Nothing against George Michael's version, but Brian sang originally in the Opera album, surely he must have sang it in the Fredddie's tribute show musn't he?
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Freddie always sang '39 during Queen's live shows, so Brian obviously decided to let someone else sing it on that occasion. Also, George Michael used to perform a version of '39 during his busking days (as he mentions during the show), which oerhaps explains its inclusion in the Tribute show setlist.
'39 was just one of many Brian tracks performed the tribute show....
for a freddie tribute isn't it strange that the set starts with 4 brian tracks?
for a freddie tribute isn't it strange that the set starts with 4 brian tracks?
I don't think Brian enjoys singing live very much, just backup. That's just my view, though.
It wasn't Brian's solo concert, you know... He played TMLWKY. Otherwise you could say why Roger didn't sing Radio GaGa, why John didn't sing I Want To Break Free... oops... Well, example with Roger is much better ;-)
Well, it is quite an interesting question ... and you can`t really compare it with Radio Ga Ga. That was a song that was never ment to be sung by Roger. But 39` was originally sung by BRIAN, so it may have been the only Queen track on that evening where Freddies voice would not have been sadly missed. It would have been a great idea, since Brian`s voice is quite good for ballads ... like TMLWKY
Well, it is quite an interesting question ... and you can`t really compare it with Radio Ga Ga. That was a song that was never ment to be sung by Roger. But 39` was originally sung by BRIAN, so it may have been the only Queen track on that evening where Freddies voice would not have been sadly missed. It would have been a great idea, since Brian`s voice is quite good for ballads ... like TMLWKY
And '39 was never sung live by Brian on Queen shows! And by the way - why Brian sung first lines of Tie Your Mother Down then? Don't try to find logic in places, where logic doesn't work!
Oh, I find it quite logical that Brian who wrote and SANG the track 39` on "A Night at the opera" originally should sing the song also live. Roger did the same live with "I`m in Love with my car" which he also had sung himself on ANATO (Radio Ga Ga however never existed as a studio version with Roger`s vocals, so why should he sing it at the Tribute?).
But obviously Brian never wanted to sing live during Queen shows so Freddie sang 39` as well as the beginning of Tie Your Mother Down. But at The Freddie Tribute Concert Freddie of course couldn`t do this anymore (he had DIED) so it may have been the simplest and best solution to have 39` with Brian`s vocals. It would have been the only Queen song where you would not miss Freddies voice (because the studio version has Brian´s vocals!!!!).
I don`t know why you find this wish so strange. Since Freddie was dead why shouldn`t he sing it himself (what he had already done in 1975!!). If this is not logical I don`t know what is!!!
But obviously Brian never wanted to sing live during Queen shows so Freddie sang 39` as well as the beginning of Tie Your Mother Down. But at The Freddie Tribute Concert Freddie of course couldn`t do this anymore (he had DIED) so it may have been the simplest and best solution to have 39` with Brian`s vocals. It would have been the only Queen song where you would not miss Freddies voice (because the studio version has Brian´s vocals!!!!).
I don`t know why you find this wish so strange. Since Freddie was dead why shouldn`t he sing it himself (what he had already done in 1975!!). If this is not logical I don`t know what is!!!
Since Freddie was dead why shouldn`t he sing it himself (what he had already done in 1975!!). If this is not logical I don`t know what is!!!
So we're back to my first reply about Radio GaGa! Since Fred was dead why shouldn't Roger sing it himself? Answer is: because they invited other guys to do Fred's job.
The big difference between Radio Ga Ga and 39`was: Radio Ga Ga was never sung by Roger on the Studio album (so it didn`t really matter who sang it at the Tribute !!!!). But 39`was at least SUNG by Brian himself on the original studio album - and I think most fans remember the Brian version from A Night At The Opera (and not the live versions from Freddie). And therefore it would have been the only Queen song to have the original vocals on that evening --- that of Brian. Of course, you can argue they had invited other people to pay a Tribute to Freddie -- but it was also a special evening for Brian, Roger and John to say a very personal good bye to Freddie, so it would have been a great idea if Brian would have interpreted the song himself as a tribute, a song which he had recorded with Queen and had originally his vocals on it!!! I think its a missed opportunity.
"I couldn't be arsed ", is what Brian said to my P.A. this morning.
George Michael did a really good job at it though..
But at The Freddie Tribute Concert Freddie of course couldn`t do this anymore (he had DIED) so it may have been the simplest and best solution to have 39` with Brian`s vocals. It would have been the only Queen song where you would not miss Freddies voice (because the studio version has Brian´s vocals!!!!).
Freddie's voice wouldn't have been missed from the studio version, where Brian sang the lead, but it would have been missed by those who were familiar with the many live versions, where Freddie sang the lead. One is no more or less logical than the other.
The most likely explanation is that they wouldn't have performed '39 at all except at the request of George Michael, who obviously wanted the chance to sing the song with Queen, so therefore it would have completely defeated the purpose of doing the song if Brian sang it, since the only reason they played it at all is because George Michael wanted to sing it with them. Think about it. It makes perfect sense.
I think the logic depends on one`s personal point of view. I, for example, never really cared about Queen`s live recordings so much (I only bought the live albums to complete my collection, though I still listen to them sometimes). Therefore I see the studio versions as the definitive recordings of all the Queen songs. So in my opinion 39` would only have been properly presented if it would have been sung by Brian (like in the original). My logic may however not work for other people who appreciate Freddies interpretation.
But still they should have interpreted one or two Queen songs at the concert with the "original" voice on it (since there aren`t many who Freddie didn`t do it could have been only 39`by Brian and / or "I`m in Love With My Car" by Roger - the others are even less known / like "Drowse" etc.).
But still they should have interpreted one or two Queen songs at the concert with the "original" voice on it (since there aren`t many who Freddie didn`t do it could have been only 39`by Brian and / or "I`m in Love With My Car" by Roger - the others are even less known / like "Drowse" etc.).
It wasn`t a solo concert for Brian, although as I`ve always said he had way too much promotion in there. They played more Brian`s songs than Freddie`s songs and it was a tribute to Freddie. Anyway, as it has been already pointed out, Brian sang lead in the first verse of Tie, the bridge of I Want It All and all of Too Much Love, so I think it was enough. I would have liked Roger to sing Radio Ga Ga, he`s much better singer than Paul Young imo.