As it began ' or any other books

Amidds, I didn't see your response, but if that story is true, it's certainly interesting. Freddie was hampered in developing his sexuality by his upbringing, so his comment might shed some light. From all I've read, Freddie was respectful of his parents, but not at all close and his sexuality never addressed openly. Imagine a teen/young adult reconciling that sort of attitude from parents. Perhaps, a little buried angst or even some anger?

TUHI,I'm also a guy fan I just tend to get along better with the dudes.I have trust issues and Thor is a sweet heart he is very kind to all the ladies on the thread.The thread he and Lee have created is a wonderful reference in itself.I think Jim ,Thor and the rest of those guys were the closest ones in his life.He didnt have to pretend with them he could be himself.Parents make it so hard on their kids he was a product of his times.He had religious immigrant Indian parents that's when kids still cared what their parents thought of them.Im glad to know he had such loyal company and friends not everybody has that to lean on.

I meant Freddie had important men fellas in his life with these men.

TUHI, yes, in that context, I totally agree. In regards to the anger, I really think you hit the nail on the head with Freddie. When you read about his romantic relationships with men, they were often heated and sometimes violent. Even Jim’s book referenced a lot of lashing out on Freddie’s part as if he couldn’t quite reconcile it. I know he had wonderful friendships and many men state he flourished in the gay lifestyle and I believe that’s very true, but, when deep heavy emotions seemed to come into play, it’s almost as if he couldn’t come to terms with that and would do things to push those love interests away. He stated a lot that he was in love with being in love and often stated he was lonely and I think it’s because he couldn’t fully accept that part of himself because he couldn’t be openly happy that way...didn’t want to burden his parents and friends, didn’t want to negatively impact the band and band mates, didn’t want to lose the music life he loved so much. Does that make sense? Breaks my heart that he and so many other couldn’t just live their lives.

Amidds, that all makes perfect sense. Freddie was fine with the sleeping around--that's easy: no commitments, just temporary fun and superficial affections. And in reality, he probably needed that experience and those years to a certain extent. But when he really liked someone, he either picked a jerk, or was a jerk himself--deep emotional bonds were just too scary. I think he mistook infatuation and crushes for love, and that it took him toward the end of his 30s before he gained some understanding (and this will sound corny) what true and deep affection/love requires. In essence: FM was a late bloomer.

I get the impression that by the Munich years he was tired of being a slutty kid, had matured, but with his star lifestyle and all that emotional and psychological baggage that he'd carried for years, he was lost.

Along comes Jim Hutton: comfortable in his own skin, an emotionally a mature man, and while I've seen him described as simple, what I believe is that he was reserved, not a blabber mouth, and had very good native intelligence. Hutton addresses some of this very discussion in his book, but you're right that it is very sad that these guys couldn't be open, couldn't live as who they were. Thank goodness that's changed--no everywhere--but in many places.

TUHI, I really think Jim was the perfect match for Freddie. He was kind, had patience, didn't take things too seriously, seemed friendly. He seemed to be able to handle whatever was thrown at him calmly which I think was exactly what Freddie needed. He may have needed some drama to help with his creativity, but he needed someone in his personal life (other than friends, of course) that would just have his back and be there for him. Of course, that's all conjecture but, I feel pretty safe saying that as that info came mostly from Phoebe :)

JB, don't know if you fell into the rabbit hole here BUT, I think I came across another of the 3 people Freddie had fired in mid-80's per our previous discussion. Of course, I can't think of his name now but it was his driver from '78-85 (?), he had lost his license due to drunk driving and ghosting Freddie. Now I just have to come up with #3 lol!

Hi Amidds!! Haha! Nope, escaped the rabbit hole. :)) I’m here! Just a little slower than usual. :))
I just got auto renewal on AIB so will have it a little longer. Ya!! I need to stop reading everything else. Haha.

Very cool!! Top notch investigating!! But now that you say that he let another driver go too, didn’t he? But that was later. Gordon, I think? Was one mentioned in Jim’s book. Am sure you’ll recall... Someone who knew the driver approached Jim and knew a lot of personal details. I’m trying to think who else that could be. Will let u know if think of it or come across anything!

