the feeling of ecstasy in which we were working on it. I remember Freddie running into the studio with a bunch of papers (he dragged them from his father from work), which he filled with notes, and then began to pound the keys frantically. Freddie played the piano in much the same way that everyone else plays drums. The song was full of holes, but Freddie said that here there will be a chic operatic piece, and here - a powerful solo ... In his head, he had already thought of everything.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was fiercely hated by punks. How did you feel about the arrival of punk rock?
I didn't have any problems with him. When we were working on News of the World, The Sex Pistols were writing in the studio next door, and I was constantly talking about something in the hallway with Johnny Rotten. He turned out to be a very sane guy, completely dedicated to his music. Once Sid Vicious came to our studio and said to Freddie: “Are you the same guy who brings opera to the masses?” To which Freddie replied: “Yes, but you seem to be Simon Feroshes or something like that!” In short, they hit it off. I sincerely consider Never Mind the Bullocks to be one of the best rock albums of all time. The only thing I disagree with is the statement that there was no good rock music before punk came along. This is nonsense: Never Mind the Bullocks is a classic mainstream rock album. Listen to early The Who and The Rolling Stones. Punk rock was not a revolution, but an evolution.
By the end of the seventies, Queen had established a reputation as party kings. People still remember the party in New Orleans in 1978 to celebrate the release of your Jazz album. You know, transsexual strippers, midgets with trays of coke on their heads and all that.
When we came to New Orleans, there were always a lot of freaks hanging around us, so we decided to arrange a disc launch there. Many memories of that party are, of course, exaggerated, but I will not debunk any myths. In fact, consider that I was not at that party. You see, I am an incurable romantic and that night I drove around New Orleans in search of a girl I fell in love with on one of my visits there. I didn't find the girl. Like this: no sex, no drugs, no rock and roll.
In June 2002, you played "God Save the Queen" on guitar at the Queen's Jubilee on the roof of Buckingham Palace. What were you thinking about at that moment?
It was very scary. Not because I was afraid to fall, but because it was impossible to make mistakes. During rehearsals, we never managed to play everything perfectly. Then, when we were about to go up to the roof, the doors of the old creaky elevator would not open at all. I had to go down and up again - up the stairs. I remember how I walked along the corridors, hung with paintings by old masters, and prayed. Looks like my prayers have been answered. Everything went well on the roof. Now every time I drive by I get goosebumps.
When you think about Freddie Mercury now, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Where to start ... I miss his sense of humor, the mad fire in his eyes, his incorrigible depravity. But above all, I miss the very fact of his presence in this world. I often have the same dream, which leaves me completely convinced that Freddie is still alive. Then I remember that this is not so, and then I get really lonely.
Queen and Paul Rogers - at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex (Moscow) on September 15 and 16.
241 chord selection
Biography
Queen ("Queen") British rock band that achieved the widest popularity in the 70s and 80s. XX century and numbering hundreds of millions of fans to this day. Queen's most famous songs include such classic rock hits as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", "A Kind Of Magic", "The Show Must Go On" and others. . The video clips shot by the musicians of Queen also gained wide popularity. In addition, "Queen" gained fame as one of the greatest live bands in the history of rock.Composition of the group
* Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) vocals, piano, guitar on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".
* Brian May (1947) guitars, harp, orchestral instruments, vocals.
* John Deacon (John Deacon, 1951) bass guitar, guitar, piano.
* Roger Taylor (Roger Taylor, 1949) drums, percussion, vocals.
Origin
The history of the group begins in 1968 in the UK, when students Brian May and Tim Staffel formed the group "Smile". Brian put up a notice on the walls of his Imperial College. It said that the band needed a drummer to play in the style of Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker (drummers for Jimi Hendrix and Cream, respectively). Dentist student Roger Taylor responded. He then seemed to May and Staffel the best option, impressing them with the accuracy of the drum tuning. The main achievement of "Smile" was the opening act for "Pink Floyd". However, due to intense study and the lack of any kind of management, in the spring of 1970 the trio broke up: Tim Staffel left the group.
