Excellent Article.

I actually love Live at the Rainbow ‘74 outfit <3

Some parts of the interview with Chris "Crystal" Taylor (done by Roger M. Takahashi, translated from Japanese by deathtoming. And on this link you can read the whole interview):

[...]

RT: After working with them, how would you describe them briefly?

Crystal: The four of them have completely different personalities. Brian is really serious. As for John, he’s really quiet before you get to know him, but once you do, he’s a really fun guy. And Roger, we probably all know what kinds of things he likes. I have the same interests as him so we got along really well. Freddie is really shy, but a fun guy to be with. Most people probably don’t know this, but he has a surprising sense of humour.

RT: Please tell us more about Roger. What’s his personality like, and what kind of person is he?

Crystal: This is a hard question. He was born to be a rock star. First of all, he was the first one to buy a really huge house. A really expensive car, too. It was a black Ferrari 308 GTB. He was also the first to buy a house overseas, and the only one to buy a cruiser motorcycle. Off stage as well, he was acting like a rock star. Of course, he liked “various things” associated with rock stars. Ah, oh yeah, he was a wonderful drummer. Of course as a person, too!

RT: Was it easy working for Roger?

Crystal: Yeah. Like anyone, he can get into a rage quickly. But he goes back to his regular self immediately. I met him through work, but we became really good friends, and often went out to do stuff together. On days off, too.

[...]

RT: Haha. Please tell us any stories that make you laugh when you think about them.

Crystal: There are too many that I can’t answer. It makes me laugh just thinking about all the things we got up to together. We were really like high school students you couldn’t control.

RT: Do you ever listen to Queen songs?

Crystal: No, I don’t. It’s always on the radio.

RT: What are your top three favourite Queen albums?

Crystal: I still think to this day that Side Black of Queen II is amazing. After that, A Night at the Opera, I guess. Third, I’d say New of the World, I think.

RT: In contrast, please tell us if there is any work you don’t like.

Crystal: Dreamer’s Ball! I really hate this one!! This kind of song is inconceivable. And I saw Brian and Roger have a tremendously horrible argument about this song, so I also came to hate this song when it was played live. I’ve also had enough of We Will Rock You!! I probably heard it too much live. Body Language is also terrible. For albums, I hate Hot Space and The Miracle.

[...]

RT: What are the details of the biggest trouble you experienced during a show?

Crystal: The biggest trouble, eh. Not being asleep during the show, I guess! Ah, sorry, just kidding, haha. I always keep a spare bass drum pedal and snare drum nearby. Also, drum heads in all sizes. Roger tears them fairly quickly. The snare stand is always firmly secured to the drum riser, so if the head of the snare tears, you have to remove the snare drum only from the stand and replace it with a new one. Same for the bass drum pedal. We use Ludwig’s Speed King, and it’s a good pedal, but it breaks really frequently. When that happens, I have to slide between the snare and floor tom by Roger’s feet while he’s playing to switch out the pedal. I’m a big guy, so it’s really tough to slide in there. The most it ever happened was when it broke three times! That really was a tough one. When we get a new kit, we always order two bass drums. Roger always asks me why, but I always answer that it’s just in case. The second bass drum is always tuned so that it’s ready to go, and every evening during the show, it’s placed close to me. And, one night during a show in the US, it happened. Every night, I observe all of Roger’s movements in great detail, and here the kick pedal’s beater gets sucked right into the drum head. I immediately said, “Oh shit!” and went over to the middle of the stage with a bass drum. I removed the mics for the bass drum and toms, and removed the screws from the two toms above. I switched out the broken bass drum for the new one, put the two toms and mics back in place, and disappeared off the stage with the broken bass drum. Freddie saw this and announced, “This has never happened before!” The crew cheered and gave me a round of applause, but I paid no attention to it and returned to my spot. Someone was timing it, and I finished the job in 45 seconds. This is an accomplishment I should really be proud of!!

[...]

RT: Roger often changes his kit to match the album or songs he’s playing. Does Roger come up with those ideas? Or do you and Roger work together to assemble the kit?

