Tours
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR INTERVIEWS.
By Jacky
Mar 20, 2006, 14:20

BOSTONGLOBE :A classic-rock revival, with a twist
It's a crazy little thing called Queen + Paul Rodgers
By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff  |  March 10, 2006

Was there a more distinctive rock singer than Freddie Mercury? The late frontman for the British band Queen, who died of AIDS in 1991, was as gifted as he was eccentric: a flamboyant showman with a sublime, operatic voice, equally at home commandeering a metal riff, cooing to a disco groove, or trumpeting a pop anthem.

How do you begin to think about replacing Freddie Mercury? You don't.

''There wasn't an INXS search," says Queen drummer Roger Taylor. ''The last thing Brian [May, Queen's guitarist] and I expected to be doing was touring. We weren't looking to re-form. We just happened to do a TV show with Paul Rodgers."

All three had been invited to perform on the national broadcast of the UK Music Hall of Fame awards show in 2004. Queen was without a singer. Rodgers, the former vocalist for Free and Bad Company, was minus a band.

''They supported me on 'All Right Now' and asked me to play on 'We Are the Champions' and 'We Will Rock You,' " recalls Rodgers. ''And it just escalated from there."

The rest, if not exactly history, is certainly an opportunity. Following in the footsteps of such reconfigured classic-rock acts as the Doors of the 21st Century -- a short-lived and dubiously received effort with Cult singer Ian Astbury clutching Jim Morrison's microphone -- Queen + Paul Rodgers was born.

The full-disclosure band name goes a long way, because in many ways Rodgers is a peculiar choice: a macho belter with none of Mercury's range or theatricality. But the threesome clicked. Over the next year they put together a 40-song, Queen-heavy set list sprinkled with a handful of Rodgers's hits. One assumes he was hired at least in part for his marquee-level name, so ''Feel Like Makin' Love" could hardly be left out. A short European tour sealed the deal, a whirl through Japan followed, and the thriving new trio (Queen bassist John Deacon retired shortly after Mercury's death) documented its progress with a double-live disc, ''Return of the Champions," recorded at a Sheffield, England, arena in May 2005.

''Where's the meeting point? It's the passion for playing live," says Rodgers.

''Paul," says Taylor, ''was one of Fred's favorite singers."

On the heels of two sold-out concerts last fall at the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden, Queen + Paul Rodgers decided to hit the road for a proper US tour, Queen's first since 1982, which stops in Worcester at the DCU Center tonight. Strong ticket sales and some positive reviews have tempered anxieties about the public's reception of the rejiggered lineup, but Taylor still bristles at the inevitable question.

''Fact: Freddie's not going to turn up. Fact: If Brian and I don't do it, you won't see Queen in any form. Fact: Paul is one of the best blues singers in the world. He gives 'We Will Rock You' a completely new take. It's edgier. But if people are so obsessed with Freddie that they can't bear to see Queen without him, they should stay home and listen to the records. This is very much a new thing."

Except they're playing the old songs, with a few omissions and alterations: ''Killer Queen" hasn't been resurrected, mainly because it's impossible to re-create the elaborate harmonies, and neither has some of the softer material like ''You Take My Breath Away." ''Bohemian Rhapsody" is performed as a duet between Rodgers and a videotaped Mercury. The rest of the repertoire, judging by the live recording, winds up sounding an awful lot like a Queen tribute band. A really good, tight Queen tribute band. Rodgers sings his heart out, but ''Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is hardly elevated by his bluesy drawl. Still, it'll do for the hundreds of thousands of Queen fans snapping up tickets to the shows.

''There's no replacing Freddie, but Paul does a pretty good job singing those songs," says Mike Thomas, program director at rock station WZLX-FM (100.7). ''We've played some stuff from the Queen + Paul Rodgers album, to acknowledge that Paul's touring with the band and to let people know what it sounds like, and we haven't had anybody call up going 'What the hell was that?' But I don't think they'll endure. I certainly don't see them putting out a new album."

And yet if, as Taylor promises, ''this isn't a revival," he, Rodgers, and May will have to update the catalog. Rodgers says he's writing all the time, and a couple of his recent compositions have been added to the set list. He responds to an inquiry about recording an album of new material with a quiet ''We'll see." Taylor, though, is raring to go.