But May and Taylor were not going to give up their musical career and shared their creative ambitions with Staffel's friend and classmate Freddy (Farukh) Bulsara. He often attended performances of "Smile", but May and Staffel did not even suspect that he could sing at all. Freddie had very clear plans for the performance and stage work of the band. He also came up with the name "Queen" for the new group, and took the pseudonym Freddie Mercury for himself. Now the group consisted of a vocalist-keyboardist, guitarist and drummer.
Roger Taylor's old acquaintance from the Cornish band "The Reaction" Mike Growse was originally invited to play bass, and he performed at the band's first two shows (June 27 at Truro City Hall, Truro) and July 12 at Imperial College). He was subsequently replaced by the highly gifted bassist Barry Mitchell. But, tired of the music business, he left the band in early 1971. The band's next bassist, Doug Bogie, lasted only two performances. But in February 1971, at a London discotheque, Brian May and Roger Taylor met John Deacon, an experienced bass player of those years, who had come to study in London from his hometown of Leicester. After passing the audition, John took the position of the band's bassist and became the fourth permanent link in the line-up, which lasted almost 21 years.
History of creativity
From 1971 to 1979, the influence of other groups can be traced. Every year it becomes less and less noticeable, but in the seventies it is still present. Freddie himself noted more than once that their group "grew up" on Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.
1973 Queen's first album of the same name (1973) includes the song "Doing All Right" by the Smile trio. The basis of the disc was the song "Keep Yourself Alive" the first single of "Queen". The album was not very successful, but this did not become a reason for frustration. This album was recorded over two years, in those moments when the recording studio was free. The problem with the Queen album was exacerbated by Brian's illness - he had hepatitis. Still, this record should not be called a failure it did not take off in parades, but it was not rejected either. "Queen" gives the first independent concerts in the UK, Germany and Luxembourg. Prior to that, they participated in the tour of other bands as an opening act.
1974 "Queen II" was a breakthrough and reached number 5 in the UK charts, despite negative reviews from critics. The album was accused of being incomplete and lacking in independence, but, surprisingly, it is for this that Brian May considers it the best album of the group. "Sheer Heart Attack" peaked at number two in the UK. The best songs of the album ("Killer Queen", "Flick Of The Wrist") are among the best songs of the group, and "Stone Cold Crazy" is considered a heavy metal classic (later entered the repertoire of "Metallica"). The band participates in the Australian Sunbury Music Festival and gives the first concerts in Sweden and Finland.
Error. Queen released two albums in 1974, the stylistically coherent Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack. The text of the paragraph describes exactly Sheer Heart Attack. Also, unfortunately, there is no mention of Queen's triumphant concert tour in Japan.
1975 "A Night At The Opera" is called Queen's greatest work. Many consider it one of the best albums in the history of rock music in general. This record turned out to be quite special bright, melodic, with a noticeable participation of the piano, it opened up a completely different face of rock music. Today, she personifies the style of the seventies. Some of the songs were written for keyboards, however, "Love Of My Life" was never performed in the album version again, and was played live with Brian's accompaniment on a 12-string semi-acoustic. The live version turned out to be better than the album version, but this roughness was still irrelevant at that moment.
And the most famous song of this album is "Bohemian Rhapsody". It would seem that this long five-minute composition, incomprehensibly combining the features of rock and pop music, opera and individual folklore motifs, could not become popular at all, and even more so should not have soared to the first lines of the charts. A three-minute song was considered standard in those years, but Queen were not afraid to create this five-minute masterpiece, which in a quarter of a century in Britain will be called the song of the millennium. In addition to this, it is worth noting that the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" is considered the world's first video. Videos for music have been shot before, but this case is the first example of a conscious combination of a specially created image, effects and music. The video uses now seemingly primitive optical special effects: shooting through a hexagonal prism and duplicating the faces of the musicians. But it is worth recognizing that even today not all clips are created with such taste. For the same album, “Youre My Best Friend” and “Love Of My Life” were filmed, the latter, by the way, in the same live version with a guitar. In support of the album, Queen gives concerts in the USA, Canada, Japan and, of course, at home.
