Brian May has reflected on what it was like working with Freddie Mercury in Queen's formative years.
During a recent Q&A session with The Red Special Guitar Podcast, the legendary guitarist revealed that his band once had their doubts about hiring Mercury as their frontman in 1970.
“When we first worked with him, it was a little unnerving,” May explains. “Because he did a lot of running around the place and screaming his head off. So we thought, ‘Is this going work?’".
He continues, "And not everybody liked him, I’ve got to say. A lot of people found him kind of abrasive – but they all thought he was interesting and entertaining. At that point, though, he wasn’t the singer that we all got to know as Freddie Mercury.”
May additionally recalls the late vocalist's extreme perfectionism, and explains how Mercury was only satisfied with his voice during recording sessions after a number of repeated takes.
"We went into the studio, and… as soon as Freddie heard his voice coming back, he went, ‘Oh, I don’t like it. I’m gonna do that again'", the musician remembers. “And he would go back and back and back, until he got it the way he wanted it. So he became, instantly, very aware of what he sounded like, and incredibly quickly fashioned himself into the singer he wanted to be.”
He continues, “It probably went on for ever. Every time we were going to make a new album, Freddie would push himself further.
“He would hear himself come back, and he would say, ‘No, I want to do better, longer, more passion, more –’ whatever it was… He was always looking for new textures, and looking to get more out of himself.”
May then shares how the band would not only help Mercury get to a place where he was happy with his output, but guide each other on their own offerings in the studio.
“We did help,” he affirms. “Every time one of us [were] in the studio, the rest of us [were] in the control room. So a lot of the time, I’m sitting… and Freddie’s doing a vocal, and he goes, ‘How’s that?’
“And I go, ‘Well, we kinda like that bit but we didn’t like…’ So we helped him to build what works. And the same the other way round; I’d be doing a guitar solo and so often Freddie was there, going, ‘Well, that’s alright, but…’ We’d be pushing each other the whole time.”
Last month, Queen released a newly mixed, mastered and expanded reissue of their 1973 self-titled debut album.
Watch the Q&A interview below:
