Deacy's ingenious walking bass line is the unsung hero of "Crazy Little Thing." It's holding down the groove while swinging melodically at the same time. At one point he quotes a bit of "Shortening Bread" while Brian takes the Telecaster solo. Quite remarkable...
I’m not sure I’d describe it as ingenious, as it’s a classic jazz/blues walking bass line and traces its roots back to Baroque music. It goes well with this song, but then the song is a tribute to classic rock and roll.
I was watching a Beach Boys-related video recently, and it was mentioned that Brian Wilson had a proper obsession with 'Shortening Bread' once and that it still is his favourite song today! 😊 And I've never understood all those who've been dissing Deacon's playing and describing it as simple! Including bassists! Those folks clearly don't know what they're talking about!
Once again Queen tries a new style (this time classic 50s/60s Rock and Roll) and show they are masters of that genre too. Their range and skill in a large part is why I love Queen. They could have written 100 Bohemian Rhapsody clones after having a hit but not Queen. You never get bored listening to Queen
That's so common with good musicians. They have such high standards, etc., that they usually don't think of themselves as playing well. I remember Stewart Copeland saying drums were "a joke" -- he wasn't bragging, either -- you could tell he just found them to be so easy.
I really like the Rockabilly style guitar solo. Slick stuff. Deacon puts on a clinic on how legato and staccato can really change the feel of a walking bass line. The actual line is nothing special. He's just hopping up chord tones, but the rhythm and feel and articulation are all dead on and really makes the song move. Granted the bass on a real rockabilly record wouldn't be that compressed, but I think it works.
Message to Vlad: If you line up Queen at Live Aid for Amy to watch, please make sure you choose the version that includes the acoustic encore done by Brian and Freddie afterwards. It's called "The World That We Created" and it puts the entire intercontinental concert into perspective and refocuses the intent of the entire weekend.
@@kvz9000 It might not carry the euphoria of the main set but it carries emotion of the sort that spurred Geldof to come up with the idea in the first place.
Not having many options to pull from is actually proven to enhance creativity. I'll never forget hearing a Harvard professor say that in their studies on creativity, they found one key thing that stood out clearly: "Creativity loves constraint".
When it was new on airplay, many were probably thinking "Oh, there's that great old song, why haven't they played it more often". Somehow I even still get that feeling!
Elvis was often backed by the gospel quartet, The Jordannaires. The backing vocals that gave you "barbershop" vibes are an obvious callback to The Jordannaires backing vocals on the old Elvis records.
Glad she realized the Elvis influence and tribute to him and the original era of rock. Didn't realize she had some knowledge of Elvis. I've been surprised, since she's a rock virgin and started this channel to learn about and analyze rock, that she has completely passed over the original rock era and creators like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard etc.
Vlad and Amy, please, don't miss Barcelona album, especially Guide me home + How can I go on (two songs as one peace of art), and of course other tracks from it
With Queen being my top three all-time bands (I'm old) it's always a delight to see someone else take so much joy in them. Plus, of course, Amy is incredible at explaining the musical subtleties.
You are getting good at identifying each member’s traits! Freddie always said he couldn’t play guitar but he wrote Ogre Battle on guitar according to Brian May who also claimed Freddie was a unique pianist who pounded the keys yet had a fluid style of playing as if he had a metronome within him. Brian said Freddie was always humble about his talents unless he was in character. This one is an Elvis homage. John’s bass is so fun! Thanks! ❤😊
One of those songs that is even better when they played it live. The studio version has this kind of groovy understatement, the live versions are more in your face.
Everything compliments each other so well in the song, in other peoples hands this would be a throw away track but this band is so tight and so full of talents which works so well together.
Another great Queen reaction to another great Queen song. For me this is a throw back to the 50s rock and roll style that you haven't heard very much of yet. Although I was glad to hear that you have heard a little Elvis (being from Tennessee), so that gave you a good reference to this style (depending on the Elvis song). I also think I heard a bit of Little Richard (another 50s rock n roll legend) in Freddie's high pitched yelp. I love John Deacon's jazzy walking bass in this one, so I was really glad you noticed it. I also love Brian's guitar on this, so I really appreciated your comments on his solo. It did have a barbershop quartet vibe, along with a bit of a doo-wop vibe. Great observations all around.
This might be just the only recording of Queen with electric guitar, that Brian did not use his Red Special... he was convinced to use a Fender Telecaster that Roger had lying around. Still to this day Brian is convinced that his RedSpecial would have done the job... but there you are! The only non RedSpecial song of Queen!😊😊
A little note here about the guitars. Although true it isn’t Brian’s Red Special, the recording uses Roger’s 1967 Fender Esquire, while live performances used the 1978 Fender Tele aster. The live performance also replaces the 12 string acoustic with Freddie’s blonde 1983 Fender Telecaster, which eventually was stolen and still missing. Sigh
There is another Queen song in which Brian used an electric guitar other than his Red Special. That was The Hero from the Flash Gordon soundtrack. If I'm correctly remembering his account of this from his "Queen in 3D" book, May didn't have the RS handy when he recorded the solo for The Hero, so he just grabbed some other guitar that happened to be laying around. The amazing thing is, that solo sounds incredible and it sounds like May is supposed to sound. His sound really is in his fingers, and his head, more than it is in the equipment that he uses.
Actually, there are quite a few featuring him on other electric guitars, instead of or together with the homemade fireplace one he built with his father: 'Long Away', 'Sweet Lady', 'Under Pressure', 'I'm in Love with My Car', 'Mother Love', 'Tear It Up', 'Hammer to Fall', 'Man on the Prowl' and several things from 1984 onwards. And, also, there *were* some takes of Brian using the fireplace guitar on 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', but they weren't used for the final mix.