1976 "A Day at the Races" again caused an uproar from critics. Queen has been accused of a fruitless attempt at repeating A Night At The Opera, and the influence of the previous album is really noticeable. Brian May said that all the songs were prepared at the same time, just one came out in 1975 and the other in 1976. In any case, there is nothing surprising in the similarity of the two albums of the same group, especially since "A Day At The Races" took 1st place in the British charts, and "Somebody To Love" became Mercury's favorite song. "Tie Your Mother Down" has since been played at most concerts. In addition, music videos were made for "Somebody To Love" and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy". These are all the same "seventies" in the work of the group, which will dramatically change course in a year. In addition, the group gives a grandiose free concert in Hyde Park, gathering about 170 thousand people, arranges a tour of Scotland, the USA, Japan and even Australia.
1977 "News of the World" is probably the same record in which Queen begins to see the eighties. This is no longer "A Day At The Races", the new music is generally more aggressive, closer to hard rock. Still, some inconsistencies could not be avoided - the third song of the album clearly places in "Sheer Heart Attack", and "Sleeping On The Side Walk" cannot be attributed to the group's masterpieces. This disc brought the group two super hits "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions", but was otherwise not as successful, reaching number four in the UK and number three in the US. The band returns with shows in Sweden, touring North America and Europe.
1978 "Jazz" the band's most controversial album. He was accused of some "pop", but the main reason for the flurry of criticism was the video for the song "Bicycle Race", which was banned in the States as pornographic. The group was declared soulless and lost some of its audience. The composition "Fat Bottomed Girls" also partly contributed to this.
"Mustafa", which was number one on the record, also turned out to be misunderstood. In fact, the lyrics of the song itself are written in Arabic and go almost like back-vocal. There are conflicting opinions about this work: some consider it a pop dance soundtrack, others find a secret deep meaning in it. It is difficult to find a middle ground, since it is obvious that both of them go too far. "Let Me Entertain You" is closer to heavy metal, but fits perfectly with this album. "Dreamers Ball" looks out of place, although it is very beautiful in itself. The disc's percussive track "Dont Stop Me Now" is one of the best Queen songs written by Freddie Mercury. This is a charge of energy, which will then fall into the Greatest Hits collection. Music videos were made for "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Bicycle Race" and "Dont Stop Me Now". The stylish cover of the album was inspired by a painting on the Berlin Wall, which the musicians saw during their tour of the city. Despite criticism, "Jazz" climbed to number two in the UK and number six in the US.
1979 saw the release of "Live Killers" live compilation "Queen", which included live versions of the band's most famous songs. The new album is not released, the musicians devote themselves to concerts. Meanwhile, Freddie takes the stage for the first time with a guitar to perform "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which will soon be featured on "The Game" and has been released as a single for now. But in a year everyone will see a completely different Queen, a group that will become the personification of rock music of the 80s and one of the most popular bands in the world to this day.
Since 1980, a new period in the work of "Queen" begins. Over the next 6 years, the band will develop their own style, completely different from what the musicians have demonstrated in the previous decade. The group gradually moved away from glam rock, and Mercury parted with his former stage image: he cut his hair, grew a mustache, stopped performing in tights and acquired the appearance by which he is known to most people.
1980 the album "The Game" was released. He opened a new era not only in the work of the group, but in all rock music. Freddie considered it the band's best album. Finally, the group abandoned all their prejudices and recorded an album using a synthesizer. Prior to this, synthesizers were fundamentally rejected as an instrument that did not fit with the style and sound of the group, which was easily replaced by Brian's "Red Special" guitar with its unique polyphonic sound. The compositions from this disc have always sounded at every concert, and some of them are among the best created by Queen.
