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QOL Queen Live - By Greg Brooks

Queen Live - By Greg Brooks

The first edition of this book was published in large format paperback in 1996, the result of a prodigious amount of work by a young Greg Brooks, who at that time had no inside access to us, Queen, which makes his achievement all the more remarkable. ‘Queen Live: A Concert Documentary’ has never been out of print since then.

Click here to buy “Queen Live – by Greg Brooks”

When I first saw this incredibly ambitious work, I was amazed that someone I had never even met seemed to know more about my touring life than I did!

I asked Greg why he was driven to write the book. He said:

“I wrote it because I had been a fan since 1976 and had amassed tons of information on Queen live, but there was not a book to refer to, to answer the questions I and many other fans were asking: When was Queen’s first gig in Australia? / Did Queen ever play in Mexico or at the Marquee in London? / Who were Queen’s support acts? / Did Queen ever play ‘It’s Late’, ‘March Of The Black Queen’ or ‘White Man’ live? / What cover versions did Queen perform? / What did Freddie and Brian say during concerts? / Is it true that Queen smuggled their equipment out of Argentina on a jumbo jet, just before it could be impounded? And so on.

“NONE of these things were in any book. Very very little was documented on Queen concerts. Also, I had a bit of a reputation as being an expert on Queen live, so the Fan Club staff would often ring me with questions, fans would write to me, TV and Radio researchers would sometimes ask me to view footage and identify it, and Jim Beach’s office would call up with the odd concert related question too. So I decided to offer ALL the information I had accumulated, in one body of work – which turned into a book.

“I also wanted to tie up some of the copious loose ends on the bootleg situation – which was at that time rather messy and confusing.”

Greg was at this time working full-time for the Civil Service, and researching and writing only in his limited spare time, with no access to any information which might exist in our vaults (supposing we even had vaults!), and, almost unimaginably now, with no Internet!!! His only resources were his own notes (and those of fellow enthusiasts) and the devotion of a true fan to his goal; the completion of The Book. Greg explains…

“I wrote 80 percent of it that way, and then I jacked in my job so I could finish it – I lived on cheese on toast for 8 solid months. It took me 18 months to gather together 20 years-worth of data from every country Queen ever toured in. The info came from fan club mags, letters from pen-friends, setlists I kept from the concerts I attended, and those of other fans, and tons of anecdotes that people sent me. I gathered data from wherever I could find it.”

Greg’s determination and perfectionism paid off. The book has become the standard reference work on Queen’s live appearances… a copy to be found on the bookshelves of fans all around the world. The book is always to hand in my studio too, for those moments when we are trying desperately to remember where we heard that particular ad-lib from Freddie.

So what has changed since then? What is new in this revised edition? Well, Greg’s life changed dramatically, to say the least. We were so impressed by the depth of his knowledge and his dedication to our history that we offered him a job. Since 1997 he has become our trusted archivist, patiently working his way through all our relics… the relics from within… after all, we were actually there at every one of those concerts…. a strange thought!

Greg has been able to compile anew, using Queen’s (and my) own documents, tapes, notes, and anecdotes, and these days he joins us in creating our modern day Queen history. In addition, Greg says:

“Because of the internet there are hundreds of setlists out there which I have now been able to cross reference with. There are more anecdotes to add, new bootlegs to update, slight errors to correct, new interesting information and pictures to drop in. Some of the photos in the original book are in the wrong years, so we have put that right. The book is now 99 percent accurate, I think, as opposed to 90-something percent.”

Flicking through this necessarily summarised account of every Queen gig, everyone who was ever there will be triggered into remembering their own special viewpoint and feelings at the time. My own recollections are mainly from a position just stage left of centre, in that pole position I, as ‘lead guitarist’, was privileged to occupy, usually just a little behind our amazing singer, giving him a power-base to work off. Roger and John and I expounded our energies, whether it was in a tiny club in the early seventies, or in front of thousands of fans in a football stadium in the eighties, and often it seemed as if our combined forces were channeled directly through Freddie – our unique and fabulous link with the people out there. Freddie had his own view of the proceedings, and so did you, no matter where you may have been, sitting, or standing, or even if you were busy elbowing your way to the hot dog stand!!! Greg’s book places all this in a framework we can share.

The book is now prefaced by a new introduction by Greg which makes clear what is new and amended in this much improved second edition. So there you have it. Here is a work which we can rely on. I’ve ordered my copy already!

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