Queen Myths People Tend to Swallow

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]


No, they're not. Drums on 'Headlong' and 'I Can't Live with You' are (partly) M1-generated, but the ones on 'Days of Our Lives' are real. Congas are programmed, though.
[/QUOTE]

What about the ICLWU Rocks re-take? I know they said that it finally includes real drums, but is just another myth/lie or are they in fact real drums.

I always knew that the album version of ICLWU was "born" from a fight between Brian and Roger about whether to use the real drums (and it came to a compromise, with a song almost "funky"); ICLWU of '97, instead, it was the one with the real drums

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]

Artistic types do tend to overstate things[/QUOTE]

And fans of artistic types tend to take everything at face value, which adds up to the problem. Hence people believing 'Bo Rhap' has hundreds of vocal overdubs.

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]

I just wish I could've been a fly on the wall when "whatever" happened to cause John to quit once and for all. My guess is that Brian called him a cunt.[/QUOTE]

Not having been there I don't, can't and won't ever know the details, but it does seem that the problem was between those two... People tend to say that John was so attached to Freddie that he quit once he was gone, but that's not quite accurate (another myth?), as he had no problem showing up with Roger on a '93 concert (as 'Queen', mind you) and working with him on the posthumous project. Once Brian joined in, John started to take holidays every second week.

Check the timeline out: http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1321064/timelines-of-recordings.aspx

Another possible myth is whether 'Another One Bites the Dust' was actually their biggest selling hit ever.

I think the myth discussed above that John retired because he missed Freddie too much is interesting, and as is said he had no problem in working extensively with Roger on made In Heaven, and at The Cross gigs, and the Cowdray Ruins gig, and the ballet (with Brian) in 97. It's only once Brian came back into the picture more full time that John stood back. Now, without him telling us we can't ever PROVE his reason for retiring, so I'd like to start a new myth, just as valid as others, that John hated Brian, couldn't stand working with him without Freddie to keep the peace, and so jacked it in!

Sebastian - regarding Headlong drums: I realise there are a few sections where the kick drum is on it's own and is clearly 'machine' generated as it's a totally different sound, but for the main, the drum track (especially when you listen to early versions without all the percussion on) sounds like Roger playing to me; you can even hear the differences when he uses his ride cymbal as a crash instead of a 'proper' crash cymbal, and nuances in hi hat opening etc.... Admiteddly I'm not familar with what the M1 can do, but did Roger not, for example, play a verse and a chorus and then they loop it (so it is his playing) rather than the drums actually being programmed or generated from a drum machine with no human playing??

Not a drum machine, but a keyboard synthesiser. The final cut is a mixture of the M1 drums and Roger's actual playing.

Why can't anyone accept that John just wasn't that interested in being a professional musician anymore.
If he had fallen out with RT and BM wouldn't he have joined or formed another band or project, or become a song writer for other artists. Those would be the normal roots that musicians take if they fall out with members of the band they are in.

John Deacon just got bored or fed up being a musician and took up playing golf or gardening or what ever.

Here's another Queen myth that people lap up, and I'm sure I've seen people on Queenzone take it for granted too - that Brian wrote White Queen about Mary Austin. True, he did write it way back in '68, the year he met her, but there are even clues in the lyrics to disprove that - 'so sad her eyes she cannot see'. Mary isn't blind. The true story, as confirmed by Brian, is that the inspiration behind White Queen was an unrequited crush who he was nervous about.

[QUOTE] [b]br5946 wrote:[/b]

Here's another Queen myth that people lap up, and I'm sure I've seen people on Queenzone take it for granted too - that Brian wrote White Queen about Mary Austin. True, he did write it way back in '68, the year he met her, but there are even clues in the lyrics to disprove that - 'so sad her eyes she cannot see'. Mary isn't blind. The true story, as confirmed by Brian, is that the inspiration behind White Queen was an unrequited crush who he was nervous about.[/QUOTE]

You're right about the real story, but those lyrics aren't evidence in any way - it's very unlikely that the girl was actually blind; it's a metaphor, and doesn't disprove anything.

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]
I just wish I could've been a fly on the wall when "whatever" happened to cause John to quit once and for all. My guess is that Brian called him a cunt.[/QUOTE]

Not having been there I don't, can't and won't ever know the details, but it does seem that the problem was between those two... People tend to say that John was so attached to Freddie that he quit once he was gone, but that's not quite accurate (another myth?), as he had no problem showing up with Roger on a '93 concert (as 'Queen', mind you) and working with him on the posthumous project. Once Brian joined in, John started to take holidays every second week.[/QUOTE]
I don't think there was anything specific that caused John to quit, no single fight between him and Brian that made him want to withdraw... he just gradually grew out of wanting to be a musician.

