Brian May Finds A Tape Of Queen’s Earliest Gig And Reveals What Freddie Mercury Would Want To Do With It

During a recent interview with Louder Sound, Queen co-founder and guitarist Brian May revealed that he recently recovered an old recording from one of the band’s earliest gigs and stated that Roger Taylor and he are thinking about what they should do with it while speculating what Freddie would say after listening to it.

As you know, Queen is one of the most famous and appreciated bands in rock history, and although two of the band’s original members are not performing anymore, as Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991 and John Deacon retired in the late ’90s, the band still has a huge fanbase. While fan opinions vary, one of the main reasons why Queen is still one of the most famous bands of all time is also because Roger Taylor and Brian May still perform with the name Queen + Adam Lambert.

During a recent interview, Brian May revealed that he recently found an old tape that he didn’t know existed. The tape is a recording of one of Queen’s earliest gigs set in a lecture theatre at Imperial College London. May said that in the beginning, they thought that no one should hear it as they sound very ‘rough’ and like a ‘band who are far from the finished article.’ However, they now seem to be more at peace with their old performance as they’re not ashamed of where they were back then.

Nonetheless, another reason why they’re hesitant about releasing it is Freddie’s voice. Although he’s now known for his astonishing four-octave vocal range, the recording is from a time when ‘he didn’t have the opportunity to harness that voice yet.’ Thus, Brian May thought about how Freddie might feel after hearing himself at that stage of his development. However, after giving it some thought for a couple of seconds, May concluded that he would probably just say ‘Oh darling, we were kids.’

here’s what Brian May said during the interview:

“It’s the sound of a band who are far from the finished article. We’re debating what to do with it. A few years ago we’d have felt very protective and thought: ‘Nobody should hear this, because we’re very rough.’ But now, in the position that we are in our lives, we feel forgiving. We’re not ashamed of where we were at that time. It was us against the world.”

He went on to say:

“Freddie had all the will and charisma and passion, but he didn’t have the opportunity to harness that voice yet. Which makes me hesitate a little bit because I’m not sure Freddie would be that happy hearing himself at this stage.”

After pausing for a couple of seconds, he concluded his words by saying:

“But strangely, if he were alive and sitting here at this moment, he’d probably be the same as me: ‘Oh darling, we were kids.'”

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