On "Mother Love" Brian played a Parker Fly electric guitar. Not sure if Red Special was used at the time as well (except in the pre-recorded random outro mix).
@@michastepinski2772 The Parker Fly was invented in 1993, so Brian only used it for the 1993-1995 sessions and not the 1991 ones (which included guitar work for that song on the 13th and 16th of May that year). 'Hammer to Fall' is an interesting case as you can hear the fireplace guitar on one channel and the Gibson Firebird on the other, playing more or less the same thing. An interesting effect.
At Live Aid Freddie's guitar had a remote power pack that was low on power,so Brian realizing it played louder on his acoustic, then he switches to the Fender,and ends with the Red Special for the end.
Remember that Freddie didn't think of himself as a good pianist, so don't let him fool you when he says that he only knows how to play some chords. When they started Freddie wrote most of his songs, if not all of them, on a guitar. It's just he was actually very modest and he probably saw no point in bragging about his decent guitar skills in a band that included Brian and John, who were obviously way better. It's a bit like Brian and Roger's singing skills, I guess. They were -are- very good, but you know, Freddie was there.
Freddie was indeed in the tub and all of a sudden called out for someone to bring me a guitar 😂 Every one who knew Freddie said that’s exactly how it happened… sounds like Freddie . My favorite version of Freddie singing this Live is at Live Aid !! I think you would love it Amy ✌🏼🥰
If you enjoyed this, it is indicative of an entire genre called "rockabilly". So you might enjoy listening to some Brian Setzer (in particular his Christmas music is fun as is his original band "Stray Cats").
This is great, really enjoyed it! My favourite song on this album, and one of my favourite Queen songs overall, is Save Me - a beautiful song from Brian, with some especially poignant and moving lyrics. I feel that some really great Brian songs have been overlooked/omitted from this series - White Queen, The Prophet's Song, '39, to name just a few. I so hope that Save Me doesn't suffer the same fate! But regardless, I enjoyed this, I'm enjoying this series, and I hope you enjoy whatever you listen to next! (But it should be Save Me!)
This song was big in the US for sure. The movie "Grease" coming out in 1978 kind of spurred a return to popularity of late 50s/early 60s rockabilly. The Stray Cats had a big debut album with songs like this, songs my parents liked as well. My parents liked this Queen song. It took a little more convincing to get them to like Van Halen's 1978 debut album (decidedly not rockabilly), but dad and I managed to work out "Jamie's Cryin'" and "Ice Cream Man" on the guitar. He didn't think he could help me much with "I'm the One".
I've been thoroughly enjoying these more recent Queen reactions, as they've been around my preferred era of their repertoire (late 70's ~ early-to-mid 80's) 😊 A bit of constructive criticism, though: Maybe leave it till _after_ the actual listen to read up on songs' info! I think that especially with a song like _this_ one, reading about it beforehand had spoilt much of its surprise!
According to Brian: "Freddie was very good on the guitar, very unorthodox - all downstrokes. He wrote the riff for “Ogre Battle” [from 1974’s Queen II]. I used to play it with up- and downstrokes, but he was all downstrokes. Imagine how fast his right hand was moving! He had a frenetic energy on the guitar, which came across very well in that song." As a massive fan of Jimi Hendrix, Freddie taught himself to play the guitar, after some point he gave up on the idea. In live situations he only played rhythm guitar on Crazy Little Thing Called Love, however, he was capable of doing more than rhythm guitar
@@bluebell3720 Freddie didn't write Bo Rap's riff on the guitar.. He had that riff (as everything on that masterpiece) in his mind.. He had probably played it on the piano (or just "sang" it), and then Brian put it on the guitar standarts..
@@hmwr0h Brian has said Freddie would normally write their parts on piano But he did write some things on guitar He wrote all of ogre battle on guitar Love of my life piano and guitar
@@bluebell3720 Show me that interview then.. And Freddie wrote Love Of My Life only on the piano, where he used to feel really comfortable.. He couldn't strum a guitar properly, only knew a few simple things.
Such a fun song & really showcases Freddie’s vocal versatility. Freddie was Always overly modest wrt his piano & guitar skills. It became a huge fan favorite during live shows. the piano line was added a few years later. lol I always Forget how short the studio cut is vs their live performances of this song.
Brian said Freddie was a good guitarist, but he only used down strokes. Freddie wrote Battle Orge on guitar, Brian said it was extremely fast paced. Great reaction 😊
Amy, the last thing you're talking about in this video can be summarized as "the perfect Pop song". This is what many bands are looking for. By the way, I disagree with your use of the word "simple". For example, Queen altered the classic 12-bar Blues scheme considerably for Crazy Little Thing Called Love in a sophisticated way. They even added a whole new chord progression to it, just for the guitar solo. And then the clever little things like "Ready, Freddy?"... Another example. Changing key in the second bar!... That's what happens in Yesterday. Yet it sounds normal and thus "simple". I think it boils down to your perspective. Compared to Classical music these great Pop and Rock songs are simple, but compared to most Rock, these perfect Beatles and Queen songs aren't simple at all, and while covering Beatles and Queen songs by ear, most amateur Rock musicians struggle to find out what they were exactly playing.
I have some classical musicians criticise pop and rock music for only 4 chords. Personally, I think that the number of totally different songs and different pop genres all written on the same 4 chords is just collective genius.
Mark E Smith from the fall said that it was impossible to get experienced English musicians to play straight rock and roll music, and he had to basically train band members up from scratch himself. Queen recording a song like this really shows that they were very different to all their contemporary prog this or post that musicians.
