Happy 50th Anniversary to Queen! Although they first performed under that name on 18 July 1970, it wasn’t until John Deacon joined on 1 March 1971 that the group had its final, official line-up, so the latter date is more appropriate. And as they’re my favourite band of all time, I started doing a special Queen At 50 series last year, reviewing each of their albums and songs in obsessive depth and excessive detail. So, if you haven’t already, do check out my first post about their debut album for a longer explanation of why I’m so into them.
For this post I’m moving on to their 5th album. The musical majesty and stellar success of A Night At The Opera was always going to be a tough act to follow, and impossible to beat. But Queen were up for the challenge, and set about making A Day At The Races between July and November 1976. They produced it entirely by themselves for the first time, now that they had sufficient experience and were keen to give it a go, instead of employing Roy Thomas Baker like they had before. They continued to use engineer Mike Stone though.
The album was designed to be a companion piece to its predecessor with a similar variety of music. So it was again named after a Marx Brothers film, and Groucho Marx sent a note to congratulate them on their success and their “sage choice of album titles”. It also had a similar cover design to the previous album, with the colourful Queen crest on the front, but everything was on a black background instead of white this time. Brian later expressed a wish that both Opera and Races had been released together, as “the material for both of them was written at the same time, so I regard the two albums as completely parallel.”
The band are also credited in fun ways in the sleeve notes – in addition to the usual mentions of vocals, piano, guitar, etc, Freddie is the “Choir Meister” and contributes “tantrums”, Brian is the “Leader of the Orchestra”, and Roger provides “Pandemonium”. John is merely credited as playing Fender Bass and doesn’t get anything extra, which is reflective of his nature as the quiet one in the group.
The album’s release was preceded by a 4-day tour in September, including their free Hyde Park show, which I discuss in detail during Track 2 of this post (You Take My Breath Away). They also attended a race meeting at Kempton Park on 16 October 1976, where they sponsored an event called The Day At The Races Hurdle, and there was even an accompanying board game.
Freddie also spoke to DJ Kenny Everett about the album on Capital Radio in November, and the edited version in that video is from the first disc of interviews in the deluxe edition of their On Air BBC sessions album in 2016. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, because Freddie gives nice little insights into some of the tracks, and gives his thoughts on how the band are perceived by the music press in the UK and America. The two of them also have some nice banter and laughs together, because they were very good friends, including when Freddie attempts to read the weather forecast near the end.
And a youthfully handsome Roger Taylor gave a brief interview on Saturday Scene to plug the record as well.
Thanks to all of that promotion, coupled with the huge success of A Night At The Opera, this new album was another big hit, quite rightly. Before it was even released there were half a million advance orders placed. And when it did come out, it instantly became their second number 1 album in the UK and their first Japanese number 1, as well as topping the charts in the Netherlands and reaching number 5 in the USA.
It had its critics too, of course, with Nick Kent from the NME describing it as “grotesquery of the first order”, as they preferred punk bands like The Sex Pistols and The Damned who were making their mark at the time. But Queen didn’t care about what the press had to say, and it didn’t stop their latest work being hugely popular. It became the 4th most successful album that year, and was voted the 67th greatest album ever in a 2006 poll by the BBC.
And it is indeed another brilliant selection of songs. So here’s my personal review of each of the tracks, including a dive into other versions and performances as usual. I hope you enjoy!
Contents
See also: Ultimate Queen / Queen Vault / Wikipedia / UDiscover / Classic Rock Article
In this post I’m going to review all of the tracks on Side 1 of the album as follows. Click their names to jump to the reviews:
The reviews below also include references to tracks from their live albums. You can see all the videos I mention in this post and more on my Queen & Covers playlists. So do feel free to check them out (along with my other Queen playlists) and see which versions of each song you like best!
1. Tie Your Mother Down
Written by Brian May
See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts / Lyric Video
This is the only song from the album for which Queen don’t have a lyric video on their official channel. Strange considering it’s one of their most popular songs!
On the album, this track starts with a 1-minute instrumental by Brian, consisting of a cool guitar intro, followed by a repeating harmonium melody that appears to continuously get higher for about 25 seconds (it was actually recorded going downwards and played back in reverse). That melody is repeated again at the end of the final track to bring the album full circle. This audio illusion is known as a Shepard tone melody, whereby lower notes fade in as the higher notes go out of hearing range, while everything in between remains at a constant volume. This cleverly fools the listener into thinking that it’s rising infinitely, even though it isn’t. There are many other examples of this effect online, along with nice explanations by Vsauce & Vox.
Only the album version includes that additional intro. Other versions of the track (single, video, instrumental, etc) omit it completely and go straight into the song. The most notable exception is the Air Guitar Edit, released on the compilation album The Best Air Guitar Album In The World… Ever, which begins with the closing guitar riffs from We Will Rock You before the main song kicks in.
The song itself is a fantastic heavy rock number of course, a powerful and exciting way to start the album. Brian had composed the main riff on a Spanish guitar while working for his astrophysics PhD in Tenerife. But he wasn’t sure about the title, which was a line he considered a joke, but as the others liked it he agreed to keep it.
