Interesting discussion! It's great we have these queenologists on board who have the time and energy to dig up all this fascinationg information!!
Anyway, one song that has puzzled me in respect of songwriting and timieline is Let Me Live. Is there any more evidence on the developement of that particular song?
So, we know that it was started in The Works sessions (not during DATR sessions as some claim). But how much was written/recorded back then? Has anyone heard more of it than those few seconds on that documentary few years back? Did that 1983 session produce all the Freddie's bits that were later used to create the song, or was the song revisited later by Freddie? What I mean to say is, was it a complete song in 1983, or just an idea that the band turned into a song later during MIH sessions.
I think it's safe to assume that Bri & Rog sang their parts during MIH session, but were those lyrics also written during these sessions (I seem to recall there is a handwritten lyrics sheet of this one(?), from what period that comes from)? For me, the song sounds like a lot of it was created/structured during the MIH sessions. But of course it is possible that thay actually had the full song, but lots of Freddie's vocals were unusable, so thay turned it into a "threesome" and that's why it sounds like a lot of it was created after Freddie's passing.
Sebastian · Member since
AFAIK, though I've got no way to confirm it, what they had consisted of about a minute and a half of Freddie's vocals and piano, and they built the song from that.
August R. · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
AFAIK, though I've got no way to confirm it, what they had consisted of about a minute and a half of Freddie's vocals and piano, and they built the song from that.[/QUOTE]
Sebastian · Member since
A different layout of the timelines.
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Freddie's bits:
Spring 1980: It's a Beautiful Day at Musicland in Munich, West Germany.
Early 1982: Yeah at Musicland in Munich, West Germany.
Friday 2nd Sept. 1983: Piece of My Heart at the Record Plant in LA, America.
May 1984: Made in Heaven and I Was Born to Love You at Musicland.
May 1987: Heaven for Everyone at Mediterraneo Studios in Ibiza, Spain.
Early 1988: My Life Has Been Saved at The Town House in London, England.
September 1988: Too Much Love Will Kill You at Olympic in London, England.
January 1991: A Winter's Tale and You Don't Fool Me at Mountain in Switzerland.
Friday 10th May 1991: A Winter's Tale vocal compiled at Mountain in Montreux, Switzerland.
Monday 13th May 1991: Mother Love (vocals, drum machine, synth) at Mountain in Switzerland.
Thursday 16th May 1991: Mother Love (synth) at Mountain in Switzerland.
Wed. 22nd May 1991: Mother Love (rough mix) at Mountain in Switzerland.
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The others' bits before Freddie's death:
Early 1988: My Life Has Been Saved at The Town House in London, England.
September 1988: Too Much Love Will Kill You at Olympic in London, England.
January - February 1989: Too Much Love Will Kill You (bass) at Olympic in London, England.
January 1991: A Winter's Tale and You Don't Fool Me at Mountain in Switzerland.
Monday 13th May 1991: Mother Love (Brian's vocals, guitar & synth) at Mountain in Switzerland.
Thursday 16th May 1991: Mother Love (John's bass, Brian's guitar) at Mountain in Switzerland.
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The others' bits after Freddie's death:
Early October 1993: John & Roger at Metropolis in London, England.
Sun. 13th Oct 1993: Mother Love (John & Roger) at Metropolis in London, England.
October - November 1993: Four songs (John, Roger & Mike) at Abbey Road 3 in London, England.
Early 1994: John & Roger at Cosford Mill in Thursley, England.
Fri. 25th Feb 1994: End of first batch of recordings. No Brian involvement yet.
March - June 1994: Brian joins, John goes on holiday.
Summer 1994: Brian works on his own at Allerton Hill in Windlesham, England.
Autumn 1994: The three of them at Metropolis in London, England.
Winter 1994: The three of them at Allerton Hill in Windlesham, England.
Spring 1995: Separate sessions: Brian at Allerton Hill, John and Roger at Cosford Mill.
Summer 1995: The three of them switching between Allerton Hill and Cosford Mill.
3rd - 5th Sept 1995: I Was Born to Love You (mix) at the Town House 1 in London.
Tue. 5th Sept. 1995: You Don't Fool Me (guitar solos) at the Town House 1 in London.
Wed. 6th Sept. 1995: You Don't Fool Me (prog. & mix) at the Town House 1 in London.
Thur. 7th Sept 1995: You Don't Fool Me (comp, prog. & mix) at the Town House 1.
Fri. 8th Sept 1995: Track No 13 (David Richard's programming) at the Town House 1.
9th - 13th Sept 1995: You Don't Fool Me (mix) at the Town House 1 in London.
13th - 15th Sept 1995: A Winter's Tale (mix) at the Town House 1 in London.
15th - 17th Sept 1995: I Was Born to Love You (mix) at the Town House 1 in London.
18th - 22nd Sept 1995: Six tracks mixed at the Town House 1 in London. Album finished.
Sebastian · Member since
Track by track timeline:
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It's a Beautiful Day:
* Piano and lead vocals recorded at Musicland in Munich. Produced by Freddie, co-produced and engineered by Reinhold Mack.
* John and Roger work on it at Abbey Road in late October - early November 1993. At one point, Mike Crossley (Roger's keyboardist) tracks some synths with John producing. Sessions engineered by Noel Harris. No Brian or David Richards involvement at this point. Whether Mike's keyboard work survived to the finished version is yet to be confirmed or denied. John used his red bass.
* Both versions ('normal' and 'reprise') mixed in the last week of the album sessions (18th to 22nd September 1995) at The Town House in London. David Richards was chief engineer.
