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Hey Rory... thanks for the reactions. I believe Brian and Tim Staffel (singer from their original band "Smile") wrote Doin' Alright...great song. Just think, only 14 more albums to go!! Bless you... P.S. Congrats on 1K subs!! that's cool!
Nothing beats that bass line in LIAR. Two mentions of "Mercury" so far on album #1. Really makes you yearn for vinyl playing in that rich wood tone hi-fi box and friends sitting with you listening into the wee hours.
One of my favourite Brian lyrics:" I loved a million women in a belladonnic haze." Apparently Brian wrote that before John joined the band. Doing Alright was a Smile tune written by Brian and Tim Staffel. Great King Rat always reminds me of Aqualung by Jethro Tull. If you haven't listened to it, you should. My Fairy King I could listen to every day and never get sick of it. Roger's vocals are in the stratosphere. . They recorded this bit by bit some being recorded December 1971. Then the rest from June to November 1972 when there was studio space free . Freddie and Brian said by the time the record came out they had been playing the songs live for so long it didn't feel new and they were ready to record Queen 2. Love that you are reacting to the whole album! Thanks!
They did record 5 tracks in 71 but that was their demo to try and get set up and get better gigs They re recorded these tracks in 72 Brian was dissapointed that they couldn't reproduce one of his songs as well as they had originally He wasn't happy with Roy but I can't remember the reason he gave
It is awesome that you have decided to listen to some of Queen's albums. Keep Yourself Alive was a song Queen always performed right until 1984. Keep Yourself Alive was released as Queens first single but the song did not chart, they were just to unknown at this point. They actually recorded this first album before being signed to a record label, so the album suffer slightly from some production values. The album was also recorded during dead studio time, when the studio wasn't booked by anyone else, so it was recorded at 3 in the morning, and those types of hours. The biggest issue for the band was the drums, they hated the drum sound on this album. The song that suffers the most from this drum sound is The Great King Rat. You have to listen to a live version of this song, The Great King Rat - Queen live at the Rainbow 1974. The song really has a strong metal influence with that galloping riff, with the correct sound the song also has a very strong modern sound to it. The Great King Rat basically start Freddie's fantasy series, you hear a lot of propaganda against the great King Rat in this song. He is replaced by the Fairy King. The Fairy King has the perfect appearance but the magic kingdom is invaded and he loses the kingdom, because he is not actually a good leader like the great King Rat. I suggest you check out the lyrics for My Fairy King, the song has great lyrics. The song is also quite personal to Freddie, he refers to "Mother Mercury", he said he was referring to his own mother in the song, so he officially changed his name to Mercury. There is speculation that the section "Oh mother Mercury, look what they've done to me, I cannot run, I cannot hide", might actually be a reference to some bad experiences in Freddie's boarding school. My Fairy King is revisited on Innuendo in The Show Must Go On, with the section, "my soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die, I can fly my friend, I can fly". Personally it is one of my favourite Queen songs, it is very complex and full key changes. You could also perhaps say that it is the first song Freddie wrote that is in a similar to vein Bohemian Rhapsody, both songs are through composed. Doing alright is an amazing song, and it predates Queen back to Smile. For the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, Brian May and Tim Stafell actually rerecorded the song. Tim Stafell was the lead singer and bass player of Smile. There is a great live version of the song, Doing Alright - Queen live at Earls Court 1977. Liar was also released as single, but the record label chopped the song up to make it 3 minutes, which was a pretty bad idea. It is was released in the US without Queen's knowledge at first. It is also interesting to note that this was not actually the first music Queen released, the earliest works that were released was released under the name Larry Lurex, they released two songs, I Can Hear Music and Goin' Back. There is a story behind this release, it is really interesting too look back to these songs, and to hear how young Freddie's voice sounded.
thanks, Rory.. even back then, they were innovative.. especially with the mix..... back and forth between speakers.. I feel sorry for people who don't have headphones or earbuds when they listen... lol
His religion was Zoroastrian. There are three core teachings. Good thoughts, good words, good deeds. I think Liar refers somewhat to his struggle with that. He didn’t believe in organized religion at some point but he allowed his parents to have a Zoroastrian funeral for him. I love the bass in Liar. It is one of my favorite songs.
A fav album of mine. "Keep Yourself Alive" spoke to me . . . eye opening no matter your life chapter. Then the one about sinners...whoa! Also glean personal Freddie reflections I always kinda tear over. Anyway these tracks told me Queen had brilliance to share. And what about Deaky's bass?
They were in their early twenties when they started getting this album together but it wasn’t released until 1973. Freddie was 27 John was only 22. He had to leave one day to take his finals as an electrical engineer. He graduated with honors. Roger had a biology degree and Brian a physics degree. He started his PhD in astronomy but dropped out to pursue music full time. After Freddie died he went back and finished it. Freddie had a certificate in graphic design.
Queen right from the start were fantastic, unique, brilliant, just great music. Doing alright was a Smile band song, written by Brian and Staffell. My Fairy King mentioned Mother Mercury, after Freddie wrote this song he announced to the band his new name was Freddie Mercury 🙂
Rory this is the best way to listen to Queen right from the start and work your way through their albums from the beginning. Queen1, what an introduction by four musical geniuses and each track sounding so different. Looking forward to part 2 and the next couple of albums :-) There is a recording of Tim Staffel singing 'Doin alright' on here.
This is such a great album, so raw but still so well put together. Doin' alright was a song that Brian wrote with Tim Staffell when he was with the band Smile which was Roger Taylor, Brian May and Tim Staffell.
