Queen: The Complete Works (5 page)

IBEX

Spring–Autumn 1969

Musicians
: Mike Bersin (
guitar, vocals
), Freddie Bulsara (
vocals
), Geoff Higgins (
bass guitar
), Mick ‘Miffer’ Smith (
drums
), John ‘Tupp’ Taylor (
bass guitar, flute, vocals
), Richard Thompson (
drums, 23 August
)

Repertoire included
: ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘I’m So Glad’, ‘Communication Breakdown’, ‘Rain’, ‘We’re Going Wrong’, ‘Rock Me Baby’, ‘Stone Free’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘Vagabond Outcast’, ‘We’re Going Home’

Known itinerary
:

May 23, 1969: Honiton Hall, Penketh

Summer 1969: Wade Deacon Grammar School for Girls, Widnes

August 1969: Technical College, St Helens

August 23, 1969: The Bolton’s Octagon Theatre, Bolton

August 24, 1969: Open Air Festival, Queen’s Park, Bolton

September 9, 1969: The Sink, Liverpool

September 19, 1969: College of Technology, St Helens

Freddie Bulsara and Tim Staffell had befriended each other while at Ealing College of Art and, though Freddie was a vocal supporter of Smile, he never considered imposing himself upon the others by asking to be their vocalist; instead, he focused mostly on his studies at Ealing. Graduating in the spring of 1969, he instantly thought of joining a band. Ibex were a power trio comprised of Mike Bersin on guitar, John ‘Tupp’ Taylor on bass, flute and vocals, and Mick ‘Miffer’ Smith on drums; occasionally, when John was preoccupied with his flute duties, Geoff Higgins would step in on bass. The band had sent a tape to Apple Records (owned by The Beatles) but had received no response. Freddie met up with them at a birthday party of a mutual friend of Brian and Roger’s and discussed music at length.

Much as he had with Smile, Freddie tagged along with Ibex and gave them ideas on how to work on their stage presentation and song arrangements. Inevitably, the band members simply asked Freddie if he wanted to sing with them, and, after a brief audition, he was in. Ibex rehearsed at Imperial College throughout the spring of 1969, with their set running the gamut from The Beatles to Yes to Rod Stewart. The band played a handful of gigs throughout the spring and summer of 1969, and it was obvious that Freddie was a born showman. His bandmates would later comment that while they were initially hesitant about his flamboyant stage antics, they paid off in the end, winning them some much-needed word-of-mouth support and a growing fan base.

However, Ibex were always considered a temporary band in London and therefore relocated to Liverpool, where a legendary September 1969 performance at The Sink featured Brian and Roger joining the band on stage for an unknown selection of songs. (One number from that night – a cover of The Beatles’ ‘Rain’ – was released on
The Solo Collection
in 2000.) After this, ‘Miffer’ Smith was the first member to depart, for reasons of job security; the others, not wanting to give up music completely, recruited Mike Bersin’s friend (and former 1984 drummer) Richard Thompson. Thus, Ibex became Wreckage.

WRECKAGE

Autumn 1969

Musicians
: Mike Bersin (
guitar, vocals
), Freddie Bulsara (
vocals
), John ‘Tupp’ Taylor (
bass guitar, vocals
), Richard Thompson (
drums
)

Repertoire included
: ‘Green’, ‘Without You’, ‘Blag-A-Blues’, ‘Cancer On My Mind’, ‘Vagabond Outcast’, ‘F.E.W.A.’, ‘One More Train’, ‘Lover’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)’, ‘Rain’, ‘We’re Going Wrong’, ‘Communication Breakdown’, ‘Boogie’, ‘Universal Theme’, ‘Rock Me Baby’, ‘Let Me Love You’

Known itinerary
:

October 26, 1969: Ealing College of Art, London

October 31, 1969: Ealing College of Art, London

November 1969: College of St Martin & St John, London

November 1969: Ealing College of Art, London

November 1969: Fulham Hall, Fulham

November 5, 1969: Imperial College, London

November 12, 1969: Rugby Club, Richmond

November 14, 1969: venue unknown, Liverpool

November 24, 1969: Wade Deacon Grammar School for Girls, Widnes

November 26, 1969: Rugby Club, Twickenham

Freddie had never been a fan of the name Ibex, and called up Mike, Richard and John to tell each of them that the others wanted to change it and that Wreckage was the name agreed upon. A cunning plan, though it later transpired that nobody else in the band really cared what they were called. Nevertheless, the band was markedly different from Ibex, despite featuring three quarters of the same personnel. Freddie felt that Wreckage should be more about presentation, so a considerable amount of their nightly wages was spent on lights, which surprised the others, who considered themselves a small-time pub band.

