Uncredited musicians playing on Queen albums

Ok, here we go. It's well known fact that there were some uncredited musicians that played on Queen albums. Does anybody know who was that, on which albums that happened, and any circumstances that led to that situation? Thanks

Who says it's a well known fact?

I can't see any evidence on the sleevenotes...

Album by album:

- Queen Debut: There's an uncredited organ ([i]Liar[/i]) that could have or could have not been played by the band. I do suspect the band here, because it's also on the demo (suggesting it was an idea by the band and not the staff - btw if you think I copied this from Wikipedia, I was the one who wrote that there in the first place)

- Queen II: Uncredited crew singing [i]I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside [/i](also omitted in the credits, they forgot to mention its composer) at the end of [i]Seven Seas of Rhye[/i].

- Sheer Heart Attack & A Night at the Opera: None whatsoever.

- A Day at the Races: Uncredited crew singing the final chorus on [i]Teo Torriatte[/i].

- News of the World: Uncredited crew singing and clapping [i]We Will Rock You[/i].

- Jazz: Uncredited people speaking at the end of [i]Let Me Entertain You[/i].

- The Game: Mack played some keyboards ([i]Rock It[/i], for instance).

- Flash Gordon: The sleeve doesn't mention which is the orchestra playing (they do mention the conductor, but not the name of the ensemble). I also suspect (but can't prove) Mack played a synth or too.

- Hot Space: The horns on [i]Staying Power [/i]were produced by Arif Mardin, but it doesn't say who played them (or the name of the brass ensemble or whatever). There's a relatively well-known rumour that David Richards played keyboards (piano? organ? synth?) on [i]Under Pressure[/i], it could easily be true and it could easily be false. Reportedly, Bowie played keys and percussion there as well, which isn't mentioned on the credits.

- The Works: I doubt so.

- A Kind of Magic: The orchestra playing on [i]Who Wants to Live Forever[/i] is credited, but not the one playing on [i]One Year of Love[/i] (only the conductor is mentioned).

- The Miracle: David Richards played a sampled bass on [i]Scandal[/i].

- Innuendo: David Richards programmed the orchestra on [i]Innuendo[/i], the conga percussion on [i]Days of Our Lives[/i] and the keyboard sequence on [i]I Can't Live With You[/i].

- Made in Heaven: David Richards co-programmed the keyboards on [i]My Life Has Been Saved[/i].

Now, according to what Peter Hince once told me, percussion tasks (e.g. tambourines, maracas, handclaps, footstomps) were often taken by whoever was around in the moment (including roadies, producers, engineers, teaboys, girlfriends, acquaintances) and they didn't bother to mention every little thing on the credits. An exception (and that's me speaking, not Mr Hince) is of course [i]Who Needs You[/i], where Brian's credited for maracas and Freddie for cowbell.

But then again, many of the percussion overdubs that don't require too much skill (e.g. the clapping on [i]Crazy Little Thing[/i]) could have been recorded by anybody inside or outside Queen. When it comes to vocals, I suppose most of them were done by themselves, with certain exceptions (and though I can't prove it, I suspect the end of [i]Rock It[/i] is one of them).

Oh, and by the way, the fact we 'can't see any evidence on the sleevenotes' is precisely the reason why those are [b]uncredited musicians playing on Queen albums[/b].

[QUOTE]

[b]Penetration_Guru wrote: [/b]

Who says it's a well known fact?

I can't see any evidence on the sleevenotes...[/QUOTE]

Presumably you WERE joking with that comment?

I have to confirm whether I was joking?????

Idiots..

On the horns, Sebastian - what are the chances that they're performed on a synth to Mardin's arrangement?

I'd never thought about it. Very interesting observation.

Now this isn't on the album, but who blows the whistle during Hammer To Fall at Live Aid? That would of been cool on the studio version.

I remember I did a good mix a few years back and posted it on this site, a mix of the album version of Hammer To Fall with the Live Aid intro, and some other edits/additions as well.

"Uncredited crew singing and clapping We Will Rock You."

I only heard this recently, but is it possible John sang on this one? I hear him or at least someone who has a voice like his.

[QUOTE]

[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]

Now this isn't on the album, but who blows the whistle during Hammer To Fall at Live Aid? That would of been cool on the studio version.

I remember I did a good mix a few years back and posted it on this site, a mix of the album version of Hammer To Fall with the Live Aid intro, and some other edits/additions as well.
[/QUOTE]
I think John blew the whistle.

[QUOTE]

[b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]


- The Works: I doubt so.

[/QUOTE]
That was a case of the 'Uncredited Demo Button'.

Interesting that David Richards programmed the congas on .Days Of Our Lives;  as a Roger composition I'd always assumed that they may have retained his original loops from his demo version (presuming that he did them on that).

Do we know, or think, that Josh Macrae may have played anything like percussion, or programmed stuff on Made In Heaven??

[QUOTE]

[b]cmsdrums wrote: [/b]

Interesting that David Richards programmed the congas on .Days Of Our Lives;  as a Roger composition I'd always assumed that they may have retained his original loops from his demo version (presuming that he did them on that).

Do we know, or think, that Josh Macrae may have played anything like percussion, or programmed stuff on Made In Heaven??[/QUOTE]

Congas are notoriously difficult to record (as are many percussion instruments), so its unlikely that any percussion on his demo would've been of sufficient audio quality to use in the final mix.

[QUOTE]

[b]Penetration_Guru wrote: [/b]

On the horns, Sebastian - what are the chances that they're performed on a synth to Mardin's arrangement?[/QUOTE]

A further thought - werent't they "Arranged & produced" by AM?  in which case the chances are he's performed them too.

John on WWRY: Yes, he may theoretically be there, as well as tons of other people.

Days of Our Lives: The fact Roger composed it doesn't mean he did a demo by himself. It could've easily been first demo'd in the studio with the whole band, and (sampled) congas could've been overdubbed later, intro could've been different at first, etc.

Josh Macrae on MIH: Good point. Hard to prove, though, but still a possibility, particularly on [i]Heaven for Everyone[/i].

Percussion on [i]DooL[/i]: By 1990, technology was more than enough to record HQ percussion instruments, but for that particular case, it was a hell of a lot easier, cheaper and faster to simply programme a track of sampled congas. [i]Rain Must Fall[/i] is also mostly sampled stuff.

Arif Mardin was a multi-skilled man: he had loads of great abilities, but playing instruments wasn't one of them. He always had people around him to record his arrangements and he concentrated on conducting them. Plus, he favoured live performances, which makes me almost certain that the horns were done 'live' and simultaneously. Putting all of that together, I can assure that the 3-4 horn parts that are there were done by some sort of house band he had in his Sterling Sound studio in New York. I expect we could get some names by looking at contemporary album credits (e.g. Chaka Khan).

Who plays the damn harmonica, clarinet, cello, and violin on It's A Hard Life???