Posted: 22 December 2004 at 10:50am | IP Logged

Mr. Banksy' s stories behind the scences in the SoC booklet are very fine to know - Seems that he proved his name "Memory" once more.

But now a new proval test: You are credited as playing Synthesizers in Dave Clark's "Time" album for Freddie Mercury's track "In my defence".

When and where was your part excatly recorded (Abbey road or Musicland) and weren't you disappointed when the Synth- parts didn't make it onto the newer remixes? Did the contact start with the help of "Mack"? Enough questions for today.

Posted: 22 December 2004 at 9:47pm | IP Logged

Good question(s)!!

I remember receiving a call from Mack one Monday asking if I would be free for a session that Wednesday. Sounded like a good idea so agreed. Then I asked where! So Wednesday I would be off to Munich for a day's recording, ok, then I asked who for and discovered it was Freddie (yup, left out the question 'Freddie who?'!).

So I set off very early (~6am) for Heathrow, collected my ticket, then was eventually ushered into the front seating on the plane, realise I am in business class but turn down the champers as I'm working! Land at Munich, man standing there with my name on a board to whisk me to Musicland studio.... arrive there about 10:30. So listen through the track a few times and start to learn it and have a few ideas.

Time passes..... no Freddie..... gets to 2pm still no Freddie and I've already had a long and somewhat overwhelming day! Keep saying I don't think we should do anything until Freddie hears it etc. Everyone else apart from me very calm and cool. Am hiding at the back of the Control Room when HE arrives, no introductions, no nods of recognition, indeed zilch on the communication front.

So we start all over again, Freddie dissappears what seems like ages and I'm left wondering again. He returns and we work through a couple of bits. I have taken a small sequencer with me and demonstrate a string "trill" that I "hear" and he suddenly responds positively.....

We work away for a while, then Freddie turns to Mack and says he can't really hear what's going on anymore, please can Mack set up a better mix and he would have a short break. Freddie turns to me, says "come on Peter, let's have a chat". So I walk out of the control room and Freddie gestures for me to sit down with him at a round table in the lounge and says, "So, Peter, tell me what has been happening with you since I saw you last with After The Fire?"........

....and so I sat there with Freddie, just him and me, and we talked for about 3/4 hour non stop. Remember this was 1985, the year Queen played an extraordinary set at Live Aid. I asked him whether that gig was special and he said "not really, just like any other" but I saw a mischievous little smile.... he thought it was special!

So there you are, that's the slightly longer story! I feel so privileged to have worked with him, he was immensely gifted, total genius musically, voice up close in the studio was breathtaking and, when he chose, totally charming and engaging!

Yup, I was aware the synths I provided seem to have been removed on the single version, hey, that's the way it goes sometimes. Every so often I hear the track played and my bits are there on that mix, someones collected the wrong version from the store, so it's ok!

Hope that answers your questions?!

PB