At this time, Freddie had started to work on a series of songs that, according to Mike Bersin, would later evolve into early Queen songs like ‘Liar’ (indeed, this song was originally titled ‘Lover’ and written by Freddie and Mike), ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye’, ‘Jesus’ and ‘Stone Cold Crazy’. Original compositions, all written or co-written by Freddie, like ‘Green’, ‘Without You’, ‘Blag-A-Blues’, ‘Cancer On My Mind’, ‘Vagabond Outcast’, ‘F.E.W.A.’ (short for ‘Feelings Ended, Worn Away’, much as Cream’s ‘Swlabr’ stood for ‘She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow’), ‘One More Train’, ‘Lover’ and ‘Universal Theme’ would be introduced into a set primarily comprised of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix covers.

But, apart from a handful of shows in the latter part of 1969, the band was fast disintegrating, and Freddie, who had relocated from posh Ealing to blue-collar Liverpool, was disappointed that success was still out of reach. One of Wreckage’s final shows, at Wade Deacon Grammar School for Girls in November, saw the birth of one of Freddie’s trademarks. In a fit of frustration at the venue’s poor sound and faulty equipment, the vocalist swung his microphone stand around but didn’t realize the weight of its base; the stand broke free from its heavy bottom, and Freddie was able to move more freely.

After a gig two days later at Twickenham Rugby Club, Wreckage broke up and went their separate ways. Freddie returned to London and applied for graphic design jobs, desiring the limelight even more.

SOUR MILK SEA

Winter–Spring 1970

Musicians
: Freddie Bulsara (
vocals
), Chris Dummett (
vocals, guitar
), Jeremy ‘Rubber’ Gallop (
rhythm guitar
), Paul Milne (
bass guitar
), Robert Tyrell (
drums
)

Known itinerary
:

March 20, 1970: Highfield Parish Hall, Oxford

Spring 1970: Temple at Lower Wardour Street, London

Spring 1970: Randolph Hotel, Oxford

In late 1969, Freddie, not satisfied with his brief tenure in bands, answered as many ads for singers as he could. His audition for Sour Milk Sea was curious: despite being a bundle of nerves, he strode in with confidence, with Roger Taylor and Smile’s roadie John Harris along for moral support. Roger held the van door open for Freddie as the vocalist swept out resplendent in his finest clothes, while John carried Freddie’s microphone in a wooden box. The band were practically intimidated into hiring him as their vocalist.

Chris Dummett, Jeremy ‘Rubber’ Gallop, Paul Milne and Boris Williams had formed Tomato City (which was also the name of one of their songs) in 1968 but changed their name to that of a recent Jackie Lomax hit, ‘Sour Milk Sea’, written by George Harrison. Boris left shortly before Freddie joined and was replaced by Robert Tyrell. The group were influenced by British blues bands like John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers (which featured a young Eric Clapton, whom Chris Dummett had met many years before), Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac, and had supported Deep Purple and P P Arnold at such prestigious venues as the Civic Hall in Guildford.

Freddie hadn’t been the first vocalist to audition, but he was the one who made an impression: when asked if he wanted the lyrics to their songs, the vocalist declined and said that he had brought along his own. Sour Milk Sea’s live debut with Freddie came on 20 March 1970, and an instant rapport between Freddie and Chris developed, the duo writing songs together throughout the spring.

However, the band were living on borrowed time: their musical direction was starting to change, which alienated Jeremy, Paul and Robert, who felt that they should have stayed a heavy blues band. Sour Milk Sea split in the spring of 1970 and the planned group that Freddie and Chris were to form was scrapped:
the band’s equipment belonged to Jeremy, and he had asked for it to be returned when Sour Milk Sea was no more. Chris had no money to invest in a new guitar, and was disappointed that the new band did not come to fruition. Freddie had other plans: Smile was disintegrating, and the vocalist felt that it was time to move in and offer to start a band with Brian and Roger.

