Queen: The Complete Works

by Georg Purvis

  The middle portion of the song draws heavily from Led Zeppelin’s 1969 classic ‘Whole Lotta Love’: whereas Robert Plant duelled against Jimmy Page’s theremin on that recording, here Freddie squeals while Brian feeds The Red Special through a harmonizer. “I’ve used [that] really as a noise more than a musical thing,” Brian explained in a 1983 BBC Radio One interview. “It’s controllable because I had a special little pedal made for it, which means I can change the interval at which the harmonizer comes back, and it’s fed back on itself so it makes all swooping noises. It’s just an exercise in using that together with noises from Freddie – a sort of erotic interlude.”

  Industrial band Nine Inch Nails recorded a deconstructed version of the song for their 1989 album Sin, bringing the song to a much wider audience. Much like Nirvana’s acoustic reading of David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, Nine Inch Nails’ rendition has gained accolades and is considered a triumph by Trent Reznor and company. It was this recording that was brought to Queen Productions’ attention, who asked him to remix ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’, and ‘Spread Your Wings’ for their respective reissues, although the third title remains unreleased.

  Queen included the song in the set list between 1977 and 1982, allowing Freddie the opportunity to get lost within a blanket of darkness, dry ice, and flickering lights. Live versions can be found on Live Killers and Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl, though something is definitely lost in translation without the assistance of the stunning visuals.

  GIMME SOME LOVIN’ (Winwood/Winwood/Davis)

  • Live: Wembley

  Queen performed a cover version of the 1965 Spencer Davis Group hit single a few times throughout the Magic tour in 1986, and the version released on Live At Wembley Stadium is a loose interpretation at best. That Freddie sings the wrong words is a further indication of the spontaneity.

  GIMME THE PRIZE (KURGAN’S THEME) (May)

  • Album: AKOM • CD Single: 1/98 [13]

  The 1980s had been a difficult period, musically, for Brian: lost in a fog of funk and pop, the band members of Queen were pulling in different directions, and the guitarist was often on the losing end. He tried his best to keep the rock alive, but his songs were often passed over in favour of the chart-friendly ones, such as ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’. ‘Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)’ channels the guitarist’s frustrations into four minutes of neo-metal, showcasing The Red Special more than it does Freddie. Structurally reminiscent of ‘Brighton Rock’ (which focuses more on instrumental prowess than its lyrical construction), the song is subtitled ‘Kurgan’s Theme’, the villain from the Highlander movie, but the words aren’t reliant to the plot, instead boasting of wartime pigheadedness and braggadocio: “Give me your kings, let me squeeze them in my hands / Your puny princes, your so called leaders of your land / I’ll eat them whole before I’m done / The battle’s fought and the game is won”. The guitar solo is heavily inspired by the Scottish theme of the film, with Brian likening his sound to that of bagpipes.

  Because of John’s and Freddie’s dislike for the track, which Brian revealed shortly after the album’s release, ‘Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)’ wasn’t a contender for inclusion on the Magic tour set list, despite its built-in guitar extravaganza. Due to its similarities with the stronger ‘Princes Of The Universe’, it was overlooked, too, as a single track, but was issued as the B-side to the US ‘A Kind Of Magic’ in June 1986. The track was remixed for the 1998 computer game Queen: The eYe, in which it was presented as a completely instrumental remix without dialogue. This version was issued on the CD single of ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ in January 1998.

  GIRL FROM IPANEMA:

  see EXTRACTS FROM GARDEN LODGE

  GO ON (May)

  • Soundtrack (Brian): Furia

  This coda to the Furia soundtrack features Emily May on vocalizations (as on ‘Apparition’) before the schmaltzy introduction of the orchestra with yet another variation on the main theme.

  GOD (THE DREAM IS OVER) (Lennon)

  During the first leg of Brian’s Back To The Light European and UK tour in 1993, he introduced an updated rendition of John Lennon’s 1970 solo track, ‘God (The Dream Is Over)’. In its original form, the song is a powerful ode to the breakup of The Beatles, but in Brian’s hands, it takes on a more poignant meaning for he changed the words to explain his emotional status at the time, both lambasting and proclaiming all that he believes – and doesn’t believe – in. Tellingly, he concludes with “I don’t believe in being Queen any more / I just believe in me.” Following Freddie’s death, he was attempting to escape the pall of Queen, and for those who still believed a reunion could happen, those dreams were categorically dashed by this song. At the time, he meant every word, though the story was different as the decade wore on.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to acquire copyright permission from Yoko Ono, who objected to the altered lyrics, and the song remained unreleased, though it was originally intended to be on Live At The Brixton Academy, just before ‘Hammer To Fall’.

