'Made in Heaven' timeline

Fascinating. Thanks!

Bravo Sebastien!

By the way, the album liner notes list Special Thanks to:

'Ashley Alexander, Mary Austin, Stephen Blood, Peter Chant, Mike Crossley, Ruadhri Cushnan, Frederick Delius, DW Drums, Spike Edney, the late Joe Fannelli, Peter Freestone, Ben Gibson, Karen Goodman, Guild Guitars, Vernon Handley, Noel Haris, Istanbul Cymbals, Fitz Jackson, Melanie Keady, Anita Keogh, Erdal Kizilcay, Robert Lee, Neal Levin, Richard Lyttleton, David Mallet, the late Alistair McLaren, Anne Meyer, Gustavo Moratorio, Jane Moraz, Crispin Murray, The Red Special, Penny Robinson, Sleishman Drums, Gerry Stickells, Ian Sylvester, Bob Taylor, Gavin Taylor, Paul Twomey, Vicky Vocat, Vox Amplifiers, Barry Woodward, Zildjian.'

42 names in total, out of which:

* 7 refer to equipment: DW Drums, Guild Guitars, Istanbul Cymbals, The Red Special, Sleishman Drums, Vox Amplifiers, Zildjian. Those credits may suggest Brian used his Guild copy alongside the original BHM for this album ... maybe not, but perhaps. Interesting to see they didn't thank any bass or keyboard make.

That leaves us 35 people who got thanked on 'Made in Heaven'. The ones I've got some idea why are:

* Ashley Alexander: Assistant engineer at Abbey Road (Spring 1993) and The Town House (September 1995), which means he witnessed both the beginning and end of the project.

* Mike Crossley: Played synths in the Spring 1993 sessions. Whether those bits survived to the final cut is unknown ... though the fact he's mentioned could suggest so.

* Frederick Delius: Quoted on IABD.

* Noel Harris: Chief engineer when John and Roger did the preliminary work at Abbey Road in Spring 1993, before Brian's involvement.

* David Mallet: Directing the video for the lead single (and probably others ... IDK).

* Gustavo Moratorio and Crispin Murray: Assistant engineers at Metropolis.

* Barry Woodward: Assistant engineer at The Town House.

* Ian Sylvester: In charge of transferring material to digital. He's also thanked on 'Innuendo', 'Back to the Light' and 'Brixton Academy.'

And that's basically it.

I suppose (rather than know) the others might have been credited for emotional support, but maybe some of them were indeed more directly connected to the project, one way or another, engineering something, or even playing something (in Spike's case).

Other people I've got at least some idea who they were and why they might have been thanked:

* Peter Chant: I think he's been their (and/or Brian's) accountant for a while now.

* Spike Edney: Did he play on any of the studio cuts? Or perhaps it was because they sample some bits of the Magic Tour...

* Karen Goodman: She was the studio manager at Metropolis. She's also thanked on Innuendo and some of Brian's albums (coincidentally, those which were partly recorded or mixed at Metropolis).

* Melanie Keady: Brian's PA in America. She's also thanked on 'Another World' (I think) and TCR.

* Erdal Kizilcay: Since he's also credited on 'Shove It', my guess is that perhaps he was somewhat involved with 'Heaven for Everyone.' Erdal is a Turkish-born Swiss-based multi-instrumentalist who's worked with Bowie and others, so perhaps he did some ghost instrumentation on it (perhaps the famous nylon-strung guitar bit?). As a curiosity, he also played bass on a 1987 Freddie demo ('Yellow Breezes').

* Robert Lee: Whoever he is, he seems to be also an executive, since he's been involved with Brian's projects (Pinnocchio, Anthems, Another World, etc) as well as the musical, Cosmos Rocks, etc. Whoever he is, he's been with Queen at least since 'The Miracle'.

* Neal Levin: Again, I don't know who he is/was but he was involved with Queen at least since 'The Works', and is also thanked on both 'Back to the Light' and 'Another World'.

* Anne Meyer: She's been part of the management for a while now, and also thanked on 'Brixton Academy', 'Cosmos Rocks', etc.

* Penny Robinson: One of the management directors at The Town House, also thanked on 'The Miracle' and 'Back to the Light.'

* Gerry Stickells: Touring manager.

* Gavin Taylor: Directed the 'Wembley' video, but no idea about his MIH connexion.

* Vicky Vocat: I think she's some sort of publicist since she's also thanked on other Queen and Queen-related issues and was since made spokeperson for the Phoenix Trust.

And then, of course, Phoebe, Mary and Joe for their association with Fred (though Jim's not mentioned ... odd).

Which leaves the following eleven people whom I've no idea who they are and why they were thanked:

Stephen Blood
Ruadhri Cushnan
Ben Gibson
Vernon Handley
Fitz Jackson
Anita Keogh
Richard Lyttleton
Alistair McLaren
Jane Moraz
Bob Taylor
Paul Twomey

Very nice analysis!

Hmm. Gavin Taylor -> Wembley -> Mother Love ending featuring the live audience call and response bit?

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

* Vicky Vocat: I think she's some sort of publicist since she's also thanked on other Queen and Queen-related issues and was since made spokeperson for the Phoenix Trust.

[/QUOTE]

Wasn't she the president of the fan club at some point?

That was Vicky Farmer (though back when she ran the OIQFC, she might have still been Vicky Everett).

[QUOTE] [b]cmi wrote:[/b]

Very nice analysis![/QUOTE]

Yes, quite !

http://www.emimusicsoundfoundation.com/index.php/site/trustees/the_hon._richard_c_lyttelton1/

; )

Thanks :D One less to worry about.

It´s just a little bit, maybe nothing to write home about...

The press stated that Freddie had a meeting with his doctors ( Brian Gazzard, Frank Atkinson,Graeme Moyle) on 7 th of November. It was also mentioned that his last public appearance was nine weeks ago. That time window would fit quite well with his treatment plan.
Still, it`s no evidence that he worked on MIH at that point. But his last trip to Montreux in the later stages of 91` seems more and more likely.

His recently diseased mum commented on a doco (probably 'The Untold Story') that he missed her birthday that year and sent flowers and a card from Montreux. Her birthday was in October.

Sure, witness testimonies are often inaccurate but I'd believe this one considering she'd surely remember something like that (especially considering he allegedly never missed her birthday).

Both Hutton and Freestone have said in thier respective books that the last trip to Montreux was made in late October 1991. Hutton claiming that they "ate in good restaurants every night for ten days", and Freestone attesting that they flew home on Saturday, November 9th 1991. No mention of any work, with Freddie taking to his bed for long periods of the day.

Another issue worth addressing, I think, is the re-working of Mr. Bad Guys tracks: specifically, at what stage did this become an option for the band, and how many tracks were in the running and later discarded?

The evidence suggests that some MBG tracks were in the running as early as 1992, given that 'The Freddie Mercury Album' had a number of rather startling omissions ('Born To Love You' being chief among them). The only reason I can fathom is that certain songs on MBG were vetoed by Jim Beach or the band, with half an eye on the 'final' Queen album. Another possibility is that Fred himself may have given his bandmates carte blanche to re-work his solo output, and identified particular songs he thought could be given the 'Queen' treatment.

Whatever the case, the following songs were left off 'The Freddie Mercury Album / Great Pretender' compilations:

Made In Heaven
I Was Born To Love You
Man Made Paradise
There Must Be More To Life Than This
Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow

The first two appeared in re-worked form on MIH, while of course 'Paradise' and TMBMTLTT started life under the Queen banner. What's the betting that at least some of these three remaining tracks were considered and then discarded for the Made In Heaven project?