Smile is a London-based British rock band, best known as the forerunner of the famous rock band, Queen. The band was formed in 1968 by Brian May, who later became the guitarist of the Queen. These included Tim Staffell as vocalist and bass guitarist, and later, drummer Roger Taylor, who also continued to play for Queen. They only recorded six songs and disbanded in 1970.
Video Smile (band)
Histori
In 1968, Brian May, a student at Imperial College in London, and Tim Staffell formed a group when May placed an ad on a college announcement board for "Ginger Baker" drummer, and a young medical student named Roger Taylor auditioned and got a job. The smile was signed to Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first experience of a recording studio at Trident Studios that year. Staffell attended Ealing Art College with Farrokh ("Freddie") Bulsara, and introduced it to the band. Bulsara soon became a big fan.
The group's largest public performance was on February 27, 1969 at the National Council for Unmarried Mothers and Their Children. Held at the Royal Albert Hall, in May, Taylor and Staffell appeared as a trio on guitar, drums and bass respectively. Keyboardist Chris Smith had been sacked the day before, according to Staffell. (According to Smith, he's only briefly in the band and goes out of his own accord because he's interested in different styles.)
Smile a little gig in the London scene, according to the Time Out list. On April 19th, they played at Speakeasy and on May 31, appearing on Whiskey a Go Go.
In March 1969, the band played in a place known as PJ, using an earlier claim to have played on BBC Radio 1 to secure the audience. However, it seems that the claim is fictitious. Shortly after they were given a one-time recording contract by Mercury Records to record three tracks, "Earth" (Staffell), "Step on Me" (May), and "Doin 'All Right" (May/Staffell). It was recorded in June 1969 at Trident Studios in Soho.
In the end, the recording of this US promotion was never commercially published, but in September of that year, Mercury Records commissioned them to record three more songs: "April Lady" (Stanley Lucas), "Blag", May's instrumental, and " Polar Bear ", a" soft song about the polar bear "written and led by May, at De Lane Lea Studios. Again, the record was not released at the time.
When Staffell went in 1970 to join another band, Humpy Bong, Smile effectively disbanded. Bulsara persuaded May and Taylor to continue, and at the same time, changed the name of his family from Bulsara to Mercury, joining the band as the main vocalist, from which came the "Queen". This new band tried a number of bass players during this period, namely Mike Grose, Barry Mitchell and Doug Bogie, none of which fit the chemistry of the band. New in February 1971, John Deacon completed the lineup, and they started practicing for their first album. This definitive line lasted until the death of Mercury in 1991.
For their debut album, Queen recorded "Do All The Right". According to the book "Queen: The Early Years", Staffell has earned good compensation through royalties from album sales, given the co-written song credit for the song by May. The Queen also recorded a song for their first BBC recording session with John Peel. The session, together with their third session, was released in the UK as Beat in Band of Joy Records in 1989, and in the US as a Queen on the BBC (Hollywood Records ) in 1995. Also in 1995, Queen released their single "Let Me Live" single, featuring one of the first three BBC recording sessions, including "Doing Alright".
Smile reunited for some of the songs on December 22, 1992. Taylor's The Cross band is a major leader and he brings May and Staffell to play "Earth" and "If I Were a Carpenter". May also bring some other songs that night.
Maps Smile (band)
Discography
Two legitimate releases of the six Smile songs have been published:
Gettin 'Smile (LP) from Japan, released September 23, 1982, at Mercury Records. The arms contained very inaccurate lyrics and song credits for the songs. This release is used for all the next pirated songs.
Ghost of a Smile (CD) from The Netherlands, released in 1997, on Pseudonym Records. Complete booklet CD and new liner notes by Staffell. All tracks have just been diremet. The album also featured two versions of the Eddie Howell/Freddie Mercury collaboration "The Man from Manhattan" (nothing to do with Smile, except that May plays guitar on it).