"Play The Game", the disc's title track, was accompanied by a somewhat unusual clip. In the background, a fire burns in it, from which musicians emerge - one of the first applications of graphics. The live version of "Play The Game" was played by Mercury on the piano. Deacon's song "Another One Bites the Dust" was especially successful. This thing belongs to the unusual style for Queen. You can call it disco funk. "Another One Bites The Dust" is definitely one of the band's most successful songs, memorable for its incredible bass lines and distinctive vocals. Freddie himself was very fond of this song, and the whole album was developed taking into account its character. The idea justified itself "The Game" was built thematically, and was not just a collection of songs. At the same time, the group recorded music for the fantastic film "Flash Gordon". It was well received in the UK but flopped at the US box office. It should be noted that in "Flash Gordon" the band uses the synthesizer as a dominant instrument for the first time and does it very professionally.
1981 Greatest Hits compilation is released. Together with David Bowie, the song "Under Pressure" is being recorded, which is still being released as a single, but is already a huge success, reaching the first position both in England and in several other countries.
1982 was marked by a grandiose concert tour: "Queen" gave about 70 concerts in the UK, Western Europe, USA, Canada and Japan). The new album "Hot Space" was released, the main hit of which was the same "Under Pressure". British television is filming the concert, which will appear in 2004 under the title Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl.
1983 The group briefly stops working, all musicians work on solo projects.
1984 The Works album reached number two in the UK charts. The song "Radio Ga Ga" topped the charts in 19 (!) countries around the world. At the same time, the video clip for the song "I Want To Break Free" was criticized for the scenes with dressing in women's clothes, which, however, did not prevent the song itself from becoming the official anthem of the African National Congress. The band performs at the Golden Rose Festival in Montreux and can be seen on the Greatest Video Hits II DVD.
1985 Queen participates in the Rock in Rio festival. Later this performance will appear on DVD, as well as the concert played on May, 11th in Tokyo. On July 14, 1985, the group triumphantly performed at a large-scale charity concert "Live Aid". After 20 years, this performance is recognized as the best sung by performers "live". After this concert, Brian May said that it was then that he felt real pride in his work. Queen is the best band in the world today!” said the guitarist.
1986 Queen wrote the soundtrack for the fantasy film Highlander and used it as the basis for their new album A Kind Of Magic. The album was a huge success, Queen became one of the most popular rock bands in the world. The musicians organized "Magic Tour" a series of concerts throughout Europe. Three of the biggest concerts in London, Knebworth and Budapest brought together 400,000 people, and the concert in Budapest was the first performance of a Western rock band in the history of Eastern Europe in general, and Hungary in particular. The tour itself attracted about a million people across Europe. Nothing like this has been known to any rock band or rock singer since the Beatlemania of the 60s. The "Magic Tour" will be the group's last concert tour. Since that year, rumors about Freddie's illness began. Freddie denied this, citing his healthy appearance.
1989 this year would be more correct to refer to the nineties in the work of "Queen". The album "The Miracle" is very different from all previous works. Freddie's voice changed a little, he shaved off his mustache and began to dress more strictly. The album comes with five singles. The release of the clips fuels rumors about Mercury's illness, which are now actively refuted by both the band's musicians and Freddie himself. The strange cover of "The Miracle" also became a cause for controversy, but most likely because of the singer's possible illness. The title track of the album was the five-minute composition "The Miracle", but nothing makes you think about the future of "Queen" like "Scandal".
In fact, the nineties for Queen began back in 1989 with the album The Miracle. Even an ignorant person can distinguish Freddie's voice on the last two albums. Perhaps this was due to the direct influence of the disease, but it is known for certain that in early 1990 Mercury quit smoking due to developing lung disease.
1990 no information about the group appears, all its members report that "everything is fine", however, such a sharp change in lifestyle and image caused natural surprise and alarm among fans. "Queen" won the Brit Awards, and this release would prove to be Freddie's last public appearance. He did not make a speech, saying simply: "Thank you, goodnight."
1991 The last year of the actual existence of "Queen". Shortly before Mercury's death, the album "Innuendo" ("Indirect hint") was released. It is considered by many to be one of Queen's most outstanding works. The album opens with a song called "Innuendo". In its composition, it resembles "Bohemian Rhapsody" all the same six minutes instead of the standard three, a combination of different musical styles.
