Statistics about Song Lengths - Part II

Longest Shortest Tracks:

1. Delilah
2. Princes of the Universe
3. Put Out the Fire
4. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
6. In Only Seven Days
7. Party
8. Is This the World We Created
9. We Will Rock You
10. Seven Seas of Rhye (Queen I)
11. Procession
12. Dear Friends
13. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon
14. Bridal Chorus

Shortest Longest Tracks:

1. The Hero
2. Fat Bottomed Girls
3. Rock It
4. Back Chat
5. Brighton Rock
6. Who Wants to Live Forever?
7. Was It All Worth It?
8. Radio Ga Ga
9. Teo Torriatte
10. Liar
11. It's Late
12. The March of the Black Queen
13. Innuendo
14. The Prophet's Song

Longest Mean Track Duration:

1. A Kind of Magic
2. Innuendo
3. A Day at the Races
4. The Works
5. Hot Space
6. Queen
7. Queen II
8. A Night at the Opera
9. News of the World
10. The Game
11. The Miracle
12. Jazz
13. Sheer Heart Attack
14. Flash Gordon

Most Varied Durations (i.e., Highest Standard Deviations):

1. A Night at the Opera
2. Queen II
3. Queen
4. Sheer Heart Attack
5. The Works
6. News of the World
7. The Miracle
8. A Day at the Races
9. Flash Gordon
10. Innuendo
11. The Game
12. Jazz
13. A Kind of Magic
14. Hot Space

Statistics about Song Lengths - Part I

Queen:

• Shortest: Seven Seas of Rhye (1.16).
• Longest: Liar (6.25)
• Mean: 3.43
• Mean Track: Jesus (3.44)
• Standard Deviation: 92.99

Queen II:

• Shortest: Procession (1.13).
• Longest: The March of the Black Queen (6.32)
• Mean: 3.42
• Mean Track: The Loser in the End (4.06)
• Standard Deviation: 104.72

Sheer Heart Attack:

• Shortest: Dear Friends (1.08).
• Longest: Brighton Rock (1.44)
• Mean: 3.00
• Mean Track: Killer Queen (3.00)
• Standard Deviation: 69.77

A Night at the Opera:

• Shortest: Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (1.07).
• Longest: The Prophet's Song (8.20)
• Mean: 3.35
• Mean Track: Love of My Life (3.38)
• Standard Deviation: 117.42

A Day at the Races:

• Shortest: Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (2.53).
• Longest: Teo Torriatte (5.55)
• Mean: 4.26
• Mean Track: Tie Your Mother Down (4.50)
• Standard Deviation: 57.25

News of the World:

• Shortest: We Will Rock You (2.02).
• Longest: It's Late (6.27)
• Mean: 3.35
• Mean Track: My Melancholy Blues (3.31)
• Standard Deviation: 68.08

Jazz:

• Shortest: In Only Seven Days (2.29).
• Longest: Fat Bottomed Girls (4.17)
• Mean: 3.27
• Mean Track: Don't Stop Me Now (3.29)
• Standard Deviation: 32.44

The Game:

• Shortest: Crazy Little Thing Called Love (2.48).
• Longest: Rock It (4.33)
• Mean: 3.34
• Mean Track: Another One Bites the Dust (3.34)
• Standard Deviation: 36.59

Flash Gordon:

• Shortest: Bridal Chorus (0.56).
• Longest: The Hero (3.33)
• Mean: 1.57
• Mean Track: Marriage of Dale and Ming (1.28)
• Standard Deviation: 50.18

Hot Space:

• Shortest: Put Out the Fire (3.20).
• Longest: Back Chat (4.35)
• Mean: 3.58
• Mean Track: Calling All Girls (3.52)
• Standard Deviation: 27.30

The Works:

• Shortest: Is This the World We Created? (2.14).
• Longest: Radio Ga Ga (5.50)
• Mean: 4.10
• Mean Track: It's a Hard Life (4.08)
• Standard Deviation: 69.22

A Kind of Magic:

• Shortest: Princes of the Universe (3.33).
• Longest: Who Wants to Live Forever? (5.16)
• Mean: 4.30
• Mean Track: Gimme the Prize (4.34)
• Standard Deviation: 30.73

The Miracle:

• Shortest: Party (2.24).
• Longest: Was It All Worth It? (5.47)
• Mean: 3.28
• Mean Track: Breakthru' (3.28)
• Standard Deviation: 61.96

Innuendo:

• Shortest: Delilah (3.35).
• Longest: Innuendo (6.33)
• Mean: 4.29
• Mean Track: I Can't Live with You (4.29)
• Standard Deviation: 47.64

Interaction between Freddie and Brian, part 1 (until Hot Space).

There's a really nice thread on the QOL forum at the moment which started off as a comment on the John/Freddie (or 'Jeddie') interaction, which then turned into an analysis on John/Brian (Maycon? Deacrian? Brohn?), so I thought I'd start some posts here depicting the (very little) I've gathered about Queen's inner pairings. I'll start off with Freddie and Brian (Freian? Breddie? Maycury?).

• First met: Late 60's, when Tim introduced Freddie Bulsara to the other Smile members.
• First impression: AFAIK, Freddie was impressed by Brian's guitar playing (who wouldn't?), Brian seems to have been more shocked by his personality, not particularly by his voice at that time.
• First time working together: Probably at an Ibex gig that Brian and Roger guested.
• Songs they wrote together:
• Hangman (1970)
• Is This the World We Created (1984)
• Hang on in There (1988)
• Was It All Worth It (1988)
• Don't Try So Hard (1989)
• The Hitman (1989)
• Innuendo (1989, lyrics by Freddie and Roger)
• Bijou (1989 or 1990)
• Mother Love (1991)
• Interestingly, Freddie met Mary Austin through Brian, and Brian met Anita Dobson through Freddie.
• Last time they saw each other: Shortly before Freddie's death, Brian and Anita went to visit him and he was pleased to see them. Brian tried to make some conversation to ease off the pain but Freddie told him he didn't need to do that, just being there was enough.

In the early days, it seems to me that their interaction was basically a by-product of Freddie's and Roger's close friendship. They obviously became closer when the three of them decided to form a band together, and a lot of work as well as competition ensued.

Queen always promoted themselves as a democracy, and probably they were for some aspects, but it was obvious for many people who witnessed their labour (e.g., Louis Austin, Peter Hince, Reinhold Mack) that Freddie was on the driver's seat quite often. He got away with choosing the name of the band and designed the logo; he also coerced the others into putting on a 'glam' show with all the make-up and the lights and so on.

Brian seems to have identified Freddie's dominance (at least in visual terms) and actually embraced it: it was Brian who designed the first album cover, and what he did was putting a picture of Freddie in 'Jesus' pose. Tony Brainsby, the band's first PR, was far more interested in Brian, and the first few years of the band were more Brian-centred when it came to the media: Queen's earliest press announcements and adverts basically described them as 'the band where the guitarist made his own instrument'. Brian and his homemade instrument were the main focus, and he also got to write both sides of the band's début single.

The very first fan club newsletter included a letter from Brian, as it was Brian who addressed the public more often and that wouldn't change: early concerts feature both Brian and Freddie talking to the audience between songs. Freddie started to gain more popularity as both his voice, his songwriting and his stage persona kept growing... by spring 1974 he'd written the band's then first and only top ten hit and by the end of the year he'd scored the first No 2 (and first with international success).

Media-wise, Queen became Freddie's band by 1975. Papers and magazines started to interview Freddie more often and their new manager, John Reid, gravitated towards him (as Brian pointed out in the recent 2011 documentary), which changed the balanced completely. Freddie would then get the lead single for the band's fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth albums (in one case compromised to a double-A with a song by Brian) and would dominate (creatively, at least) all but three of the band's records from 1973 to 1982, including the 'Greatest Hits' compilation, of which he wrote more than half.

They were both very fond of each other's musicality and often praised each other's songs: Freddie spoke quite highly of The Prophet's Song, Dear Friends, White Man, '39, Sweet Lady and loved what Brian played on his (Freddie's) own Millionaire Waltz, and he also recruited him to play guitar on Eddie Howell's 'Man from Manhattan', which Freddie produced. Brian, by his side, was quite appreciative of songs like Killer Queen, Love of My Life and Bicycle Race. Don't Stop Me Now was, reportedly, one they did have some problems about.

Note how much they compromised when it came to singles and songwriting:

• First single, Brian gets both sides.
• Second single, Freddie writes the A side, Brian writes the B side.
• Third one, Freddie gets both sides (so far it's 50-50 overall).
• Fourth one (Now I'm Here), Brian wrote the A-side and Freddie wrote the B-side.
• Fifth one, Freddie wrote it, Roger got the B side.
• Sixth, John wrote the A side and Brian the B side (they continue 50-50 so far).
• Seventh (STL), Freddie and Brian on A- and B-sides respectively.
• Eighth, Brian wrote the A side and the B one was John's in Europe and Roger's in America and Australia.
• Ninth (the EP), Freddie wrote two tracks, Brian one and Roger one. So far, they're 50-50 again in terms of material included on the singles either on the A- or B-side.
• Tenth, Freddie wrote the A-Side and Brian wrote the B-Side.
• Eleventh single (released in February 1978, almost a decade after the band's formation and nearly half a decade after their commercial début): First time neither Freddie nor Brian wrote either side... John and Roger were finally getting more attention.
• Twelfth single: Double-A, one side by Freddie and one by Brian.
• Thirteenth single: Freddie wrote the A-Side, B-Side by John in Europe and by Roger in America, Canada, NZ, Oz, Japan... no Brian this time, and the balance is shifted to Freddie's side from then on.
• Fourteenth single: A- by Fred, B- by Brian.
• Fifteenth single: A- by Fred, B- by Brian in Europe, by John elsewhere.
• Sixteenth single: A- by Brian, B- by Freddie.
• Seventeenth single: A- by Freddie, B- by Roger.
• Eighteenth single: A- by John, B- by Brian in Europe, Freddie elsewhere.
• Nineteenth single: A- by Brian, B- by Freddie.
• Twentieth single: Credited to all of them (plus Bowie on the A-).
• Twenty-first single: Freddie wrote both sides.
• Twenty-second single: A- by Brian, B- by Freddie/John.