Thanks for your analysis! Love the bass line as well as the guitar solo. I've heard an a cappella version of this song (barbershop quartet, pretty much, as you mentioned at 16:00)--sounded quite good! Josh Turner Guitar on youtube does an interesting cover of this song as well--as it's a video, one can see how all the parts are played. Glad to hear we'll get to see the video on "Yesterday" in the near future ("Yesterday" tomorrow perhaps?).
Mike Pinder, founding member of the Moody Blues died on April 24th this year. It would be nice to make a homage to him. Would you recommend one or some of his music in The Moody Blues so Amy could get introduced to this fantastic band with marvelous music? Right now I can only think of My Song, from the Every God Boy Deserves Favour... But there are so many others!
Pure Rockabilly. And Queen pulling out all the stops. Harkening back to Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran. It came out at a time when Rockabilly was making a sort of resurgence in popularity. Especially with Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats, and after with his Swing and Rockabilly orchestra. And Adam Ant's Goody Two Shoes. People were also rediscovering Led Zeppelin's cover of Eddie Cochran's C'mon Everybody and She's Something Else. When Punk emerged with it's rejection and disregard of the great 70's pop music groups and area of influence, early Rock and Roll from the 50's seemed to be music they didn't take issue with. So that situation sort of helped with the resurgence of Rockabilly. Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols even did a cover of She's Something Else. Queen took all that Rockabilly greatness and gave it a spa day, polished it and dressed it up to go to the big dance. But without overproducing it. Leaving all the drive and power which allows it to shine in it's own style.
Freddie was in a stand alone bath tub with four legs with a piano behind him. He played the piano behind him backwards with his hands over the top of his head. He learned to do this rather well.
Thanks, VR.. Freddie was good at many things... guitar? so-so... but he had Brian doing most of it, so didn't matter... Fred actually could drum a little bit, even.. he was so musical, not much he couldn't do... but as usual, this is where his vocals shine... did it quite well live, too - appreciate your reactions!
Barbershop is actually a good term to describe the vocals of the song, but to me, this will always the the best song ever to which you dance the Swing! I was learning to dance when this song hit my social circle, and it moved my entire body immediately. Toe-heel, toe-heel, back and forth, toe-heel, toe-heel, back and forth. Perfect speed, and the bassline is definitely a DANCING bass more than a walking one (who walks that fast, and with that much variation?). I recommend you all try dancing to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to gain another dimension of kinetic experience!
Hi Amy. Your analysis on Pink Floyd has brought new meaning to some of the tracks. You are so so close to finishing Pink Floyd the wall. When will you finish the next 2-3 songs? 🙏🏾🙏🏾
I like Dragon Attack a great deal, but I can understand it not being picked for this. It's kind of more of a jam than a structured song. It's very cool, and I enjoy listening to it, but I don't think it's the sort of song Amy would have a lot to say about - from a reaction/analysis point of view, there's not really a lot to talk about in it.
Great reaction! Many people think this is an Elvis song. Freddie was a better guitar player then he pretended to be, he also did the guitar solo of Crazy Little Thing Calked Love originally, but it was later overdubbed by Brian.
I know exactly what spiritual you mean. We sung it in elementary school as well as Swing Low Sweet Chariot. In the Eighties in the South, so much for separation of church and state. Oh well, I'm probably all the better for it.
John Lennon heard Paul’s song Coming Up on the radio and it was so weird it made John want to make an album again. Sorry to Queen but I don’t think it was this song that did it. Although his son Julian was obsessed with Queen I haven’t read any quote from John about their music other than he had heard of them. But it might have given him confidence if this song could reach number one than people didn’t mind an oldies sound (which John liked, and which he does in just like starting over)
Ada ambisi yang kini baru terungkap dari sosok Freddie Mercury. Pentolan grup band Queen itu menjadikan John Lennon sebagai panutan. Freddie sendiri dikenal sebagai salah satu bintang rock terbesar di zamannya. Akan tetapi, ada bagian di mana dirinya ingin bisa setara dengan John Lennon. Hal itu terungkap dalam buku otobiografi Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words. Ia khawatir performanya sebagai penyanyi tak sebaik Lennon. "John Lennon adalah sosok yang luar biasa. Dan ia seorang jenius," ungkap Freddie di otobiografi tersebut.
This is another one that makes it hard to stay still - you have to dance and sing along, in the middle of the kitchen or the street... no one will judge you
As an excellent musician, you perfectly caught the variation of the initial chord. It is indeed the pinky finger that touches the sixth string and creates the D4 chord.
A lot of Mercury’s most iconic songs are built from simple chord progressions or arpeggio patterns on piano, and as a pianist, ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘It’s a Hard Life’ (just to name a few), are easy to learn but also fun to play. The same can probably be said for Deacon’s bass lines, May’s guitar riffs, and Taylor’s drum fills.
You should listen to some 50's rock. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry; those are some of the first rock stars. But if you do decide to do that era. I suggest you listen to Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets first. That was the song that started the rock n roll revolution.
With the hand claps, it's pretty funny in the music video: the hands come up from holes in the floor, juxtaposed with Freddie's tough-guy leather look/outfit, and going along with some kinda silly dance moves lol
5:34 - wait, has Amy heard anything from Elvis Presley yet? or much from the 1950's? A little, I know, of the latter, but I'm wondering here if the tribute aspect of this (mentioned at 0:17) is lost on Amy's ear. If so, might be nice to see that remedied. :) [EDIT: 8:58 - oh, I guess she has! OK, cool. Still, maybe more?] (And I say this as someone who's not particularly a fan of Elvis. But the sound is so distinct... Amy should hear it.)
