BBC Session 4Queen was the warmup band for Mott the Hoople in November of '73. The band travelled to Australia to perform at the Sunbury Festival in the first week of January.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbury_Pop_Festival (does not sound like a good time....)
Upon returning to the UK, they embark on their first headlining tour. A month after Queen II is released, and one night after their final UK performance promoting the album in Birmingham, it is time once again for a visit to the BBC.
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Recorded At Langham One Studio, London On 3rd April 1974
Broadcast On Radio 1 On 15th April 1974, As Part Of Bob Harris's 'Sounds Of The Seventies' Programme
Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll (Taylor) 2:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJFKAJbpwkYNevermore (Mercury) 1:29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OdjtWhO6yQWhite Queen (As It Began) (May) 4:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-AthSw0bYThe March Of The Black Queen (Mercury) 6:40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWQQMgf2QaM *******************
The April session was one of the two most talked about (and sought after) sessions by fans for decades. This is the second BBC performance of ‘Modern Times’, sung again by Roger. It includes Freddie providing some nice 'rock and roll' ad libs near the end. It is a much better and more complete version than what was performed for Session 3, in spite of the slide whistle ( time travelling, .....this should have been on a future 'heavy' album, but that’s for a later discussion).
The beautiful ballad ‘Nevermore’ is much less polished than the studio version. It is just Freddie at a regular piano without any studio tricks. The vast majority of the BV tapes are eliminated, and those that remain are at a lower volume. Oh, and Roger plays drums (no percussion is on the studio version).
‘White Queen’ is also very different from what appears on Queen II. Once again, less polished and more bare bones. Only one BV remains, the guitar is Brian's 'orchestral' style (not the 'sitar' sounding one *) Even better, at 1:45, is the added bonus of Freddie at the piano. Very noticeable at around 3:40 (the wife will do her ‘air piano’ at this point). This is how it was/would be performed on stage. After a listen, one questions why it was not used originally. Perhaps it originated from the tour. Perhaps Freddie was in need of doing 'something' on stage during this time. Or, it was wiped from the studio version (which would be a shame). Regardless, this version is superb from start to finish.
From all reports, ‘The March of the Black Queen’ was simply a taped recording, with a few ad libs thrown in. They may have ran out of time, or were dissatisfied with the end result. It was not part of ‘Queen On Air’ (BBC fire? lost tapes? bad sound?.....you name it....). If you wish to make your BBC sessions ‘complete’, use the link above from a ‘Deep Cuts’ release (without the fade in to ‘Funny How Love Is’), complete with a ‘fake’ ending. It actually works out well.
(There were rumors that the ending of TMOTBQ was a separate entity, titled ‘Surrender To The City’. The most likely reasons are that someone was puffing themselves up and claiming they had a copy of a 'new' song years later, or that the title was simply to distinguish the various segment reels in the studio. If you want your own 30 second ‘song’, a fan put this together, also using the ‘Deep Cuts’ version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YVeO_t6ygc )
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Personal notes: I finally got my hands on the ‘Nevermore’ and ‘White Queen’ BBC versions in 2000. Such a shame that I to wait way too long to hear them. Then again, my first listen to these versions was with my current wife. Our first shared
new Queen music experience. I know we were both in tears at the end.
Do we prefer the originals (which we had listened to for decades), or these versions with their various additions/subtractions? Easy answer: we prefer them both!
(*The song features May playing his Hairfred acoustic guitar. The guitar had been given a replacement hardwood bridge, chiselled flat, with a small piece of fret wire placed between it and the strings, which lay gently above. The strings produce the buzzing effect of a sitar. [per wiki])
Topic: QUEEN Discography- MONTREAL '81 in theaters near you (Read 70406 times)