On several occasions Brian has credited Irish musician Rory Gallagher as giving him inspiration for the track. Rory had been in a band called Taste, and it was the song Morning Sun from their On The Boards album that inspired Brian to write the main riff, as he explained in a BBC Radio 4 tribute programme to Rory. Likewise, in the Wire Choir section of Guitar World Magazine in November 1998, Brian broke down the main riff of the song in detail and explained how Rory had inspired the song. Freddie, meanwhile, joked in his interview with Kenny Everett that Brian must have been in one of his “vicious moods” when he wrote the song, and was trying to outdo him for Death On Two Legs from the previous album.
When released as a single in 1977, it reached number 10 in the Netherlands, but only number 31 in the UK and 49 in the US. However, it did much better in the UK when it was re-released in 1998 as a double A-side with their new song No-One But You, reaching number 13.
The music video was filmed at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York in February 1977, while the band were on their US tour. As discussed by Brian and Roger in the commentary on the Greatest Video Hits I DVD, the explosion at the start actually knocked Roger off the stage, having been placed in a bucket next to his riser! You can just see Freddie looking behind him before a swift cut to Brian hides the fact that they had to stop the recording so the uninjured Roger could get back on his stool. Brian also discusses how he composed the song during the commentary.
Remixes
- Matt Wallace Remix – This was included on the 1991 Hollywood Records remaster of the album. There’s some extra percussion and some effects on the vocals, while the guitars are omitted in a couple of brief sections for a more stripped back feel. And it works well.
- Unreleased Trent Reznor Remix – This was on a Hollywood promo CD that got withdrawn and has a very different rhythm and arrangement. And it isn’t as good, especially because it takes out the guitar part that’s the central element of the song, so I’m not surprised it didn’t get a wider release. But it’s an interesting alternative for curiosity’s sake.
- Backing Track Mix – This instrumental version is on the 2011 reissue of the album. As amazing as Freddie’s lead vocal always is, it’s also wonderful to hear the song without it, so you can focus more on the music itself.
Isolated Tracks
The multitracks for this song are divided up in a standard way:
- Vocals – Freddie’s vocals are fantastically powerful, and as always it’s a joy to listen to them on their own. You get to hear his improvised ad-libs much more clearly as well. Some of the backing vocals are mixed in too, while others are on a separate Extras track.
- Guitar – This is an amazing performance by Brian with great pace and energy. When we get to the solo in the middle of the song, the Extras track provides a second layer, so you have backing and lead guitar sections from that point until the end.
- Bass – Easily overlooked in the final mix, John has some nifty fingerwork going on here as he keeps pace with the main guitar riff, sometimes matching it and sometimes diverging into a counter-melody.
- Drums – As usual, there’s a separate track for each section of Roger’s kit, but it’s best to hear them all together. He provides a strong, catchy rhythm, and you can hear Brian’s guitar in the background too.
Brian has also recorded brief guides to the guitar parts, allowing people to see his fingering positions close-up, in his 1983 Star Licks tutorial video and a 2020 lockdown Micro Concerto.
Live Performances
There have been countless live performances of this song by the band themselves and by Brian and Roger with other artists since Freddie’s death. It’s always one of their biggest crowd-pleasers.
Queen Concerts
Following the album’s release, Queen played this song on every tour, and sometimes included a few pyrotechnics as well. Consequently it appears on many of their live albums and in other videos online. Performances include:
- Earls Court, London on 6 June 1977
- The Summit, Houston, Texas on 11 December 1977
- Soundcheck Extract 1977 – From the BBC’s Rock The World documentary.
- Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany on 2 February 1979 – From the Live Killers album.
- Pavilion De Paris, France on 28 February 1979
- Paris 1979, Germany 1982 & Rio 1985 – A compilation from Queen’s Rare Live VHS of performances from the Pavilion De Paris, France on 1 March 1979 (incorrectly captioned as 28 February), the Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany on 28 April 1982, and the Rock In Rio Festival, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on 12 January 1985. The song is cut down to about half its length, the jumps between each performance are a bit jarring, and the video quality isn’t great. But it is fun to see Freddie’s different outfits, and the rise in audience numbers from 9,000 in Paris and 14,000 in Germany to 250,000 in Rio!
- Montreal Forum, Canada on 24/25 November 1981 – An excellent performance, from which you can focus on Freddie’s amazing voice even more closely in a semi a cappella version extracted from the surround sound mix. There’s also an audio commentary by Brian and Roger, although they don’t say much. The most amusing moment is when they observe “Deaky dancing” as John bounces around after about a minute into the song.
- Milton Keynes Bowl on 5 June 1982 – The video for this was included on the 2011 iTunes reissue of the album, as well as the DVD for the concert.
- Seibu Lions Stadium, Tokyo, Japan on 3 November 1982
- Rock In Rio Festival, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on 12 January 1985
- Yoyogi Auditorium, Tokyo, Japan, on 11 May 1985 – The piano part is very prominent in the mix here, which gives it added interest.
