Time

I e mailed Greg back as I said I would and this is the EXACT message I sent.
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Hi again Greg
Sorry to be a pain, but I have been asking on Queenzone about the Time tracks and a certain Mr Stuart, says that you know that these tracks exist, but it is easier to give the answer you gave me.
http://www.queenzone.com/queenzone/forumnew/forum_topic_view.aspx?Q=404633

I'm not trying to involve you in any disputes, I was just asking a civil question that's all...(and if it is easier for you to respond how you did, I would understand that too)
Whatever ....(hurry up with that boxed set!!) ;-)
Regards
fd
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Here is Greg's exact reply (please note he gives me permission to reprint it)
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Hello fd

What I told you is the honest truth. To the best of my memory that is exactly what happened. I would have loved to include it, but we simply could not find a good enough copy. I still have somewhere the fax from Dave Clark. I did not say that for the fun of it, but because that’s what happened. I know this because I WAS THERE. John Stuart was 400 miles away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t take any notice of the John Stuarts of this world. He was not there present when DC faxed me. He was not at all involved. He is purely guessing. I don’t know why, but JS seems STILL to have an enormous chip on his shoulder, and seems STILL to want to stir up problems when he can – instead of remaining quiet because he does not know the facts. Only us that worked on it know why that material could not feature.

There is no dark secret, fd, I honestly assure you of that. JS is best avoided if all he can do is lead you down dead-end roads and offer you wrong information.

There are a quite a few people out there like him – that sit at home hundreds of miles from where these things are put together, guessing WRONGLY about why things happen and don’t happen. I simply don’t understand the mentality of such individuals.

It would be like me sitting here in Essex, hundreds of miles from Scotland, guessing at why JS does what he does, and the reasons for such and such. I don’t know, so I don’t guess, I just keep my mouth shut and talk about what I DO know. He should do the same. All he’s doing by telling you things like that, is causing unnecessary, unhelpful misinformation.

There is a lot of myth around these days, about Queen, and what does and does not exist – a lot of crap is spoken, written, suggested, and it starts exactly like this – by people spouting off about things they have clearly no idea about. I’m sure you know this.

I hope you get my point fd. It really irritates me when fans like you ask a simple and reasonable question, only to be told utter shit.

YES, we know these tracks exist. Did I say they did not exist? NO I did not. I said they DO exist, but we could not get them AT THAT TIME.

I also said we might use that material on a future FM project IF IF IF Dave Clark provides a decent recording, so CLEARLY I am not denying we know they exist – am I?

TWATISH comments like his are not helpful fd. Suggest you go to a more knowledgeable source – someone who does not have an ask to grind.

I hope this sheds light on this for you. I stand by my comments. What I said was 100% accurate, while what John St guessed at, was 100% inaccurate.

DO PLEASE PRINT THIS ON YOUR SITE

Best regards

GB
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Thanks Greg: Nice to say some nice words about you to. But let's cut to the chase.

"YES, we know these tracks exist... IF Dave Clark provides a decent recording, so CLEARLY I am not denying we know they exist..."

That's exactly what I said. They are in the ownership of Dave Clark. I have no axe to grind, nor chip on my shoulder. Nor did I "Guess" incorrectly. Apart from personality clashes, nothing I reported was inaccurate.

I agree that Greg was not my source, but I ask again, why would he seek out tapes, that QP already have access to?

Greg says: "I don’t know why, but JS seems STILL to have an enormous chip on his shoulder, and seems STILL to want to stir up problems when he can"

Pardon me - QP wish to demonise me because I told tales out of school? If you guys have any sense - you go figure. All I did was honestly answer a question to the best of my knowledge. How is this stirring up problems - and why does Greg go out of his way to create such a negaative impression?

Sorry to be a such a pain in the ass here, but as far as I can see, I was correct, and although not too happy about it, Greg has just vindicated my story.

Wherein is my crime here gentlemen?

As a postscript, my source was Dave Clark himself, not QP - and Cliff has excellent copies also.

Queen Productions are not the only company to hold any aces.

So apparently QP did not have a good copy of the concert, but at some point in time John stuart had a soundboard copy.

I am inclined to believe John for these reasons:

If the horrid sound-quality Wreckage concert could be included on the FM box sets, surely less than perfect quality of FM's last performance would have been OK for the FM box set.

I believe the apparent feud between John and QP was started when his Wreckage Tapes were "lost" by QP?

The Queen machine has a reputation for half truths, like ... Ghost of a Smile is a pirated release.

Wow! Cheers to Greg for coming through with the real story! Thanks for posting that, fairydandy :)

So do we get the bloody tracks released or not? Haha..;-)
Imagine it, Smash's 'New York at Last' at number one backed with the original demo, followed a week later by New York at Last (disc 2) with four bonus live tracks recorded at the Dominion.

..dreaming again...;-)

I downloaded the duet between Freddie and Cliff from WinMx, it was superb, lost it when I formatted my Pc, not been able to find it since!!


........and it was EXCELLENT sound quality. Live at the Dominion.

I have always found John S Stuart's post to be highly informative. I see no reason not to trust his judgement in this matter.

Thanks for your insight John.

Im not questioning Johns knowledge Richard. I find him imformative too!!!

Sorry to ask yet another question but what was/is your involvement with QP, John?

And what was YOUR contribution with the FM boxsets? Just curious. I don't mean that in any prick question way. I'm just interested.

Cheers.

I think most of us already know that without Mr. John S Stuart, there wouldn't be the Ibex stuff in the Freddie box. We must also thank him for the complete Ibex tape which leaked from QP after John had kindly borrowed it to be used in the box.
If it had been my tape (which I had bought for some serious amount of money at an auction), I think I would have been more than furious for this kind of "accident"..

"I am inclined to believe John for these reasons:

If the horrid sound-quality Wreckage concert could be included on the FM box sets, surely less than perfect quality of FM's last performance would have been OK for the FM box set."

Well, the included track(s) on the FM set sounded good. But the live Time tracks that I originally heard were much much worse. They couldn't be rescued because the recording had people shouting out and distorting the recording. And that's not good enough by anyone's standards.
And yes, I have heard one or two of these soundboard recordings. They're really nice! Just a shame that it's entangled in legalities. If that is the case.

Shame Greg had to be that blunt towards John. But then, I kinda see his where he's coming from on that.

Peace,
Adam.

"But then, I kinda see his where he's coming from on that."
Perhaps you can help me see where he is coming from? Because I don't. All I see is a private email to a fan full of insults and innuendoes against John Stuart who really did not do anything else but tell us that the tracks in question were available while Greg said he could not get them. I really would like to see where he is coming from asking fairydandy to publish his email when all John Stuart ever did was helping out with tapes from his collection which were then stolen and never returned to him.

Well, I don't have to agree with the insults part of that email. But what I understood was the part about half-truths and guesses. I understood that because John and I clashed on the recording equipment issue yonks ago. I remember not being happy about it because he "blagged" that he knew about that stuff, when it was clear he knew nothing about it. And as Greg mentioned, that can be where rumours can become truths to some fans.

Please understand John, I'm not trying to bring this back up and snub your usual great responses. I do agree that Greg was too harsh and that email should've been kept to himself. :)

Peace,
Adam.

"But what I understood was the part about half-truths and guesses."
Which half-truths and guesses? Please enlighten me. I see no half truths and no guesses in John's statement which could not be more precise. But if you have further knowledge - why don't you share it with us?