Freddie Mercury "Send In The Clowns" true FLAC

I received the true FLAC version of this recording. It was sent to me by John S Stuart who owns the Jim Hutton tape that he bought directely from Jim.
Not only he gave me the permission, but it was also his idea that this version should be shared among the Queenzone community. So i want to take this opportunity to publicly thank him for his nice gesture. All credit of this share goes to him.

So, first things first:
There are some noticeable differences between this version and the lossy version uploaded to Youtube:
- This version sounds louder, as you would expect, and it has some tape hiss. And because this wasn´t processed to reduce the tape hiss, or converted to a lossy format, you´ll get a richer sound of the piano.
Freddie Mercury had the magic touch on the paino, and this seems to be a very well rehearsed version of this song.

For more information about the Jim Hutton tape visit the first page of this thread:

http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1390050/freddie-mercury-send-in-the-clowns.aspx

On the first page, John S Stuart recalled the origins of this file (i hope it´s ok to post it here):

"This track is genuine; and I am the collector.

Many years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Hutton a wee while before he died, and I did indeed purchase the cassette from him.

It may not have been Freddie's taste in music (I am not sure) but it was Jim's, and Jim would pester Freddie to play these sort of tracks for him. Freddie would respond with a few spontaneous bars - and then give up (I guess because he did not know the rest) and laugh it off as some sort of joke. (This is evidenced in other Garden Lodge tapes of a similar period).

Regardless of what you read in the press (or hear otherwise), there was a genuine closeness between Freddie and Jim and when Freddie pissed Jim-off, and Jim went off in a sulky strop; Oftentimes Freddie would later "apologise" in his own way with some lavishly generous gift.

But on one or two occasions, after very serious bust-ups; (and after brooding a while) Freddie would pretty quickly listen to one of Jim's favourite pieces of music, practice a few times, and then tape-record his version for Jim as some sort personalised peace offering, and special apology.

These are Jim's recollections - not mine. "

On the first page of this thread there´s also a link provided by the user Chiefmouse for the complete Jim Hutton tape. This tape is LOSSY. It was converted to FLAC from mp3. So this version of "Send in the clowns" that i´m sharing today is the first file shared in true FLAC from the Jim Hutton tape.

I hope the Queen community appreciates this as much as i do, because this is the type of things that will never get released on an "official" product. Remember that we´re listening to the one and only Freddie Mercury who we all love. So, let´s treat this with the respect it deserves. This is probably the most intimate and vulnerable Freddie Mercury you´ll ever hear.

Here´s the link to the file:

http://q4ptwy3iku.1fichier.com/

Finally i just want to say that every comment is welcome. I would love to hear what each one of you think about this track. What do you think this track meant for both Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton. What are your thoughts?

Cheers

Thanks a lot!

Thanks to JSS and to you MrQueenFan, for sharing this in lossless quality. It's always nice to hear Freddie play the piano.

Much thanks to both of you!

Thank you both, great share.

Thanks to you and thanks to John S. Stuart!

Thanks a lot to both of you :)

I have not listened to this track for a while; but I am struck by how personally relevant this track is to the Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton story.

As I wrote previously; "...on one or two occasions, after very serious bust-ups; (and after brooding a while) Freddie would pretty quickly listen to one of Jim's favourite pieces of music, practice a few times, and then tape-record his version for Jim as some sort personalised peace offering, and special apology."

So we know that the track was created as an individualised communication between both, but after reflecting on the lyrics I wonder if Freddie was trying to say so much more?

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped
Opening doors,
Finally knowing
The one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again
With my usual flair,
Sure of my lines...
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault, I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want -
Sorry, my dear.

But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer?
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year...


Maybe this track was meant as some sort of private "in-joke" between Freddie and Jim? Maybe this was a "confessional" of something far more serious, and Freddie's way of sharing his thoughts about the early diagnosis of his fatal illness?

"Making my entrance again, With my usual flair, Sure of my lines... No one is there". (Thematically similar to "The Show Must Go On").

"Isn't it rich?" (Sarcasm as in "I have wealth not health")
"Isn't it queer?" (Self-apparent - but shares the same thematic ideas as the "Great Pretender")
"Losing my timing this late In my career?" (Shares the same thematic ideas as the "Innuendo" album in general and the track "I'm Going Slightly Mad" more specifically).
"Well, maybe next year". (Irony - Freddie knew there was to be no "next year").

Now I admit that am I listening to this track with 2014 ears, and therefore hearing the past through rose-tinted headphones, and could be listening-out for subtle clues which do not exist and are only the figments of my own imagination.

But then again, perhaps the melancholic characteristics of both the "words" and the music was something that was not lost to Freddie or Jim either.
If the above is possible - are we listening to a Freddie stripped of all his grandeur and pretence; the naked, raw emotion of one human being expressing feelings for another? Or is this an additional case of Freddie deliberately spitting courageously in the face of impending doom (ala the final "These are the Days of Our Lives" video shot?).

Thanks to you, Mr. Stuart, and to you, Mr. QueenFan.

Lovely track, thanks JSS and Mr. QueenFan!

[QUOTE] [b]John S Stuart wrote:[/b]

But then again, perhaps the melancholic characteristics of both the "words" and the music was something that was not lost to Freddie or Jim either.

[/QUOTE]

What´s very interesting is that the play for which this song was written "A Little Night Music", was about a character named Fredrik (phonetically it was Freddie´s name in England):

From Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_in_the_Clowns

"In an interview with Alan Titchmarsh, Judi Dench, who performed the role of Desirée in London, commented on the context of the song. The play is "a dark play about people who, at the beginning, are with wrong partners and in the end it is hopefully going to become right, and she (Desiree) mistimes her life in a way and realizes when she re-meets the man she had an affair with and had a child by (though he does not know that), that she loves him and he is the man she wants" (Fredrik).

I don´t have time to expand now, but i think there are lots of layers to the choice of this song.

Mr Queen Fan wrote: "What´s very interesting is that the play for which this song was written "A Little Night Music", was about a character named Fredrik..."


I did not know that; but a lead character called Frederick does seem a strange coincidence indeed.

I do know though (that under Freudian psychology) I may be transferring my own emotions and experiences onto the track - and that these feelings will have nothing to do with Freddie whatsoever. That is a very logical and easily defensible stance to take, which I cannot argue against.

However; in comparison to the other "Garden Lodge tapes" which feature "the party-animal Freddie", "the giggling like a schoolgirl Freddie", "the bombastic centre-of-attention Freddie", "the live life to the full" and "live life in the moment" Freddie, this tape seems particularly subdued.

Again (in comparison to the other "Garden Lodge tapes") this IS a "lonely" - by that I mean on his own - and a particularly "retiring Freddie", a "pensive and perhaps more reflective Freddie". Indeed, It could be argued that this is a recording NOT of the Freddie Mercury we know at all, but of the inner Farookh Bulsara - the ghost inside the machine.

The truth is we will never know.

All we can ever do is compare this tape against it's companions and make our own conclusions. Perhaps it is these "what ifs..." that make this instrumental so hauntingly poignant ...

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