Crystal: He had an endorsement deal with Ludwig, so it was all free of charge. We discussed what colours we should pick, or how we should do this and that. Of course, in the end Roger had the final say.

[...]

RT: Starting from 1977, the bass drum front head design went from the crest to album covers. Whose idea was that?

Crystal: Roger’s. I offered up some ideas, too, but Roger’s were excellent. We used a company called Cream. Do you remember the first drum head with the Queen crest? That was a silkscreen print. The others were all printed. It’s funny, I remember the name of the woman from the company that worked with us. You can remember it like this: Roger Taylor, Chris Taylor, Margaret Taylor!

[...]

RT: Whose idea was it to have Roger’s face on the drum head? It’s from a 1977 promo shoot; who decided to use that?

Crystal: This was Roger’s idea, too. Roger thought of it when the book he was reading had a cover like that. We both thought, “It’d be cool to use this!” and reached out but the fee to secure the rights was ridiculous. So I picked the most appropriate photo of Roger and made one. So, both Roger and I worked together on that one.

Photo added by deathtoming.

[...]

RT: During Live Aid, you were sitting between David Bowie and Roger, and behind Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Please tell me your memories from this time.

Crystal: Those were good seats! That day, all of the performers were granted the right to go to the seats with the royal family. John and Freddie opted out, saying they didn’t want to sit around all day. A limousine came to pick me up, and then went to pick up Roger and Brian. It was 10:30 am. And at 11:00 am we met some members of the royal family, and received our tickets for reserved seating. Of course I knew the royal family would sit in the royal box, and but I didn’t know where that would be. Then Andy, a friend of mine who worked for promoter Harvey Goldsmith, says to me “I got you amazing seats.” David Bowie, Roger, Brian and I weren’t concerned at all about who might sit in front of us and we were just chatting idly when God Save the Queen plays loudly and Prince Charles and Princess Diana appear in front of us. It’s our national anthem so I stood up and when I looked at the stage, I saw on the huge screen a 30-foot version of me! I thought, the whole world is looking at me. The next day, all of the newspapers had a picture of me in it! Amazing, haha!!

[...]

RT: I’ve been wondering about this a long time, but seeing how Roger is habitually fashionably-dressed, I’m guessing that he has been choosing his own stage outfits since around 1976, but is this correct? Aside from Freddie’s tights, was someone choosing the stage outfits for Rogers and the others?

Crystal: It was completely their tastes, and they were choosing and buying things themselves.

RT: Were there stylists and make-up artists that would go on tour with them?

Crystal: Someone in charge of the wardrobe would always go on tour with them. They took care of things like dry cleaning and ironing. Make up was always self-applied.

[...]

RT: After touring stopped, Roger had more opportunities for solo work. Were you assisting him at those times, too?

Crystal: For Fun in Space, Strange Frontier, and The Cross’s Shove It, yeah. They were all done at the studio I hate, Mountain Studios in Switzerland. For all of them, it was just the three of us: Roger, David Richards, and myself. I was so bored, and skiing was the only thing you could do there. Oh, that and drinking, haha. Roger produced Jimmy Nail, Feargal Sharkey, Mel Smith, and others. We were always a team. It was a good team....

RT: What was the deciding factor when you decided to leave Queen Productions?

Crystal: I knew that Freddie was ill and that they wouldn’t continue touring. I’d also been touring for 20 years, and thought it was the right time. I can’t get into the real reason, but I thought there was nothing left for the Queen members to do. If I ever get a chance to write a book, I’ll tell the whole story.

RT: Were you satisfied with the working conditions of the crew?

Crystal: I was very satisfied! The pay wasn’t bad, and most of all, all of the members treated me well. I never asked for a pay raise, and never thought the workload didn’t match the pay. I was allowed to use the company Range Rover whenever I wanted, and when I had a girlfriend in Los Angeles for 4 years, I could visit her whenever I wanted on days off and Roger would let me use his house and car. When I went to New York, Freddie would let me borrow his place. I was happy to work with them.

RT: When you watched the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, did the inaccuracies with the equipment stand out and bother you?

