What influenced what?

Hi everybody, this thread originates from my previous “what did they read” thread. I’ve really enjoyed it, thanks everyone and I hope you’ll remain as awesome as before, except: there’s some massive offtop lingering in the air which I think I’ll better get before it gets me XD

The Queen is such a huge heritage and I understand that discussing its influences may sometimes suffer from, let’s say, from being bound to particular themes or facts. So, if you have any theory, urban legend, or fake – I mean unproven – fact about what influenced what, please share it here with no limits whatsoever.

I hope that works XD
Still appreciate you coming to discuss literature matters in What Did They Read thread :-)

Good topic but the queen catalogue is too extensive to quote a single influence

Early queen has echoes of Hendrix, black Sabbath through to the Beatles on anato

You can hear shades of led zepplin on notw

Jazz is on its own; weird

The game has Elvis, chic, the police, Beatles

Lets not discuss hs!

In the 80s the albums were less cohesive; individual tracks almost parodies of themselves

And lets not forget Ghostbusters! - its criminal how I can, see right through you...

I remember reading an unfavourable review of Queen I (archived ont he internet) that Brian copied riffs, or licks of Jimmy Page (hence the Led Zepplin influence). I think also that Roger and John playing together gave them a Led Zepplin quality too (most notably on 'See What A Fool I've Been which is from the early Queen era).

Zeppelin and Black Sabbath influences are all over the first album.

Son And Daughter could've been a bonus track on Paranoid.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Son And Daughter could've been a bonus track on Paranoid.[/QUOTE]

Brian was definitely HEAVILY influenced by Sabbath in the early days, SAD, Hangman, Prophet ... they do sound like Sabbath songs to me

[QUOTE]

[b]pittrek wrote: [/b] [QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Son And Daughter could've been a bonus track on Paranoid.[/QUOTE]

Brian was definitely HEAVILY influenced by Sabbath in the early days, SAD, Hangman, Prophet ... they do sound like Sabbath songs to me[/QUOTE]

I absolutely agree with you both, Black Sabbath is the first name that comes to my head. I can hear some Hendrix too, such as the riff to Keep Youself Alive. Led Zeppelin had an impact I'm sure. The same goes with The Beatles. I also think Jeff Beck had an impact on Brian's playing.

Was there any influence from Mott The Hoople? Can't say I've seriously listned to their music.

Good topic.
I believe, Queen have been heavily influencied by The Who too, because the style of backing vocals and chorus for diverses songs of Queen.
Anybody agree ??

[QUOTE] [b]GuitarMay wrote:[/b]

Good topic.
I believe, Queen have been heavily influencied by The Who too, because the style of backing vocals and chorus for diverses songs of Queen.
Anybody agree ??[/QUOTE]

Brian May agrees :-)

From the interview http://www.queenonline.com/en/features/brian-and-roger-interview-part-1

"We loved The Who. Now, The Who had the beginnings of harmonies and they were very kind of rough and hooligan and we liked that. We liked this sort of element of danger that was in The Who. But I suppose we took our harmonies a lot more seriously and I remember Pete Townsend, we met him quite early on, we went to record in his studio and he said ‘Brian where did all of this harmony stuff come from? Did you study it?’ and I actually didn’t know what to say. I said ‘I don’t know if I studied it, we listened to people including you and something happened in our heads’.

I'm so glad that Black Sabbath influence surfaces, I think it should be quoted more often. When Brian said Freddie hit the stage in the era when other rock frontmen hardly ever moved he didn't mean Ozzy, did he? XD

Queen cited influences were:

The Beatles
Cream
The Who
Jimi Hendrix
Beach Boys
David Bowie
Mott the Hopple
The Yardbirds
Led Zeppellin
Elvis Presley
Aretha Franklin

-

I think there's a lot of Wishful thinking about us fans today determining early Queen influences.

As much as i see the similarities between early sabbath and songs like Son & Daughter, there's no evidence of that.

In Any Case, Ozzy's Biography shows that was indeed the opposite: When Sabbath split, one of the reasons were that Tony Iommi wanted Sabbath to sound more like Foreigner and Queen

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

Zeppelin and Black Sabbath influences are all over the first album.

Son And Daughter could've been a bonus track on Paranoid.[/QUOTE]

If they'd had a vocalist who could actually sing. I've always felt that Black Sabbath was seriously held back by Ozzy's complete lack of singing ability, whereas Son and Daughter is a song that would completely fall apart if it were performed by a poor singer.

[QUOTE] [b]Ozz wrote:[/b]



Queen cited influences were:

The Beatles
Cream
The Who
Jimi Hendrix
Beach Boys
David Bowie
Mott the Hopple
The Yardbirds
Led Zeppellin
Elvis Presley
Aretha Franklin

-

I think there's a lot of Wishful thinking about us fans today determining early Queen influences.

As much as i see the similarities between early sabbath and songs like Son & Daughter, there's no evidence of that.

In Any Case, Ozzy's Biography shows that was indeed the opposite: When Sabbath split, one of the reasons were that Tony Iommi wanted Sabbath to sound more like Foreigner and Queen

[/QUOTE]

C'mon. Black Sabbath influence is a fact!
Just think: they obviously knew each other. They sound very much alike. How can it be NOT an influence?

It's another question why it isn't quoted. Well, people tend to underrate Black Sabbath, they don't ask about their influence like they ask about Beatles. Or, there is some tension they don’t want to mention… It’s so typical for The Queen, to pick up an influence and take it to the next level. Ozzy might seriously dislike that :D

[QUOTE] [b]MartynTS wrote:[/b]

Was there any influence from Mott The Hoople? Can't say I've seriously listned to their music.[/QUOTE]

Mott's 1974 live album (recorded in '73) is definitely worth a listen.

Now I'm Here chronicles the early tours with Mott, and the middle section (particularly the piano) is definitely influenced by All The Way From Memphis... which Brian later covered in the 90s.

[QUOTE] [b]Zaza Gabor wrote:[/b]

people tend to underrate Black Sabbath, they don't ask about their influence like they ask about Beatles.[/QUOTE]

Depends who you're talking to. If you ask virtually anyone in the world of metal, Sabbath are gods. They paved the way for entire genres of music. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Savatage (and by extension the Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Winger, Testament, Opeth, Stratovarius and Apocalyptica would not exist if it were not for Sabbath.

Btw - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage are amongst the greatest rock/metal records ever made. These are overshadowed by the early records, but musically speaking these records are definitely their peak.

I remember reading also that at one point In the mid to late 70's, Tony lommi wanted Sabbath to sound more like Queen, according to Ozzy's biography.

(Edit update - I've just read the comment above which said the same thing before me here)