For the second song "Im Going Slightly Mad" a gloomy black-and-white video was shot, full of not indirect, but quite transparent allusions to Freddie's impending death. However, the most famous song of the album, without a doubt, is the last "The Show Must Go On", in which the lyrical hero questions the meaning of existence and expresses the hope of gaining physical and mental freedom after death. Her refrain says:
Show must go on.
My heart is breaking inside
Maybe my makeup is peeling off
But my smile remains with you.
"The Show Must Go On" is definitely one of the best Queen songs. But without knowing the history of the group, it is impossible to understand what efforts Freddie cost to record it. Mercury's voice does not betray his illness. It is hard to imagine what it is like to perform such a song, knowing about the imminent death. Written by Brian May, it seems to have been created especially for Freddie.
Before his death, Mercury ordered that all proceeds from the re-release of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" be donated to the Terrence Higgins AIDS Charitable Foundation. He died on November 24, 1991.
1992 April 20 at London's Wembley Stadium hosted a tribute concert to Freddie Mercury, organized by the remaining musicians of the group. On that day, all those whom Freddie considered his friends, with whom he personally worked: Joe Elliot, George Michael, Axl Rose, Elton John, Robert Plant, David Bowie, Seal Samuel, Roger Dartley, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield and Mercury's favorite actress is Liza Minnelli. Spike Edney, who has played numerous concerts with Queen on keyboards, called this concert "Fred Aid", in reference to Queen's phenomenal performance in 1985 at Live Aid. It was a concert in memory of Freddie Mercury, but, in fact, it was a farewell to the Queen group.
1995 Queen's last studio album, Made in Heaven, was released, made up of the band's spring 1991 session recordings at Mountain Studios, two re-arranged Freddie's tracks from his solo album Mr. Bad Guy ("Made In Heaven", "I Was Born To Love You"), one song by Roger Taylor's band "The Cross" ("Heaven For Everyone") and some previously unreleased songs. It is noteworthy that "A Winters Tale" is the last composition written by Mercury, and "Mother Love" was the last recording of Freddie's vocals.
Our days
John Deacon said it best of all about this time: “There is no point in continuing. You can't replace Freddie." After 1995, he stopped his musical career, only appearing on stage once in 1997. However, Brian and Roger continue to perform with other performers.
After the terrible death of Mercury, the Queen soloists at separate concerts and recordings were George Michael, Robbie Williams and the Five group. However, the union of musicians with the representative of the British blues-rock Paul Rodgers turned out to be the most successful. The project is called Queen + Paul Rogers. Return of the Champions". The musicians go on tour, perform traditional Queen songs and gather decent audiences.
In 2006, Brian May announced that a new studio album would be recorded with Paul Rodgers. It also became known that a new tour of the group will be organized in 2008.
Brian Harold May was born July 19, 1947 in the UK (Hampton, Middlesex). His musical education began quite early. When Brian was five years old, his parents enrolled the boy in a music school in the piano class. He hated these activities, as they took place on Saturdays, when ordinary children could play in peace. Brian's father himself was a capable musician and, in addition to the piano, had the ability to play the ukulele. He decided to teach this to his son when he was six years old. Brian really enjoyed learning to play the ukulele, so he wanted to have his own. He received the cherished instrument as a gift from his parents on his seventh birthday. The guitar was, unfortunately, too big and needed to be modified. With the help of his father, Brian managed to fit the instrument to the tedious dimensions. Since the boy loved the electric sound, he also made a pickup consisting of a copper wire wrapped around 3 small magnets.
Over time, Brian's interest in music increased, especially after he listened to the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly records. From time to time, he tried to pick up the chords of their songs, gradually moving to a self-made solo. Gradually, he began to analyze and disassemble the songs, like puzzles that he had to solve. Despite the fact that the boy could not stand the piano, he attended classes until he was 9 years old and until he passed the 4th level of theory and passed the practical exams. At this point, Brian decided to stop piano lessons. From now on, since before he was forced to play, he began to get a bit of pleasure from the instrument.
