Rob Halford Talking About Freddie
Dec 28, 2022 20:51:21 GMT
Arnaldo Ogre-, ted, and 1 more like this
Post by Mr Mercury on Dec 28, 2022 20:51:21 GMT
I saw this posted up on the Fan Club Facebook page. I thought it was a really nice thing that Rob said about Freddie.....
Rob Halford from Judas Priest talks Queen and Freddie Mercury (Queen The Illustrated Story)
"LET ME START OUT BY SAYING that I have a lot of iPods, and I have a whole lot of Queen music." Queen and Judas Priest actually... a Nano iPod with all queen & priest songs on it
I was there when the Queens were starting to pull off. I knew them when they were called smile before they changed their name to Queen there was a very famous DJ called Alan Freeman who is no longer with us today but he was an amazing bloke with a fantastic ear for music and rock and for all rock strong and innovative. I remember hearing the first Queen singles and immediately feeling like something new, a new approach, and that some tracks were really dope. So very much looking forward to them releasing their debut album, go to my favorite record store and buy my vinyl. Brought it home and started to listen to it over and over.
The music and the way it was produced, the arrangements, everything was so awesome and exciting. It was great to hear stuff like this come out of the boxes, back in the day. From that moment I became an avid fan of theirs and started collecting everything they produced from vinyls to CDs and now songs on iTunes, and and so on.
Me being a singer, the reference figure in all of this was obviously Freddie. He had an incredibly versatile voice. which could be soft and remissive in some songs, then rip your head off in others, like in "Ogre Battle" for example. There are very few singers are able to penetrate such vast territories convincingly. It's easy to jump from one style to another by monkeying and
imitate others, but it's quite different to be able to do it by conveying such a direct and engaging feeling. You hear him sing "The Great Pretender" and you actually believe he was this guy. Or Elvis style crazy little thing called love and it totally gets you When he played, he put his heart and soul into it, and at the end he made you believe in what he played.
And then just listen to what he sang with Montserrat Caballé, the Spanish lyrical singer... their "Barcelona" has given way for Freddie to make his own lyrical masterpiece. Loved the lyrics and singers. It was part of his mindset, and he could transfer that spirit into the rock and pop music he made. "Mama, I just killed a man... "One has the feeling of hearing a man singing prey to the deepest despair." Clearly an idea heavily influenced by great lyrical works.
Besides his voice he had a great personality on stage, one of the greatest leaders to ever hit a stage. Every member of Queen was spectacular to watch live, but that was Freddie the real deal, from the moment he walked on stage and started singing. You couldn't keep your eyes off him, he was charismatic. And you could tell from his music he was having a blast.. All he had to do was sit on the floor. He always felt like his creativity could take him every day in a new direction. Anything was possible.
This goes for Queens as a whole too. They were extremely versatile, and their basic attitude was that they would not be ready to be controlled by anything or anyone but their instinct and willpower... And that was that... As for me as a musician this was exciting because i don't like rehearsals.
I enjoy entertaining and love seeing what a band can produce musically. And it was just like that with Queen. "They became, and for many of us, one of the most unique events in rock and roll history."
Rob Halford from Judas Priest talks Queen and Freddie Mercury (Queen The Illustrated Story)
"LET ME START OUT BY SAYING that I have a lot of iPods, and I have a whole lot of Queen music." Queen and Judas Priest actually... a Nano iPod with all queen & priest songs on it
I was there when the Queens were starting to pull off. I knew them when they were called smile before they changed their name to Queen there was a very famous DJ called Alan Freeman who is no longer with us today but he was an amazing bloke with a fantastic ear for music and rock and for all rock strong and innovative. I remember hearing the first Queen singles and immediately feeling like something new, a new approach, and that some tracks were really dope. So very much looking forward to them releasing their debut album, go to my favorite record store and buy my vinyl. Brought it home and started to listen to it over and over.
The music and the way it was produced, the arrangements, everything was so awesome and exciting. It was great to hear stuff like this come out of the boxes, back in the day. From that moment I became an avid fan of theirs and started collecting everything they produced from vinyls to CDs and now songs on iTunes, and and so on.
Me being a singer, the reference figure in all of this was obviously Freddie. He had an incredibly versatile voice. which could be soft and remissive in some songs, then rip your head off in others, like in "Ogre Battle" for example. There are very few singers are able to penetrate such vast territories convincingly. It's easy to jump from one style to another by monkeying and
imitate others, but it's quite different to be able to do it by conveying such a direct and engaging feeling. You hear him sing "The Great Pretender" and you actually believe he was this guy. Or Elvis style crazy little thing called love and it totally gets you When he played, he put his heart and soul into it, and at the end he made you believe in what he played.
And then just listen to what he sang with Montserrat Caballé, the Spanish lyrical singer... their "Barcelona" has given way for Freddie to make his own lyrical masterpiece. Loved the lyrics and singers. It was part of his mindset, and he could transfer that spirit into the rock and pop music he made. "Mama, I just killed a man... "One has the feeling of hearing a man singing prey to the deepest despair." Clearly an idea heavily influenced by great lyrical works.
Besides his voice he had a great personality on stage, one of the greatest leaders to ever hit a stage. Every member of Queen was spectacular to watch live, but that was Freddie the real deal, from the moment he walked on stage and started singing. You couldn't keep your eyes off him, he was charismatic. And you could tell from his music he was having a blast.. All he had to do was sit on the floor. He always felt like his creativity could take him every day in a new direction. Anything was possible.
This goes for Queens as a whole too. They were extremely versatile, and their basic attitude was that they would not be ready to be controlled by anything or anyone but their instinct and willpower... And that was that... As for me as a musician this was exciting because i don't like rehearsals.
I enjoy entertaining and love seeing what a band can produce musically. And it was just like that with Queen. "They became, and for many of us, one of the most unique events in rock and roll history."