  GOD IS HEAVY (Mercury)

  • Compilation (Freddie): Solo Collection

  This curious composition was recorded in January 1984 during the Mr Bad Guy sessions and features minimal piano and drum-machine accompaniment as Freddie, apparently suffering from a bad cold, sings the equally slight lyric.

  GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (trad. arr. May)

  • Album: Opera • Live: Killers, Magic, Wembley, On Fire, Montreal • Live (Q+PR): Return, Ukraine

  During the band’s 1974 tour in support of Queen II, audiences would sing the national anthem while waiting for the band to take the stage. Brian was summarily inspired by this outpouring of support (or pre-showtime impatience) to record his own unique version, and, with the autumn 1974 Sheer Heart Attack tour looming, he booked time at Trident Studios on 27 October, laying down a ham-fisted piano demo, rife with bum notes and missed chords. Using this as a guide, he overdubbed layers upon layers of guitar before drafting Roger to add snare drum, orchestral cymbals and timpani. This then became the pre-recorded closing number to every show between October 1974 and August 1986, except for a few occasions in Dublin where it wasn’t considered appropriate. Perhaps the most instantly recognizable Queen-related image – apart from Freddie strolling out on stage during the Magic tour in full glory, sporting a regal red crown and cape – was Brian’s performance of the track in June 2002 at Party At The Palace, which kicked off the events with the guitarist playing the anthem on the roof of Buckingham Palace.

  ‘God Save The Queen’ was first issued as the double B-side of the July 1975 ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ re-release, appearing only in North America, and with the drum introduction at full volume. When it was released four months later as the closing track on A Night At The Opera, the drums were reduced to a fade-in, but the recording is otherwise identical.

  GOIN’ BACK (Goffin/King)

  • B-side (Larry Lurex): 6/73 • Compilation (Freddie): Solo Collection

  ‘I Can Hear Music’ was the more commercial track recorded during the summer 1972 sessions at Trident Studios, but ‘Goin’ Back’ was the undisputed highlight, and its delegation as the B-side to ‘I Can Hear Music’ is a shame. Freddie turns in one of his finest vocal performances ever, and nowhere on Queen does he ever sound this young; the debut album had a dearth of ballads, and even the slower numbers like ‘Doing All Right’ and ‘The Night Comes Down’ were decidedly upbeat. ‘Goin’ Back’ is a true ballad, and Freddie is the star of the show here. Indeed, he’s the only star since Brian and Roger don’t feature anywhere on this track; all the instrumentation is performed by unknown session musicians. A snippet of the song was later poignantly included in the outro of ‘Mother Love’, which turned out to be Freddie’s final vocal performance, perfectly juxtaposed with this, one of the first songs he ever recorded.

  THE GOLDEN BOY (Mercury/M
oran/Rice)

  • Album (Freddie): Barcelona • A-side (Freddie): 10/88 [83] • B-side (Freddie): 10/92 • Compilation (Freddie): Solo Collection

  Inarguably not only one of the best tracks from Barcelona but also one of the best songs Freddie ever wrote, ‘The Golden Boy’ is an epic typical of Freddie’s ambitious operatic style. Much like ‘The Fallen Priest’, which tells a similar dramatic Greek tragedy of love and temptation, ‘The Golden Boy’ is a classic story, again penned by Sir Tim Rice: outspoken and creative boy (yang) falls for quiet and reserved girl (yin), their passions intertwining until his ego inflates beyond redemption (“He started to believe that he was all they said and more”), and she, fuelled by the beauty of his art, falls heavily for him, only to be rejected outright by his rise to prominence. Ending in heartbreak, the poignant coda finds the inconsolable girl pining for her “hardened heart of yesterday”, ruefully noting that “by changing for the better she had changed things for the worse”.