So, in terms of songwriting for their singles, they were almost entirely equal but there was some more input from Freddie from 'Don't Stop Me Now' onwards. Also check how much they wrote for each album:

• Queen: 3.5 by Brian, 5 by Freddie.
• Queen II: 4 by Brian, 6 by Freddie (and there's the whole debate about SSOR).
• SHA: 4 by Brian, 6 by Freddie (and SCC credited to all four).
• ANATO: 4 by Brian, 5 by Freddie.
• ADATR: 4 by each.
• NOTW: 4 by Brian, 3 by Freddie.
• Jazz: 4 by Brian, 5 by Freddie.
• The Game: 3 each.
• Flash Gordon: 6.5 by Brian (though they're actually just 3 themes, 2 of which are reprised several times), 5 by Freddie.
• Hot Space: 3 by Brian, 3.5 by Freddie (UP credited to five people).

Freddie dominated the songwriting aspect at first, peaking on SHA. On ANATO he was still dominant but by a narrower margin, then ADATR was a toss-up and then Brian dominated on NOTW; Fred regained control for Jazz and then they compromised and had equal input on The Game. Brian had more input on Flash and Fred had more input on Hot Space.

To be continued...

Bohemian Rhapsody / A Night at the Opera Timelines

The thing about Bo Rhap is that there are so many different and often contradicting stories. The 1995 SOS article, which seems to be regarded as *the* holy grail when it comes to info about it, claims (IIRC) that sessions began on the 24th of August 1975 at Rockfield.

I strongly suspect that's not the case: they had some rehearsals at the Ridge Farm (around June/July, most likely), which would mean they just had a month of literally doing 'nothing' from rehearsals to recordings.

Freddie's then-boyfriend said in his book that he witnessed a rough mix of Bo Rhap being played to him and a friend on a Friday before a bank holiday weekend in late August ... the only bank holiday around that time was summer bank holiday, which that year was on the 25th of August ... which means their encounter (which took place at Roundhouse Studios) was on Friday the 22nd and, by then, a lot of the song had already been done (to the point he was ready to play it to other people).

A recent Fred biography (Laura Jackson's IIRC) claims Jill Sinclair interrupted the mixing sessions for Bo Rhap (at SARM) by turning the power off to sing Happy Birthday to Freddie, which puts the date on or around the 5th of September. It makes sense if they were mixing it roughly a month and a half before the single was released, as it'd give EMI and Elektra time to master, press, pack and distribute the vinyl.

There's no way around it: either the SOS article's wrong/inaccurate about that, or Minn's recollection is wrong, or the birthday story's a lie, or a combination of some/all/none of the above.

As much as SOS's a respected source, the article's got several mistakes already: 'Scorpion Studios' anyone? It also claims the first three Queen albums were recorded on 16-track (SHA wasn't), it claims Kenny Everett played the song fourteen times on his programme (he did it four times, no teen), it claims NOTW was a Marx Brothers' title (it wasn't) and it claims part of Bo Rhap was done at Wessex (it wasn't - the studio was undergoing refurbishment), so one more inaccurate claim wouldn't be a big surprise.

My theory, and there's still a lot I need in order to make it a serious claim, is that sessions began either in late July or in early August, giving them more than enough time to deliver the mixed single to EMI in early September and secure a late October release.

BTW, about that Kenny Everett thing ... does anybody know the exact date of Kenny first broadcasting Bo Rhap? If it really was before the single was released and if it really was a rough mix, then there's a collectors' holy grail that some people *should* have, unless of course nobody bothered recording from the radio.

Tape Recorders until 1977

1971 Demos: Scully 16-Track.

Queen & Queen II: 3M 16-Track.

Sheer Heart Attack: Studer A-80 24-Track at Rockfield and AIR, Ampex MM-1000 24-Track, 3M 16-Track at Trident.

A Night at the Opera: Studer A-80 24 Track at Rockfield, Lansdowne and Roundhouse; 3M at Olympic, 3M and MCI at SARM, Telefunken, 3M M-79 and Struder at Scorpio.

A Day at the Races: Ampex 24-Track at The Manor, 3M M-79 24-Track at Wessex, Studer A-80 at SARM, Scully (possibly) at Advision.

News of the World: 3M M-79 24-Track at both Basing Street and Wessex.

Mixing Consoles

1971 Demos: Sound Techniques.

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack: Sound Techniques and Trident.

Opera - Races: Trident B.

News of the World: Cadac at Wessex, Helios at Basing Street.

Jazz: Neve at Mountain, MCI at Super Bear.

The Game & Hot Space: Helios.

Flash Gordon: Helios and SSL B at The Town House.

