6 ms·

‘Freddie Mercury was a prodigy’: Rockstar's Panchgani bandmates remember ‘Bucky’

123 points by tintinnabula 10y ago

cyberferret 10y ago
Anybody who still has doubts about the prodigious musical genius that was Freddie should take the time to grab a cup of their favourite beverage and sit down to watch & read: Inside the Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v15oIktGJOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v15oIktGJOo A roadie's story about working with Queen: https://medium.com/cuepoint/being-queen-s-roadie-was-one-intense-rewarding-job-a0fdd017e00d#.38np85svx https://medium.com/cuepoint/being-queen-s-roadie-was-one-int...
- JustSomeNobody 10y ago
  I rather like the way he's humble when discussing the talent of his band mates and what went into making "Bohemian Rhapsody". There's not a lot of "I", but a lot of "they" or "Freddie" or "we". He doesn't seem to feel he needs credit for his part at all.
Grazester 10y ago
I discovered a Queen cassette(The Game) when I was a kid on a cargo boat my dad bought and captained down to the Caribbean from England. It was amazing hearing them for the first time. My parents couldn't understand how I liked this noise(particularly "Another one bites the dust"). Once in my teens and armed with the internet, I did a lot of reading up on Freddie Mercury. He was a hell of a musician and a show man! It is a shame I couldn't see him in concert :(
- ekianjo 10y ago
  > It is a shame I couldn't see him in concert :( One of my deeper regrets as well. I was born too late for that, but the stage performances were simply amazing, judging on the recordings that remain.
- cyberferret 10y ago
  My one regret too... I've got their "Live at Wembley Arena" on DVD, and I would give my right * to have been there and experienced that. Queen at the top of their game.
- maxxxxx 10y ago
  I guess sometimes it's good to be an old fart. I saw them in 1985 or 86, I don't remember which year. They put on a hell of a show. It was amazing to see them entertain a whole stadium.
  - ekianjo 10y ago
    Where was that? in the UK ?
    - maxxxxx 10y ago
      Germany. I don't remember where though.
- agumonkey 10y ago
  The walls between the living room and my bedroom only let a few bass freq. As a funk teen I dropped everything to find who made this bassline. Surprising answer.
- philjohn 10y ago
  My two older brothers went to see Queen in the mid 80's, my mother wouldn't let my dad go as she was worried about his safety ... he jokes that he's never forgiven her for that ...
ekianjo 10y ago
> Later on in life he grew a moustache, probably to try and cover his teeth I don't think it was for that reason. The time when he grew a moustache is when he started to frequent the gay scene and most folks in that scene used to have the moustache as well. And his early days in Queen show him with a perfect shave.
- cobalt 10y ago
  yes, it was called the clone look
ekianjo 10y ago
> . If he hadn’t become a rock musician, I think he would have grown up to be a successful artist or fashion designer. He did actually study design in University. Strange that the interviewer did not pick that up. He dropped then to become a full time musician. This is well known. Freddie is the one who designed the Queen logo, btw.
- agumonkey 10y ago
  This explains the clothing on stage I guess.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ekianjo 10y ago
> And then there was a revolution in Zanzibar, and Freddie’s family migrated to England. That's funny to think about an alternate reality where this move would not have occured, and his whole life would have turned completely differently. He would never have met Brian May (one of the most talented guitarists ever) and even if he had tried to become a Musician on his own, he may have failed (his solo albums after Queen were big flops).
- galfarragem 10y ago
  A related fable: https://sivers.org/horses https://sivers.org/horses
  - ekianjo 10y ago
    great link :)
rdtsc 10y ago
I think Freddie had the best voice among rock musicians (and still has perhaps). And it it's not just his voice, but his energy and his presence on stage as well. It is just amazing to watch him work the crowd at Live Aid 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22oy8dFjqc&feature=youtu.be&t=165 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22oy8dFjqc&feature=youtu.be... (start of Radio Ga Ga)
- ekianjo 10y ago
  Not just that, but he was a sincere person as well who cared deeply about his music and his work. Until the very day he died. So much dedication is unheard of.
- stygiansonic 10y ago
  Rock Montreal is also a great live performance. I wish I was alive at the time to have experienced it. The production quality of this live album was superb.
- agumonkey 10y ago
  Mercury aside, I find it interesting how the music industry was balanced. Tech was heavier and less versatile, makes the whole thing more humane (even though these events were enormous, the spirit is different, as if the whole society was swimming along in this new mass spread musicale thing). That said it's a pleasure to see mercury talking to the crowd, heart warming. Best goes first... psedit: s/humain/humane/
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    Just FYI, RE humain, probably wanted 'humane'.
tomcam 10y ago
Gobsmacked to find this on HN. Thank you. It is worth noting that the critics had little interest at all in Queen during the band's heyday. They loved Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello. Queen, Klaatu, Kansas, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Yes? Not so much. The attitude toward Freddie changed when Freddie was sanctified by virtue his death. One of the stories that impressed me most was Freddie's innate solidity as a musician. He did the piano parts and many vocal parts in "Bohemian Rhapsody" at night--before the drum part was recorded. So Roger Taylor (who also sang the highest parts in that and other Queen songs) ended up using Freddie's part as a click track.
- cyberferret 10y ago
  Yep - that documentary that I posted on here "Inside the Rhapsody" has Dr. Brian May talking about Freddie being an absolute metronome on the piano - with no click track to play to. Apparently his sense of time and control over the instrument was second to none. That documentary is well worth 27 minutes of anyone's time.
  - linker3000 10y ago
    In June, I was working in Switzerland installing a multi-petabyte storage array for the Montreux Jazz Digital Project (http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/archiving/digitize/digital_media_storage http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/archi...), and during a break in work, myself and a colleague were taken to the home of the late Claude Nobbs, founder of the Festival. The building houses the original recordings of the festival performances (everything from 2" Ampex to digibeta and beyond), plus an overwhelming collection of memorabilia from the guests that stayed in the house and chalets around the grounds; we saw a David Bowie kimono mounted like a large picture on a wall, motorbikes, guitars and other musical instruments, electronic audio equipment from numerous decades, jukeboxes, lots of model trains (Claude collected them)...and Freddie Mercury's piano. Having psychopathic tendencies (so my Mrs tells me), I don't get emotional about many things, but running my fingers across the piano was spine tingling - I really felt in the presence of greatness. /csb
  - serge2k 10y ago
ianpurton 10y ago
Don't stop me now.
hackuser 10y ago
I only learned in the last few years that he was an immigrant to England. Who are other famous immigrants that most people don't know about?
pimeys 10y ago
He was the first true rock idol for a 4-year old me. I remember rocking and acting like Freddie when I saw Queen performing on television around the year 1988. He was a god to me and when my mother told me he died it was quite hard for me to understand. Too bad the times were different, he could've been a great role model for young gay boys.