Love your details and associations. To me the percussion solo in the middle of the song sounds line Steve‘s footsteps while looking for the next „guy“. And the last few beats of the song give me the impression that Steve himself is the final „Another one“ who got shot.
Freddie did play guitar on this song, and he did a great job. His attack was great. I can understand his feeling that he wasn't a good guitar player since he had to stand next to Brian May on stage every night, but I thought he was pretty good.
Dear Amy here are my suggestions for more Queen songs : My fairy king -The march of the black queen , The Prophet's Song , White Queen (As It Began) , Jelousy. further albums songs It's A Hard Life , The Miracle , I want it all , One vision , The show must go on ( that song makes me cry) and it would be a great end of the series. or this one "Was It All Worth It ?"
Love ur Queen reaction's 🥰 I was lucky to see them Live her in Norway the only time they was here 😋❤ been a Queen fan as long as i can remember , have all their records on Vinly ❤ But here is something different , u might know Queen is very protective off their music after Freddie past away RIP . There is one artist that did an rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody , that they really liked an tagged it on their social medias saying WOW what an rendition ❤ it was so good that they gave this artist the copyright to that artist version . The artist is a 13 year old girl ( she's 18 now ) called Angelina Jordan ( she's Norwegian btw ),best female singer on the planet, and she does all her own arrangement's This is from America Got talent The Champions one . I cried when first heard it, never heard such a beautiful voice in my life🥰 ruclips.net/video/qF0JV28vgLw/видео.htmlsi=4rqpfIcfEkRy_zlv this on one she did then. i also put a link to her doing it 3 years later at en outdoor concert in Norway summer of 2022 ❤ ruclips.net/video/TqMqyAi-bsc/видео.htmlsi=cXVhBrFhQlq_k_1j i hope u watch the first one is very special to us fans called Angels ❤ have a good one take care an stay safe. Greetings from Norway 😊
it is really nice to hear your thoughts :) so mnay memories about this song:d but i dont understand why didnt you listen to these beautiful songs , i m not judging u. but why? i ve been watching your posts a few days and im enjjoying it.a suggestion nina simone sinner man;)
It is the arrangement of this song that is sheer genius, and what makes the song great. The interplay between vocals, backing vocals, percussion, and instumentation is complex and interwoven to an extent that makes it so catchy and listenable. If Freddy had tried to do this as a straight number without this arrangement the song would seem bland and not the hit it was, trust me i've tried acoustically.
When listening to this live, it's great to listen out for Roger, who always shouts out READY FREDDIE halfway through!😂
There’s a compilation of all the officially recorded times when he called “Ready, Freddie?” on YT :)
@@mumblbeebee6546 Thanks. I'll have to look out for that😅.
It hurts post-1992. All of Wembley were calling out for Freddie to be ready when he wasn’t on stage.
Deacy's ingenious walking bass line is the unsung hero of "Crazy Little Thing." It's holding down the groove while swinging melodically at the same time. At one point he quotes a bit of "Shortening Bread" while Brian takes the Telecaster solo. Quite remarkable...
I’m not sure I’d describe it as ingenious, as it’s a classic jazz/blues walking bass line and traces its roots back to Baroque music. It goes well with this song, but then the song is a tribute to classic rock and roll.
I was watching a Beach Boys-related video recently, and it was mentioned that Brian Wilson had a proper obsession with 'Shortening Bread' once and that it still is his favourite song today! 😊
And I've never understood all those who've been dissing Deacon's playing and describing it as simple! Including bassists! Those folks clearly don't know what they're talking about!
@@mightyV444 I'm a bass player of 50 years standing. Anyone who dismisses John Deacon is an idiot. No proper bassist does
@@DirectDemocrat - Exactly! I've been playing bass for 40 years myself, by the way 😊
Once again Queen tries a new style (this time classic 50s/60s Rock and Roll) and show they are masters of that genre too. Their range and skill in a large part is why I love Queen. They could have written 100 Bohemian Rhapsody clones after having a hit but not Queen. You never get bored listening to Queen
Excellent comment I couldn't agree more... that was Queen....
When I was a kid, in the 80's, I thought this was a cover of an Elvis song. Such an amazing tribute to the king.
I've known a few people who thought that--I bet that's pretty common!
The man what wrote this piece was a childhood fan of Elvis and often performed his signature hits with Queen on stage.
I'm really enjoying your journey through Queen.
Freddie once said he wasn't good at piano too, but he obviously was.
That's so common with good musicians. They have such high standards, etc., that they usually don't think of themselves as playing well. I remember Stewart Copeland saying drums were "a joke" -- he wasn't bragging, either -- you could tell he just found them to be so easy.
Now Amy has to listen to some Elvis Presley. Thank you very much.
ruclips.net/video/9kpBzUQHYtM/видео.htmlsi=s3i_o5Mj0SCiZQx0
Amy has left the building!
@@SirWussiePants lol
I really like the Rockabilly style guitar solo. Slick stuff. Deacon puts on a clinic on how legato and staccato can really change the feel of a walking bass line. The actual line is nothing special. He's just hopping up chord tones, but the rhythm and feel and articulation are all dead on and really makes the song move. Granted the bass on a real rockabilly record wouldn't be that compressed, but I think it works.
Excellent description!
It’s called Rockabilly
yes siiir
It just shows how great a composer Freddie Mercury was. The different styles he could access
Message to Vlad: If you line up Queen at Live Aid for Amy to watch, please make sure you choose the version that includes the acoustic encore done by Brian and Freddie afterwards. It's called "The World That We Created" and it puts the entire intercontinental concert into perspective and refocuses the intent of the entire weekend.