There are pirated albums from their original song around the Smile era titled Pre-Dictimate . Most of them also appear in Italian pirated 1995 In Nuce .
Songs
The following songs have been confirmed by band members as part of their repertoire, either directly or in their short studio time.
- "Earth" (Staffell)
- "Step on Me" (Staffell/May) came from May and 1984's Staffell band.
- "Doin 'Alright" (Staffell/May)
- "Blag" (May)
- "Polar Bear" (May)
- "Silver Salmon" (Staffell)
- "See What a Fool I've Been" (May, based on the song "The Way I Feel" by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee)
- "If I Were a Carpenter" (Tim Hardin) Covers are regularly displayed on their live sets.
- "April Lady" (Lucas) A song that was presented to the band by Mercury Records during their second studio session.
- "White Queen (As It Began)" (May)
Smile songs recorded by other artists
- " Override Me ": Two versions recorded by the pre-Smile band, 1984, as part of a demo tape made at ITV Studios, London, England on March 31, 1967.
- " April Lady ": Southern Comfort (the band left after Iain Matthews left Matthews Southern Comfort) recorded this on their Frog City album (Harvest SHSP 4012; 1971) (though not included in the CD version). On the record label this song is mistakenly credited to Carl Barnwell. It may come to them through Fritz Freyer, which produces a Smile version, which has a connection with Matthews Southern Comfort.
- " April Lady " and " Earth ": Staffell joined the band Morgan and the title track from their first album Nova Solis (1972) combining quotes from "April Lady" and all "Earth".
- " Doing All Right ": Recorded by the Queen for their first BBC session on February 5, 1973. This version appeared on On Beeb (1989) in the UK, and < i> Queen at the BBC (1995) in the US, as well as on CDQUEEN24 single "Let Me Live" as B-side. Queen also recorded this song for their debut album, Queen (1973), with a slightly altered title, "Doing All Right". This version also appeared on the US single "7" for their song "Wild" on Elektra Records (1974).
- " Polar Bear " and " Silver Salmon ": The queen recorded this as a demo track, but has not been released, during their debut album sessions.
- " See What The Stupid I Have Been ": The Queen recorded this in August 1973, during their second album session ( Queen II ). It did not appear on the album, but was released as B-side to the single album "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1974). This version then appears on Queen boxed set The Complete Works bonus LP Full Vision . Hollywood Records reissued Queen II in the US in 1991, with this song as a bonus song. Single English and Japanese CD3 (1987 and '90 respectively) included the song again as B-side for "Seven Seas of Rhye". The Queen also recorded this song as part of their fourth BBC session with John Peel.
- " Blag ": Although never recorded again like that, the solo displayed evolved (and continues to evolve) through May's career both with Queen and as a solo artist. Recording versions of the solo include: "Son and Daughter" (third BBC Queen session, 1974, released on the BBC album mentioned above), "Brighton Rock" (from Queen Sheer Heart Attack's third album on in 1974), "Brighton Rock" (from Queen Live's live Killers album in 1979), as "Guitar Solo" (from Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl recorded in 1982), "Brighton Rock Solo" (recorded in 1986, on Live At Wembley '86 , released 1992), as "Guitar Extravagance" (from The Brian May Band live album Lived in the Brixton Academy in 1993), and more recently as "Solo Guitar" (on Queen Paul Rodgers' live album Return of the Champions in 2005).
- " Polar Bear ": This recording videotape for her album Queen Tribute in 2003.
- " Earth " and " Good Only" ": Staffell recorded these songs for his solo album aMIGO (2003). featuring May on guitar and vocals. "Earth" features Morgan Fisher (formerly Morgan) on the keyboard.
- " White Queen (As It Began) ": Recorded by Queen for their second album, Queen II (1974). Also recorded for their fourth BBC session on April 3, 1974. Two live performances of the song were officially released on Live at the Rainbow '74.
References
External links
- Queen - Birth of the Stone Legend
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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