  Chosen as the second single from the album, ‘The Golden Boy’, backed with ‘The Fallen Priest’, was too much for the singles market and stalled at No. 83 in the UK. It was later released as the B-side of the October 1992 reissue of ‘How Can I Go On’. The single edit reduced the running time by a minute, while a promotional edit cut the track down even further, to three and a half minutes but these unique version weren’t included on The Solo Collection. A video was extracted from the La Nit performance on 8 October 1988 and was subsequently included on the 1989 Barcelona video EP as well as on The Freddie Mercury Video Collection in 2000.

  An instrumental version was created for released on the 12” vinyl and CD single release; while it’s not purely instrumental, containing the entirety of the gospel vocals (provided by Madeline Bell, Debbie Bishop, Lance Ellington, Miriam Stockley, Peter Straker, Mark Williamson and Carol Woods), it does give a stunning insight into the construction of the track. Three alternate versions were also included on The Solo Collection: two early versions – the first recorded on 2 May 1987 and featuring the introduction that was already programmed and prepared for the song, along with Freddie singing the lyrics in his normal stage voice; the second, recorded on 9 November 1987, is another attempt at a demo vocal, and features only Freddie, but this time providing a completely different vocal delivery, as well as some superb falsetto; the third an a capella version, recorded on 1 December 1987, which suggests that the final vocal was recorded on this day. To get a clear understanding of Freddie’s amazing vocal control, the a capella version is essential listening.

  GOOD COMPANY (May)

  • Album: Opera

  Nestled between ‘Love Of My Life’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the second side of A Night At The Opera, ‘Good Company’ is Brian’s chance to indulge in music hall entertainment, sounding like a pastiche of The Kinks’ more vaudevillian songs. Much like Ray Davies’ character vignettes, Brian tells a tale of falling in love with Sally J, “the girl from Number 4”, and as they grew up and their love intensifies, friends disappear into their own domestic bliss. Trying to juggle a marriage with work becomes a chore, and as his “reputation grew” as a tradesman, he “hardly noticed Sally as we parted company”. This would become a recurring theme among Brian’s self-sung songs on the next few Queen albums, with his discomfort of fame and fortune impeding on his familial priorities; compare ‘Good Company’ with ‘Long Away’, ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’ and ‘Leaving Home Ain’t Easy’, and it’s clear that Brian was most resistant to a life in the limelight glare. “I know I’m a very lucky person,” Brian told the Mail On Sunday in 1999. “I’ve had the chance to fulfill so many dreams, and Queen was a wonderful vehicle. But I think it truly messed me up and I’m conscious that I have never really recovered. It’s like you never grow up. We’ve all suffered. Freddie, obviously, went completely AWOL. He wasn’t a bad person but he was out of control for a while. But in a way, all of us were out of control. Perhaps I shouldn’t be speaking for Roger and John, but I think underneath it they’d agree with me – it screwed us up.”

  The skeleton of the song consists of a rock-steady rhythm section from John and Roger, with the primary stringed instrument here a charmingly strummed ukulele. The real star of the show is the guitar jazz band orchestra, which was performed exclusively by Brian. “It’s all guitar, all those instruments,” Brian explained in a 1983 BBC Radio One interview. “That was a little fetish of mine. I used to listen to traditional jazz quite a lot, in particular, the twenties revival stuff which wasn’t actually traditional jazz but more arranged stuff like The Temperance Seven, who were recreating something which was popular in the twenties, sort of dance tunes, really. I was very impressed by the way those arrangements were done, you know, the nice smooth sound and those lovely changes between chords, because they were much more rich in chords than most modern songs are. So many chord changes in a short time, lots of intermingling parts.

  “So I wanted to do one of those things and the song just happened to come out while I was plunking away at the ukulele and the song itself was no trouble to write at all. But actually doing the arrangements for the wind section, as it was supposed to be; there’s a guitar trumpet and a guitar clarinet and a guitar trombone and a sort of extra thing, I don’t really know what it was supposed to be, on the top. I spent a lot of time doing those and to get the effect of the instruments I was doing one note at a time, with a pedal and building them up. So you can imagine how long it took. We experimented with the mikes and various little tiny amplifiers to get just the right sound. So I actually made a study of the kind of thing that those instruments could play so it would sound like those and get the authentic flavour. It was a bit of fun but it was a serious, serious bit of work in that a lot of time went into it.”