No. Though nice. Its not the triumphic epic closure of the real set.
@@kvz9000 It might not carry the euphoria of the main set but it carries emotion of the sort that spurred Geldof to come up with the idea in the first place.
Not having many options to pull from is actually proven to enhance creativity. I'll never forget hearing a Harvard professor say that in their studies on creativity, they found one key thing that stood out clearly: "Creativity loves constraint".
When it was new on airplay, many were probably thinking "Oh, there's that great old song,
why haven't they played it more often". Somehow I even still get that feeling!
Elvis was often backed by the gospel quartet, The Jordannaires. The backing vocals that gave you "barbershop" vibes are an obvious callback to The Jordannaires backing vocals on the old Elvis records.
Glad she realized the Elvis influence and tribute to him and the original era of rock. Didn't realize she had some knowledge of Elvis. I've been surprised, since she's a rock virgin and started this channel to learn about and analyze rock, that she has completely passed over the original rock era and creators like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard etc.
Vlad and Amy, please, don't miss Barcelona album, especially Guide me home + How can I go on (two songs as one peace of art), and of course other tracks from it
With Queen being my top three all-time bands (I'm old) it's always a delight to see someone else take so much joy in them. Plus, of course, Amy is incredible at explaining the musical subtleties.
You are getting good at identifying each member’s traits! Freddie always said he couldn’t play guitar but he wrote Ogre Battle on guitar according to Brian May who also claimed Freddie was a unique pianist who pounded the keys yet had a fluid style of playing as if he had a metronome within him. Brian said Freddie was always humble about his talents unless he was in character. This one is an Elvis homage. John’s bass is so fun! Thanks! ❤😊
One of those songs that is even better when they played it live. The studio version has this kind of groovy understatement, the live versions are more in your face.
Everything compliments each other so well in the song, in other peoples hands this would be a throw away track but this band is so tight and so full of talents which works so well together.
Another great Queen reaction to another great Queen song. For me this is a throw back to the 50s rock and roll style that you haven't heard very much of yet. Although I was glad to hear that you have heard a little Elvis (being from Tennessee), so that gave you a good reference to this style (depending on the Elvis song). I also think I heard a bit of Little Richard (another 50s rock n roll legend) in Freddie's high pitched yelp. I love John Deacon's jazzy walking bass in this one, so I was really glad you noticed it. I also love Brian's guitar on this, so I really appreciated your comments on his solo. It did have a barbershop quartet vibe, along with a bit of a doo-wop vibe. Great observations all around.
This might be just the only recording of Queen with electric guitar, that Brian did not use his Red Special... he was convinced to use a Fender Telecaster that Roger had lying around. Still to this day Brian is convinced that his RedSpecial would have done the job... but there you are! The only non RedSpecial song of Queen!😊😊
A little note here about the guitars. Although true it isn’t Brian’s Red Special, the recording uses Roger’s 1967 Fender Esquire, while live performances used the 1978 Fender Tele aster. The live performance also replaces the 12 string acoustic with Freddie’s blonde 1983 Fender Telecaster, which eventually was stolen and still missing. Sigh
There is another Queen song in which Brian used an electric guitar other than his Red Special. That was The Hero from the Flash Gordon soundtrack. If I'm correctly remembering his account of this from his "Queen in 3D" book, May didn't have the RS handy when he recorded the solo for The Hero, so he just grabbed some other guitar that happened to be laying around. The amazing thing is, that solo sounds incredible and it sounds like May is supposed to sound. His sound really is in his fingers, and his head, more than it is in the equipment that he uses.
Actually, there are quite a few featuring him on other electric guitars, instead of or together with the homemade fireplace one he built with his father: 'Long Away', 'Sweet Lady', 'Under Pressure', 'I'm in Love with My Car', 'Mother Love', 'Tear It Up', 'Hammer to Fall', 'Man on the Prowl' and several things from 1984 onwards. And, also, there *were* some takes of Brian using the fireplace guitar on 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', but they weren't used for the final mix.
On "Mother Love" Brian played a Parker Fly electric guitar. Not sure if Red Special was used at the time as well (except in the pre-recorded random outro mix).
@@michastepinski2772 The Parker Fly was invented in 1993, so Brian only used it for the 1993-1995 sessions and not the 1991 ones (which included guitar work for that song on the 13th and 16th of May that year). 'Hammer to Fall' is an interesting case as you can hear the fireplace guitar on one channel and the Gibson Firebird on the other, playing more or less the same thing. An interesting effect.
At Live Aid Freddie's guitar had a remote power pack that was low on power,so Brian realizing it played louder on his acoustic, then he switches to the Fender,and ends with the Red Special for the end.
Remember that Freddie didn't think of himself as a good pianist, so don't let him fool you when he says that he only knows how to play some chords. When they started Freddie wrote most of his songs, if not all of them, on a guitar. It's just he was actually very modest and he probably saw no point in bragging about his decent guitar skills in a band that included Brian and John, who were obviously way better. It's a bit like Brian and Roger's singing skills, I guess. They were -are- very good, but you know, Freddie was there.
Good observation!
FALSE
Freddie was indeed in the tub and all of a sudden called out for someone to bring me a guitar 😂 Every one who knew Freddie said that’s exactly how it happened… sounds like Freddie . My favorite version of Freddie singing this Live is at Live Aid !! I think you would love it Amy ✌🏼🥰
That's called 'swing,' Amy. Rock and roll before it was just rock.