- Wembley Stadium, London on Friday 11 & Saturday 12 July 1986
- Nepstadion, Budapest, Hungary on 27 July 1986 – The video release cuts out almost 2 minutes of this performance, but the full song is on the CD, including a fun call-and-response moment between Freddie and the crowd during the last minute of the track.
- Knebworth Park, Stevenage on 9 August 1986 – The band are still on top form in their final concert with Freddie. The audio of this performance was included on the Live Magic album.
- Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Wembley Stadium, London on 20 April 1992 – This is an explosive opener to the show, in which Brian shares lead vocals with Joe Elliott from Def Leppard and rocks out on guitar with Slash from Guns N’ Roses.
- Museumplein (Museum Square), Amsterdam on 30 April 2002 – This was part of Brian and Roger’s surprise concert in The Netherlands on Queen’s Day (the Dutch Queen’s birthday), which got a lot of attention as you can imagine.
Brian’s Solo Performances
Brian also performed the song with various musicians and backing singers as part of his solo career in the 90s:
- Virtuosos de la Guitarra, Seville, Spain on 19 October 1991 – Here we get an awesome guitar solo by Brian, before he’s joined by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Cozy Powell for a brilliant performance of the song.
- The Tonight Show, Los Angeles on 5 April 1993 – Brian is again joined by Slash on guitar for this performance, which was made available on the second single for his solo song Resurrection. Brian’s full appearance on Jay Leno’s show also included a performance of his solo song Back To The Light and a short interview. And on the following day he performed the last show of his North American tour at the Palace Theater, Los Angeles on 6 April 1993.
- Brixton Academy, London on 15 June 1993 – Another great live rendition. The track on the live album trims around 30 seconds of Brian’s jamming from the end, but the video release contained the full performance.
- VH1 broadcast on 16 June 1998 – A wonderful semi-acoustic arrangement as part of an unplugged TV special, with a spoken word intro by Brian to set up the back story, a very catchy rhythm that differs from the original version for the first half of the song, and an extended jam at the end.
He’s made guest appearances with other bands too, including:
- The Cross – Astoria Theatre, London on 7 December 1990 – Brian provides guest vocals as well as guitar on this performance from Roger’s band, the year before Freddie’s death.
- Guns N’ Roses – Wembley Stadium, London on 13 June 1992
- The Darkness – Hammersmith Apollo on 25 November 2011 – The Darkness also performed this song without Brian at other concerts, including at the O2 Academy, Bristol on 14 November 2011 & The University Of East Anglia on 24 November 2011.
Queen & The Foo Fighters
From the early 2000s there were a few occasions when Brian and Roger teamed up with the Foo Fighters to perform the song, and they make a pretty good combination:
- Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony 2001 – Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins from The Foo Fighters inducted Queen at this event, as well as performing the song with Brian and Roger.
- VH1 Rock Honors, Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas on 25 May 2006 – Brian and Roger are brought on as a surprise after the first couple of verses, much to the crowd’s delight.
- Hyde Park, London on 17 June 2006 – Including a bit of call and response with the audience and a We Will Rock You jam before the main song.
- iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, London on 11 July 2011 – Dave Grohl introduces Queen during the Foo Fighters’ encore, making it clear that they have a lot of respect for their heroes, and Taylor Hawkins does a good job on the vocals.
In addition, you can also see:
- The Foo Fighters covering the song by themselves at various concerts, including Radio 1’s One Big Weekend, Carlisle Airport, Cumbria on 14 May 2011, and The Forum, Los Angeles on 10 January 2015 with Tenacious D and Slash.
- Brian May in the studio with The Foo Fighters on 5 March 2000, when they made a great cover of Pink Floyd’s Have A Cigar for the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack.
- Brian speaking to NME about the band in 2014.
- Taylor Hawkins on Radio X in 2019, talking about why Queen are so popular. It’s really nice to see him talk about the band with such affection and enthusiasm.
Queen & Paul Rodgers
The song continued to be a regular part of the setlist when Brian and Roger were joined by Paul for their tours. Paul doesn’t have the same vocal talents as Freddie by any means, which he knew and he didn’t try to copy him. But he made the songs his own, and as a rock star this one was right up his alley, so he performed it really well.
The song was an explosive opener to their 2005 shows, following Paul’s brief rendition of Reaching Out that was effectively asking the audience to give him a chance as the new lead singer:
- Nelson Mandela Forum, Firenze, Italy on 7 April 2005.
- Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield on 9 May 2005 – Released on Return Of The Champions.
Reaching Out was dropped in 2008, but Tie Your Mother Down was still played near the top of the show:
- 46664 Concert, Hyde Park, London on 27 June 2008 – The band played a short set at this special concert for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday.
- Freedom Square, Kharkov, Ukraine on 12 September 2008 – Released on Live In Ukraine.
- San de Apoquindo Stadium, Santiago, Chile on 19 November 2008
The song was also among the tracks on their special European tour downloads and on Super Live In Japan.