Brian did not give up the guitar, but felt that his instrument was inadequate for the music he was trying to imitate. Money was scarce during this period, so Brian was unable to afford the new Les Paul or Stratocaster that many of his friends had. However, the mastery of Brian and his father came to the rescue: in 1963, they decided to independently build a guitar for Brian's individual needs. Particular difficulties were caused by the selection and search for parts for the guitar. So the neck, for example, was hand-carved by Brian from an old mahogany mantelpiece. The deck had to be made partly from oak and whatever wood they could find. A box of buttons went into the frets. Problems were caused by homemade pickups that could not give the desired sound. I had to purchase 3 pieces that were manually tuned. The bridge was cut by hand from steel, and the tremolo system consisted of two springs from a motorcycle. Brian and his father created a real masterpiece - a guitar known as the Red Special.
Brian graduated from high school in 1965 and soon began studying astronomy at Imperial College London. At the same time, Brian was actively performing with a group called "1984", whose repertoire included everything from Snake Dancer. The group lasted until 1968. However, soon Brian, along with Tim Staffel, vocalist and bassist of 1984, decided to assemble a new line-up. According to the announcement, Roger Taylor came to them. In the same year, May composes his first melody. Later, Freddie Mercury came to them, and the group was renamed Queen.
Over 30 years of musical career, Brian May has earned a place of honor in the world history of rock. Brian can be called one of the most successful producers and poets of his generation. The list of songs written by Bayan during the course includes such hits as: "Fat Bottomed Girls", "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "I Want It All". For his musical abilities, he is often called a virtuoso. To date, 22 compositions that belong to the pen of Brian May have been in the top 20 of the world charts.
In the summer of 1984, Guild Guitars released a copy of Brian's homemade guitar under the name "BHM1". May was directly involved in the entire production process. Unfortunately, however, in 1985 Guild Guitars and Brian disagreed over the design of the instrument, so production of the BHM1 soon ceased.
In October 1991, Brian becomes the organizer of the rock part of the Seville festival "Guitar Legends". For performances, he selected Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Satriani, Steve Way, Joe Welsh and many others. In April of the same year, an advertising agency in London asked Brian to write a musical score for a Ford advertisement. "Driven By You" proved so popular that it was released as Brian's solo single on November 25th. This composition entered the top 10 of the British charts. In addition, for "Driven By You" Brian received an Ivor Novello award in the category "Best Music for Advertising". In September 1992, Brian's long-awaited album "BACK TO THE LIGHT" was released. And throughout 1993, in support of his album, Brian gave a series of performances throughout the US and Europe, including several concerts that were held by The Brian May Band as support groups for Guns'n'Roses. Soon, Brian again went on tour with his The Brian May Band, and in 1994 a video and audio version of a live album was released, which was recorded during a performance at the Brixton Academy.
In addition, Brian is great at writing musical accompaniments for films. Queen were the first to write the soundtrack for a feature film. It was fantastic "Flash Gordon". In 1986, the music was written for the cult film "Highlander", and in 1996 - the opera for the film "Pinnochio" by Steve Baron. Brian has also entered the theater world: he wrote and performed the music for Red and Gold Theatre's Macbeth at the Riverside Theater in London in 1987. Brian's solo career was marked by the release of two highly successful albums: "Back To The Light" in 1991, which included the Ivor Novello award-winning songs "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Driven By You", and "Another World" in 1998. Over the years, Brian's songs have been a source of inspiration for many bands and artists. Def Leppard, Ted Nugent, George Michael, Five, Elaine Paige, Shirley Bassey and Metallica have recorded their versions of his songs.
One of Brian's latest musical achievements is the soundtrack to the art film "Furia" (France). In addition, Brian is constantly collaborating with young artists. He also wrote the themes for the TV shows "Fun At The Funeral Parlour" and "The Scratch". In recent years, Brian has released 3 compilations under the "The Best Air Guitar Album In The World" series, which include his favorite songs from different bands. In addition, he contributed to the surround sound of two Queen albums, "The Game" and "A Night At The Opera". Very often, Brian and Roger Taylor took part in charity concerts together, which are aimed at solving various global problems of our time.