If you enjoyed this, it is indicative of an entire genre called "rockabilly". So you might enjoy listening to some Brian Setzer (in particular his Christmas music is fun as is his original band "Stray Cats").
This is great, really enjoyed it! My favourite song on this album, and one of my favourite Queen songs overall, is Save Me - a beautiful song from Brian, with some especially poignant and moving lyrics. I feel that some really great Brian songs have been overlooked/omitted from this series - White Queen, The Prophet's Song, '39, to name just a few. I so hope that Save Me doesn't suffer the same fate! But regardless, I enjoyed this, I'm enjoying this series, and I hope you enjoy whatever you listen to next! (But it should be Save Me!)
In his Live Aid performance he plays the guitar to this song. Great randition.
Even the birds are singing their praises of your take on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"! 🎶🐦🎶🐦 😉
Written by Mr Mercury whilst in the bath. In 10 minutes! A number 1 hit worldwide. Not bad eh? Amazing.
Rockabilly never dies :)
I find it curious that with 90% the same chords...it has had such a different result in "Seven Seas of Rhye"
Oh yes! Isn't that gospel called 'Rock My Soul In The Bosom Of Abraham'? 😀
🎵"So high I can't get over it,
So low I can't get under it."🎵
😊
This song was big in the US for sure. The movie "Grease" coming out in 1978 kind of spurred a return to popularity of late 50s/early 60s rockabilly. The Stray Cats had a big debut album with songs like this, songs my parents liked as well.
My parents liked this Queen song. It took a little more convincing to get them to like Van Halen's 1978 debut album (decidedly not rockabilly), but dad and I managed to work out "Jamie's Cryin'" and "Ice Cream Man" on the guitar. He didn't think he could help me much with "I'm the One".
Loads of things were added to Another One Bites The Dust. Sound effects created on piano & guitar, backward loops etc.
Stray Cats came out around that time with another rockabilly flashback.
I've been thoroughly enjoying these more recent Queen reactions, as they've been around my preferred era of their repertoire (late 70's ~ early-to-mid 80's) 😊
A bit of constructive criticism, though: Maybe leave it till _after_ the actual listen to read up on songs' info! I think that especially with a song like _this_ one, reading about it beforehand had spoilt much of its surprise!
The intro is a D Chord adding the pinky for a D4, one of the first songs I learnt on guitar. It does have a tricky Bb in it!
According to Brian: "Freddie was very good on the guitar, very unorthodox - all downstrokes. He wrote the riff for “Ogre Battle” [from 1974’s Queen II]. I used to play it with up- and downstrokes, but he was all downstrokes. Imagine how fast his right hand was moving! He had a frenetic energy on the guitar, which came across very well in that song." As a massive fan of Jimi Hendrix, Freddie taught himself to play the guitar, after some point he gave up on the idea. In live situations he only played rhythm guitar on Crazy Little Thing Called Love, however, he was capable of doing more than rhythm guitar
He was talking about riffs on one interview but in another he said Freddie wrote all of 9gre battle on guitar
Bo Rap riff on guitar..
@@bluebell3720 Freddie didn't write Bo Rap's riff on the guitar.. He had that riff (as everything on that masterpiece) in his mind.. He had probably played it on the piano (or just "sang" it), and then Brian put it on the guitar standarts..
@@hmwr0h
In one of Brian interviews he says Freddie played it on guitar and it was a pig to play at first
@@hmwr0h
Brian has said Freddie would normally write their parts on piano
But he did write some things on guitar
He wrote all of ogre battle on guitar
Love of my life piano and guitar
@@bluebell3720 Show me that interview then.. And Freddie wrote Love Of My Life only on the piano, where he used to feel really comfortable.. He couldn't strum a guitar properly, only knew a few simple things.
Listen to John's bass in isolation. It is just 12 bar blues. Brilliant. (I can send you the isolated bass if you want)
I usually am not into reaction videos, but I love this channel SO MUCH
Such a fun song & really showcases Freddie’s vocal versatility.
Freddie was
Always overly modest wrt his piano & guitar skills.
It became a huge fan favorite during live shows. the piano line was added a few years later.
lol I always Forget how short the studio cut is vs their live performances of this song.
The tune is a masterpiece. Glorious guitar solo. A virtuoso group.
Brian said Freddie was a good guitarist, but he only used down strokes. Freddie wrote Battle Orge on guitar, Brian said it was extremely fast paced. Great reaction 😊
Loved this.
I remember the excellent version that they did on Saturday Night Live... it was a great performance....
Freddie was channeling Elvis in his singing.
I absolutely love your content! Thank you!🔥🎶❤️
In the environment I grew up in, I was often taught that simplicity equals inferiority. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Amy, the last thing you're talking about in this video can be summarized as "the perfect Pop song". This is what many bands are looking for.
By the way, I disagree with your use of the word "simple". For example, Queen altered the classic 12-bar Blues scheme considerably for Crazy Little Thing Called Love in a sophisticated way. They even added a whole new chord progression to it, just for the guitar solo. And then the clever little things like "Ready, Freddy?"...
Another example. Changing key in the second bar!... That's what happens in Yesterday. Yet it sounds normal and thus "simple".
I think it boils down to your perspective. Compared to Classical music these great Pop and Rock songs are simple, but compared to most Rock, these perfect Beatles and Queen songs aren't simple at all, and while covering Beatles and Queen songs by ear, most amateur Rock musicians struggle to find out what they were exactly playing.
I have some classical musicians criticise pop and rock music for only 4 chords. Personally, I think that the number of totally different songs and different pop genres all written on the same 4 chords is just collective genius.