Brian May & Kerry Ellis
When Brian and Kerry were doing their acoustic concerts, they performed a wonderful stripped-back version of this song, with just guitar, piano and vocals. The first half has a slow, catchy, country vibe to it, before Brian swaps out his acoustic guitar for an electric one to rock the joint, Kerry singing along with the piano to bridge the gap. An official version is available on The Candlelight Concerts, from Stravinski Hall, Montreux, Switzerland on 19 July 2013, but other performances you can see online include:
- The Olympia, Dublin on 30 June 2013 – Brian dedicates the song to Rory Gallagher here, as he was the inspiration for the song as explained earlier.
- La Cigale, France on 8 July 2013
- City Rocks Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London on 1 April 2014 – This was a special concert in aid of the Coram charity. Brian and Kerry are joined by The Feeling when Brian switches to the electric guitar, and they’re all clearly having a lot of fun as they give it everything.
- Union Chapel, London on 11 November 2012 – An earlier performance, and the audio quality for the vocals isn’t great in this video, but it’s notable for the fact that Brian plays acoustic guitar for the entire song, even when they pick up the pace midway through, and you can hear his part quite clearly.
There were, however, also a few occasions when they performed a pure rock version backed by a full band, which also sounded great, including:
- Hampton Court, London on 11 June 2011
- Wildlife Rocks, Guildford Cathedral, 5 May 2014 – For this special concert Brian joined The Troggs for a great performance of their hit Wild Thing, before bringing on Kerry Ellis for Tie Your Mother Down. You can see them doing the soundcheck for these songs earlier in the day as well.
Queen & Adam Lambert
As ever the song has continued to be a big hit during Queen’s tours with Adam. It was actually sung by Brian during their early shows though, with Adam only appearing at the very end:
Adam then took over the vocals in later tours, although they’ve only done a short version in the last few years. But it’s fun in any case, he sings it very well:
- Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, 26 June 2014 – Includes a fun sing-along with the audience after the song finishes.
- Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada on 28 July 2014
- Allphones Arena, Sydney, Australia on 26 August 2014
- Ginásio do Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil on 16 September 2015
- Wembley SSE Arena, London on 15 December 2017
- Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham on 16 December 2017
- Los Angeles Forum on 19 July 2019
- Saitama Super Arena, Japan on 26 January 2020
Cover Versions
Official tribute band Queen Extravaganza have performed the song many times, usually with Marc Martel on vocals. Examples include:
- House of Blues, Chicago on 1 June 2012
- Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax on 5 September 2013
- O2 ABC, Glasgow on 18 September 2014 – With the vocal section from The Prophet’s Song as an introduction.
- Pavilions, Plymouth on 28 October 2016 – Here, as on Queen’s album, they use the Shepard tone melody to lead into the song.
- Casino Barriere Montreux, Switzerland on 4 September 2016 – At the Official Freddie Mercury 70th Birthday Party.
- Radio Bylgjan, Iceland – An acoustic duet that works really nicely.
Guitarist Robby Valentine has performed the song live with his band in The Netherlands on several occasions, with the lead vocals provided by Marlies Schuitemaker (aka Maria Catharina):
- CAPSLOC, Capelle aan den IJssel 2014
- Café Backstage Hoorn 2014
- Queen Fan Club Convention 2014
- Aalten 2015
- Franeker 2016
- Valentine’s Tribute To Queen 2017
Robby also performed the track live with Peter Strykes at the Dutch Queen Convention on 3 November 2012.
Other artists to have performed the song live in concert include:
- Alibi – Pennywell Comrades Club, Sunderland on 24 October 2015
- Blow The Tubes – Backstage Munich, Germany on 13 October 2018 – They add an instrumental section of their own before they replicate the intro from Queen’s album.
- Galileo – Stazione Birra, Rome, Italy on 2 March 2008
- Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, Steve Fekete et al – Lucky Strike Hollywood, Los Angeles on 28 June 2017
- New Haven Symphony Orchestra
- Night Of Queen in 2013 – Including the album’s introductory melody.
- QueenField on 23 December 2016 & 4 March 2017
- Rúzsa Magdi – Budapest, Hungary on 30 June 2007 – They perform the first couple of verses as part of a Queen medley.
- School of Rock All-Stars – Team 4, Metro, Chicago in 2013 – Singer Lena Traynham fronts this performance at a benefit gig for the Love Hope Strength Foundation.
- The Show Must Go On, 9 November 2011 – A tribute band put together for a concert marking the 20th anniversary of Freddie’s death. Features Bear McCreary (composer of music for Outlander, Battlestar Galactica & The Walking Dead) on piano, and his brother Brendan on lead vocals.
- The Stereophonics – Al Murray’s Happy Hour, 17 October 2008 – An abridged version performed with the comedian on his ITV1 chat show. You can also see a full live performance by the band, albeit with distorted audio given the volume, from The Showbox Theatre, Seattle on 21 September 2008.
- Sulle Wijaya – X Factor Indonesia 2015 – His performance at one of the judge’s houses on the TV show.
- Talisman – Sweden Rock Festival 2001 – From their live album of the show.
