Okay, it's MUSIC GEEK time again!
The often imitated but never duplicated genius that is the late and great Freddie Mercury from one of the greatest fucking rock bands of all time, Queen:
This little known gem , "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" is the 8th song (or back in the good old days, song 3 from Side B) of Queen's album Day at the Races (1976) which was their follow up album to A Night at the Opera. Incidentally, both albums were named after Marx Brothers films.
The previous album was best known for the epic and bombastic rock opera, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and to a lesser extent, one of my favorite songs, "You're My Best Friend". Personally, I loved the "A Night at the Opera" (referred to hereafter as ANATO) as a whole, but I love "A Day at the Races" much more. Queen were masters of multi-tracking and up until 1980's album, "The Game", entirely synthesizer free.
Before the bastardization of and piece mealing of songs by itunes, people bought albums, not songs. Albums were bought and listened to in their entirety. Queen were masters of putting together cohesive albums which flowed from beginning to end.
Album tracks included (for a blow by blow description of each song, click the link to "A Day at the Races" underneath the video):
Side A (I say "sides" because I'm old school like that. Comments in red are mine):
1 - Tie Your Mother Down (very Caveman!)
2 - You Take My Breath Away (beautiful vocals and piano)
3 - Long Away (one of the few songs where guitarist Brian May sings)
4 - The Millionaire Waltz (another piano driven song)
5 - You and I (another one of my fave songs from this album)
Side B
1 - Somebody to Love (Freddie Mercury's favorite Queen song, as well as my husband's - a fun song to sing along to and a masterpiece in multitracking)
2 - White Man (penned by Roger Taylor, the drummer - talked about the injustices towards the Native Americans by whites)
3 - Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
4 - Drowse (a cool song featuring drummer Roger Taylor's vocals and cool slide guitar by Brian May)
5 - Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together) (a few verses are sung in Japanese!)
"Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" is not a hard rocking Queen song, in the vein of "Tie Your Mother Down" ("ANATO) or the precursor to speed metal's, "Stone Cold Crazy (from their third album, "Sheer Heart Attack"). Rather, it is a sweet yet rollicking song utilizing Mercury's piano skills and multitrackedvocals. If you listen to the lyrics, they're quite witty.
Here's the 3rd verse:
"Ooh let me feel your heartbeat (grow faster, faster)
Ooh Ooh let me feel your love heat
Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love (ha ha!)
And tell me how do you feel right after-all
I'd like for you and I to go romancing (liked this transition)
Just say the word - your wish is my command"
And here's the verse after the guitar solo:
"Dining at the Ritz we'll meet at nine precisely
I will pay the bill, you taste the wine
Driving back in style, in my saloon will do quite nicely
Just take me back to yours that will be fine (Come on and get it)"
It's so very British and I just love Mercury's judicious use of falsetto. Justin Hawkins eat your heart out! And Freddie Mercury is the Queen of Camp as well! Who else can wear a one piece harlequin outfit and get away with it? Okay, maybe Johnny Weir can!
Most recently, easy listening bore Jason Mraz did a bland note for note rendition on the Queen tribute album, ""Killer Queen - A Tribute to Queen" (2005), which is a pretty damn good tribute for the most part. Unfortunately, I felt that Mraz's take on the song offered nothing new to the Queen canon.
The Letter "Q" was pretty limited. For me, it was either Queen or metal band Queensryche Queen of the Reich - Holy Fk! Listen to Geoffrey Tate's air raid siren vocals! That song kicks a$$!), but since I love Queen waaaay more, it just had to be Queen...
Until next week...
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6 comments:
Queen rocks! I have a few of their tracks but I'm going to now buy their albums now.. :)
hi dennis,
If you trust my musical taste and if you buy any of their albums, i highly suggest "A Night at the Opera"and "A Day at the Races".
Of course, I must also recommend "News of the World" (this has the giant killer robot on the front LP cover and has the songs "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions", as well as "Spread your Wings" and the hard rockin' "Fight from the Inside")----wait wait - this album is also a GATEFOLD SLEEVE (my inner music geek starts panting with excitement)!
Another Queen album I really like is "Jazz" (has the songs "Bicycle Race" with "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Jealousy", "Mustapha" and the very fun "Don't Stop Me Now"; that last song was used to great effect in the cult movie "Shawn of the Dead).
Their first 2 albums (the self titled "Queen" and "Queen II")are also pretty good, but indicative of the era - early 70's prog/metal. Hard to get into if you're not into that kind of music already.
I adore Queen but I'm guilty of only owning the best of albums. But I will amend that. Listening to Queen first thing on Thursday morning helps me start my day. I need to do that more often.
Hi cc,
I still have all of the vinyl you wrote about and you take my breath away, fat bottom girls were my favorite songs. I also still have that poster with all the nekid chicks on bicycles. hehehehe
Ahhh!!! Queen is one of my all time faves!!! Ummm...When I was in high school, I was in LOVE with Freddie! My friends laughed at me and told me he was gay. Looking back, I wonder how I never realized it at the time! Love, love, LOVE HIM!!! He was a genius and a true legend.
hi darlene - greatest hits albums are always a good place to start. :) you get the best of the best but there are always those hidden gems that never got any airplay.
hi michael - i have the vinyls of all the queen albums up until "The Game" (1980). sorry "Hot Space"! but actually while that album was underrated - it did spawn the mega collab hit with bowie, "under pressure". vinyl will always rule! i love the warm scratchy sound of vinyl. back in the late 1980's, i used to sport a pin (courtesy of Rhino Records, based in Santa Monica), "Save the LP". Sadly, we all know how that story ended...soul-less cd's have pretty much replaced the clunky vinyl dinosaurs which will always have a special place in my cold and dark heart.
one last thing michael - have you seen "Queen's Greatest Hits - Vol. I - The Videos"? You can see the nekkid chix in their video for "Fat Bottomed Girls". Nice. Ha ha. It's the only Queen video I won't let my daughter watch.
hi c- dude, Freddie Mercury was so very very gay. AND I LOVED IT!
OMG - The band name alone, "Queen" says it all. his sexuality was one of rock's worst kept secrets. in the 80's after he cut his hair short and started growing his macho man moustache, he looked a bit more leatherman gay. i still remember what i was doing when i heard he had HIV, then the next day, he died. :( Mercury was and still is one of rock's best singers. No one comes close to his talent.
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