Saying that my intention is to mislead others is inaccurate and insulting.
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No one ever said so and I can't see any insult here at all. I simply told you how to find out about the use of backing tracks. You simply need a digital multitracker. And it's not only me, who has found about that. To me it was also a surprise once I did that many years ago. Especially in the case of "My fairy King".
rhyeking · Member since
It was the "rewriting history" statement I took exception to.
Anyway, moving on...
I used Audacity to adjust the speed to try to match it to album version of MFK and and I still find it a difference performance, even with timing similarities now accounted for.
I've used your methods and am still coming to a different conclusion. And it's not stubbornness on my part, I know that. If it were the album backing track, I'd want to know! I was startled when I finally got the Session 5 tracks and noticed they used the SHA backings.
I'm open to the possibility that I may be wrong or there may be another explanation, but spending the last few days going over these tracks still finds me with the same result. I'll revisit them with a fresh perspective in the future and we'll see. I may pick up something I didn't notice before.
I would like say that I think I'm pretty good at noticing these details. Song versions and variations tend to be my focus in Queen collecting. A lot of my posts on these forums revolve around alternate versions, remixes, edits, etc.
Last night was spent comparing the original mix and the 2011 mix of "See What A Fool I've Been" and I found there is indeed a single alternate take used in part of the song. I adjusted for speed in Audacity, matched the backing track and found that the "Caught a train...A train to Georgia" lyric was changed to "I caught a traaaaaain...A train to Geogia". The first part of that lyric, with the drawn out "train" and "I caught" (instead of just "caught") appears to be an alternate vocal take. The complete "I caught a traaaaaiin..." is new. The "Georgia" part is the same.
So now we have two distinct versions of that BBC recording.
Makka · Member since
GinjaNinja wrote: Wasn't Seven Seas Of Rhye also re-recorded? Or at least remixed?
Also, would the original TOTP video version of We Are The Champions qualify? I seem to remember it included an alternate guitar part at the end.
Here's what Brian said about the SWAFIB multitrack:
"Well, the good hot news is we DID find the original BBC one-inch 8 track of the song. I thought I remembered carrying it out of the door one night !!! It's exciting because it HAD got neglected because it didn't have a BBC label on it ... it must have been a tape we brought in ... or someone else did ...So soon we can get to grips with this little piece of history. It will be a nice opportunity for me to give credit to the guys who did the song which inspired mine ... Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. It was only recently that a friend (made on this website) helped me to find this original track ... We'll convert it into a nice Protools file and get to work!! It's interesting that we also found a BBC stereo mix of the track from the original session and it DOES have a "straight" vocal on it .... curiouser and curiouser ... Of course all versions will have some interest. ..more later.Love bri" Haha...that's because the b-side version just sounds so fucken gay! What the fuck was Fred thinking? You could just see him flicking his wrist when he says 'now hit it.....like that!'. The BBC version is way way so much better!
rhyeking · Member since
I love the B-side version. It's so burlesque and over the top, you just know Freddie was taking the piss out everyone with his reportedly wicked sense of humour.
Planetgurl · Member since
rhyeking wrote: I love the B-side version. It's so burlesque and over the top, you just know Freddie was taking the piss out everyone with his reportedly wicked sense of humour. So do I and the guitar work is sublime on this version.
Dr Zoidberg · Member since
I love the camp b-side version of See What a Fool I've Been.
Soundfreak · Member since
I used Audacity to adjust the speed to try to match it to album version of MFK and and I still find it a difference performance, even with timing similarities now accounted for.
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Sorry I am speechless, obviously we are living on different planets or have completely different eyes and ears.
When I put the BBC MFK into the multitracker and stretch it for the resample-factor 1.004 it is in sync with the regular version. The piano and guitar and drums and most of the backing vocals are identic.The main difference is a slightly different lead vocal of Freddie and a different mix of the guitar tracks. Although they are the same including the backwards stuff at 3:00. They couldn't have done that at the BBC.
Even the wave of both tracks looks nearly the same. There is a slight tape speed difference in the BBC tape somewhere in the middle so you have to adjust the second half again. But it remains still the same recording.
rhyeking · Member since
I redid the test, Soundfreak, now that I had some free time and you might well be correct in MFK.
There are differences, but the piano and some of the guitar tracks do sound like the album recording. Other parts are certainly different and what might be from the album recording has most definitely been stripped of the effects applied to them on the album mix, such as echoes and double-tracking. Also, the stripped down recording is itself mixed differently, with guitar and vocal tracks given different amounts of presence compared to the album.
strangefrontier · Member since
Although not a BBC recording, I thought that it might be worth while reminding everyone of the rarest verson of SSOR that is rumoured to exist...the alternative mix wrongly pressed on the original demo's that were subsequently recalled. I wonder if we could hear the difference with that one!!
strangefrontier · Member since
Good work btw everyone on the analysis of these tracks.
The Real Wizard · Member since
rhyeking wrote:
Session #1
My Fairy King - new recording Keep Yourself Alive - new recording Doing Alright - new recording Liar - new recording
Session 5
Now I'm Here - album backing with new vocals and guitar Stone Cold Crazy - album backing with new vocals and guitar Tenement Funster - album backing with new vocals and guitar
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You're right about most. The backing tracks on these above 7 songs are musically 100% identical to the albums except for the lead vocals. The only other difference is mixing, which might account for the differences you're hearing.
The Real Wizard · Member since
strangefrontier wrote:
See What A Fool I've Been from session 2 was the most unique recording from the sessions in that it was recorded entirely at Langham studios, and then taken back to trident to be remixed from the 8 track master. Two lead vocals were recorded, the straight BBC session version and the spoof SSOR 'B' side style version.
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I'm not sure if that's right. Instrumentally, the BBC version and B-side versions are completely different. Judging by the drum sound, the B-side version sounds like it was done later, during the Queen II sessions at Trident in August.
What we do know for sure is there are at least three lead vocal tracks - two for the BBC version (the one for the one we've heard for years, and another take is heard on "I caught a train") .. and then the "spoof" take for the B-side. It's unlikely that the spoof track was recorded to the BBC version from the previous month.
So as far as I can tell, the vocal tracks are from at least two different sessions.
joesilvey · Member since
this is Queen we're talking about... my guess is that perhaps there were multiple vocal takes done for even some/all of the BBC sessions. Since the album backing was often used, they could certainly have laid down a couple of vocal passes, even under the tight time constraints they worked within... just my feeling...
the liner notes of the new remasters say that the BBC session version of SWAFIB was July 1973, and it credits the B-side version as February 74 (which is when the SSOR single was released)... but it does't definitively say that the B-side version came from the July 73 session or not. maybe no one remembers!
The Real Wizard · Member since
And there we have it. Laying down another vocal track simply took four minutes. No doubt there were extra takes to assemble a final version from. And for the 2011 version, for some reason they preferred the alt take of "I caught a train."
spaceboy1972 · Member since
Don't know if this helps (apologies if it's mentioned elsewhere) but this Japanese compilation is on ebay - is this official?