- Trigger – A Swedish covers band.
- Twisted Sister – Mad Hatter, Stony Brook, New York on 10 September 1977 – This is introduced by the fanfare from the Rocky Horror Picture Show for some reason! You can also see a clip of Jay Jay French from the group appearing in a concert with tribute band Almost Queen.
Rock bands that have released the song on their studio albums include:
- Adrenaline Mob – From their EP Dearly Departed.
- Crystal Tears – A bonus live track on their Decadence Deluxe album.
- Krokus – From their covers album Big Rocks.
- L.A. Guns – From their covers album Rips The Covers Off.
- Lynch Mob – From their self-titled second album, including an original take on the guitar solo in the middle. You can also see audience recordings of them performing the track live in 1992 and at Monsters Of Rock 1998.
- Villain – From Time Machine.
- Void Vator – Available on their Bandcamp page, but is also on a Covering Queen album that includes a cover of Son & Daughter by Mos Generator, which was released after my post about Queen’s debut album last year.
- Warrant – From Under The Influence.
- W.A.S.P. – From Still Not Black Enough.
- WC Experience – Dutch version from Ja Wè Nou!.
And there have also been rock versions on multi-artist tribute albums and compilations:
- Brandi Carlile – On the soundtrack album for the American TV series When We Rise, about the history of LGBT rights in the USA.
- Cheetah Chrome – On Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers.
- Gary Revel Jr. – On The Voice Finland 2013, featuring acts from the TV talent show.
- Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead) & Ted Nugent – On Dragon Attack.
- Shinedown – On Killer Queen.
- Straw Dogs – On 46 Covertune Explosions.
- Tricia Scotti – On Loser’s Lounge Vol. 18: No Time For Losers.
Alternative versions that have been released include:
- Molotov Cocktail Piano – A solo instrumental on piano, from their album Greatest Hits Of Queen, Volume 5.
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – A really nice arrangement from their tribute album Symphonic Queen.
- Ska Flashes – A catchy version on their tribute album The Carstomites.
And further covers posted online include:
- Rock versions, including some performed in lockdown, by Andy Clayton & Gareth John, Bite The Bullet, Bohle, Cello vs Guitar (without cellos), Dario Western, Dinner @ Six, Double D Junior, Double Denim Company, Eazy, Face The Strange, The Hibernating Hogs, Kol HaMishpaha, Madison, Motion Device (with teen musicians and 10-year-old Sara on vocals), Orient Express, Red Special Forum Massiv, The Rise, Rock Flare, Scarper, Spitfire 44.
- Acoustic versions by Gemma Fox & Stephen Platt, Graham Hall (on the ukulele), Jackson Lake, Queen Obsession & We Are Harlot.
- A piano instrumental by Mr Dim Piano.
2. You Take My Breath Away
Written by Freddie Mercury
See also: Ultimate Queen / Song Facts / Lyric Video
A complete change of pace and style to the previous track, this is one of Freddie’s most gorgeous compositions and greatest love songs, performed with such depth of feeling in his voice, and stunning multi-tracked harmonies that he also sang himself. And he plays a beautifully gentle piano melody, which was released as one of the tracks on their unsuccessful video game The eYe, while Brian adds some lovely guitar in the middle. Plus there’s a nice bit of additional harmony at the end, if you continue listening after the song appears to have finished.
During his Capital Radio interview with Kenny Everett, Freddie explained: “I did this one by myself, I multi-tracked myself. So the others weren’t used on this for the voices. I played piano and basically… God, I don’t know how we managed to stay this simple, what with our overdubs and things. People think we’re over-complex, and it’s not true. It depends on the individual track really – if it needs it, we do it. So this is pretty sparse actually, by Queen standards.” To which Kenny replied, before playing the song: “Still sounds like the choirs of heaven. So here comes Freddie, plus Freddie, plus Freddie, plus Freddie, plus Freddie…”
Live Performances
As part of their promotion for the album, while they were still in the process of recording it, the band went on a 4-day Summer tour in 1976, with two concerts at the Edinburgh Playhouse, one at Cardiff Castle, and one at Hyde Park in London. And it was during these shows that Freddie premiered You Take My Breath Away on just piano and vocals, as well as the whole band performing Tie Your Mother Down. It was the crowd’s reaction to his love song that convinced Freddie to include it on the album.
The most notable of those shows was the legendary free concert in Hyde Park on 18 September 1976, that attracted over 150,000 people. It was organised by Richard Branson and had support acts including Kiki Dee (who sang to a cardboard cut-out of Elton John for Don’t Go Breaking My Heart), Supercharge, Steve Hillage, The Rich Kids (not the Midge Ure band) & Broken Wreck Chords.
Queen’s set was shorter here, as Tie Your Mother Down was omitted, and the band were prevented from doing an encore as they had already exceeded the curfew imposed on the gig. Freddie made his displeasure very clear, but apparently had to give in on threat of arrest, their tour manager Gerry Stickles quoted as saying that “The thought of being in jail in tights didn’t appeal to Freddie at all”.