In November 2002, the University of Hertfordshire awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. As an "amateur professor" he took part in the BBC program Sky at night, hosted by his longtime friend Patrick Moore. In collaboration with the presenters of the program, he published a book: “Big Bang! The Complete History of the Universe. The Russian edition was published in 2007. On April 14, 2008, he was appointed Chancellor of the John Moores University of Liverpool. In 2011, Brian May appeared on the track "You and I", which was included on Lady Gaga's album Born This Way.
|
Amplifiers
Vox AC30/6TB Top Boost Combo / 2x12
guitars
Home-Made "Red Special" Electric Guitar
guitar effects
Dunlop Original CryBaby Wah Pedal
Glen Fryer Treble Booster Brian May Model
Rocktron Midimate Foot Controller
Brian, there are rumors about a new disc of archived Queen recordings...
We thought there was nothing like it. But then a few things surfaced, and even I was surprised that they survived. These are unfinished records. With new technology, we can complete them without Freddie, as we did on the Made in Heaven album. We hope to release before the end of the year.
Will you sing yourself?
What do you miss the most from Queen's time?
Definitely not touring nine months of the year... I still feel like a member of the family that Queen was to all of us. You can't replace it with anything. And, of course, I miss Freddie himself. It's like I lost my brother.
How was the real Freddie Mercury different from how we imagine him?
From the side it might seem that he is frivolous, hovering in the clouds. But he was very collected and specific, always very clearly articulated his thoughts, separating what is important to him and what is not. It sometimes seemed not very polite. If at the wrong moment they approached him and asked “Can I have an autograph?”, Freddie could say: “No, you can’t.” And if he was very busy, he could put it even stronger: "Fuck off, darling." And a lot of people were like, “Wow! Freddie Mercury himself told me "Fuck off"! Great!" I remember we were supposed to play in South America, there were a quarter of a million spectators. And before the concert, the interviewer asked him: “What is it like to perform in front of such a huge audience?” Freddie replied: “I don’t know, we haven’t performed yet”, which made us laugh a lot.
You wrote half of Queen's hits, but for the layman, Queen is Freddie. Isn't it embarrassing?
No. Freddie was the face of the group and it was our common conscious decision. I myself came up with the design of the cover of the first disc, and there, if you remember, we are not there, only he is in the spotlight.
Brian, you're not your typical rock star: astronomer, no drugs, no alcohol, no bullying.
Maybe it's true, I'm not exactly typical. Although we were all atypical in our own way. But no one has ever come up to me and said, “Why didn’t you trash the hotel room? You're a rock star!" Yes, we had fun parties, but the issue of alcoholism and drug addiction was not on our agenda.
Hero Hit List
Hobby: old stereophoto
Drink: Guinness beer
Actor: Clint Eastwood
We are still impressed by your performance with George Michael at the Freddie tribute. Have you ever considered calling him to perform with you?
We are very good friends with George, and he is a great singer, but we are too different both musically and stylistically. So the answer is no. In addition, he has his own career, which he is unlikely to want to quit.
What do you feel when they sing your We Will Rock You in the stadium?
I am very proud ... And I always smile, and maybe even blush a little. At such moments, I feel that music can sink into the human soul much deeper than it is customary to think about the songs that are played on the radio.
So, Brian, what can we expect from your concert with Kerry Ellis? Is it for your fans, Queen fans or just music lovers?
I think this is for those, and for others, and for the third. Our performances with Kerry are not like Queen concerts, although we will be playing a lot of songs from Queen's repertoire. It is something intimate, free and changing from time to time. It's like it's happening at home in the living room: we communicate with the audience, candles are lit, Kerry sings, and I play the guitar and a little keyboard. In this context, old songs acquire new unexpected power. There will be not only acoustics, some electricity too.
It is clear what to expect in Moscow from Brian May. And what does Brian May expect from Moscow?