DEACON

Autumn 1970

Musicians
: Don Carter (
drums
), John Deacon (
bass guitar
), Peter Stoddard (
guitar
), Albert [surname unknown] (
guitar
)

Itinerary
:

November 21, 1970: Chelsea College, London

Music was still in John Deacon’s bones: despite wanting to focus on academia, he asked his mother to deliver his bass guitar and amplifier to him so that he could at least play live with his classmates. He started practising again in the autumn of 1970 and jammed with his flatmates – Don Carter on drums and guitarists Peter Stoddard and Albert, whose surname is unrecorded. They landed a gig at Chelsea College, opening for two other bands, and performed primarily blues covers and contemporary hits. That they named themselves Deacon, not because John was the leader of the group but because time had run out and it was the only name they could think of, only confirms how seriously the band took their future. After their sole gig in November 1970, Deacon disbanded and John started answering ads in local newspapers before running into Brian May and Roger Taylor, who asked him to join their band Queen.

And finally ... QUEEN

The story of Queen’s progress towards recording their debut album is a long and intricate one, but is worth retelling. In 1970, after Smile dissolved, Brian and Roger were approached by Freddie, suggesting that they should combine forces in an endearingly forthright manner: “Why are you wasting your time doing this? You should do more original material. You should be more demonstrative in the way that you put the music across. If I was your singer,” he coyly added, “that’s what I’d be doing!”

Brian and Roger considered their options and, seeing no better alternatives, decided that Freddie was an obvious choice. The three discussed their musical direction and, of more immediate importance, ideas for the band’s name. Roger proposed The Rich Kids, while Brian offered Grand Dance as a candidate. Freddie listened with faux enthusiasm before announcing his own idea: Queen. Brian and Roger balked at the suggestion, dismayed by the camp overtones.

Freddie said of the name later, “I thought [it] up ... It’s just a name, but it’s very regal, obviously, and it sounds splendid. It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it.”

“The idea of Queen was conceived by me whilst I was studying in college,” Freddie told
Melody Maker
in 1973. “Brian, who was also at college, liked the idea and we joined forces. The very earliest traces of the band go back to a group called Smile, who made a single which was released in the States. The group was plagued by bad luck and eventually split up. Queen has been going for about three years now, but until recently we’ve not had a suitable outlet for our music.”

The next task at hand was to recruit a bassist. Tim Staffell was never considered, having parted ways amicably in order to pursue his own musical endeavours with bands like Humpy Bong and Morgan, before settling down in the late 1970s to start a family. Roger remembered his friend Mike Grose from his days with The Reaction and asked him to join. As was the case with a few bassists at the time (most notoriously Bill Wyman from The Rolling Stones), Mike was asked to join not only because he was talented but also because he owned a huge Marshall amplifier stack and a Volkswagen van, both crucial pieces of equipment for any fledgling band. Mike agreed, leaving the band he was currently with – Bent Cement – and coming to London.

The quartet hit it off right away, and the next goal was to develop a sufficient quantity of material. Both Brian and Freddie had written songs within their previous bands, and so they started to rehearse. ‘Liar’, previously known as ‘Lover’ and written by Freddie and Mike Bersin, quickly became a mainstay of the rehearsals, along with other material such as ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ (written by Freddie during his tenure with Wreckage), ‘Son And Daughter’ (written by Brian) and ‘Hangman’, which grew out of a jam session and
continued to evolve over the course of several years. Though the four were pleased with their prospects, they still kept side jobs – Freddie and Roger stayed at their Kensington clothes stall, while Brian continued to work on his astronomy thesis – in case the band didn’t make it.

Their big break came in the summer of 1970, when Roger’s mother, who had arranged a Red Cross charity event in their hometown of Truro, reminded her son that he had promised to appear with Smile at the concert. Unwilling to disappoint her, he told the others about the gig, and, appearing as Smile, the embryonic version of Queen made their live debut on 27 June 1970.

The band kept up a somewhat steady pace of live performances throughout the remainder of the year, but the first disappointment came in August 1970, when Mike Grose left. He had been playing bass for nearly seven years and had grown tired of being penniless, deciding instead to return to Cornwall and get a ‘proper job’. Enter Barry Mitchell, introduced to Roger by a mutual friend; although he was considered the new boy and he felt somewhat uneasy with the others since they had already developed a rapport, he was quickly recognized as a man of talent and humour, and soon became one of the band members. Unfortunately, in January 1971, he too decided to part ways with Queen.