Can Brian play the blues?

quote from Clapton back in the late 70's/ early 80's; 'I dont see myself as a really great guitarist,i mean that guy out of Queen does things i can only dream of'

A Word In Your Ear wrote:
"Lost Opportunity", "Sleeping on The Sidewalk", "See what a fool I've been" & even the begining to "Last Horizon" have that Blues-y feel to them.

blues-y is not blues

and SWAFIB is definitely a parody/pastiche call it what you will
much like when queen did vaudeville, rockabilly, hip-hop, funk etc....that may have actually been queen's problem
- no real identity - which explains the lack of critical acclaim

I maintain that it was EVH that scared off Clapton.

brENsKi wrote:

A Word In Your Ear wrote:
"Lost Opportunity", "Sleeping on The Sidewalk", "See what a fool I've been" & even the begining to "Last Horizon" have that Blues-y feel to them.

blues-y is not blues
and SWAFIB is definitely a parody/pastiche call it what you will
much like when queen did vaudeville, rockabilly, hip-hop, funk etc....that may have actually been queen's problem
- no real identity - which explains the lack of critical acclaim

Bingo. Writers are generally myopic, and need to categorize you somewhere. Queen's sound was just too unique and widespread, so befuddled reviewers usually didn't know what to make of them.

In fact, most of their good reviews were on the Hot Space tour, when they did a straight-ahead rock show with big lights.

brENsKi wrote:

A Word In Your Ear wrote:
"Lost Opportunity", "Sleeping on The Sidewalk", "See what a fool I've been" & even the begining to "Last Horizon" have that Blues-y feel to them.

blues-y is not blues
and SWAFIB is definitely a parody/pastiche call it what you will
much like when queen did vaudeville, rockabilly, hip-hop, funk etc....that may have actually been queen's problem
- no real identity - which explains the lack of critical acclaim

They have a sonic identity in that they usually sound like Queen no matter what style they are attempting. Lack of critical acclaim probably comes from lack of complexity of lyrics or serious subjects. The last thing critics seem to care about is the sound of the music.

Listen to Brian's 1998 BBC Radio 'Multi-Track' Session. You'll find some blues there. Especially the blues rendition of Tie Your Mother Down.

Some of his solo songs, such as Why Don't We Try Again and Nothin' But Blue, are definitely blues-based. Same with 'Come to Your Senses' solo demo — it's somewhat close to those tracks (though it's more dynamic).

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this... Brian does not play the right guitar for blues. Something about that treble boosted sound just kills it. Kinda like Carlos... before he started playing that PRS, the early days, he had a good blues tone (on some tunes).

The guitar solo on CLTCL is about the only "blues" I've heard in his repitoire.

Funny to mention that, that solo was played on a Telecaster, but.. as a former Brian May Guitars Signature i can tell you that you can damn well play blues on a RS!, the RS can sound like an RS anytime you want it to, if you want the BohRap solo, no problem.... if you want to sound it a bit countryish, no problem.... the guitar can sounds amazingly Fender!

It has the sort of twang tele`s have!, but it depends on your amp, cuz it is an astonishing dynamic guitar.

I get the blues hearing clapton.

I think that Brian can play the blues,although Brian seems to think he cant.You see,Brian plays from the head,not the heart.

Does this belong in the Personal section?

I thought 'Queen - General Discussion' was reserved for Queen and Adam Lambert topics?

Voice of Reason 2012 wrote: Does this belong in the Personal section?

I thought 'Queen - General Discussion' was reserved for Queen and Adam Lambert topics?

Maybe I should have entitled this "Can Brian Play the blues, with or without Adam Lambert" ...

Any road up, quite a number of you have misunderstood my point: of course Brian has played blues -- I even listed some blues songs! -- my question really is "can he play the blues well?" He has stated his roots are in electric blues, but his song output in the blues style (in my view) isn't that great (with the exception of "See What a Fool I've Been" which has some great moments, and the excellent "Sleepin on the Sidewalk").

Graeme Arnott wrote: I get the blues hearing clapton.

That's crazy.

You should listen to Robbie Robertson's new album...  Eric is playing and singing some great stuff.  It's a really good record.

Zebonka12 wrote:
I maintain that it was EVH that scared off Clapton.

EVH has mentioned Clapton was the only guitarist that influenced him (I call bullshit right there).

I believe there was some comment made by Clapton where he said that he didn't like EVH's playing. Anyone have that quote?

A quick google suggests that EVH doesn't have much love for EC.