''I think the sensible direction after this tour is to record a really good album over a long time," he says. ''Something really considered. You can't live in the past. We're survivors."


BOSTONHERALD :Queen for a new day: Singer adds his voice to a legendary band. BySarah Rodman
Friday, March 10, 2006

Paul Rodgers finds himself in royal company these days and he’s thrilled about it.
 “The outpouring of love for these guys and for what we’re doing has been astounding,” says the veteran singer of his stint with the resurrected Queen, which plays Worcester’s DCU Center tonight.

The 56-year-old Brit, who scaled the charts in the early ’70s with the blues-based Free before ascending to even greater heights with Bad Company, says he’s just as surprised as fans about these two different worlds colliding.

“It’s evolved at its own speed,” he says from his home in England. “When we first got together I don’t think either of us were particularly looking for each other.”

On paper it’s certainly a potentially dicey match. How could this bluesy workingman belter fill the glittery platform shoes of Freddie Mercury?

But two years ago, Rodgers played with Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (bassist John Deacon had retired from touring) at the band’s UK Hall of Fame ceremonies. They played Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” and Free’s “All Right Now” and just clicked.

 “We had such a blast that we decided on the spot to do more,” Rodgers says.

In addition to touring, Queen plus Paul Rodgers, as the act is billed,released the live CD/DVD “Return of the Champions” last year.

Rodgers is keenly aware of the enduring love for Mercury, whom he met only once, briefly. (Mercury died in 1991.)

“I didn’t go into this thinking, ‘Oh dear, how can I replace Freddie?’ ” Rodgers says. “Because he’s irreplaceable. . . . The question I asked myself was ‘Do I want to play these great songs with these great musicians?’ and I came up with a definite positive.”

Fans are voting with their pocketbooks. Many dates on the tour have sold out.

“The fans have been incredible, because, really, they don’t expect me to be Freddie,” Rodgers says. “Nor do my fans expect Brian to be (Bad Company guitarist) Mick Ralphs. It’s very honest and open. The key to the whole thing is that we ourselves were excited enough about what we’re doing to say, yeah, we’ll take this on the road.”

Whether they’ll take it into the studio is another matter.

 “I wonder if the world is ready for that,” says the singer. “Certainly, live it’s accepted. I don’t know, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I would keep an open mind.”

Until then, Rodgers will work on a solo album and hit the road this summer doing what he’s loved to do for more than 40 years.

 “I always knew it was definitely for me,” he says of the rock ’n’ roll life he began at age 14. “It’s given me so much, I’ve traveled the whole world and I’m still doing it and it’s real privilege.”

Dare we say, a royal privilege.


Queen returns: Classic-album rock group re-forms with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers

By JONATHAN TAKIFF

THEY WERE ONE of the most popular bands with one of the biggest sounds of the classic-album rock era.

We're talking 'bout the grand and glorious Queen, shaking the stadium rafters with anthems like "We Are the Champions," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Another One Bites the Dust," "We Will Rock You" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."

Sadly, the 1991 death of flamboyant front-man Freddie Mercury from AIDS put the kibosh on their rule over the charts. No one could imagine Queen carrying on without Freddie, captain of the high C's, who lorded over the stage and their recordings like he really was royalty.

Yet now the band has been reborn. This time the billing reads Queen + Paul Rodgers to celebrate the commingling of talents - Queen guitarist/vocalist Brian May and drummer/vocalist Roger Taylor with one of the most recognizable and soulful of British blues-rock singers.

Rodgers has enjoyed quite the history of his own. As front man for Free, Bad Company and the Firm, he put the vocal stamp on such enduring hits as "All Right Now," "Feel Like Making Love" and "Bad Company," songs

you're also sure to hear when Rodgers sings with Queen at the Wachovia Spectrum tomorrow.

To discover how this linkup of the loud, the proud and the raspy larynx came to be, we recently phoned Rodgers at his mountain lair in Okanagen, British Columbia.

Say, what?

"It's this beautiful place four hours east of Vancouver and the polar opposite from the rock world, which is why I love it," he declared. Yeah, the man's very down-to-earth.

Q: So give us the back story. How did this collaboration come to pass?

A: It started off when we played in England together, at the UK Rock Hall of Fame, a telecast show. Prior to that, I'd worked with Brian May at Wembley, at a concert event for Fender Guitars. We have kind of a history of that.