Crystal: I hate that movie. They went off and formed a band with the Queen name somewhere that wasn’t true, had them play Live Aid, and everything else is full of mistakes. You’re telling me they hadn’t played for two years before Live Aid? They had played five weeks earlier in your country, Japan, right? Before that, there was a tour in Australia. Rami Malek as an Oscar winner, that’s something he doesn’t deserve. I don’t mean to say bad things about Rami, but he completely missed his “true funniness.” [Translation note: the Japanese word used is difficult to translate, so “funniness” can be ridiculousness or strangeness.] The production team depicted him as a sad, miserable, lonely person. The exact opposite of all of this is the real Freddie. The We Will Rock You recording scene where the wives did the foot stomps and handclaps, give me a break with this bad joke. It’s all of the road crew and band that did that. It’s a fond memory of mine. Do you want to know more? Well then, if you do a talk or something through Music Life, I’ll talk about eeeeverything! Nudge nudge, wink wink!

RT: Haha. When I see Roger’s recent drum kit, there is not an ounce of beauty, and it’s very disappointing. Do you feel like giving him advice?

Crystal: Ah, that………. No!

[...]

RT: And, finally, if you have memories from Japan, please share with us.

Crystal: I have lots of memories from Japan! Only wonderful ones. I was completely culture shocked when I went in 1976. It was full of things I had never seen before. The buildings, billboards, and the food. I’d never used chopsticks before and it was my first time with Japanese food. I thought I might die if I didn’t learn how to use them. Every single person I met was really polite. I did a lot of sightseeing in Japan. More than any other country on this planet! The temples and castles took my breath away. Of course, there was the shopping, too. In particular, I got addicted to Walkmans and digital watches. I also bought aaaaall of the lenses and accessories for Nikon cameras! I could master it quickly and painlessly. I’d guess all of the crew spent money until they were broke. They’d buy kimono for their girlfriends. The concerts were wonderful. For Queen, the best fans were Dutch and Japanese, and that fact will never change. On the first Japanese tour, we played twice in one day, with the first show at 2 pm. You want us to rock at this time of day? The next was 6 pm. We were done by 9 pm and headed to Byblos [night club in Tokyo]. That, or Lexington Queen [another night club]. The Japanese road crew was always superb. As soon as they put the equipment in the flight cases, they would load them into the truck! Ahh, I’d better stop here, so I have stuff to say in my book, haha!

RT: When you look back to your brilliant days with Queen, when would you say was the best moment?

Crystal: That would probably be the time I answered the phone the first time. If I hadn’t answered, I wouldn’t have met wonderful friends and crew, and the four wonderful members of the band. It was really a wonderful time.

RT: Please give a message to fans in Japan.

Crystal: Usually, I don’t speak for other people. But this is a very good opportunity, so today I’d like to speak on behalf of Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Brian May and everyone on the road crew. Everyone… that’s right, each and every one of us loved Japan. No matter the tour, everyone happily welcomed us. I love the country of Japan, and above all, all of the people are wonderful as humans, and I loved them. Thank you so much for being kind.

Is there a memory of Freddie Mercury that will always accompany you, an image that makes it unique to you for eternity?

“The first time I realized Freddie’s extraordinary enthusiasm was when I was once with him at his home when he lived with his mother. He had a tiny turntable with two speakers on either side, he made me listen to Hendrix’s ‘Axis Bold As Love’ … He was out of breath, gesturing all the time, telling me where I needed to be, where I was supposed to stand: "Go, do not move, there, listen here, good, now stand to the left, you hear this bass, and there, come back this drum roll, wait, try to listen to the guitar, no do not move there, on the left … ’. And I said to myself: oh my God, this guy loves Hendrix even more than me, and I thought I was his biggest fan … Freddie did not miss any of his shows, he was following his tours at the time, he was very heavy . He was so passionate at the time, convinced that he would become a star. He would hang out on Kensington Market and then he would say to me, 'Oh, I met Planty (Robert Plant) earlier, we had a little talk. ” And I told him, 'But Fred, you’re not a star yet, you’re crazy’, that was totally him. “