The Works: Harrison.

A Kind of Magic: Neve at Mountain, SSL E at The Town House, Harrison at Musicland.

The Miracle: SSL G at Olympic, SSL E at The Town House and Neve at Mountain.

Innuendo & Made in Heaven: Neve at Mountain, SSL E at The Town House, SSL and Neve at Metropolis.

Uncredited Performers on Queen Records

Queen II: Ken Testi, Pat McConnell and others at the end of Seven Seas of Rhye, where Roy Baker plays an uncredited synth.

Sheer Heart Attack: Possibly, uncredited crew at the end of In the Lap of the Gods ... Revisited.

A Day at the Races: Uncredited backing singers at the end of Teo Torriatte.

News of the World: Andy Turner, Betty Edwards and loads of more people stomping, clapping and possibly singing on We Will Rock You.

Jazz: People speaking at the end of Let Me Entertain You.

The Game: Backing vocals (and possibly percussion) on Dragon Attack. Mack played synth on Rock It. Andy Gibb sang backing vocals on Play the Game.

Flash Gordon: The National Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hot Space: Dino Solera (alto and tenor sax on Action This Day), six horn players on Staying Power, Bowie's (and, reportedly, Richards') instrumental contributions

A Kind of Magic: String players on One Year of Love.

The Miracle: David Richards' synth and/or programming work on Scandal and My Baby Does Me.

Innuendo: David Richards' synth and/or programming work on Innuendo, These Are the Days of Our Lives and I Can't Live with You.

Made in Heaven: David Richards' synth and/or programming work on My Life Has Been Saved.

Acoustic Pianos Used on Queen Recordings

Usually, they played whatever was available at the particular studios where they were recording:

Queen & Queen II: Bechstein III (7 ft 8 in).

Sheer Heart Attack: Yamaha C-7 (7 ft 5 in) at Coach (e.g., Tenement Funster), Bösendorfer Classic (6 ft 6 in) at Quadrangle (e.g., In the Lap of the Gods ... Revisited), Bechstein L (5 ft 6 in) at Wessex (e.g., Killer Queen), Bechstein III (7 ft 8 in) at Trident (Now I'm Here).

A Night at the Opera: Freddie asked the record company to buy a piano, but they instead rented one for him. By the time the band split up with the company, Freddie was already using the rental Bechstein IV (7 ft 2 in) and would play it on most (but not necessarily all) of the rehearsals and recordings plus the Bo Rhap video and the famous Xmas Eve concert. Other pianos were Yamaha C-7s (7 ft 5 in) at Coach and Ridge Farm, Steinway C (also 7 ft 5 in) at The Roundhouse, Bösendorfer Classic (6 ft 6 in) at Quadrangle, Bösendorfer Parlour (6 ft) at Lansdowne. No idea about the rest.

A Day at the Races: Possibly the same Bechstein IV at The Manor (all of Freddie's songs) plus a Bechstein L (5 ft 6 in) at Wessex (including the Somebody to Love video) and a Yamaha C-7 (7 ft 5 in) at Advision.

News of the World: Steinway C (7 ft 5 in) at Basing Street, Bösendorfer Imperial (9 ft 6 in) at Wessex.

Jazz: Freddie's Steinway D (8 ft 11 in) at Mountain (e.g., Bicycle Race), Bechstein V (6 ft 7 in) at Super Bear.

The Game: Yamaha C-7B (7 ft 5 in).

Flash Gordon: Bösendorfer Conservatory (7 ft) at The Town House, Yamaha C-7 (7 ft 5 in) at Advision.

Hot Space: Possibly a Steinway (unknown size) at Mountain (Under Pressure) plus the Yamaha C-7B (7 ft 5 in) at Musicland (everything else).

The Works: Yamaha C-7s (7 ft 5 in) at both locations.

A Kind of Magic: Yamaha C-7B (7 ft 5 in) at Musicland (Freddie's and John's songs), Steinway C (7 ft 5 in) at SARM West, Bösendorfer Conservatory (7 ft) at The Town House (possibly Forever).

The Miracle: Bösendorfer Conservatory (7 ft) at The Town House, Steinway (unknown model and size) at Olympic.

Innuendo: Yamaha C-7 (7 ft 5 in) and Fazioli F-228 (also 7 ft 5 in) at Metropolis.

Synthesisers Used on Queen Recording Sessions

Queen II: Dubreq Stylophone.

The Game & Flash Gordon: Oberheim OB-X.

Hot Space: Oberheim OB-X, Roland Jupiter 8.

The Works: Oberheim OB-Xa, Roland Jupiter 8, Fairlight CMI-II, Yamaha DX-7.

A Kind of Magic: Roland Jupiter 8, Fairlight CMI-III, Yamaha DX-7, E-MU Emulator II+, Kurzweil K-250.

The Miracle: Roland D-50, E-MU Emulator II+, Fairlight CMI-III.

Innuendo: Korg M-1.

Made in Heaven: Korg M-1, Ensoniq ASR-10, Roland JD-800.