The show was also professionally filmed, but was never broadcast on TV (except for clips used in adverts for the album), and has never been released in full, as there are apparently issues with the master tape. So it can only be seen via dodgy bootlegs online. However, 2 tracks from the show have surfaced on official Queen releases:
- The audio of You Take My Breath Away, as a bonus track on the 2011 reissue of A Day At The Races. It’s a sublime performance.
- The video of Sweet Lady, a song from the previous album, among the bonus features on the DVD for The Making Of A Night At The Opera.
There’s also a wonderful video of Freddie performing the song at Earl’s Court, London on 6 June 1977, which was included on the iTunes edition of the 2011 reissue.
The Hyde Park and Earl’s Court performances appear to be the only decent live recordings of the song that exist, and they didn’t play it on later tours. However, in recent years during Queen’s tours with Adam Lambert, Freddie’s introduction to the song has sometimes been played as a lead-in to Who Wants To Live Forever?
Cover Versions
Though it may not be one of Queen’s better known songs, a lot of people have covered it very nicely.
Marc Martel, well known by Queen fans for his Freddie-like voice, has sung it on several occasions:
- With piano and string accompaniment on his Thunderbolt & Lightning album.
- With piano only on his album A One-Take Rhapsody.
- Live on TV in 2018, on Studio 10 in Australia & The Café in New Zealand. The latter contains an interview where he talks about the Queen Celebration tour he was promoting, plus his involvement with the Bohemian Rhapsody movie and other bits and pieces, before he does the song at 8:55.
- Live in concert during a One Vision Of Queen tour, as you can see from Rittal Arena, Wetzlar, Germany on 8 February 2020.
Others who have sung it while playing or being accompanied by piano, as on the original record, include:
- Live concert performances by Chicago School Of Rock (at Reggie’s Rock Club, starting with an a cappella verse from Love Of My Life), Flash Harry (The Odyssey, Belfast on 10 January 2009), Joseph Clark (Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, The Netherlands on 8 July 2016), Queen Extravaganza (sung by Yvan Pedneault), Robby Valentine & Marlies Schuitemaker (The Dutch Queen Convention on 3 November 2012), Rock Rhapsody & Supertonic Choir.
- Vocals with Freddie’s original piano track by Alex Hutajulu, Ana Petrović & Baptiste Defromont.
- Other performances by Break Free: Queen Tribute Show (with a cellist), Chimney Choir & Ian Cooke Band (with some backing vocals throughout, plus strings and guitars in the bridge section), Crown Syndrome, Inbal Paz & Adi Hayat, Iván Petrac & German Tripel, Lauren Coates, Lucie Halamíková, Marc Ajax, Master Stroke, The Singing Lawyers, Tous les oiseaux d’Europe (from their Birdland album), Valentina Spreca & Vocal Line (a choral version on their Step By Step album).
In terms of stringed instruments:
- Angela July sings it while playing a harp on X Factor Indonesia in 2015, during a visit to one of the judge’s houses. She came 7th overall in the series.
- There are renditions with acoustic guitar by Katie van Steenis & Wesley Nuis, Sean Reeves and Stas Sagdeyev & Alex Vitkovskiy.
There are also some lovely versions with a full orchestra by:
- Herman van Veen – On his album named after the song, and he’s also performed it live in concert.
- New Choir Toronto – At Koerner Hall in Toronto on 25 May 2019.
- Rajaton & Lahti Symphony Orchestra – On their Sings Queen album.
Then there are a cappella versions by:
- Deiyan – With a black and white video edited by Sellenna.
- Elaine Paige – With a choir on her Queen album.
- Men Only – Live in Salzburg, Austria on 28 June 2010.
- Rock4 – On their album Crazy English Summer. They also sang it live at the Dutch Queen Convention on 23 October 2010 (jump to 2:40 if you want to skip the chatter). And they posted a lockdown rendition in April 2020, linking up from their homes.
- Tarja Turunen – An opera version from her live album Beauty And The Beat.
- Valensia – On their album Non Plugged.
And there are various instrumentals performed on:
- Piano by Annellie, David Saints-Gome (with a bit of guitar in the bridge section), Gabriele Baldocci (from their album Sheer Piano Attack), Gren06pp, Jazzy Fabbry, Mariano Vazquez, Molotov Cocktail Piano (from their Greatest Hits Of Queen, Volume 5), Thierry Lang (on his album Guide Me Home) & Valtteri Nieminen.
- Cello with piano accompaniment by Antoinette Metcalf.
- Acoustic guitar by Amadeo Moczar, Andrea Beneduce, Carlos Bonell with the Lara Symphony Orchestra (on his Queen Guitar Rhapsodies) & Trouble Clef.
- Electric guitar by Andy Timmons, playing a little bit of the song before he does a full version of Bohemian Rhapsody.
- Trombones by Zagreb Philharmonic Trombone Quartet, live in concert.
3. Long Away
Written by Brian May
See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Lyric Video
This is a sad, but lovely and catchy, little tune written and sung by Brian. He sings it really nicely, with a bit of help from Roger for the highest parts, and there are pleasant backing harmonies from the two of them and Freddie.
