If Brian had said yes.

I have been reading the topic on whether Freddie made Queen or Queen made Freddie and I noticed some people were speculating on what might have happened to the four individuals without Queen.

That reminded me that according to my book on the History of Glam Rock, Brian was asked by the Mael brothers if he would like to join their band Sparks.

This apparently occurred after Queen 2, so at that point there was no Sheer Heart Attack or Killer Queen in existence and the success that Queen had achieved was relatively limited.

So assuming that Brian had accepted this offer, Freddie, Roger and John would still have been together in Queen but they would have then been short a guitarist and would not have achieved their major breakthrus at that point.

Any thoughts on what might have happened next? Would Queen have fallen apart? Alternately what guitarist do you think they might have got to replace Brian with? And for those that are familiar with the now actual (instead of prospective) poachers, how do you think the new look Sparks would have done with Brian on board ?

Brian was an integral part of the band even at this point in their career. Freddie liked what Brian and Roger were doing with Smile which is why he wanted to join them. John probably could have taken or left it behind at this stage. So in my opinon, had Brian said "yes" to the Sparks offer, I think the rest of Queen would have folded.

no chance. freddie had a vision - since he was about 12, and roger did not want to go back to dentistry...so the rock n roll life was possible without ANY one band member...
also, remember, around 74/75 there were lots of available guitarists around, all whod' had success elsewhere

If you've got someone like Freddie as your lead singer there's no way Brian would have left Queen at that point. You'd have to be deaf and blind not to realise just how gifted Freddie was and how rare people of his talent come about.

If Brian had of left Queen there's the possibility that maybe Queen would go on to even greater things, ever considered that outcome? It's all speculation but what's not speculation is that Queen was great then the sum of parts which was especially true for the relationship between Brian and Freddie in as much as Brian got the best out of Fred and Fred got the best Brian. If they had never met I don't think either of them would have reached there heights in terms of ability.

Sparks were cunts to their bands, so he would've lasted about a year in the line up - Queen would've carried on for Night At The Opera!

BTW I don't think there was ever a point where he would've said yes to the offer although I'd urge Queen fans to get the classic Sparks album Kimono My House for some Queen II esque treats.

Spark's Indiscreet is their best dysan ;) And I know what I'm talking about since I have all their albums :D

So do I! I agree that Indiscreet is great, but KMH shares a certain energy with Queen II. Perhaps Indiscreet is more akin to the twee tunes on ADATR and ANATO?

Also - Whomp That sucker was made by Mack around the same time as The Game. Interesting to compare the sonic tricks used on both.

Brian talked a bit about this in Mojo last year, and he was gracious about it all.

do you think,sparks,were heavy enough for brian.
must confess apart from singles i dont know much sparks songs.
was,kimono my house? a heavy ish album.
and is it worth a listen.

i have decided to download it from isohunt.
if its any good will let you know.

Thanks for some cool responses to this topic. I agree that Brian would have been disposed of by Sparks in the short to medium term. They went back to the US after a few albums so that would have terminated any ongoing relationship with Brian I would think.

Regarding the issue of whether Queen would have folded, my guess would be that whether they would have done so would have depended on the character and personality of the guitarist or guitarists Queen got to replace Brian.

I'm sure Freddie would have only bothered with damn good guitarists. But whether the guitarist have been able to work with Freddie the way Brian did? I'm not so sure. Having said that I do agree that Freddie was almost certainly destined for greatness in some form or other.

Although if we're doing parallel careers, it's possible Sparks would've stayed in the UK if Brian had joined and their chart run hadn't dried up. Tanatalisingly, Mick Ronson nearly joined them when they moved back for the Big Beat album in '76.

Although there is a school of thought that if the Kimono line up wasn't fired as soon as the record was out, they would've become a band to equal Queen in terms of stadium rock. One of the great rock injustices that Sparks dropped their bundle when they hit it big.

I imagine if Queen were guitarless in '74, someone from Mott the Hoople may have joined (maybe Ronson himself?) as they got through personnel pretty quickly.

Let me know how you get on with Kimono.

Going to see Sparks in two weeks. Can't wait. Awesome band.

It's just the two of them isn't it? Should be good! Their last few tours have been amazing with a full live band again.

Yeah just Ron & Russell. I saw them twice in 2009, with the full band, and those gigs are definitely in my 'best gigs visited' list :D