  Freddie said of the song in an interview with Kenny Everett in 1975, “[It’s] a George Formby track with saxophones, trombone and clarinet sounds from [Brian’s] guitar. We don’t believe in having any session men, we do everything ourselves, from the high falsetto to the low bassy farts; it’s all us.”

  GOOD TIMES ARE NOW (Taylor)

  • Album (Roger): Fun

  Driven by plodding drums and a funky bass line, Roger’s ‘Good Times Are Now’ is a typical boy-meets-girl song and is lyrically a predecessor to ‘Hijack My Heart’. Atypically, Roger sings to the object of his affection in tender verses instead of oblique asides, finally winning her heart and shooing away the “other pretty face” with the killer line: “Life in the future might never come to pass / You know, good times are now.” Accentuated by short jabs of synthesizer, the backing track is built upon sparse bass and guitar lines, and sits at odds with the weightier, sci-fi-inspired atmosphere of Fun In Space; if it had been submitted for Queen, it probably would have been given a perfunctory run-through and either relegated to the cutting-room floor or, if lucky, a position as a non-album B-side.

  GOOD OLD-FASHIONED LOVER BOY (Mercury)

  • Album: Races • EP: First EP • CD Single: 11/88

  • Bonus: Races

  Freddie always had a wicked sense of humour, and insisted on injecting his songs with a tongue-in-cheek line or two. He once noted in an interview, “Our songs are utterly disposable. I don’t want to change the world with our songs. People can discard them like a used tissue,” though Brian wasn’t convinced, telling Mojo in 2008, “That’s just Fred being clever. There was more to this than meets the eye ... The fact that he said his song was disposable dispelled any pretension and stopped him having to talk about it. I knew Fred pretty damn well and I know a lot of what was going on and there’s a lot of depth in his songs. That false modesty shouldn’t mislead anyone. Even the light stuff and the humour had an undercurrent.” Starting with ‘Funny How Love Is’ in 1974, Freddie would begin a series of lighthearted contributions to Queen’s albums, that culminated two years later with ‘Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy’, his last comedic music hall-inspired song for nearly fifteen years.

  The song is an innocent slice of sc
hoolboy romance, as Freddie serenades the object of his affection while offering a night of wining, dining, dancing and debauchery. He’s clearly reveling in his lover boy charm, and, due to his romantic nature, hopes that the glitz and champagne won’t wear off the morning after. “[It’s] one of my vaudeville numbers,” Freddie told Kenny Everett in 1977. “I always do a vaudeville track, though ‘Lover Boy’ is more straightforward than ‘Seaside Rendezvous’, for instance. It’s quite simple, piano and vocals with a catchy beat; the album needs it to sort of ease off.”

  The song was issued as the lead track from the unimaginatively-titled Queen’s First EP in May 1977, though only in the UK; the US received ‘Long Away’ the following month instead, while ‘Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy’ was the Japanese B-side of ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’ in March 1977. The EP was a calculated move to re-release three of Queen’s lesser-known tracks from their heyday (‘Death On Two Legs (Dedicated to......’, ‘Tenement Funster’ and ‘White Queen (As It Began)’ were the others), but the press were cynical, citing the release as a ploy to milk the consumers of every penny, as all four tracks were widely available by the spring of 1977. Housed in a dull package and sold for the price of a two-track single as opposed to a standard EP, the release peaked at a modest No. 17; considering that ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ didn’t even scrape the Top Thirty two months earlier, this placement caused a sigh of relief, yet was enough of a failure to force Queen to rethink their musical strategy for their next major release.

  An official video was never made, though the band popped into the studios for an appearance on Top Of The Pops on 14 June 1977 (broadcast the next day), performing to a specially re-recorded backing track with a more aggressive sound. This version remained unreleased until 2002, when it appeared as a bonus video on the Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD release. Until then, a cut-and-paste version, butchered by Torpedo Twins Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, which compiled footage from the June 1977 appearance at Earl’s Court Arena, remained the ‘official’ promotional video. The song was performed live between 1977 and 1978 as part of the medley, but was out when Queen started to focus more on being a live rock band.