Dreamers Ball (live) question

Hi all,
Matt from Melbourne Aus here. I`ve been a Queen fan for about 25 years now, saw them live in Australia on the Works tour..best concert i`ve ever seen.
Anyway I have a question that has baffled me for years.
On the Live Killers version of Dreamers Ball the solo section is very unique..I`m guessing that it is Roger playing a Kazoo but what of the Trombone sound?(to my ears it sounds like an imitation of a trombone)
Does anyone know who is playing that and what are they playing that is getting that sound?
Cheers
Matt

Really, you think so? I can`t imagine that it`s an overdub..(I`ve been wrong before though).
I think there is footage from the Paris Hippodrome show(again I maybe wrong on this). Anyone seen this footage and can you see them playing the solo parts?
I`d be most disappointed if it was an overdub.
Cheers
Matt

<font color = "crimson">ThomasQuinn wrote:

This is gonna piss a lot of people off, but I'm pretty sure it's a studio overdub.

Casper - you could be right - but ...

i have the dortmund, frankfurt and Sappora gigs from that Tour and they do the "trombone and kazoo vocalisations" on Dreamer's Ball on those too

...so unless queen were in the habit of "studio editing" their bootlegs too - i'd say they did em live

Same here. I think Freddie did the trombone impersonation, and Roger did the kazoo impersonation (I don't think it's a real kazoo).

shame about this is that I WA AT B'ham 79 gig - and i can't remember Dreamer's Ball - know they must've done it - because it sat in nicely with LOML and 39 - but i honestly can't remember it - but as i said earlier - the other boots i have from that tour have the "vocal orchestrations" on - and queen wouldn't edit bootlegs - certainly not bootlegs that have been in the public domain for 25 years

Wow, a a topic actually worth getting into. They're getting rarer these days!

The kazoo's are a three-parter, which means Brian was involved as well (if it really was played live, anyway). Kazoo's are voice-driven, so John is out of the equasion.

Personally I like this part very much, and I believe it was exquisitely performed. Chances are it really is a studio-overdub, but let's give the boys the benefit of the doubt here.

Shame our eyewitness doesn't remember!

Like I said, I think the kazoos are vocalized, not actual kazoos. This would mean that Roger (and maybe Brian) made the kazoo noises with their throats, while Freddie vocalized a trombone.

It's not a studio overdub, because as Brenski and myself have already confirmed, they were played this way on bootlegs we both have, and why would they overdub on a bootleg?

Thanks for the replies,
If the solo section turns up on bootlegs then I`m definately of the view that they can`t be overdubs. Either way it`s a very cool way to transfer the song to a live setting and get around Brians layered solo on the studio version.
Cheers
Matt

I always thought it was a backing tape, like the opera scetion in bo rhap(and the techno beat on radio ga ga in magic tour), that would do stuff like special sounds that the band could not do to it being live

one thing worth adding -

although i honestly can't remember if they did "kazoo it" live - as i said i can't even remember the song! and i was at the NEC B'ham nov 79

but here's the thing - as i said earlier IT WAS on the other bootlegs i have - frankfurt, dortmund, sappora - so they won't dub boots

but we all know that many "bits" of live killers came from over 50 concerts - so there's nothing to discount them editing in the best "kazoos"

Both parts were done using their voices. Roger the kazoo and Brian the trombone effect. I have an old fanclub magazine from 79 after the Live Killers lp came out and a fan had written in asking the same question. the answer given.

Nino seems to be right.

I've just given it a few listens, and if it was performed live exactly as it sounds, Fred didn't feature in this section, aside from the a couple of "Hey"s and one "bububbubdududb" sound.

There are only two 'vocal instruments' here, and due to the way the parts overlap and intertwine it's plainly evident that Brian is doing the trombone part (the main feature) and Rog is doing the muted trumpet part (a few bits here and there).

It IS just about possible that this was performed live, but I'm sceptical. Brian's part appears to be almost too good, and there's a couple of moments when he interjects the odd "hey" or "yeah" and they very nearly overlap his trombone part, as well as being at a completely different volume to the trombone part.

Oh yeah, and there's not a kazzoo in sight/earshot. Rog's part sounds absolutely nothing like one.

Conclusion: it's just about possible that what we hear was done live that way, but I suspect Brian re-did his trombone part and tidied it up a bit.

At the Paris video you can see that Brian is bended towards the microphone with his mouth when the "Kazoo" starts

Ok, I now officially retract my conclusion that Bri overdubbed his trombone part.

I've just listened to a couple of other bootleg versions of it and Bri performs the part to pretty much the same standard as on LK, and much the same things are going on.

Conclusion (revised edition): I need to give Bri more credit. It was played and sang live exactly as we hear it on LK.

Whatever it was, voice or kazoo, I have always thought it was a great demonstration of musicality. The arrangement is beautiful, and it is not easy to produce these lines just using your voice. All in all, it sounds very convincing to me. Who knows, they may still do it this spring!