Earls Court release pending?

The minute of '39 on the From Rags To Rhapsody documentary sure is an interesting study.

Clearly it's not identical to the Earls Court version of the song heard on the 2011 remaster of ANATO, which is entirely from the second night, June 7. Plenty of things indicate this, particularly Freddie's ad lib connecting the last two choruses. On the first night he says "all together" while it's "everybody" on the second. The former is used in the documentary, but the vocals (lead and backing) otherwise seem to be identical on the two versions.

I tried playing the two versions side by side, and they don't remotely match up on first glance. Instrumentally it's all different, so at least musically speaking the two clips are definitely from the two different nights. So for the new documentary they used the backing tracks from the first night, the vocals from the second night (constantly adjusting the tempo to ensure it all matches), and switched to the first night for that one ad lib so that Freddie's vocal matches the footage.

So the question is - why? Why was all this work done for a one minute clip in a documentary? Maybe the footage of the song from the second night is unusable? In that case, couldn't they have chosen another song that wouldn't have required so much work?

My theory - the work has already been done. They've got an official release in the making, similar to the Rainbow '74 material, using a compilation of both nights.

Furthermore - a few years ago the rumour mill said Earls Court was unreleasable because the piano mic track is blank on the multi-tracks of both nights. The fact that Freddie is seen speaking at the piano before the song on the documentary all but quashes that theory. Who comes up with these things !?

Thoughts?

Yeah I think it's going to be released. The setlist is great but the filming/editing isn't as good as it could be. Also the sound on the new clips was crap.

Here's a comparison of Death On Two Legs - bootleg video in the right channel and From Rags To Rhapsody in the left.

They're identical, except for a few vocal patch ups - particularly the holes filled in at :22 and 2:08, and the autotune at :07 and :38. And of course, the voice crack fix at 1:43.

There's also some slightly artificial (although undisturbing) reverb and delay on the lead vocal, and the harmonizer effect was thankfully removed at :55, 2:00 and 2:30.

Anyone else convinced an official release is nigh?

[QUOTE] [b]Biggus Dickus wrote:[/b]

Also the sound on the new clips was crap.[/QUOTE]

I so disagree. It sounds wonderfully clear.

Although it's clearly gone through Pro Tools in a few places, it still sounds like it's from 1977.

Can't say the same for Rainbow (November more so than March), Hammersmith and Milton Keynes - the snare is triggered on all three. MK is the worst. Unlistenable to me as a result.

If they released a 2 hour Earls Court compilation with what we hear/see here, this may be the best Queen live release of all.

I'm convinced this will be released next year along with Hyde Park as the bonus material. Like already mentioned,why go to tge trouble of fixing the audio for an hour documentart. I'd love Hyde Park in its entirety,however by the looks of the documentary I think the tape is too badly damaged.
Not a betting man,burif I was id go for QPL releasing Earls Court bluray and cd release (an emalgamation of both nights a la Rock Montreal) with Hyde Park cd in the deluxe edition and video extracts of Hyde Park in the super deluxe box set.

I'm pretty convinced now that this work was done for something else besides this documentary. It really does not make any sense that such detailed work would be done for a documentary. Something else is definitely going on.

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

[QUOTE] [b]Biggus Dickus wrote:[/b]

Also the sound on the new clips was crap.[/QUOTE]

I so disagree. It sounds wonderfully clear.

Although it's clearly gone through Pro Tools in a few places, it still sounds like it's from 1977.

Can't say the same for Rainbow (November more so than March), Hammersmith and Milton Keynes - the snare is triggered on all three. MK is the worst. Unlistenable to me as a result.

If they released a 2 hour Earls Court compilation with what we hear/see here, this may be the best Queen live release of all.
[/QUOTE]
It's not the overall sound which is pretty good. It's stuff like Brian's acoustic in '39, it just sounds horrible to me.

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

Furthermore - a few years ago the rumour mill said Earls Court was unreleasable because the piano mic track is blank on the multi-tracks of both nights. The fact that Freddie is seen speaking at the piano before the song on the documentary all but quashes that theory. Who comes up with these things !?

Thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

I believe that came direct from Jim Beach when asked by a fan.
The fact that the only time we hear Freddie speak into the piano mic is still the same as the old bootleg makes me worry that the rumour is correct.
Why would they do all of the work you mentioned yet not correct a simple error like that?

I do hope you're right though!

[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]

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

Furthermore - a few years ago the rumour mill said Earls Court was unreleasable because the piano mic track is blank on the multi-tracks of both nights. The fact that Freddie is seen speaking at the piano before the song on the documentary all but quashes that theory. Who comes up with these things !?

Thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

I believe that came direct from Jim Beach when asked by a fan.
The fact that the only time we hear Freddie speak into the piano mic is still the same as the old bootleg makes me worry that the rumour is correct.
Why would they do all of the work you mentioned yet not correct a simple error like that?

I do hope you're right though![/QUOTE]But, as the new footage - and especially audio - shows they are combining the music (instruments) from night 1 with the vocals from night 2.... And there's no reason to believe there was a problem with the piano mic on night 2.

So, the following question: why not just release night 2? It has no piano mic problems, the performance is probably even better than te first night,...
I think the simple answer to this question might be that they have more footage from night 1 (see '39 for example where they have already synched the second night audio to the first night video). And they like making compilations...

In my perfect world they'd release:
- the second night uncut in just audio format with whatever footage they have from night 2 on a blu-ray
- the first night in full with patches from the second night in places where the equipment failed

Since we're in Queen-world - which is far from perfect - can settle with a compilation of boths nights :-)

[QUOTE] [b]on my way up wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]

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

Furthermore - a few years ago the rumour mill said Earls Court was unreleasable because the piano mic track is blank on the multi-tracks of both nights. The fact that Freddie is seen speaking at the piano before the song on the documentary all but quashes that theory. Who comes up with these things !?

Thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

I believe that came direct from Jim Beach when asked by a fan.
The fact that the only time we hear Freddie speak into the piano mic is still the same as the old bootleg makes me worry that the rumour is correct.
Why would they do all of the work you mentioned yet not correct a simple error like that?

I do hope you're right though![/QUOTE]But, as the new footage - and especially audio - shows they are combining the music (instruments) from night 1 with the vocals from night 2.... And there's no reason to believe there was a problem with the piano mic on night 2.

So, the following question: why not just release night 2? It has no piano mic problems, the performance is probably even better than the first night,...
I think the simple answer to this question might be that they have more footage from night 1 (see '39 for example where they have already synched the second night audio to the first night video). And they like making compilations...

In my perfect world they'd release:
- the second night uncut in just audio format with whatever footage they have from night 2 on a blu-ray
- the first night in full with patches from the second night in places where the equipment failed

Since we're in Queen-world - which is far from perfect - I can settle with a compilation of boths nights :-)



[/QUOTE]

If they don't have Freddie's piano mic on the multitracks, QPL might declare that as a reason for it to be unreleasable. Sure Freddie's voice from the piano mic is on the stereo mix but that might not be good enough for them cos they can't autotune it.

[QUOTE] [b]jondickens1 wrote:[/b]

I'm convinced this will be released next year along with Hyde Park as the bonus material. Like already mentioned,why go to tge trouble of fixing the audio for an hour documentart. I'd love Hyde Park in its entirety,however by the looks of the documentary I think the tape is too badly damaged.
Not a betting man,burif I was id go for QPL releasing Earls Court bluray and cd release (an emalgamation of both nights a la Rock Montreal) with Hyde Park cd in the deluxe edition and video extracts of Hyde Park in the super deluxe box set. [/QUOTE]

I agree.
2016 will present us with a compiled Earls Court and a "best of" Hyde Park, since they're adamant they can't release the full concert of that.

[QUOTE] [b]Biggus Dickus wrote:[/b]

If they don't have Freddie's piano mic on the multitracks, QPL might declare that as a reason for it to be unreleasable. Sure Freddie's voice from the piano mic is on the stereo mix but that might not be good enough for them cos they can't autotune it.[/QUOTE]

Now THAT's probably the most realsitic reason I've heard yet!

Wish they'd get over this thing of every Queen release has to be bloody perfect.

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]jondickens1 wrote:[/b]

I'm convinced this will be released next year along with Hyde Park as the bonus material. Like already mentioned,why go to tge trouble of fixing the audio for an hour documentart. I'd love Hyde Park in its entirety,however by the looks of the documentary I think the tape is too badly damaged.
Not a betting man,burif I was id go for QPL releasing Earls Court bluray and cd release (an emalgamation of both nights a la Rock Montreal) with Hyde Park cd in the deluxe edition and video extracts of Hyde Park in the super deluxe box set. [/QUOTE]

I agree.
2016 will present us with a compiled Earls Court and a "best of" Hyde Park, since they're adamant they can't release the full concert of that.[/QUOTE]Is there also a problem with the Hyde Park audio? If the audio is intact, then just releasing some bits would be a crime!

A compiled Earls court - representing one full show - and complete Hyde Park '76 audio would be sensational!

Why would they release a 1977 concert in 2016 though?

How about a Live At The Parks release with '76 Hyde Park and '86 Knebworth Park audio? Two anniversaries in one. Then onto Earls Court with Houston as a bonus in 2017.