I remember your first Queen reaction that I saw - I think it was Live Aid and you were saying you hated some of the &&^%$$ songs - overplayed on the radio and would become an earworm stuck in your head - but you did complement the performance. It has been enjoyable watching you jump down the Queen rabbit hole and become a true fan of the music - for Queen fans the world over for years, it has always been about the music as well as the innovation, the sheer spectacle, the crazy raw talent. It is four massively talented people who together found their kindred spirits in four pieces that’s fit together perfectly. It was truly a lucky day when they found each other.
As a Lifetime Queen loyalist , WE LOVE THIS ALBUM ! Make sure you look at the collage of photos on the back of the Album , Freddie and Brian both had a short beard briefly in those early days .
Wow. Thanks for doing this! I’ve been saving the albums for later pleasure. So far I’ve been listening to the live performances since 2019 and am on umpteen repeats. They were so brilliant from day one and their musical sophistication comes out so much clearer on the albums. They are a continual surprise front to back and vice versa.
Yes, yes, yes!!!!!! Liked before I watched. So excited for this 😄😄😄 ---- Pause 1 I love how you tried to look up the songs and Doing All Right made you stop looking 😅 over and over. this is great. Ok back to it ------ 2nd pause MAN those drums. ---- 3rd Ok SO, I've been listening to My Fairy King for years, sometimes daily depending on the random on my mp3 player and I am certain it is Roger singing at the start of the lyrics, then it's like wait or ...was that Freddie? Hang on, no, it's definitely Roger or...is it? Ugh. Does anyone KNOW or is it a harmony thing? I am pretty good at telling their voices apart I mean come on they are usually SO different but this one has me wondering. --- 4th Freddie was 27 in 73 and the others younger. Not sure exactly when it was recorded though ---end That BASS. that was awesome😎😎 thanks so much for doing this. Cannot WAIT for Queen II 🙂
Queen l & ll are my top 2 albums of all time. Liar + Son & Daughter are the Killers on this album in my opinion. Astounding achievement in musical excellence, considering a large part of this album is composed of Demo tapes recorded in fits & starts at DeLane Lea Studios London when they were given spare recording slots between other recording artists. Witnessing them live in concert several times in my younger years, Queen were, (and still are), the soundtrack of my life, taking me on a trajectory I could never have imagined. Freddie and the boys are without a doubt inimitable Gods.
You're right, what a debut album and what balls to do it the way you hear it. Amazing stuff from young lads, mid 20's I think. If you decide to watch anything on the bands history do not watch the latest film. They are good ones on Queens own channel "These are the Days of our Lives" is a good watch and made by film makers who followed them around for years and did all their documentaries. The something twins they were called. 'Doing Alright' is my fav and always seem to work for me in the Summer days, got that vibe of as long as I got sunshine on my shoulders I'll be alright (alive)
Awesome buddy. Glad you are listening to this. As I said, the first 3 albums probably their best. Creative , yes. But lucky too. Would Queen be as good without Freddie? Brian? Roger? John? They had the exact right group of guys. The harmonies are spot on, Brian basically played lead throughout the tracks. He lucky he doesn't have RSI!! Glad you are loving it.
Totally over looked & buried under all there other Albums ! Such a shame because they put their blood sweat an tears in these 🔥💯😔 and they were hungry for number one hits an to be recognized 🙏👍😋🌞 thank God they didn't give up an got a break when Bowie couldn't play on top of the pops an Queen filled in 💯🔥💖🤩😎😍👏👏☺️😍☮️♾️💋🌅🌞👑👑👑👑🤑💫🖤💛🧡💚💜💙🤍👀🤘🤘🤘🤹🧔🍄🍀🌼🌻🥀🌹🌈🐉🐲 wonderful decision to do their whole Albums YOU ROCK RORY GOOD LUCK AN GOD BLESS RIP FREDDIE SEE YA ONE DAY AGAIN 👀🤘🔥👑🌞🌈🌹💯♾️💛☮️
I am so happy you are doing this, it made my commute home great. I love watching your faces when the songs changed up. You have to remember that they were playing together for a couple years before they got to record this album so they had crafted these songs well. Doing alright is actually from Roger and Bryan's 1st band called smile. Freddie was a fan of them and they did I guess a cover of it for this album. I have been know to ride my horse while listening to the great rat king. She is not fast enough to keep up with rogers drumming! Liar is my all time favorite Queen song because it show cases eveyones talents. But there are so many 2nd favorite songs that I cant count them all!
I think theres 5 years between Freddie and john They did a demo Dec 71. But recorded those tracks 72 but it wasn't released until 73 Freddie 26 Brian 25 Roger 23 John 21
Wow looking forward to this x Doing Alright is a Smile song written by Brian May & Tim Staffell they were in the band Smile with Roger when Tim left to join another band they were going to call it a day Freddie convinced them to carry on with him as their singer as he was a fan of Smile they went through a few bass players before they found John & there you have Queen x I think Freddie would have been 26 Brian 25 Roger 23 & John 21 x
Queen (1st album July 13,1973) so Freddie would be 27 years old, Brian-26, Roger-23, and young John Deacon was 21 almost 22 years old. Amazing these guys could create this amazing music so well and uniquely and be so young!
I really like DOING ALRIGHT t as originally done by Smile. So that segues into the foundation that Brian & Roger had and Freddie saw. Sort of similar to double dutch rope style...you get the rhythm and you just jump in and your feet know where to go. In this version there's a lightlness with Freddie's vocals and a different feel later throughout via that influence...maybe he was really feeling on top of the world at that moment, seeing where they could go. Wistful.
It was after this song that Freddie told Brian I’m changing my last name to Mercury . The mother in this song is my mother , so I’m changing it to Mercury.