123 points by tintinnabula 10y ago

Anybody who still has doubts about the prodigious musical genius that was Freddie should take the time to grab a cup of their favourite beverage and sit down to watch & read: Inside the Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v15oIktGJOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v15oIktGJOo A roadie's story about working with Queen: https://medium.com/cuepoint/being-queen-s-roadie-was-one-intense-rewarding-job-a0fdd017e00d#.38np85svx https://medium.com/cuepoint/being-queen-s-roadie-was-one-int...

JustSomeNobody 10y ago
I rather like the way he's humble when discussing the talent of his band mates and what went into making "Bohemian Rhapsody". There's not a lot of "I", but a lot of "they" or "Freddie" or "we". He doesn't seem to feel he needs credit for his part at all.

Grazester 10y ago

I discovered a Queen cassette(The Game) when I was a kid on a cargo boat my dad bought and captained down to the Caribbean from England. It was amazing hearing them for the first time. My parents couldn't understand how I liked this noise(particularly "Another one bites the dust"). Once in my teens and armed with the internet, I did a lot of reading up on Freddie Mercury. He was a hell of a musician and a show man! It is a shame I couldn't see him in concert :(

ekianjo 10y ago
> It is a shame I couldn't see him in concert :( One of my deeper regrets as well. I was born too late for that, but the stage performances were simply amazing, judging on the recordings that remain.
cyberferret 10y ago
My one regret too... I've got their "Live at Wembley Arena" on DVD, and I would give my right * to have been there and experienced that. Queen at the top of their game.
maxxxxx 10y ago
I guess sometimes it's good to be an old fart. I saw them in 1985 or 86, I don't remember which year. They put on a hell of a show. It was amazing to see them entertain a whole stadium.
- ekianjo 10y ago
  Where was that? in the UK ?
  - maxxxxx 10y ago
    Germany. I don't remember where though.
agumonkey 10y ago
The walls between the living room and my bedroom only let a few bass freq. As a funk teen I dropped everything to find who made this bassline. Surprising answer.
philjohn 10y ago
My two older brothers went to see Queen in the mid 80's, my mother wouldn't let my dad go as she was worried about his safety ... he jokes that he's never forgiven her for that ...