JB, lucky you! Every now and then I check to see if I can buy AIB for a reasonable price but no luck so far. I’m really surprised they haven’t re-released that one as it is so informative!

I actually don’t recall the other driver, hmmm, a new mystery. The one I was referring to was Peter Jones and I think his last one was Terry or Terri. I thought Gordon was his doctor. Gah, I’m so bad at names if I don’t have a face to go with it! I just finished the Minns book and was gonna move on to Jim’s book for my next re-read so I’ll try to keep that one in mind!

Hi Amidds!!!

I had to look cus when you said Dr. that sounded right tooo... and the verdict is.... we both remembered correctly. :-/)).

Here is from
Mercury and Me:
Dr Gordon Atkinson with his friend Roger, chauffeurs Graham Hamilton and Gordon,

I’m looking for the passage where Jim’s book describes the “incident”

From Mercury and Me:

Relations cooled between Freddie and Gordon because Gordon couldn’t hold his tongue. Freddie expected total loyalty and discretion from those around him. When Graham or Gordon drove Freddie, they’d drop the names of the other VIPs they had had in the back of their car. Freddie believed that they must also talk freely to their other passengers about him.

The final straw came when I went out for a drink one night to Champions, a gay pub in Notting Hill Gate. Gordon was in the pub and came over to say hello,
introducing me to a young friend drinking with him. A little later I left and walked to the nearby Gate Club, a gay club.

From Mercury and Me Continued....

After I’d been there about half an hour, the young man Gordon had introduced me to arrived and made a beeline for me. ‘I know everything about you,’ he said. ‘I know you’re Freddie Mercury’s boyfriend.’ He went on to tell me bits and pieces of gossip he’d learnt from Gordon. I was speechless. He was a total stranger and he knew some very private things about us. ‘Who told you all this?’ I asked, though the answer was obvious. I left the club at once and got home about midnight. Freddie was wide awake in bed.

‘You look livid. What’s wrong?’ he asked. I told him what had happened and he shook his head. ‘Right,’ he said. And we didn’t see much of Graham and Gordon after that.“

I could be wrong, please don’t quote me on this ... I swear I saw something online that they may be updating AIB. Will be great if they re-release.

Good night!!

Amidds. I was just catching up and saw the link you posted for me.... thank you very much!!! Can’t wait to dig in.

Also, which book did you look up CrazyLittleThing in? I was in AIB.

(JB, out of curiosity, I did look up CLT in my book and there was absolutely no mention of the hand clapping.)

JB, I vaguely remember that story now. I'll look that up to see if it will fit with the 3 fired people we discussed. Of course, then it would be 4 people total but it would make a lot of sense....

Would be exciting if AIB was re-released. I did a search after I read your post and saw that some people are selling it for right around $50 instead of $300 so it would make sense!!! Now, will I shell out the $50 or be patient? Hmmm......

How dare you not read my mind to know which book I was referring to! Geez!! Lol, I was referring to Complete Works which I have been mentioning a lot lately. I would recommend it for the researcher in you (and me!). It's a great reference though the author does include some debunked rumors as facts in regards to the songs and, obviously as in the case of CLT, missed an important part of the story. That's just my opinion though.

So I am halfway through As It Began and really enjoying it. I must say, it’s nice to read a book where it’s all about the band happenings and not about the personal lives/relationships with significant others. It feels a lot more factual that way.

And thanks to all about the mention of the Complete Works, I have downloaded that on my Kindle and it is next in the queue! I really enjoy the in-depth music info so that one will be good for me, I’m sure. Another topic, but I recently downloaded Elton John’s book, probably more because of the mentions of Freddie than anything. I’ve read a few chapters and I’m not finding it super interesting so far. I am still in his pre-popularity portion of life. Why do I have 2 books going at once, you ask? (Ok, you probably don’t care, lol!). I was reading outside and didn’t want my hands to be sweaty or greasy to mar the cover of my AIB book. Queen-related materials get white glove treatment! ; )