So then for the TV show, I asked if he'd like to play with me. He said, "I'd love to do that, but Queen would really like to play live. Any chance we could get you to join us on 'We Are the Champions' and 'We Will Rock You'?"

This one-off [performance] went over so well on a musical level that when we came offstage, we all immediately said, "Let's do more."

Originally, we thought about going out as May, Taylor and Rodgers, kind of like Crosby, Stills & Nash. Then they came back with, "How about touring as Queen with Paul Rodgers?" That floored me. But it didn't take too long to think it through. Originally, they wanted us to do 50 percent my songs. I said, "I'm really flattered, but you guys haven't toured in 25 years, so it should be your moment."

But when we do a few of my songs, they really put themselves into it. On "Feel Like Making Love," we go to a place I never thought possible. It's that intense.

Q: How much performing have you guys done together? And have you given thought to writing and recording new material?

A: We toured through Europe last spring from March to May. We actually kicked off the tour in South Africa, playing for Nelson Mandela, who's such a beautiful guy. We also did Sweden, the Czech Republic, Japan and most places in between. Now we're doing 24 dates in the U.S.

The subject of recording a new album has come up. It's a question of time and opportunity. There isn't a pressing financial need to do it. They're well-fixed, what with the royalties from the albums and the Queen stage musical ["We Will Rock You"] and the laser shows.

I'm not in the same place, but I live frugally and have more than enough to cover the rest of my life. So we'll see.

Q: There are a few notable Queen classics, like "You're My Best Friend," that you guys left off the European tour [and live CD/DVD, "Return of the Champions"]. And when you all do "Bohemian Rhapsody," you put up a video of Freddie singing. Is this to skirt around limitations in your voice?

A: Not really. Some of those keys are deadly, but I can go there. I'm still keeping myself in good shape with exercise and meditation. And in a way, I'm still taking vocal lessons, listening to Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave, singing along with my heroes. In fact, I recently sang live with Sam Moore, too, for a TV show called "From the Heart." It's a tribute to the Four Tops, which will be out on DVD and on PBS [this month].

The main reason we've skipped some Queen songs is because there just wasn't space for them. The sets are long and getting longer, so you have to become very critical about what's in and out. One reason we do "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the video is that the original production was such a multilayered studio affair. They can't recreate it onstage and do it justice.

Truth is, the original Queen didn't fully play it live onstage, either. They always used a tape. Also, using the video footage of Freddie, it becomes a very poignant moment, a tribute to him. Then I come in and sing live with him, and it's like passing the baton.

Q: How do you think Freddie would feel about you taking over his vocals?

A: Freddie was a huge fan of ours, Brian told me. The Free album "Fire and Water" was their bible for the longest time. Brian said, "We wore out the vinyl record, several times," and, "Freddie loved Paul's voice." So I suspect he'd be happy that we're carrying on the music.




PITTSBURGHCITY PAPER  3/16-3/21/06
Queen + Paul Rodgers
Catching Up With Roger Taylor

Writer:AARON JENTZEN

It’s a ’DVE listener’s wet dream: QueenandBad Company … at the same time! And for Queen’s second-ever Pittsburgh performance, the real cavemen can sing along with “We Are the Champions” without being confused by the song’s message: It’s about sports, right?

“I bought a beautiful boat, and I spend a lot of time on it,” jokes Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor, but it’s been a busy couple of years for Taylor and guitarist Brian May. Between supervising their record-breaking musical We Will Rock You and working with Nelson Mandela’s AIDS campaign, they’ve “accidentally” launched tours as Queen + Paul Rodgers, featuring the ex-singer of Free and Bad Company, replacing the late, great Freddie Mercury.

Why Paul Rodgers -- was David Bowie busy?

I think David is such his own man, I don’t think that would have worked. He’s got such a monstrous canon of songs -- it would have been a seven-hour concert! I don’t think really we’d have worked as an ongoing entity. But Paul was one of Freddie’s absolute favorite, probably top-three singers ever. And we all loved Free in the early days of Queen -- we were big Free fans, and liked Bad Company after that. Paul, for us, was one of the voices.