You really NEED to see the live versions!!!
According to Brian, Freddie was actually a decent guitar player... he went to the piano as choice of weapon by nature...
Mark E Smith from the fall said that it was impossible to get experienced English musicians to play straight rock and roll music, and he had to basically train band members up from scratch himself. Queen recording a song like this really shows that they were very different to all their contemporary prog this or post that musicians.
Deacy walking with his bass happily.
Queen do Rockabily , Jack of all trades and master of all-- yes they are , you know i`m right.
Thanks for your analysis! Love the bass line as well as the guitar solo.
I've heard an a cappella version of this song (barbershop quartet, pretty much, as you mentioned at 16:00)--sounded quite good! Josh Turner Guitar on youtube does an interesting cover of this song as well--as it's a video, one can see how all the parts are played.
Glad to hear we'll get to see the video on "Yesterday" in the near future ("Yesterday" tomorrow perhaps?).
Mike Pinder, founding member of the Moody Blues died on April 24th this year.
It would be nice to make a homage to him.
Would you recommend one or some of his music in The Moody Blues so Amy could get introduced to this fantastic band with marvelous music?
Right now I can only think of My Song, from the Every God Boy Deserves Favour... But there are so many others!
She did one three days ago ...
@@bernhardfbuttner5694 I can't find it here in RUclips
@@Pjaypt Oh, I'm sorry! Wasn't Moody Blues, was Allman Brothers.
@@bernhardfbuttner5694 no problem, can happen to anyone! 👍🏽
Humor and beauty require truth.
Pure Rockabilly. And Queen pulling out all the stops. Harkening back to Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran.
It came out at a time when Rockabilly was making a sort of resurgence in popularity. Especially with Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats, and after with his Swing and Rockabilly orchestra. And Adam Ant's Goody Two Shoes.
People were also rediscovering Led Zeppelin's cover of Eddie Cochran's C'mon Everybody and She's Something Else.
When Punk emerged with it's rejection and disregard of the great 70's pop music groups and area of influence, early Rock and Roll from the 50's seemed to be music they didn't take issue with. So that situation sort of helped with the resurgence of Rockabilly. Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols even did a cover of She's Something Else.
Queen took all that Rockabilly greatness and gave it a spa day, polished it and dressed it up to go to the big dance. But without overproducing it. Leaving all the drive and power which allows it to shine in it's own style.
Super informative. Thanks.
With almost all queen's songs there are exceptional videos that accompany them, this song has an inspired video which is well worth a look.
The video is definitely a tribute to Elvis!
Only to singles. No videos to most of their songs.
Always worth watching Freddie - especially in black leather!!!
Can so easily imagine a younger Elvis singing this
Brian was playing a guitar he designed and built himself, and he was only 17 when he did it.
His father was an engineer Brian wasn't but did help his father build it
He didnt use it for this song but wanted to
@@bluebell3720 The guitar was built mainly by Brian, his father just helped him with the electric parts.
Freddie was in a stand alone bath tub with four legs with a piano behind him. He played the piano behind him backwards with his hands over the top of his head. He learned to do this rather well.
Thanks, VR.. Freddie was good at many things... guitar? so-so... but he had Brian doing most of it, so didn't matter... Fred actually could drum a little bit, even.. he was so musical, not much he couldn't do... but as usual, this is where his vocals shine... did it quite well live, too - appreciate your reactions!
Barbershop is actually a good term to describe the vocals of the song, but to me, this will always the the best song ever to which you dance the Swing! I was learning to dance when this song hit my social circle, and it moved my entire body immediately. Toe-heel, toe-heel, back and forth, toe-heel, toe-heel, back and forth. Perfect speed, and the bassline is definitely a DANCING bass more than a walking one (who walks that fast, and with that much variation?). I recommend you all try dancing to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to gain another dimension of kinetic experience!
I'm at 7:12, (after the song) and your voice has resonated on your harp stings 3 times now lol - play back and listen :)
Hi Amy. Your analysis on Pink Floyd has brought new meaning to some of the tracks. You are so so close to finishing Pink Floyd the wall. When will you finish the next 2-3 songs? 🙏🏾🙏🏾
Little bit dissapointing and unproffesional, right?
Queen a maior banda do planeta!! Abraços do Brasil 🇧🇷!!
I wish Vlad had included Dragon Attack. It is one of the best songs on the album. 🙁
I like Dragon Attack a great deal, but I can understand it not being picked for this. It's kind of more of a jam than a structured song. It's very cool, and I enjoy listening to it, but I don't think it's the sort of song Amy would have a lot to say about - from a reaction/analysis point of view, there's not really a lot to talk about in it.
Great reaction! Many people think this is an Elvis song. Freddie was a better guitar player then he pretended to be, he also did the guitar solo of Crazy Little Thing Calked Love originally, but it was later overdubbed by Brian.
Not true. The guitar solo was all created by Brian, Freddie just wrote the melody and the lyrics.
I know exactly what spiritual you mean. We sung it in elementary school as well as Swing Low Sweet Chariot. In the Eighties in the South, so much for separation of church and state. Oh well, I'm probably all the better for it.
John Lennon heard Paul’s song Coming Up on the radio and it was so weird it made John want to make an album again. Sorry to Queen but I don’t think it was this song that did it. Although his son Julian was obsessed with Queen I haven’t read any quote from John about their music other than he had heard of them. But it might have given him confidence if this song could reach number one than people didn’t mind an oldies sound (which John liked, and which he does in just like starting over)
I thought John was impressed by SRV and that's what made him want to play again. As they say Oh well.