Brian May, Rock & Folk, 1993 (translated from french)

“ It’s very strange.  We met Freddie first of all, Roger and I, because he was one the best friends of our singer in a group called “Smile”, and we met him at Ealing Tech where Freddie was studying Graphic Design.  He spent all his time drawing pictures of Jimi Hendrix and a few other people and I came here and I distinctly remember walking in the gate and going into his little living room  where he had a record player.  It was a Dansette record player and autochanger and the vinyl records that were used on it were quite magical, and I think there’s a nice resurgence of vinyl going on at the moment for good reason - but I distinctly remember him putting the record on and it was a Jimi Hendrix record.  I think it was “Axis Bold As Love”, and he goes, “Brian, Brian, Brian, listen, listen, listen”, and I goes “Yes, Jimi Hendrix, love Jimi Hendrix, he’s magic”, you know.  And he goes, “No, no, no, listen what they do, what they do in the production. See, this guitar comes round here, and you come round to the other speaker, it comes out here.  They’re panning it around, they’re moving around. This is the kind of thing we have to do, you know.  This is what we gotta do”.  And I thought “What?”  He says “Yes, yes, we’re gonna be a group”.

Brian May, at the Freddie Mercury blue plaque unveiling ceremony, 2016.

I love that he’s still cherishing the same memory after all those years.

The Show Must Go On — Documentary (2019)

#i’m suing whoever edited this for emotional damages

i'm sorry this is a fic just waiting to happen

you know it's always "Brian May Cries while shaking hands with Imaginary Freddie in concert" or "Emotional moment as Freddie joins Brian May for Love of My Life" but WHEN are we going to acknowledge that the single most heartbreaking performance of LoML ever is actually from Brian's Oct93 New Haven show ???

Everyone always talks about their roman empire being maxiel or lestappen or brocedes or landoscar or carlando which is fine, everyone has their own thing. But what about BRITCEDES?!?!?! How are they not talked about more? The man that the 11 year old George waited for—that man is gonna be his teammate 13 years later. The man he looked up to, he’ll get to race against him, with him in a little more than a decade. The man he waited for once upon a time waited for him back after races. They’ll be in videos together, take ice baths next to each other, get dinner together. That someday they will be joking around together and Lewis will love to tease the hell out of him. That Lewis will be taking him surfing (and hopefully skydiving soon if he hasn’t already and they are just keeping the content from us). That the man George cheered for will cheer back for him years later. Lewis literally paused in the middle of his media pen interview to watch George’s qualifying with his crossed fingers and “c’mon, buddy.” Lewis is gonna shower him with praises (how George is only gonna improve over the years and Lewis will help him anyway he can).

His hero turned into his teammate. Britcedes is my roman empire.

Let's talk about this more obscure interview from '92:

1. Brian basically admitted that Freddie is in every song in Back to the Light in some way, but he hesitates and says, "I don't like to talk--sometimes it's hard to talk about it because it gets too specific, you know?" So he was (and still is, I suppose, since he didn't mention this during the rerelease) reluctant to talk about every little way Freddie was in the music for BTTL.

2. He says the most direct connection to Freddie is "Nothin' But Blue", unsurprisingly, but he also says that as he was writing this, "I'm thinking about his life, and I'm thinking about how I feel losing him, I'm thinking about what my life means." Brian wondering what his life meant after losing Freddie is something he talked about before, with his quotes that he thought his life was over :(

3. Next is where it gets pretty interesting, imo. He says the previous point relates to the theme of the album, along with the question of how Freddie felt about all this and his way out of dark spots in his life. Brian mentions how he wrote "Resurrection" when Freddie was declining rapidly, but his spirit was getting stronger and stronger. This is the first time I've heard Brian imply he partly took inspiration for the fighting spirit of "Resurrection" from Freddie.

4. He seems to almost choke up at the end of the video. He's asked about the future of Queen, and responds by saying he doesn't see a future for the band without Freddie. He says, "That's how....[pauses, sniffs] that's how I feel about it" while looking like this

So. Ouch.

Prosenna football au? :)