QUEEN @ 50

 

It's time for another Queen to celebrate a jubilee, this one being golden, as the debut eponymous LP from Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Meadows Taylor and John Deacon (credited as Deacon John), collectively known as QUEEN, was released 50 years ago today, on July 13th 1973. It would be the coronation of one of rock's greatest bands, a creative collective who would leave an indelible and enduring legacy of music and performance.

Before their first album hit the record shops, Queen had to evolve through a series of manifestations which began in 1968 when Brian May formed the group, Smile, with lead singer and bassist, Jim Staffell. May had worked with Jim previously in 1963 in a band called 1984, named after the Orwell novel. Brian had taken a break from music to pursue his degree in physics and infrared astronomy at Imperial College, but was back into playing again. To complete the band, drummer Roger Taylor was hired after auditioning from an ad requesting a "Ginger Baker" style player. While attending Ealing Art College, Staffell became acquainted with one Freddie Bulsara, an Indian of Parsi descent who had grown up in Zanzibar. Bulsara was a design student and took a shining to Jim's band, even offering Brian to join as lead vocalist, though May turned him down because he didn't think Staffell would want to relinquish the role. By 1970, however, Staffell was tired of going nowhere with the band and packed it in, leaving an opening for Freddie to step in.

Once Freddie was on board, it didn't take long for him to suggest a new moniker for the band, christening them QUEEN. Though the other members were initially hesitant, Freddie, who'd also adopted the sir name of Mercury, was confident that, "...people will love it". Whether the connotations of the name were evident or deliberate is somewhat debated, but I have a hard time thinking Freddie didn't have a sly subversive intent up his sleeve. Initially, the band rotated through a number of bass players before they finally encountered John Deacon in 1971, whose modest demeanour and skill in electronics became a perfect compliment for the other quarters of the band.

After scrounging around for a bit, trying to find someplace to do some recording on the cheap, an encounter with an audio engineer friend managed to get them into De Lane Lea Studios' new premises in Wembley. The studio was looking to bring a band in to test out the new gear and rooms, so Queen were able to record five of their original songs: "Liar", "Keep Yourself Alive", "Great King Rat", "The Night Comes Down" and "Jesus". During the recording sessions, producer Roy Thomas Baker was present to hear Keep Yourself Alive, which impressed him enough to promote the band to a number of record labels.

Throughout 1972, Queen, working with Baker as producer, proceeded to record their debut, negotiating to record during studio down time to save costs. Roger Taylor recalled, "You could see the working girls at night through their laced curtains, so while we were mixing, we would have a little bit of diversion". The process proved to be somewhat fraught with conflict, especially between May and Baker, as the former's perfectionism clashed with the latter's desire for live spontaneity. The clash lead to what Baker referred to as "kitchen sink overproduction". The band had also wanted to use the De Lane Lea recordings, but Baker insisted on new versions of those songs. The mixing process proved to be just as difficult with no mix meeting the band's approval until engineer Mike Stone stepped in and was finally able to satisfy everyone's tastes. In the end, the band managed to work through their differences and crafted a bristling mixture of heavy metal and progressive rock, all shot through with a vein of glam's sense of drama. Recording wrapped on the album by November of 1972, and the band then went on a spree of performances to promote the as yet unreleased album. They were still lacking a record deal, so there was some manoeuvring to do, in order to secure a contract.

The group's management firm, Trident, managed to eventually strike a deal with EMI and the album was finally released on July 13th of 1973. The album received overall positive reviews from the music press, with Rolling Stone writing, "There's no doubt that this funky, energetic English quartet has all the tools they'll need to lay claim to the Zep's abdicated heavy-metal throne, and beyond that to become a truly influential force in the rock world. Their debut album is superb." Commercially, the album was a modest success, but delivered nowhere near the kind of sales that they'd soon be pushing. The band was, while highly developed, still finding some of its footing and figuring out how to properly balance its excesses. Their mastery of the studio was not quite fully in bloom, though their ambitions would push them into that sweet-spot very soon.

As a long time Queen fan, the rawness of their debut makes it a singular and fascinating glimpse into a band just starting to flex their creative muscles. All the roots of what they'd become are firmly in place, it was only a matter of time before they'd sprout into full flower. That rough edge, however, gives this album a dynamic which is completely unique within the groups canon of recordings. They'd never sound quite like this again, albeit their followup, Queen II, would perch confidently on the foundations laid by their debut. If you're looking for a version of Queen with some youthful vigour and bite, this is a perfect place to start. It's certainly a dazzling debut by any band's standards.