Queen

Alternate Versions

US Edit
In the USA this song was deemed too long to be released as a single, at 3:47, so a specially edited version (3:29) was prepared for the American market. The first three minutes or so of the song are identical, but it then fades out much earlier, finishing audibly at about 3:26 compared to 3:42ish for the album version. Only the closing vocals seem to be missing. Copies of the original US single are now very hard to find, but if you want a listen it can also be found as the B-side to the Spun Gold 7" of "Another One Bites The Dust" which is much cheaper. According to Record Collector magazine, it can also be found on the original North American "Greatest Hits" album (including the original Elektra CD if you're really lucky). Also on the US-only 1975 re-issue 7", backed with "Lily Of The Valley" and "God Save The Queen" (both of which are also unique versions). Time 3:29

Long-lost Re-take
Included on the American CD remaster of the "Queen" album. Noticeably longer than the normal version, this take has a different intro and slightly different vocals (especially at the end). Described by Brian as a "complete remake" in the accompanying sleevenotes, although it isn't quite as exciting as that makes it sound! Time 4:04

De Lane Lea Demo, 1971
On the bootleg CD "In The Beginning". Quality sound and a distinctly different version. The intro is on acoustic guitar, which is a very striking change. Audibly shorter than usual too. All the De Lane Lea demos can also be found on "The Ultimate Collection 3", but I can't comment on the sound quality there. Time 3:37

Bob Harris Version
(also known as "Old Grey Whistle Test" Version)
On the "Old Grey Whistle Test" LP. Opinion is divided as to whether this is different from any other version or not, but it's certainly not audibly different. The running time is the same as normal, and there are no different vocals or guitar parts. However, a unique video montage was prepared by the "Whistle Test" studio, and this may be the source of the confusion. Wonderfully tacky album sleeve though. A "SuperBeeb" recording, indeed! Time 3:47

BBC Radio Session Take, 1973
Virtually identical to the version on the official "At The Beeb" album, although this is in fact from a different session. Heavily bootlegged, as is the rest of the session which also included "Liar", "Son And Daughter" and "See What A Fool I've Been". Some of the bootlegs that feature this session are "Rarities 1973-1977" on LP, and "Tribute" on CD, though you'll often find odd BBC tracks turing up as "demos" on compilation bootlegs.

Live Version, Osaka 1985
From the double-CD bootleg "Rock In Japan". Resurrected for inclusion on "The Works" Tour, this version is noticeably faster than usual with some particularly aggressive guitar. Similar to the version on the official "Live In Rio" video, this "fast" version was usually played as part of a medley ("Keep Yourself Alive / Liar") and is consequently quite short (normally around two minutes, give or take thirty seconds). Still worth a listen though, as the different tempo does give it a harder edge than usual.

Live Version, Hammersmith 1975
A particularly good version with an extended drum solo from Roger, and some different guitar from Brian. Freddie's vocal is a bit different too, and the whole performance is very impressive. One of the most heavily bootlegged concerts ever, there are lots of bootlegs with this on it, including "Rhapsody In Red", which is dubbed from an original BBC transcription disc.

Live Version, 1976
From the bootleg CD "The Ultimate Collection". Not wonderful sound, but this is a very nice version that has a much lighter feel than the LP take, almost verging on a reggae tinge at times. Or I may just be going mad…

"At The Beeb" Version
On the official "At The Beeb" album, known as "At The BBC" in the US. Though an official album, it doesn't seem to have sold very well, hence this mention here. The version of "Doing All Right" is one of its highlights, featuring Roger on lead vocals for the last verse. Quite different, and its good to hear Roger get one of Freddie's songs for a change.

De Lane Lea Demo, 1971
From "In The Beginning". Some of the guitar solos seem a little under-developed here, but as with all the De Lane Lea demos the raw performance is superb. Noticeably different from any other take.

US Edit
At a mere three minutes, this is a very severe edit of the 6:28 original and the song suffers a great deal for it. Only promo copies of the original US 7" seem to exist, but again the Spun Gold label has it as the B-side to "Killer Queen". However, unlike the "Keep Yourself Alive" edit very few dealers have spotted it, and it often sells for only a few pounds. Nowhere near as good as the album version though, this has frequently been described as "the worst officially released Queen product ever" (Record Collector, amongst others). But then, that was before the "You Don't Fool Me" remixes. Time 3:00

Hollywood Remix 1991
By John Luongo and Gary Hellman. Bonus track on the US "Queen" CD remaster. Has some extra percussion but not radically different.

BBC Radio Session Take, 1973
Not particularly interesting, this is similar to the version on "At The Beeb" and not very different from the standard album version. From the same bootlegs as the other tracks from this session (e.g. "Tribute" and "Rarities 1973-77").

De Lane Lea Demo, 1971
From "In The Beginning". Very different to usual. Incorporates some of the guitar solos that later ended up in "Great King Rat", and a touch of "Brighton Rock". Freddie's vocal is also different. Superb. Time 7:45

"The Eye" Version One
From "The Eye" computer game. Disc 1, track 11. An edit of the album version, from the start right up to just before the first verse ("I have sinned dear father") would start. Pretty pointless on its own. Time 1:26

"The Eye" Version Two
From "The Eye" computer game. Disc 1, track 13. Exactly the same edit as the previous version. Time 1:26

De Lane Lea Demo, 1971
Originally taken from "In The Beginning". If this sounds identical to normal, that's because the band were unhappy with the subsequent versions recorded / produced with Roy Thomas Baker, and so ended up using this demo version on the album. So you already have this one! But what happened to the Roy Thomas Baker versions? Actually, there probably is a very slight difference in the mixing on the album but its impossible to spot (especially if your demo is on a second or third generation bootleg).