ekianjo 10y ago

> Later on in life he grew a moustache, probably to try and cover his teeth I don't think it was for that reason. The time when he grew a moustache is when he started to frequent the gay scene and most folks in that scene used to have the moustache as well. And his early days in Queen show him with a perfect shave.

cobalt 10y ago
yes, it was called the clone look

ekianjo 10y ago

> . If he hadn’t become a rock musician, I think he would have grown up to be a successful artist or fashion designer. He did actually study design in University. Strange that the interviewer did not pick that up. He dropped then to become a full time musician. This is well known. Freddie is the one who designed the Queen logo, btw.

agumonkey 10y ago
This explains the clothing on stage I guess.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

ekianjo 10y ago

> And then there was a revolution in Zanzibar, and Freddie’s family migrated to England. That's funny to think about an alternate reality where this move would not have occured, and his whole life would have turned completely differently. He would never have met Brian May (one of the most talented guitarists ever) and even if he had tried to become a Musician on his own, he may have failed (his solo albums after Queen were big flops).

galfarragem 10y ago
A related fable: https://sivers.org/horses https://sivers.org/horses
- ekianjo 10y ago
  great link :)

rdtsc 10y ago

I think Freddie had the best voice among rock musicians (and still has perhaps). And it it's not just his voice, but his energy and his presence on stage as well. It is just amazing to watch him work the crowd at Live Aid 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22oy8dFjqc&feature=youtu.be&t=165 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22oy8dFjqc&feature=youtu.be... (start of Radio Ga Ga)

ekianjo 10y ago
Not just that, but he was a sincere person as well who cared deeply about his music and his work. Until the very day he died. So much dedication is unheard of.
stygiansonic 10y ago
Rock Montreal is also a great live performance. I wish I was alive at the time to have experienced it. The production quality of this live album was superb.
agumonkey 10y ago
Mercury aside, I find it interesting how the music industry was balanced. Tech was heavier and less versatile, makes the whole thing more humane (even though these events were enormous, the spirit is different, as if the whole society was swimming along in this new mass spread musicale thing). That said it's a pleasure to see mercury talking to the crowd, heart warming. Best goes first... psedit: s/humain/humane/
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  Just FYI, RE humain, probably wanted 'humane'.

tomcam 10y ago

Gobsmacked to find this on HN. Thank you. It is worth noting that the critics had little interest at all in Queen during the band's heyday. They loved Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello. Queen, Klaatu, Kansas, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Yes? Not so much. The attitude toward Freddie changed when Freddie was sanctified by virtue his death. One of the stories that impressed me most was Freddie's innate solidity as a musician. He did the piano parts and many vocal parts in "Bohemian Rhapsody" at night--before the drum part was recorded. So Roger Taylor (who also sang the highest parts in that and other Queen songs) ended up using Freddie's part as a click track.

cyberferret 10y ago
Yep - that documentary that I posted on here "Inside the Rhapsody" has Dr. Brian May talking about Freddie being an absolute metronome on the piano - with no click track to play to. Apparently his sense of time and control over the instrument was second to none. That documentary is well worth 27 minutes of anyone's time.
- linker3000 10y ago
  In June, I was working in Switzerland installing a multi-petabyte storage array for the Montreux Jazz Digital Project (http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/archiving/digitize/digital_media_storage http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/archi...), and during a break in work, myself and a colleague were taken to the home of the late Claude Nobbs, founder of the Festival. The building houses the original recordings of the festival performances (everything from 2" Ampex to digibeta and beyond), plus an overwhelming collection of memorabilia from the guests that stayed in the house and chalets around the grounds; we saw a David Bowie kimono mounted like a large picture on a wall, motorbikes, guitars and other musical instruments, electronic audio equipment from numerous decades, jukeboxes, lots of model trains (Claude collected them)...and Freddie Mercury's piano. Having psychopathic tendencies (so my Mrs tells me), I don't get emotional about many things, but running my fingers across the piano was spine tingling - I really felt in the presence of greatness. /csb
- serge2k 10y ago

ianpurton 10y ago

Don't stop me now.

hackuser 10y ago

I only learned in the last few years that he was an immigrant to England. Who are other famous immigrants that most people don't know about?

pimeys 10y ago

He was the first true rock idol for a 4-year old me. I remember rocking and acting like Freddie when I saw Queen performing on television around the year 1988. He was a god to me and when my mother told me he died it was quite hard for me to understand. Too bad the times were different, he could've been a great role model for young gay boys.