It happened in the late '80s as he contributed little to The Miracle, Innuendo and post-Innuendo sessions and apparently was on a 'holiday' quite a lot during that time... I think he was already losing interest and pulling out when Freddie was alive, and when he died it was a very easy decision for him to retire. The few things he did in the '90s were just out of obligation for Freddie and maybe playing the odd song live for old time's sake, but when was the last real concert he played and the last time he wrote a song? I guess the same time as Freddie - Knebworth 1986 and if he managed to write something little for The Miracle but that's all. He simply lost the desire a long time ago.

John probably hasn't touched a musical instrument in 15 years and doesn't even consider taking part in anything anymore.

[QUOTE] [b]aion wrote:[/b]It happened in the late '80s as he contributed little to The Miracle[/QUOTE]

He certainly contributed more to The Miracle than he did to the first five Queen albums.

[QUOTE] [b]aion wrote:[/b]The few things he did in the '90s were just out of obligation for Freddie and maybe playing the odd song live for old time's sake,[/QUOTE]

Participating on the making of a full album (on which ALL songs feature him, something that doesn't happen on Queen II, SHA, ANATO, NOTW, Jazz, Hot Space, The Works, A Kind of Magic or Innuendo) is more than 'few things'.

[QUOTE] [b]aion wrote:[/b]I guess the same time as Freddie - Knebworth 1986[/QUOTE]

The Tribute was a full concert, and it was long after Knebworth.

[QUOTE] [b]aion wrote:[/b]if he managed to write something little for The Miracle but that's all.[/QUOTE]

He wrote more for The Miracle than he did for Queen, Queen II, SHA, ANATO, ADATR, Hot Space or The Works.

And he also wrote YDFM with Fred, in 1991.

When I first heard innuendo as a teenager I was pretty sure that the flamenco style solo was played by Brian, A few years later, when I got the album, and read the credits, my myth was fallen down...as for the other myths, I do believe that Freddie wrote better songs,knowing that would be its last ones,and for hot space, I also believed that John was responsible for this, after watching days of our lives documentary, I started thinking that Freddie was behind this, he mixed too much his party...life back then with his work. And for John's retirement, John was never the typical rocker, when freddie died maybe he felt that the story was over(which is true to my opinion),so he stayed for made in heaven just for Freddie's last wish, and then ,retired to his home

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
He certainly contributed more to The Miracle than he did to the first five Queen albums.[/QUOTE]
Because in the early years he was still developing and finding his feet as a songwriter... But my understanding is that none of the singles of The Miracle and Innuendo was written by him although he'd written a song that was a single (and usually a hit) for many of the previous albums. His "peak" as a songwriter was in the early '80s and by the late 80s he wasn't doing much anymore

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
Participating on the making of a full album (on which ALL songs feature him, something that doesn't happen on Queen II, SHA, ANATO, NOTW, Jazz, Hot Space, The Works, A Kind of Magic or Innuendo) is more than 'few things'.[/QUOTE]
I don't think so - that's just one project that was completed as Freddie's wish and it would have been very unreasonable for him to refuse doing it. But if he had actually wanted to do new things, like join another band or write songs for other artists he could have done it but he didn't.

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
The Tribute was a full concert, and it was long after Knebworth.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I didn't remember that but Magic Tour was still his last tour, and if he had had desire to play live more he could have formed a new band, joined another or maybe play in Roger's touring band but he did none of that.

The tribute concert was also something that he had to do, and my guess is that in his rare live appearances in the early '90s he was testing if he still wanted to play live regularly - obviously he didn't want.

Point is simply that John just lost the interest; he was never a rock star type of guy anyway, but a reserved and private person who didn't want attention or do interviews and after 15-20 years of being a professional musician it was enough for him. Freddie's death was kind of convenient for him as it was such an easy reason to retire and by that time he too was some 50 years old and realised he wouldn't want to bounce around a stage as an old man. As he hasn't taken part in any of the stupid Queen+ projects, he clearly doesn't miss the whole business.

Not composing a song that ended up as a single is a really lousy argument. Singles usually aren't chosen until the whole album is pretty much finished, and usually the producers and the record company issuing the record have a very strong voice in choosing the singles.