And it really happened by accident. We met at a TV show, we played three songs together, one of his and two of ours, and it just clicked. And we said, “This it too good to waste, let’s do some shows.” So we put a European tour on, and it sold out overnight, and it was full of young people. So it was a delightful surprise. I didn’t even know if I could still play for two-and-a-half hours. Luckily, we’re in pretty good shape!

Are you still in touch with John Deacon [Queen bassist, who is not on the current tour]? No, sadly. John was really devastated after Freddie died, and really opted out of the whole music business, the whole circus. He sent us a very nice letter that said “I totally support everything you and Brian are doing, but I just don’t feel I can be involved”  -- especially since he doesn’t really like being around a lot of people -- and “keep sending me the checks!” and that was it, and that’s fine.

When Judas Priest played in Pittsburgh, Rob Halford was heckled a bit. It seems an issue for some to find out the singer for their favorite metal or hard-rock band is gay.

If people didn’t realize Freddie was gay before, I think they must have been either blind or stupid! He was quite a gay icon for many years in the ’80s really, but I think before that even he didn’t realize he was gay. I think it was a shock for some people, in the States really. In Europe and most countries, obviously with China being the exception … we seemed to get more popular, but we seemed to diminish in the States after that -- after the early ’80s when it became obvious Freddie was a gay person. Then with the AIDS thing, whatever, those people had already turned away anyway, so whatever. But AIDS, it’s gotta be faced, it’s one of the biggest problems in the world today.

Since you mentioned Mandela, didn’t Queen play some shows in South Africa at a controversial moment?

It was controversial, and very misunderstood. That was the time when apartheid was actually breaking down in South Africa. And we got a lot of shit, really, from Western press. We played to mixed audiences there, and Brian presented the Soweto music awards, which is the biggest township -- black township -- in South Africa. So from the South African viewpoint, black or white, we were just friends. But we got all this crap, and then people like Little Steven bringing out dumb records, who really didn’t get it at all, and didn’t even understand that apartheid was breaking down and Mandela was on the point of release.

From your perspective, you played there on the edge of change?

Absolutely. We only went under the proviso that we could play to mixed audiences, and there was no problem, no problem at all. To this day, Mandela, you know, I’m proud to say I’ve met him and know him and have worked with him. He’s one of the great men in the world.

Critics have characterized your reunion show as almost more like a tribute band.

Who are we paying tribute to? Paying tribute to ourselves, are we?! We have to try our best every night, and I think we’re playing better than we ever did. At least we have one of the great singers, who’s not trying to be Freddie Mercury. He’s just trying to be himself, and has had an incredible career himself. We’re firing on every cylinder, and delighted to be playing. We didn’t expect to be playing, didn’t plan to be. It’s worked out great, and I think the audiences enjoy it.



PittsburghPost Gazette 3/12/06
Sunday, March 12, 2006

By Ed Masley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Twenty-odd years down the road from supplying the sporting events of the world with the boom-boom-thwack that kicks off "We Will Rock You," Roger Taylor is keenly aware that, for many, the thought of Queen on the road in the post-Freddie Mercury era is, at best, a sacrilege.

And this is what he'd like to tell those people:

"Get a life."

No, really.

Taylorlaughs, then adds, "And that's what Freddie would have said as well. I mean, the world moves on. We miss him. Always did. But we all own our songs. And the fact is that Brian and I are still able to go out and do it.

"In a way, it's a little insulting. Great as Freddie was, the band was a true democracy. The fact that he was the visual focus and certainly, in the first 10 years, the most prolific writer, is not denied. But it was a four-man band. We've got the memories. They were great. But this is the best we could have hoped to have done and it's happened as a serendipity."

Brian, of course, is lead guitar god Brian May, who, with Taylor, is back in America blowing the dust off "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are the Champions " and dozens of other Queen classics for the first time since Mercury's AIDS-related death in 1991.

Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame has the unenviable role of filling in for Mercury. While Rodgers couldn't be more different as a vocalist, for May and Taylor's money, that just made the prospect more appealing.

"We never wanted anybody to try and be Freddie Mercury," he said. "We'd be our own tribute band. And the last thing we wanted was that. There's only one Freddie. He was irreplaceable. That's why we never really even attempted to tour after he died."

But this just fell together naturally after a performance together at the band's 2004 induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame.

