Saturday 24 August 2013

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.

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