Electric Guitars Used on Queen Recording Sessions (Besides the one Brian made with his father)

Queen II & Sheer Heart Attack: Fender Stratocaster.

A Night at the Opera: Epiphone Crestwood, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul, Baldwin Bison, Baldwin Double-Six (I'm in Love with My Car), Birch Bespoke (Prophet's Song?).

A Day at the Races: Fender Stratocaster (Drowse) Baldwin Double-Six (Long Away).

News of the World: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster (Sheer Heart Attack).

Jazz: Fender Stratocaster, Kramer.

The Game: Fender Telecaster, Fender Stratocaster.

Flash Gordon: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster.

Hot Space: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Schecter.

The Works: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Gibson Firebird (Hammer to Fall, Tear It Up), Gibson Chet Atkins (I Want to Break Free), Guild BHM.

A Kind of Magic: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Guild BHM.

The Miracle: Fender Telecaster, Guild BHM, Gibson Chet Atkins (I Want It All).

Innuendo: Gibson Chet Atkins (Innuendo), Guild BHM.

Made in Heaven: Parker Fly, Guild BHM.

Acoustic Guitars Used on Queen Records

1971 Demos: Hairfred, which Brian had since his teenage years.

Queen: Martin mostly, but also Hairfred.

Queen II & Sheer Heart Attack: Martin chiefly, perhaps also Ovation.

A Night at the Opera: Tokai on Prophet's Song and Love of My Life. Otherwise Martin and/or Ovation.

A Day at the Races: Martin.

News of the World: Martin and an unknown Spanish guitar.

Jazz: Hairfred on Jealousy, Martin elsewhere.

The Game: Hairfred on Sail Away Sweet Sister, Martin elsewhere.

Hot Space: Both Martin and Ovation on Las Palabras de Amor, just Martin on Life Is Real.

The Works: Ovation.

List of Basses Used in the Studio

1971: Rickenbacker 4001. Last seen in a 1975 TOTP performance in Belgium.

1972: Fender Precision, probably a 1965 model although it could be earlier or later. Originally sunburst until summer 1975, when John stripped the paint off and left it natural. Last seen in the video for The Miracle.

1974: Fender Precision, a slightly newer model. Sunburst until summer 1976, when it received the same treatment the other one had one year earlier. In 1986 it was sprayed black. Basically John's main instrument for most of his career.

1977: Music Man Stingray, bought in America during the tour in February. Used occasionally in the studio in the late 70's and then for some recordings such as Another One Bites the Dust, Cool Cat and Back Chat. Probably some more as well. Also a fretless sunburst Fender Precision that he may or may not have used in the studio from time to time.

1978: Fender Masterbuilt Precision. A 1955 model bought in Dallas before the beginning of the tour in November. Used occasionally in the studio. I suspect (but have absolutely no way to prove it) he played it on Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

1980: Kramer DMZ. Possibly not used in the studio.

1981: Fender Precision Special. Used on Under Pressure and possibly I Want to Break Free.

1984: Fender Precision Elite: Beautiful red colour. Used in the studio sometimes (e.g., One Vision).

1986: Giffin Bespoke and Warwick Buzzard. No idea if he played either one, or both, at some point.

Recording Timelines

Queen:

Late 1971 (possibly before winter): The five released demos + some unreleased things. Self-produced.

(ca.) April 1972 to (ca.) June 1973: Sessions for the first album, except TNCD. Produced by John Anthony & Roy Baker.

----

Queen II:

4th to 6th August 1973: 16 takes of SSOR + 4 takes of FTS. Produced and engineered by Roy, with Nick Bradford as assistant.

Some point later on: Other songs produced by Roy, engineered by Mike and possibly featuring Neil Kernon as assistant.

Some point later on: Roy working with Gasolin' in Copenhagen, leaving Queen with Robin Cable.

Mix-down stage: Presumably with Roy.

-------

Sheer Heart Attack:

7th (possibly) to 28th July 1974: Preliminary recordings in Wales. They tracked Flick of the Wrist (including backing vocals), Happy Little Fuck (including vocals), You're Young and You're Crazy (no vocals), Banana Blues (no vocals), Lap of the Gods Part 2 and Stone Cold Crazy. Four of those songs most likely required Brian for the backing track, so he probably wasn't too ill at that point.

August 1974: A week of May-less recordings at Wessex Sound. Those may have included backing tracks for Killer Queen, Lily of the Valley, Lap of the Gods and Leroy Brown. A lot of time was spent on percussion overdubs - in fact, this was the band's album with the most percussion overdubs ever.

One week later: Overdubs at AIR Studio 4 (the control room, IIRC). Brian was there.

One week later: A second session at Wessex, this time with Brian. They probably recorded Dear Friends and She Makes Me at this point as well as having some bits redone with him (e.g. some, not all, of the harmonies on Killer Queen).

Final stage (September): Now I'm Here + mixing at Trident. The album was then sent to the Mastering Lab in Los Angeles.

--------

A Night at the Opera:

27th October 1974: God Save the Queen.