"We weren't looking for anybody," says Taylor. "We were just doing a British TV show, which is the British version of the Rock Hall of Fame. And I think we were voted, I don't know, band of the '70s or something, whatever, and Paul was there as well and we decided, wouldn't it be great if we did a couple songs together? And it was so great, the voice, it was like magic the first time we heard it. We just sort of all said, 'Hey, this is great, we've got to do this. Let's take it on the road.'

"So it came out of nowhere really. . . . We weren't looking for a singer, weren't doing an INXS."

Taylorlaughs, then adds, "We didn't really expect to have a career going at this stage after losing our singer so many years ago. So really, this is all a wonderful bonus. And the strange thing is, we found that we play better than we used to play. Brian and myself, I think, are pretty much on fire as of late."

As for the whereabouts of original bassist John Deacon, Taylor reports, "John was very badly affected by Freddie's death, and he's really a bit of a sociopath these days. Sociophobe, I should say. Sociopath is the wrong word. But he opted out. He sent us a letter that said 'I approve of everything you're doing.' . . . And then, he said, 'P.S., keep sending the checks.'"

Billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers, the band toured Europe and Japan last year with three additional musicians fleshing out the sound and backing vocals, doing not just Queen songs but some Rodgers hits as well, as captured on both DVD and CD as "Return of the Champions." There's even been some new material.

"I can imagine the next step for this would really be to record over quite a long period an album and just make sure it's all good and has something to say in this day," says Taylor.

As for working with Rodgers on material he's used to hearing in Mercury's voice, Taylor says, "It's a great combination with Paul. It's not really what a lot of people would have expected, but he's given us a bluesier edge, and it very much works with our stuff. And we love playing his stuff, so it's a very good combination.

"It's surprising. When he sings 'We Will Rock You,' to take the simplest example. He . . . adds a new urgency to the song, and it's extraordinary. He has one of the great voices and it does lend itself to our material, which is unexpected. We didn't quite expect it to fit in so well."

While Rodgers "has a lot of other things that he brings to the table," he lacks Mercury's flamboyance. But Taylor promises "the overt theatricality" expected of Queen.

"It's quite a lot of big gestures, big lighting and the show gets right into the audience. . . . It really does get down to people. "



Queen (wanna)bes; March 17, 2006

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

"Of course it wasn't really Queen on stage -- how could it be without Freddie Mercury?" a reviewer for a newspaper in Belfast noted last June. "But in every other sense, this was a true royal command performance."

Go ahead and accuse me of abandoning my usually acute "nostalgia alert" oldies-act warning system. But even though the show is being billed as "Queen + Paul Rodgers"-- the gruff-voiced former singer for Free and Bad Company is as much of stylistic contrast as one can imagine from the flamboyant Mercury, and I can certainly live without ever hearing "Feel Like Making Love" again -- I am nonetheless excited about the chance to see one of the most over-the-top bands in rock history (or some facsimile thereof) in concert one more time.

"Tie Your Mother Down." "Fat Bottomed Girls." "Killer Queen." "Keep Yourself Alive." I am so there!

This only slightly chagrinned Queen fan spoke to guitarist Brian May from London several weeks before he began the American leg of the reunion tour with original drummer Roger Taylor, his old friend Rodgers and assorted hired backing musicians.

Q. Brian, I think American fans of a certain age assume that all English rock stars know each other, and they probably gather once a year at some fancy club in London. How did you first meet Paul Rodgers?

A. Ooh, that's going back. I know we said hi when we went to [Led Zeppelin and Bad Company manager] Peter Grant's office to talk about management, and Paul was just leaving and that was it. But Paul was a hero of ours -- we wouldn't have said that much more to him really. He is the same age as us, but Free was out there at such a young age conquering the world, it's incredible. [Guitarist] Paul Kossoff is a great hero to me and still is.

Anyway, Paul [Rodgers] probably said hi at that stage, and I would bump into him at various times, and we would remain in touch and send each other Christmas cards. And I would play with him on a couple of occasions just to get up and do a song, and it always felt good. "All Right Now" is in my blood, and it was never a problem if Paul would say, "You wanna come and play this?" But it wasn't until the Fender gig [the September 2004 50th anniversary party for Fender guitars] that it hit me so hard that we had such a good flow of energy and what that could mean. Something went "bing!" in my head -- a light went on -- and I went, "My God! Why didn't we think of Paul [for Queen]?" Paul's wife was there, and he looked at me and then looked to her and said, "All you guys need is a drummer."

