Review
by Collectors
music reviews
The BBC sessions for Queen provide the best sounding recordings of
their early years and, for the sessions in 1977 for News Of The World,
one where they experimented with their newer songs in different
arrangements. Besides the inferior official release in 1989 on At
The Beeb (re-released in 1995 as Queen At The BBC),
the best collections are Complete
BBC Sessions 1973-1977 (Digital Queen Archives Q-001AB) and As
It Began: The BBC Archives (Godfather GR 225/226).
Wardour have pressed four of the BBC sessions (the
second, fourth, fifth and sixth) in upgraded sound quality, claiming these
are from the master tapes. The sound quality is slightly more clear
and fatter sounding than before, but the improvemente isn’t significant.
These probably were leaked from the vaults because of the re-releases of
Queen’s catalogue with extra tracks for each album.
Queen’s second visit to the BBC was on July 25th in Langham
Studio, broadcast on Radio 1 on September 24th, 1973. The
first song in this session is “See What A Fool I’ve Been” which
would be released as the b-side to “Seven Seas Of Rhye” in
February 1974, several months after. The studio version is
about a dog, but this version’s lyrics are much different, singing about
a train and the highway. (Live versions would include lyrics from
both versions).
“Liar” is very similar to the take on Queen,
but “Son And Daughter” is expanded greatly past the studio version.
Freddie comes closer to singing the obscenity, singing, “buckle down and
shovel sh…….” Where the studio version ends, this version
continues with a long guitar solo and a new closing verse.
Taylor has some spoken dialogue in the silence before
the final verse, saying: “Steal yourself, this is valid…”
The final track is “Keep Yourself Alive” that is again very
similar to the studio version.
The fourth BBC session occured right about the
time Queen II was released in the spring of 1974. This
session was taped on April 3rd and broadcast on April 15th, 1974.
None of these songs has been released officially. The first song is
“Modern Times Rock And Roll” from the first album. This rendition
is slower, heavier and longer than either the studio version of that
which was taped in the third session. It has a longer
instrumental ending and Freddie even joins in shouting “rock and
roll” at the end with Roger.
“Nevermore” is similar to the studio recording
except for a guitar added at the end and “White Queen” is
essentially the same as the studio track and
Queen’s fifth BBC session, and second one for 1974,
was recorded on October 16th and broadcast on November 4th just days
before the release of their third album Sheer Heart Attack.
These four songs have never been officially released but three songs are
found on He
Made It On His Own (Gypsy Eye GE-144).
The tape Wardour uses is more complete than the others
because it includes the Bob Harris song introductions.
“Now I’m Here” is almost identical to the studio
version. The biggest difference is a shorter fade at the
end. “Stone Cold Crazy” is also almost identical to the
studio version except there is an echo effect on Freddie’s
vocals. “Tenament Funster” has a different vocal
performance than the studio version and has a proper ending.
“Flick Of The Wrist” has a different guitar solo and the final “baby
you’ve been had” is sung acapella.
The sixth session was recorded for John Peel on October
28th, 1977 at Maida Vale Studio, London and broadcast on November
14th, right about the time News Of The World was released.
This has never been issued but can be found on the vinyl Freddie’s
Boys At The Beeb (JOK 4 Bulsara Records 001) and previously on silver
disc on We Will Rock You (On Stage CD 12018). It
starts off with “Spread Your Wings.” The performance is
similar to the studio version except that the tempo speeds up by the
ending in an arrangement not found anywhere else.
“It’s Late” strangely includes the “orgasm”
section of “Get Down, Make Love” in an arrangement never duplicated
anywhere else. “My Melancholy Blues” is similar to the studio
version except that Brian accompanies the melody on guitar.
“We Will Rock You” is unique. The slow
version starts off, and after one verse and the guitar solo there is an
explosion and a female voice reading from Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha:
“…believed in a creator God, Brachma. The Buddha rejected Brahmism and
mocked at its rituals. As for Brachma, the Buddha didn’t deny his
existence, but regarded him as a deluded spirit, who imagined he had
created the universe.” The track then proceeds with the fast
version used to open their shows between 1977 to 1982.
Some copies of this session have audience cheering, but
this lack the noise. The entire session is fascinating because
it appears as if Queen wanted to squeeze as much of News Of The
World into a short radio program in order to promote the new album.
Wardour is a slight improvement in sound quality over
the other silver pressed versions. For historic perspetive, it’s
worth having for the new Sheer Heart Attack session with Harris’
commentary between songs. Otherwise, BBC Sessions 1973-1977 is not
an important release. |