June 1975: KYA retake at SARM. The tape would still be owned by Trident and the mixed would be labelled on 2nd July.

July/August: Rehearsals at the Ridge Farm.

August: Sessions begin at Rockfield in South Wales. For this album, the band would use many studios simultaneously so it's really hard to establish a timeline. According to one of the many books on Freddie (I read it in Heathrow two weeks ago), Bo Rhap was already being mixed at SARM by the time of Freddie's birthday (which would debunk the whole 'three week' legend).

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A Day at the Races:

Sessions began in June (not July) somewhere in England.

Manor tapes dated July list six songs: Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (same length as the album), Millionaire Waltz (ditto), You Take My Breath Away (N/A - by the way, that also debunks the myth that they hadn't recorded it by the time they played it at Hyde Park), Simple Man (slightly shorter - they possibly overdubbed the outro later), Drowse (slightly shorter as well - they possibly looped the intro for the outro later) and Somebody to Love (a minute and a half shorter - they probably added one or two sections later).

Roger was quoted on Music Life ('82 IIRC) that they'd started Teo Torriatte at The Manor as well... I don't know if it was a mistake on his part or if there were sessions later on (both strong possibilities).

London sessions were at SARM, Wessex and Advision. Those include overdubs for the seven aforementioned songs, plus the whole of You and I, Tie Your Mother Down, Long Away and the famous intro/outro. The STL video was at Wessex.

22nd October: Somebody to Love mixed at SARM.

24th October: White Man mixed at SARM.

26th October: Long Away finished at Wessex 1 (then simply titled Brian's 12-String Thing).

2nd November: You Take My Breath Away finished at Wessex 2.

5th November: Compilation mixes at Wessex 1. The album had a different running order at that stage: Intro, Tie Your Mother Down, You Take My Breath Away, Drowse, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Teo Torriatte, Somebody to Love, Long Away, Waltz, You and I, White Man.

16th November: New mixes of Millionaire Waltz and You and I.

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News of the World:

July/August at Basing St, August/September at Wessex. Champions was part of the early bunch, Rock You the later one. All Dead ... possibly a bit of both.

27th July: Who Needs You, All Dead All Dead, Spread Your Wings rough mixes at Basing Street.

August: Sheer Heart Attack, Sleeping on the Sidewalk at Wessex 1.

27th August: We Are the Champions at Wessex 1.

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Jazz:

Sessions began in Montreux in July 1978 and lasted at least until Freddie's birthday (5th September). The Tour de France passed by Montreux on Brian's birthday (19th July), so they possibly recorded Bicycle Race in late July or early August, which means that's a Swiss song, not French.

Sessions finished in France in October, but they could've started at any point between early September and ... one or two weeks before the whole thing was put to bed. Apparently, DSMN is part of those later sessions.

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The Game:

If and I mean *IF* the accounts on CLTCL are true (it being recorded on the very first day of the sessions and Ratty having to take Freddie to Munich on the day of a Heathrow strike), then sessions began on 22nd June 1979 and lasted a couple of weeks which spawned CLTCL, Save Me, SASS and Coming Soon. Venue was Munich of course.

Then there was another two-week or three-week run between February and March during which they tracked the rest of the album and put down some ideas for Flash Gordon as well. There's nothing official on A Human Body. Beautiful Day apparently comes from April. Album mastered in NYC, possibly during the spring.

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Flash Gordon:

Early sessions (produced by Mack and the whole band, not just Brian) in Munich in February/March 1980. The album was NOT begun in 1979 despite numerous sources claiming that.

They'd apparently finished recording it by June, and they did so in London, using Advision, Town House and Music Centre. Orchestra bits recorded in July at Anvil in Denham. The band re-did some bits in October (and that's the part Brian produced) at Utopia.

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Hot Space:

Sessions began in June 1981 at Musicland and the first batch ended in July. What was done at that point? No idea. Possibly bits of Cool Cat?

August was basically a holiday for them, John staying in London and the other three going to America (Maylor to LA, Fred to NYC). It may have been during these days that Fred wrote Life Is Real.

Early September was at Mountain in Montreux. Songs begun there were Las Palabras de Amor, Calling All Girls, Put Out the Fire and Under Pressure. Note that, at that point, they weren't using drum machines yet.

At some point between 15th and 20th September: Freddie, Mack and Bowie finish the song in NYC.

21st September to 5th December: No recordings. Band travelling around Venezuela, America, Mexico, Canada and England.

6th to 21st December: Sessions in Munich. This was possibly the first time they used drum machines. Songs they may have begun in those days include Back Chat, Staying Power, Dancer, Action This Day, Life Is Real and Body Language.

18th to 22nd January: Sessions in Munich by John and Roger only.

23rd Janury to late February: Sessions by the four of them, plus mixing.

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The Works:

August to October/November: Sessions in LA. They include preliminary works on Ga Ga, Break Free, Piece of My Heart and possibly many other things.

November 1983 to January 1984: Sessions in Munich, including World and the final vocal on Ga Ga, plus mixing.

