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Queen before Queen |
Record Collector #199, March 1996 |
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TIME-CAPSULE
While Freddie's trip to Bolton with Ibex was photographed, unbeknown to
Queen historians these past 27 years - and indeed to friends and members of
the band - Ibex's appearance at the Sink was recorded. Hazy memories arid a
cindered attic have obscured this amateur-quality time-capsule of Freddie for
nearly three decades. What's more, the recording pre-dates the earliest known
live tape of Queen (the Marquee, 20th December, 1972) by more than three years.
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Ibex's roadie, Geoff Higgins, is the man behind the mono tape recorder and the
rediscovery of a lifetime. He picks up the Story: "I had a Grundig TK14
reel-to-reel machine. We used to record almost everything, and practically
all of it is now gone. That night I just thought I'd take it along and tape the
band. There was no other reason for it. You don't expect to end up in the
history of one of the biggest acts in the world. We didn't hold those tapes
as being precious. Although, I've kept everything of Mike's since!"
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He continues: "I had two beer crates as a table; with my tape on top of
them and a little old-fashioned mono, crystal microphone hanging down by its
own wire. That's why the tape is such chronic quality. Imagine begin the
audience and looking at the stage. I would have been by a pillar on the right
of, and slightly in front of, the stage. That's why the bass is so loud,
because Tupp was on the righthand side. Mike was on the left, Miffer in the
middle, and Fred out on the floor in front of the stage, because there simply
wasn't enough room for a singer as well."
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The tape runs for thirty-five minutes, and demonstrates Ibex's love of
Cream
and
Jimi Hendrix,
as well as Freddie's favourite of the day,
Led Zeppelin.
It opens half-way through the band's reading of Cream's
"I'm
So Glad" ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The tape pauses here, and restarts towards the end of a strut through
Hendrix's
"Stone Free" ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Geoff has a further revelation, which calls to mind Paul McCartney's presence
in the audience at the first-ever recording of John Lennon with the Quarry
Men back in 1957. "Smile were in Liverpool that night," he says, "playing
another club, possibly the Green Door. And because we were at the Sink, they
came down to see us." The rest of the story is almost too good to be true.
Brimming with encouragement for their flamboyant friend, Brian May and Roger
Taylor wasted no time in joining Freddie on stage (or as near to it as they
could get). They probably bashed out a few Smile numbers (to which Freddie
undoubtedly knew all the words), and this occasion marked the first time
the three of them played together in front of an audience. "We virtually had
Queen in there," remarks Ken Testi, "although of course we didn't know it
then." But here's the sting: although Geoff Higgins' tape recorder was still
only yards away at the time, the tape ran out before the three musicians had
the chance to play a note together.
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Sometime between 9th September and the end of October 1969, probably while Freddie was staying with Geoff Higgins in Liverpool, Ibex underwent a mini upheaval - at Freddie's instigation. "I recall him canvassing the idea of calling the band Wreckage, but nobody was very enthusiastic," reveals Mike Bersin. "Then he phoned me one night and said, 'The others don't mind. How do you feel?' I said, 'If they agree, then fine'. So we went along to the next rehearsal and all the gear had been sprayed 'Wreckage'. When I spoke to the others about it, Freddie had phoned them all up and had the same conversation." |
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