Brian also plays an electric Burns Double-Six twelve string guitar for a change, having struggled with the thin neck of a Rickenbacker that he’d wanted to use out of admiration for John Lennon. But he does add his Red Special for one of the guitar solos as well. Music critics, in praising the song, noted the influence of The Beatles and The Byrds on its sound, and you can hear what they mean.
It was released as a single in the USA, Canada and New Zealand only on 7 June 1977, with You And I as the B-side, but it didn’t chart. It was the only single released by Queen during Freddie’s lifetime that wasn’t sung by him.
Live Performances
Queen never performed the song live during their years with Freddie, although they did apparently rehearse it before their 1977 tour named after the album.
It wasn’t until 2005 that it was finally included in a live setlist, when Brian performed an extract during some of Queen’s concerts with Paul Rodgers, such as their show in Nagoya, Japan on 1 November 2005, and there’s very brief evidence of him singing it at Budapest on 23 April that year. It was never included on any of the Queen + Paul Rodgers live releases, however, or in any of their later tours.
The only other performance I can find, which appears to be the only time it was ever played in full, is at a Taylor Hawkins concert at Scala, London in May 2010. Brian and Roger made a surprise guest appearance to join in with a few songs, of which this was one. It was a rare treat for the 200-strong audience, and there isn’t any decent quality footage of it. But the one complete video I can find is interesting for curiosity value at least, despite the awful audio. And there’s another angle in a much shorter clip.
Isolated Tracks
The different parts are divided up in a standard way in the multitracks:
- Vocals – Here you get a mixture of solo vocals by Brian and lovely group harmonies, plus a high line by Roger on his own at one point. It’s really nice to be able to appreciate Brian’s singing on its own here. Even though he’s no match for Freddie, he still has a lovely quality to his voice.
- Guitar – This makes a pleasant instrumental all by itself, there’s a lot of nice intricacies to his playing. When Brian’s Red Special solo kicks in, the 12-string guitar is bumped to a separate Additions track as a backing element, until they swap over for the long note at the end of the solo. The Additions track also has a hi-hat count-in at the start, and the brief shaking of a tambourine to fill the pause before the track’s coda..
- Bass – A nice complementary melody from John, adding an extra layer of interest rather than repeating the main tune.
- Percussion – Split into tracks for the kick bass and an overhead microphone, there’s a nice steady rhythm from Roger here. There’s nothing fancy about it, apart from a few little fills here and there, but it lays a solid foundation.
The resulting instrumental when you combine the non-vocal tracks is very nice too.
Cover Versions
It says much for how unknown and under-appreciated this song is that there are barely any covers of it online. There’s a faithful and well-produced version by Basix4 where he plays all the parts himself, apart from adding Roger’s drum track. There are nice group versions by Marcel Ferreira and tribute bands Queen Obsession & Queen Unplugged Project. And Czech artist Lucie Halamíková has sung it at the piano. But those are the only notable efforts out there. Sure, it may not be as much a classic as ’39 from the previous album, but still, I thought it might have resonated with more people.
4. The Millionaire Waltz
Written by Freddie Mercury
See also: Ultimate Queen / Song Facts / Lyric Video
The true definition of a hidden gem, this delightful song has so much packed into it, taking you on an exciting journey as it seamlessly combines various different musical styles. It’s a complex but very clever composition that only the mind of Freddie could generate, and it absolutely works. It is, in effect, the Bohemian Rhapsody of this album, though it sounds very different to it. It’s also another song for which headphones are highly recommended to fully appreciate, including the split channels of piano and bass at the start, John’s superb bass playing throughout, a couple of guitar runs that pass from one side to the other later on, and the overall orchestration and backing harmonies.
Freddie wrote the song about the band’s manager at the time, John Reid, as he confirmed in his radio chat with Kenny Everett. In that interview he also says that: “It’s very out of the Queen format really, and we always like to do that every album. And I think I went a bit mad on this one, I know. But it’s turned out alright I think. It makes people laugh sometimes.”
After the song was played on air, he continued: “I’d like to say that actually Brian did do a very good job on the actual guitars. He’s really taken his guitar orchestration to its limits. I don’t know how he’s going to… I don’t think he’ll ever outdo that one actually. And John played very good bass on that. And I think it’s good. We’re patting ourselves on our back again. I really feel that that’s worked out very well, especially from the orchestration point of view. Because he’s really used his guitars in a different sort of way, although he’s done lots of orchestrations before.”
Kenny responds, quite accurately, by saying “He’s probably the world’s greatest guitar technician really, isn’t he?” to which Freddie replies “Oh, I’d say that dear, easily!”, in a posh voice that leads them to joke about getting in some champagne.
Brian May, meanwhile, told Q Magazine in March 2008 that “This was our greatest musical excess. It teems with baroque life and makes Bohemian Rhapsody look easy. Great piece of Freddie.”