"The Eye" Version
From "The Eye" computer game. Disc 1, track 12. The instrumental intro to the song, right up to the pause just before the first verse starts. Irrelevant, but nice to see them using some obscure material. Time 0:48

BBC Radio Take, 1974
A poor quality copy of this can be found on "The Ultimate Collection" bootleg, described as a "Peel Session" recording. Every early version of this track seems to be slightly different, particularly around the chorus and this is no exception. Interesting, and worth investigating if you can handle the usually poor sound.

Live Version, Freddie Vocal
From the "Opera Omnia" bootleg. Freddie seems very unsure of the words here, and there is more than one mistake. Although its a bit of a mess really, the mistakes are quite funny (I thought it was just me who thought so, but it seems others agree!). Originally taken from "Sheetkeeckers", the Rainbow 31/3/74.

"The Eye" Version
From "The Eye" computer game. Disc 1, track 8. A full instrumental version. This may not have been remixed as such, but its certainly very clean sounding compared to the original. The piano in the second verse can be heard properly at last too. However without Roger's vocal the backing sounds very repetitive, and its fast pace means it seems far longer than it actually is. Time 1:44

BBC Radio Session Take, 1973
Almost six minutes long, and includes an early version of the "Brighton Rock" guitar solo. A distinctive take, and probably the best track from the session. Shorter than the version on "At The Beeb", but in my opinion a bit better. On "Tribute" (CD) and "Rarities 1973-77" (LP), amongst others.

De Lane Lea Demo, 1971
From "In The Beginning". Heavier sounding and much longer than the LP version. The extra bits are mostly instrumental, and its more listenable than the LP take. Time 5:00

Acetate Version
A two-track acetate of "Jesus" is known to exist, featuring two different versions. One is almost certainly the De Lane Lea demo mentioned above. Little is known about the other version - possibly it is the LP take, but it could well be a unique version. I'll let you know if I ever get to hear it!

B-sides & Bonus Tracks etc.

Remix By David Richards
Despite being recorded around 1973 this song was not released until 1992, when it emerged in a remixed form. This remix appears on the standard "Headlong" CD single and 12" (and on the promo 12"). Presumably the "original" version of this track remains unreleased. Its possible that as it had been sitting in a vault for twenty years, the "remix" was done just to improve the sound quality. But a more convincing story is that when the track was originally recorded, the group were unhappy with the finished version as mixed by Roy Thomas Baker (a similar story to "The Night Comes Down"). As neither the group nor Baker would compromise this time, the track ended up being lost altogether. It was only after it had been remixed to the group's satisfaction that it was finally given this much-belated release. The US remastered "Queen" CD album also has this track, and while there is no mention of it being the remix version it almost certainly is. Strange that it doesn't mention the fact, or credit David Richards though. I suspect someone simply made a mistake in the credits. Either way the two versions sound identical. The actual song is a touch biblical for some tastes, but fits in well with other material from the first album.

Live Version Only
Frequently performed live in the early '70's, a studio version of this song is also rumoured to exist, somewhere, maybe (even Mulder doesn't know). This seems extremely unlikely though. Many bootlegs feature live versions, but the sound quality is invariably poor. Probably the best version is on "A Night At The Court" and is supposedly taken from a date in Birmingham 1973. This version also appears on "The Ultimate Rarities Collection". Very similar in feel to other tracks recorded for the first album, it is quite heavy and some versions seem to go into a rock'n'roll medley near the end. Definitely worth a look, and its a mystery why it was never released officially. Other versions can be found on "Year Of The Opera" and "The Ultimate Collection", though neither version is in particularly good sound quality. According to some reports, this song actually dates from Freddie's pre-Queen days with IBEX and Wreckage.

Unreleased (Possibly)
There are many rumours about whether this song exists or not, or even if it ever existed. Supposedly written at the same time as "Mad The Swine", or possibly even earlier, no copies of it have ever surfaced. One rumour says it was a John Deacon song that the rest of the band didn't like, and so it was rejected. This seems unlikely as it is also strongly rumoured to be a bit religious, and Freddie tends to write those. It has even been claimed that this is part of a religious trilogy of songs ("Jesus", "Mad The Swine" and this). Sounds like someone's been sniffing too much vinyl to me. The official line is that it doesn't exist, so it probably does.

Queen Version
The Smile song. Persistant rumour has it that a version of this with Freddie handling vocals exists. This has apparently been confirmed at a US fan convention, although little is known about how complete the recording is. Other sources have stated that it doesn't even exist. It does seem unlikely that Queen would have recorded this, as it is so different to their own style from this era, but I doubt if anyone will ever be able to say for sure. Even if it does exist though, it may only be a partial recording.

Stupid Cupid / Bama Lama Bama Loo
A recurring feature of live performances, a studio version of the above medley is supposedly one of the first things Queen ever recorded. Acetates of this medley were definitely pressed for the band themselves, though little is known about their current condition. Rumour also says that this includes "Jailhouse Rock" (quite likely), and there are hopes that it may eventually appear in a rarities box set of some sort. A nice idea, but probably just wishful thinking.

Oxford 1973
On the CD "The Ultimate Rarities Collection". Nine minutes of Queen "warming up" before a concert, presumably on an empty stage. Includes snippets of "Ogre Battle", "Father To Son", "Keep Yourself Alive", "Son And Daughter" and even "Bama Lama Bama Loo". Interspersed between these snippets are some faint extracts of the band discussing volume levels etc. Quite compelling to listen to the first time, less interesting afterwards, but definitely worth investigating as its such an early recording.