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A Kind of Magic:

August 1985: Sessions in Munich, produced by Mack. One Vision possibly stems for those days, as do other things. OV would be finished at Maison Rouge in London.

September 1985: Work on the Highlander OST begins at The Town House. It'd finish in January 1986. That includes nearly half of the album. David Richards produced those ones (partly). Fred not present in some of the October recordings as he was doing In My Defence and Time, partly in London, partly in Munich.

March 1986: Album finished. Presumably, they used several studios simultaneously: SARM, Maison Rouge, The Town House, Mountain, Musicland and Abbey Road. Possibly Milo as well.

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The Miracle:

January 1988: All four in London (perhaps Town House, but it could've also been Olympic).

February: Three of them recording in London (Roger absent as he was touring).

March: No work on the album - John was in France, Brian in LA, Roger was touring and Freddie was working on Barcelona (the album).

April: Three of them working on the album in Montreux (Roger still touring, though not all the month).

May: Roger, John and Brian working in Switzerland. Freddie was promoting Barcelona in ... well, Barcelona.

June: All four in Montreux.

July: Fred on holiday in Spain, John on holiday in France, Brian in LA (that's when he co-wrote TMLWKY), Roger recording with The Cross.

August: John in France and the rest working on off-Queen projects (Barcelona, Back to the Light and MBADTK).

September: All four recording The Miracle (then to be titled Invisible Men) in London.

October: Break from Queen - John in France, Fred in Spain, Brian working on his solo album and Roger working with his other band.

November: John, Freddie and Roger working on the Queen album, Brian working on his solo thing.

December: Holidays for all.

January & February 1989: All four in London (Olympic, I think) finishing the album and mixing it.

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Innuendo:

November 1989: Work on the album begins in Montreux.

Late December: They return to London for holidays.

12th March 1990: Work on the album resumed, but in England. Sessions would last until June, and Roger would miss some of them due to The Cross.

Summer 1990: Work in Switzerland. Four songs already mixed at this stage (presumably Innuendo, Slightly Mad, ICLWY and DTSH). Brian misses some of these recordings due to Macbeth.

18th September: By this date they were back in London and they'd already named the album. Other songs done by this time were Headlong, Ride the Wild Wind and All God's People.

November 1990: Album finished and mixed.

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Made in Heaven:

April 1980: IABD (piano + vocals) in Munich.

2nd September 1983: LML (piano + Fred's vocals) in Munich.

May 1984: IWBTLY and MIH (piano + vocals) in Munich.

May 1987: HFE in Spain (The Cross version). It was never a Queen track for AKOM.

Early 1988: MLHBS (possibly).

Autumn 1988: TMLWKY (except for the bass as John was on holiday) and perhaps some final details on MLHBS.

January/February 1989: TMLWKY (bass).

December 1990: Freddie writes AWT (did he record it then? Maybe, maybe not, maybe only partly).

Late January 1991: Work on B-Sides for the Innuendo singles, but they save some for an upcoming album. Montreux.

Spring 1991: More work in Montreux. Roger and Brian miss some of those sessions due to other commitments.

August 1991: Fred goes to Montreux on holidays. He may or may not have recorded bits.

October/November 1991: Last visit by Fred to Montreux.

Autumn 1993 - around 25th February 1994: Roger and John begin working on the posthumous project.

March to June 1994: Brian joins the project and at that moment John goes on holiday.

Summer 1994: Work by Brian on the MIH project.

Autumn 1994: The three of them go to Metropolis to work together but very little (if anything) usable comes from those sessions as they find Fred's ghost too haunting. Brian resumes work on the album in Surrey, Roger goes on tour and John to Biarritz.

Winter 1994: Sessions by the three of them at Brian's studio.

Spring 1995: Separate sessions - Brian at Allerton Hill, John and Roger at Cosford Mill.

Summer 1995: The three of them work together at the three locations.

Late September 1995: Album finished and mixed.

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Special thanks to Georg Purvis and many others who've helped me compile this list throughout the years.

Some CLTCL mixes.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: Freddie Mercury on his own.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Commentary from Freddie Mercury, Brian May & Roger Taylor.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: Backing Track

Studios

• Queen: 1971 sessions at the Music Centre in Wembley, London; 1972 and 1973 sessions at Trident in Soho, London.

• Queen II: Trident in Soho, London.

• Sheer Heart Attack: Sessions began at Rockfield in South Wales; they then went to Wessex in Highbury, London as well as AIR in Westminster, London and they finished off at Trident in Soho, London, where the album was also mixed.

• A Night at the Opera: Rehearsals at Ridge Farm in Surrey; preliminary recordings at Rockfield in Monmouthshire; the rest was in London: Roundhouse and Scorpio in Camden, Olympic in Barnes, Lansdowne in Kensington (two blocks from Freddie's house) and Sarm in Tower Hamlets, where the record was also mixed.