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Made in Heaven & I Was Born to Love You:
* Piano and vocals at Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany, in May 1984.
* John and Roger work on it at Abbey Road in late October - early November 1993 (see above).
* 'I Was Born to Love You' mixed between the 3rd and 5th of September 1995, then re-mixed between the 15th and 17th. Perhaps they were having disagreements about how each of them wanted it to sound.
* 'Made in Heaven' mixed in the last week of the album sessions (18th to 22nd September 1995) at The Town House in London. David Richards was chief engineer.
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Let Me Live:
* Freddie's piano and vocals come from the 2nd of September 1983 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, California.
* No info about when it was worked on and who took initiative. Considering the backing singers were Brian's friends rather than John's or Roger's, it was most likely he who summoned them, but it's yet to be confirmed whether he initiated rescuing the track.
* It'd already been mixed by the time Queen booked the tail-end Town House sessions (September 1995), but they had to remix it in the last week (18th to 22nd) because of copyright.
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Mother Love:
* Monday 13th of May 1991: Various vocal bits from both Freddie and Brian, keyboards (either one could've played them, on a Korg M-1), guitar (Brian on the original BHM) and a drum-machine generated on either a Linn 9000 or a Korg M-1.
* Thursday 16th of May 1991: Another keyboard (Korg M1), some more guitar, and John's bass (presumably a Fender Precision). Roger was not part of those sessions.
* Wednesday 22nd of May 1991: Rough mix at Mountain.
* Sunday 13th October 1993: John and Roger start working on it at Metropolis in London. Brian on tour at the time.
* Whatever they did to it, it'd already been mixed by the time they went to the Town House in September 1995.
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My Life Has Been Saved:
* Started off in early 1988. John and David Richards did the demo and the keyboards. When they showed it to Freddie, he loved it and sang on it.
* Mixed in the final week (18th to 22nd September 1995) at The Town House in London.
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Heaven for Everyone:
* Roger demo'd it somewhere in Europe in 1987 (or perhaps 1986? There are conflicting stories there).
* May 1987 in Ibiza: Fred visits The Cross and ends up being the guest singer for this song.
* Late October - Early November 1993: John and Roger begin working on it at Abbey Road. Noel Harris engineering. No Brian or David Richards involvement on these sessions.
* It'd already been mixed by the time they booked the Town House sessions (September 1995).
--------
Too Much Love Will Kill You:
* Brian wrote it with his friends in July 1988 whilst in America. Most of the recordings were in September 1988 at Olympic Studios in London, though John wasn't present for those; his bass was added in early 1989.
* No more recordings for that one. The 'Made in Heaven' version is a re-mix (done before September 1995), but nothing was re-recorded.
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You Don't Fool Me:
* Song started in January 1991 at Mountain in Montreux.
* Brian's guitar solo recorded at The Town House in London on what would've been Freddie's 49th birthday.
* Programming overdubs (midi stuff, most likely) on the 6th and 7th of September 1995 at The Town House.
* Mixing between the 9th and the 13th of September 1995 at the Town House.
------
A Winter's Tale:
* Fred started it off in January 1991 at Mountain in Montreux.
* Vocal compiled on Friday the 10th of May 1991.
* Mixed at The Town House 13th to 15th September 1995.
-----
Track No 13:
* Begun by David Richards on the 8th of September 1995 at The Town House.
* Further work by David, Brian and Roger on the 19th.
rocknrolllover · Member since
Thank you for your research
cmi · Member since
Great detailed info! Thanks a lot. Very interesting.
Some mistakes/mistypes:
1) "Mother Love & I Was Born to Love You:" must be "Made In Heaven & I Was Born to Love You:" (two solo tracks from 'Mr Bad Guy' album.
2) Mother Love: BM wasn't on tour in October 1991. There were 2 guest appearances (Extreme show and Expo '92 Festival)
3) You Don't Fool Me: on the "6th and 6th" of September 1995
Sebastian · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]cmi wrote:[/b]
Some mistakes/mistypes...
[/QUOTE]
Thank you :)
They're corrected now.
For ML, I meant '93, not '91 (another typo).
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
Freddie's bits:
January 1991: A Winter's Tale and You Don't Fool Me at Mountain in Switzerland.
[/QUOTE]
Fascinating. I always thought these tracks were done in May, too. How'd you deduce this one?
Sebastian · Member since
Just a temporary conclusion based on:
* JSS (no, I don't mean our lovely poster or the famous singer) told us about the May sessions, he didn't mention YDFM or preliminary work on AWT.
* Jim's book mentions Fred doing AWT in winter (hence the title).
* The Fan Club confirms they were recording in Switzerland in January 1991. We can rule out 'Mother Love.'
The Real Wizard · Member since
Well done, sir.
Bring on the Pulitzer prize.
Sebastian · Member since
I should resurrect my website...
The Ghost of Lester Burnham · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
I should resurrect my website...[/QUOTE]
Definitely.
Not to question anything you've written, but where did you get those specific dates for the '95 sessions?
cmsdrums · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
Just a temporary conclusion based on:
* Jim's book mentions Fred doing AWT in winter (hence the title).
.'[/QUOTE]
I don't think "hence the title" carries much weight......most TV Christmas Specials are written in Spring/Summer, and filmed in Summer/Autumn!!!
Sebastian · Member since
True, but I seem to remember Jim telling the story of how Fred was inspired by winter and the lake and the ducks and that's how the song came about.