Live Performances
Queen didn’t perform the track live very often, but they adapted it really well for the stage despite its complexity. A video of their magnificent performance at The Summit, Houston, Texas on 11 December 1977 was one of the streaming videos that accompanied their Absolute Greatest compilation. It’s the only time a live version of this song has been officially released, but naturally it’s circulated online since. And there is also a bootlegged video of a similar performance from Earl’s Court, London on 6 June 1977.
As you can tell from the abrupt way those videos start and end, the song is part of a medley. In Houston it starts immediately after Get Down, Make Love, and in Earl’s Court it follows on from Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, while in both cases the outro leads in to You’re My Best Friend.
Cover Versions
There are enjoyable versions of this song live in concert from:
- Jakarta Concert Orchestra (also here) – A very nice instrumental arrangement that begins with a snippet of Play The Game.
- GOSS Band – Hard Rock Café, Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018 – As part of a Freddie For The Day event.
- Orpheus 2015 – Korean Quartet – A slow instrumental version played on acoustic guitars.
- Queen At The Opera – Natal Playhouse, Durban, South Africa in 1995 – Has a beautifully choreographed ballet scene to accompany the vocals.
- Robby Valentine – Grootebroek, The Netherlands on 15 May 2011 – Here he sings an extract from the song at the piano, before duetting with Marlies Schuitemaker on You Take By Breath Away.
And other interpretations include:
- A recording by tribute artist MerQury & Orchestra Opera Leipzig on his album Queen Classical II.
- An acoustic rehearsal by the Queen Obsession tribute group.
- Piano and vocal duets by Iván Petrac & German Tripel and Jonie Maris & Ilmo The Dude (also posted on his channel).
- Other well sung covers by Baptiste Defromont (to a backing track with guitar by Brian Morua), Basix4 (playing all the parts himself) & Matilde Benedusi (with just a piano backing).
- A nice instrumental with pianos and guitar by Donat Nemes, plus a lovely piano rendition by Xenobii, and a simpler arrangement by Amy Marshall.
- Nicely choreographed wedding dances from Diana Gaftoneanu and Nadège & Dusko, a fun performance by KlaXson Tap Dance School, and a dance from an unknown show posted by P Moreno.
5. You And I
Written by John Deacon
See also: Ultimate Queen / Lyric Video
John’s only composition on the album, on which he also plays acoustic guitar, is a cheerful and catchy delight, centred around a great piano melody and lovely lyrics. It’s also worth keeping in the headphones for, as there are some interesting splits between the lead and backing vocals at certain points. The song was released as the B-side to Tie Your Mother Down and the overseas single for Long Away.
The song was never performed live on stage, more’s the pity. The only alternative version is an instrumental demo played at the 2005 UK Fan Club Convention, which omits some backing vocals and guitar, and winds down to a definitive end rather than fading out. Being a convention recording, it’s not great quality and has the usual copyright note repeated over it, but it’s still interesting.
In his Kenny Everett interview, Freddie observed: “It’s good. His songs are getting better every time actually, I’m getting a bit worried actually! He is sort of quiet, lots of people think. Don’t underestimate him, he’s got a fiery streak underneath all that, really. But I think, because I talk so much anyway, he likes to let me do all the talking. But once people sort of crack that thin ice, then he’s alright, you know. You can never stop him talking then.” He then goes on to explain that he’s a bit shy as well, that he doesn’t go “tearing around life” like he does on stage as people assume.
Cover Versions
This is another song for which covers are very few and far between, which is a surprise and a shame. From tribute groups there’s a good version by Master Stroke with nice vocal harmonies by Ema Caradoso, a fun live performance by a Korean band with English vocals, and an acoustic rehearsal by Queen Obsession. And at the piano there’s a pleasant rendition performed by David Manara, along with instrumentals by Melina Mercury & Yumeddie (also here).
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga also has a track called Yoü and I on her album Born This Way, which is completely unrelated to the Queen song. However, it does feature Brian May as a special guest on guitar, and samples the beat from We Will Rock You. In an interview with The Sun she said: “I fell to the floor crying and laughing when I found out that I’d got him on the song. I called myself Gaga after Queen’s track Radio Ga Ga.”
Brian doesn’t appear in the music video, but he did take part in Gaga’s great performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on 28 August 2011, much to the obvious delight of the audience, especially Dave Grohl when the camera cuts to him!
Conclusion
That concludes the first side of the album. All of the songs are great, so it’s a pity they’re not all well known. But hopefully they prove to be an enjoyable surprise to anyone graduating from the greatest hits to Queen’s deeper layers. Digging into the band’s albums is always a very rewarding experience, even for die-hard fans, but even more so if it’s the very first time.
Check out my Queen & Covers playlists to explore the official videos, live performances, rarities, and other versions of the songs, including videos not mentioned above. I’ll update them in the future as I become aware of new videos. And if there are others I should check out and consider adding to these or any of my Queen playlists, do let me know.
Next time I’ll be going through the wonderful variety of tracks on Side 2, including the iconic Somebody To Love. So be sure to look out for that soon, on another important date for the band in mid-April!
Thanks for sharing.
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