Since childhood, Red Square has been a symbol of enemy territory for all of us, something very frightening. And now, being on Red Square and feeling the warm attitude of people towards me, I still feel some kind of mystery. And this applies to all of Moscow. Over the years, Moscow is becoming Europeanized, but I would not want it to lose this mystery.
You have settled in well in the new digital world: you blog, you sit on Twitter ...
We have to! Maybe it was easy for me, because, as you know, I am also an astrophysicist, a scientist. I communicate a lot virtually, although during the days of Queen I had little contact with the world, I did not even answer fan letters - I thought that I did not have time for this. And now I'm tweeting and dozens of people are replying to me, and I'm replying to them. I do charity work, animal rights, and without the Internet, I simply would not be able to carry out this activity.
Biography of Brian May / Brian May
Brian Harold May was born on July 19, 1947 in Hampton, a suburb of London. He started playing guitar at the age of seven, and at 15 he rehearsed with amateur bands. Your famous guitar Red Special Brian May designed himself with the help of his father. Oak boards from a 200-year-old fireplace, parts from an old motorcycle and mother-of-pearl buttons went into business. Red Special took part in the recording of most of Queen's songs and faithfully serves her creator to this day.
Musical career of Brian May / Brian May
Brian May Graduated from the Department of Physics and Mathematics, London Imperial College. In 1964, he organized a student group called " 1984 » in honor of the novel George Orwell. In 1968, the group broke up, and together with the vocalist and bassist Tim Staffel Brian May decided to put together a new line-up. Responded to ad Roger Taylor, a dental student at Imperial College. The new group was named Smile. They performed in London's pubs and educational institutions and acquired their own fans.
In 1970 Slime left Tim Staffel and was replaced by Freddie Mercury. The updated group has been renamed queen. It remained unchanged until 1991.
Queen's first album was released in 1973, featuring four songs written by by Brian May. World fame musicians brought the second disc called queenII, and the album released in 1975 ANightAtTheOpera made a splash and to this day is considered one of the best albums of all time.
Brian May has been the author of many of Queen's hits. He wrote the song WeWillRockyou", which has become the anthem of many football clubs and has been repeatedly used in film and television. Brian May also owns the compositions " Fat Bottomed Girls», « 39 », « Tie Your Mother Down», « Who Wants to Live Forever" And " I want it all". He is also the author of the hit " showMustgoOn”, which has become one of the most famous songs in rock music.
Brian May uses a sixpence as a mediator. They went out of circulation in the late 70s, but in 1993, the Royal Mint released a small batch especially for the musician.
After Queen broke up in 1991, Brian May pursued a solo career. His album " BackToTheLeadht was released in 1992 and was a great success. The CD was later released resurrection", and as part of the tour of the album" AnotherWorld» Brian May visited Russia for the first time, giving concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
In the mid 2000s Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor decided to revive queen. As a vocalist they invited Paul Rogers, former lead singer of the bands Free And bad company, and in 2005 went on a world tour. In 2008 a new album was recorded called " The Cosmos Rocks". Simultaneously with the release of the album, a world tour began, in which the musicians visited Kyiv and Moscow. In 2012 Brian May And Roger Taylor again went on tour, this time they were accompanied by an American singer as a vocalist Adam Lambert, reality show finalist american idol.
Brian May is the founder of the Save Me Foundation and has been working to protect animals from cruelty for many years. In particular, the musician opposes the abolition of the law prohibiting the "bloody sport" - hunting with dogs for foxes and other animals.
Personal life of Brian May / Brian May
The musician's first wife was Chrissy Mullens, their marriage lasted from 1976 to 1988. They have three children: Jimmy (1978), Louise (1981) and Emily Root (1987). In the early 90s, Brian May began dating the actress Anita Dobson, at the end of 2000 they legalized their relationship.
Solo discography of Brian May / Brian May
Star Fleet Project (1983).
Back To The Light (1992).
Resurrection (1994, released only in Japan).
Live At The Brixton Academy (1994).
Another World (1998).
Red Special (1998, released only in Japan).
Furia (2000).