Q. A lot of people have noted that it's actually a liberating thing that he's such a different kind of vocalist, because he doesn't have the burden of trying to imitate Freddie.

A. Absolutely. It's wonderful because there is no sense of re-treading old ground; it all feels new with Paul and that's wonderful. He's such a great talent to work with.

Q. Were there earlier discussions over the years about touring with somebody else?

A. Yeah, occasionally, but on the whole I have to tell you I was fairly happy with my life. I didn't want to be wrenched out to spend months away from home again; it's a big decision, and I can't overstate that. You're used to having your time and your freedom after you have had years on the road, and there is a part of you that doesn't want to say goodbye to your home and family. It has to be good for you to want to do that. Yet now I feel that it is good -- too good of an opportunity to miss.

Q. Let me ask an indelicate question: Given your success, are you rich enough to never have to work again if you don't want to?

A. Ah, yes! But I have to tell you that I never did it for money anyway. Maybe that sounds a little bit altruistic, but I can tell you that when we lived in a bed-sit when we started out with Queen, I was perfectly happy with fish fingers and cod in a bag. I never felt a need for money. Yes, I do have it now. But if it disappeared tomorrow, I would survive and still make music.

Q. Was the grind of touring the reason that original bassist John Deacon opted out of the reunion?

A. Yeah. John is in a different place, and when the subject came up, the first thing we did was ask John, but he prefers not to. He wants his life as it is now and doesn't want to go back into that -- what can I call it? -- that jungle.

Q. Was it like riding a bicycle again for you and Roger Taylor?

A. Yes. There is something that happens when Roger and I play together; we're like brothers. We fight, and there is a certain amount of needling between us, but the brotherly thing means that things work. Everybody says that as soon as we sit down together and play, something strange and wonderful happens. I'd be the first to admit that I'm sure I play better with Roger than with anyone else.

Q. I interviewed Roger years ago, before the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, and we talked about how drummers never get credit for anything besides drumming, though throughout Queen's history, he was also important as a vocalist and songwriter. Was showing people that part of the incentive for him?

A. Yeah. I think he would be very mad, still, if he was talking to you now. He became a major writer and wrote a couple of the bigger hits like "A Kind of Magic" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives," which is a very beautiful song I think. And he plays pretty good guitar, too.

Q. How about Queen's influence? We've seen so many examples of that, including last year's "Killer Queen" tribute album. What do you hear carrying the stamp of Queen's legacy that gets you most excited?

A. It makes me very happy if people refer to it in any way, like when the Foo Fighters talk about us in a complimentary way. I find it very rewarding and exciting, because they're the pinnacle of what's going on at the moment. The Darkness also acknowledges us as a great influence. It makes me very happy that we're a part of the river that flows -- we had our influences and they had us, and it makes me proud.

Q. The thing that always strikes me is that Queen has such a variety of different influences and wide-ranging elements in its sound. There's the "Tie Your Mother Down" Queen, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen, the "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Queen -- few bands attempt to run the whole gamut of styles as you guys did.

A. Yes, it was very wide; we didn't feel any boundaries. That was the fun of it, really, and it still is. Our influences -- a lot of them were half unconscious things that we heard when we were kids, and of course it was very varied during those days. There was no rock 'n' roll when I was really small; you heard ['50s children's musician] Uncle Mac playing things like "The Laughing Policeman" and "The Thunder and Lightning Polka" and skiffle, and we had a fantastic place for us to grow as seeds.

Q. There were also very few genre boundaries during the psychedelic explosion in the mid-'60s, when you started playing, or in the glam movement of the early '70s, when Queen began to make its mark.

A. Yeah, and to me, that's something rather precious. Psychedelia for me embodied freedom and new growth, and that stays with me, though I didn't take the drugs. For me, I just wanted it to be the pure music; there was enough there to keep me excited, and there still is.

Q. Is there talk of recording again with this new band?

A. There is a lot of talk, but no recording at the moment. The touring is tough enough right now; physically, it's a mountain, because we all really need to get in shape. But I think we would like to do a bit of recording, because there does seem to be a good chemistry, good feel and a good marriage of life views. I think we are quite close in a sense, Paul and me, in what we think is important in life and what we want to write about. So I'd love to see it happen.










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