• A Day at the Races: Rehearsals at Ridge Farm in Capel, Surrey; preliminary recordings at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire; everything else in London: Wessex in Highbury, Advision in Westminster and Sarm in Tower Hamlets, where the record was also mixed.

• News of the World: Sessions began at Island Studios in Notting Hill, finished at Wessex in Highbury.

• Jazz: Began at Mountain in Montreux, Switzerland, finished at Super Bear in Berre-les-Alpes, France.

• The Game: Musicland in Munich, West Germany.

• Flash Gordon: Some work in progress at Musicland in Munich (The Game sessions), then Music Centre in Wembley, London; Advision in Westminster, London; The Town House in Hammersmith, London. Orchestra recorded at Anvil in Denham, Buckinghamshire.

• Hot Space: Most of it was at Musicland in Munich; some bits at Mountain, Montreux and two studios in New York: Atlantic in Broadway and Power Station in Manhattan.

• The Works: Began at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, finished & mixed at Musicland in Munich.

• A Kind of Magic: Chiefly The Town House in Hammersmith, London, especially the Highlander bits; also Musicland (Munich), Mountain (Montreux) and other London venues: Abbey Road (St John's Wood), Sarm West (Notting Hill) and Maison Rouge (Fulham).

• The Miracle: Chiefly The Town House in Hammersmith, London. Also Mountain in Montreux and Olympic in Barnes (London).

• Innuendo: Chiefly at Metropolis in Chiswick (London). Also Mountain in Montreux and possibly Olympic and Town House in Barnes and Hammersmith (London) as well as Allerton Hill in Surrey.

• Made in Heaven: 1980-1989 sessions at various places depending on the project they'd been working on. 1991 sessions at Mountain. 1993 at Cosford Mill, 1994-1995 at Cosford Mill, Allerton Hill and Metropolis.

Producers on Queen records

Sporcle it: http://www.sporcle.com/games/qsiseb/producers-of-queen-recordings

The role of the producer is a bit vague as it may cover a lot of different areas, some of which the producer just oversees or approves, others which they perform directly, depending on the kind of producer. George Martin, for instance, was very much into the musical side of The Beatles' material, so he'd often score and conduct the orchestral parts as well as playing some instruments and suggesting certain changes in the songs (e.g., tempo), but he wouldn't be in the technical side of the sounds (e.g., EQuing) as that was not his speciality - he'd get excellent engineers for that. Bill Szymczyk, on the other hand, was expert in sound but not in music, so his contribution to Eagles' recordings would be more related to getting the best possible audio quality (e.g., positioning the mic at the soft spot to make the bass-drum sound more powerful) and offer suggestions from the perspective of a non-musician (which is quite valuable as most of the public aren't musicians themselves).

'Producer' is not the same as 'co-producer' in the same way 'pilot' is not the same as 'co-pilot'. Here's the list of who produced Queen recordings:

• 1971 Demos: Queen produced. Louis Austin was the engineer but not the producer.

• Queen (except The Night Comes Down as that was taken from the aforementioned demos): Chiefly produced by John Anthony. Roy Baker took over when Anthony fell ill with mono. Liner notes don't specify who did which song. This was the only album where Queen didn't produce at all (except for Night Comes Down).

• Queen II: Most of the album was produced by Baker/Queen, with the 'Queen' side being represented by whoever had written each particular song: on Father to Son, for instance, it'd be Brian who'd make the decisions with Roy, while on Seven Seas of Rhye, it'd be Freddie. Roy missed some of the sessions as he was also working with Gasolin' in Denmark, and Robin Cable took over for Nevermore, Funny How Love Is and part of The March of the Black Queen.

• Sheer Heart Attack: Baker/Queen, again with the 'Queen' bit being the creator of each particular song. They were slowly gaining more control and it's possible on this album that the songwriter would also do the mix (with Roy and the engineers, of course).

• A Night at the Opera: Queen/Baker (the band now got first billing). Each song was mixed by its creator together with Roy and the engineer (usually Mike Stone).

• A Day at the Races: Queen, assisted by Mike Stone. The songwriter would be in charge of each track, with Mike helping out with the technical side.

• News of the World: Queen. Mike was now credited as co-producer, which was closer to being a full producer but not quite the same.

• Jazz: Queen/Baker, reunited one last time.

• The Game: Queen. Reinhold Mack's labour was similar to that of Mike Stone's on News of the World. He engineered and co-produced but didn't produce per se.

• Flash Gordon: Mack/May (in that order). Mack mixed and Brian chose what would go on the album and what wouldn't.

• Hot Space: Queen/Mack (now he was made partner), except Staying Power which is Queen/Mack/Mardin (actually, Mercury/Mack/Mardin) and Under Pressure which is Queen/Bowie (actually Mercury/Bowie, Freddie being the one who made the final mix).

• The Works: Queen/Mack, all of it.

• A Kind of Magic: Most of it was Queen/Mack, but four tracks were Queen/Richards.

• The Miracle & Innuendo: Queen/Richards.

• Made in Heaven: Queen. Josh, Justin and David were engineers and co-producers, but not full producers.