Ada ambisi yang kini baru terungkap dari sosok Freddie Mercury. Pentolan grup band Queen itu menjadikan John Lennon sebagai panutan.
Freddie sendiri dikenal sebagai salah satu bintang rock terbesar di zamannya. Akan tetapi, ada bagian di mana dirinya ingin bisa setara dengan John Lennon.
Hal itu terungkap dalam buku otobiografi Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words. Ia khawatir performanya sebagai penyanyi tak sebaik Lennon.
"John Lennon adalah sosok yang luar biasa. Dan ia seorang jenius," ungkap Freddie di otobiografi tersebut.
This is another one that makes it hard to stay still - you have to dance and sing along, in the middle of the kitchen or the street... no one will judge you
I wonder if listening to all of the Beatles songs so far enabled you to appreciate the song more because of its old rock n roll elements. 😁
As an excellent musician, you perfectly caught the variation of the initial chord. It is indeed the pinky finger that touches the sixth string and creates the D4 chord.
58th liked 215 watching started 20 mins ago
A lot of Mercury’s most iconic songs are built from simple chord progressions or arpeggio patterns on piano, and as a pianist, ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘It’s a Hard Life’ (just to name a few), are easy to learn but also fun to play. The same can probably be said for Deacon’s bass lines, May’s guitar riffs, and Taylor’s drum fills.
As a gay man - this song is probably the reason I'm into leather
I first heard Queen when I started high school in 1974
I always felt like in Freddie's mind, he was doing this in Elvis' voice. And doing it arguably better, TBH.
This might be reminding you of "Rock Around the Clock" that I know you listened to.
You should listen to some 50's rock. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry; those are some of the first rock stars. But if you do decide to do that era. I suggest you listen to Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets first. That was the song that started the rock n roll revolution.
With the hand claps, it's pretty funny in the music video: the hands come up from holes in the floor, juxtaposed with Freddie's tough-guy leather look/outfit, and going along with some kinda silly dance moves lol
You're right. It was Brian May playing the lead, not Freddie.
Freddie wrote it on guitar but only played rhythm on the track
5:34 - wait, has Amy heard anything from Elvis Presley yet? or much from the 1950's? A little, I know, of the latter, but I'm wondering here if the tribute aspect of this (mentioned at 0:17) is lost on Amy's ear. If so, might be nice to see that remedied. :)
[EDIT: 8:58 - oh, I guess she has! OK, cool. Still, maybe more?]
(And I say this as someone who's not particularly a fan of Elvis. But the sound is so distinct... Amy should hear it.)
When they played this live on the "A Kind Of Magic Tour" Freddie grabbed his guitar and said "this shitty guitar only knows 3 chords"!
Love your details and associations.
To me the percussion solo in the middle of the song sounds line Steve‘s footsteps while looking for the next „guy“.
And the last few beats of the song give me the impression that Steve himself is the final „Another one“ who got shot.
Freddie did play guitar on this song, and he did a great job. His attack was great. I can understand his feeling that he wasn't a good guitar player since he had to stand next to Brian May on stage every night, but I thought he was pretty good.
Dear Amy here are my suggestions for more Queen songs : My fairy king -The march of the black queen , The Prophet's Song , White Queen (As It Began) , Jelousy. further albums songs It's A Hard Life , The Miracle , I want it all , One vision , The show must go on ( that song makes me cry) and it would be a great end of the series. or this one "Was It All Worth It ?"
IMO Freddie actually wanted to sound like Elvis. Watch any live version, and you see he's changing his singing technique, to somewhat, hmm, nasal?
I hope you react to Save Me also from The Game
I think its called call and respond.
Queen Brasil❤❤❤
Love ur Queen reaction's 🥰 I was lucky to see them Live her in Norway the only time they was here 😋❤ been a Queen fan as long as i can remember , have all their records on Vinly ❤ But here is something different , u might know Queen is very protective off their music after Freddie past away RIP . There is one artist that did an rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody , that they really liked an tagged it on their social medias saying WOW what an rendition ❤ it was so good that they gave this artist the copyright to that artist version . The artist is a 13 year old girl ( she's 18 now ) called Angelina Jordan ( she's Norwegian btw ),best female singer on the planet, and she does all her own arrangement's This is from America Got talent The Champions one . I cried when first heard it, never heard such a beautiful voice in my life🥰 ruclips.net/video/qF0JV28vgLw/видео.htmlsi=4rqpfIcfEkRy_zlv this on one she did then. i also put a link to her doing it 3 years later at en outdoor concert in Norway summer of 2022 ❤ ruclips.net/video/TqMqyAi-bsc/видео.htmlsi=cXVhBrFhQlq_k_1j i hope u watch the first one is very special to us fans called Angels ❤ have a good one take care an stay safe. Greetings from Norway 😊
Drammen c. April 1982?
@@Inverse_to_Chaos yeah Drammens Hallen 👍😋
it is really nice to hear your thoughts :) so mnay memories about this song:d but i dont understand why didnt you listen to these beautiful songs , i m not judging u. but why? i ve been watching your posts a few days and im enjjoying it.a suggestion nina simone sinner man;)
By the way Freddie changes chords on the guitar without looking, shows he was fairly competent
It is the arrangement of this song that is sheer genius, and what makes the song great. The interplay between vocals, backing vocals, percussion, and instumentation is complex and interwoven to an extent that makes it so catchy and listenable. If Freddy had tried to do this as a straight number without this arrangement the song would seem bland and not the hit it was, trust me i've tried acoustically.
Should have a listen to "calling Elvis" by Mark Knopfler its really clever how he mentions so many elvis songs in his lyrics