JACKY GUNN LOOKS AT THE HISTORY OF TWO NOTABLE
QUEEN-RELATED PROJECTS BEFORE THE GROUP’S MAJOR SUCCESS
Although it’s unlikely that the Beatles’ supremacy in the collecting world is under any real threat, Queen have provided the stiffest competition during the past couple of years, usurping well-respected giants like Elvis, the Stones and Jimi Hendrix along the way. This month, we focus our attentions on two interesting Queen-related projects, which provide collectors with several rare items to chase. After this close look at the brief career of Smile, we focus the spotlight on the intriguing record made by Freddie Mercury as Larry Lurex.
Way back in the halcyon hippie days of 1968, two London-based Imperial College students, guitarist Brian May and bassist/vocalist Tim Staffell, decided to form a group and advertised for a drummer. Along came medical student Roger Taylor, and the trio duly became Smile. They set about playing a form of music that they themselves described as ‘wild and progressive’, which probably suited the flavour of that era well. Smile played most of their early gigs in Cornwall — Roger’s home ground — at venues such as the Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, and PJ’s Club in Truro. The group also made regular appearances at Imperial College, a popular underground/college venue back then.
In May 1969, Smile signed their first — and only — record deal, with the American- owned Mercury Records. They recorded two tracks in June at Trident Studios, Ivondon, with John Anthony producing, which appeared in August but only in the States. The songs were Tim Staffell’s “Earth” on the A-side, backed by the May/Staffell- penned “Step On Me”. The single failed to create any impression whatsoever — though it’s since come to light that “Earth” was only ever circulated as a promotional device to radio stations and never issued commercially. It’s a practice that still operates in the States to this day, and it’s possible that in this case feedback from the DJs wasn’t strong enough to warrant a full release.
However, some months later, Mercury put Smile into De Lane Lea studios in Wembley, London, to record more material with a view to completing an album — this time produced by Fritz Fryer. Once again, the label decided not to issue any of the tracks, and not long after, a despondent Tim Staffell left, and Smile and Mercury…[ ]
…[ ] Records parted company. Tim’s place was filled by singer Freddie Mercury, and the band duly changed its name to Queen.
Many years and several Queen hits later, that first and only Smile single became a major collector’s item among Queen fans. The fact that it was only issued in the U.S. as a promotional single made it even more difficult to obtain (copies now change hands for £100+), and therefore opened the market to bootleggers. Around 1980, the first “Iron Wire” bootleg was seen. Someone had taken the Smile 45, recorded it onto reel-to-reel tape, and used that tape as a basis for further 7" vinyl copies. But rather than risk prosecution by using the Smile name, they simply stuck white labels on them and typed the words “Iron Wire — Demo Disc Not For Sale”. They then marketed the single as an original Smile demo, and charged an extortionate price for each bad quality copy. It was only recently that a new source for this bootleg came to light in Liverpool — including what appear to be those bootlegged reel-to-reel tapes!
In 1982, Mercury Records in Japan decided to air officially the material that Smile had recorded with Fritz Fryer. Three tracks, “Doin’ Allright”, “Blag” and “Polar Bear”, fully authenticated by Brian May and Roger Taylor, were coupled with the two songs from the single and released in Japan. This five-track mini-album, titled “Gettin’ Smile”, was available quite easily on import for some time. However, this too is no longer available and, with prices now pushing the £20 mark, is now becoming quite a popular collector’s item in its own right.
During the summer of 1972, Queen were to be found lurking in the corridors and reception area of Trident Studios, London, waiting for any available studio time so they could work on their debut album. They were more than a little put out by this indignity, but were left with no choice: their studio deal with Trident had not yet been signed, and the likes of David Bowie and Elton John kept the studios — then considered the best in London — extremely busy.
At the time, Trident staff engineer/producer Robin Cable was working on an old Beach Boys song called “I Can Hear Music”, a song co-written with Phil Spector. Spector had recently been in the studios recording with his wife Ronnie and. suitably inspired, Robin decided to have a go at re-creating the ‘Spector sound’ himself. He’d heard Freddie Mercury singing with Queen and, aware that the band had plenty of free time in between recording sessions, he asked the singer if he’d sing the vocals for the track in question.
At Freddie’s insistence, fellow Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May were drafted in to add percussion and guitars, though bassist John Deacon was not present at the recording. Freddie Mercury also sang lead vocals on “Goin’ Back”, an old Goffin & King song covered by Dusty Springfield and the Byrds.
Robin Cable loved the songs so much that he persuaded Trident to release them, via their arrangement with EMI Records, to whom Queen were already signed. However, it took almost a year for the disc to appear, and when it did, Queen’s own album wasn’t too far away, and so a psyeudonym had to be used. As the songs were so far removed from the Queen sound, it was decided to spoof Gary Glitter by crediting the record to Larry Lurex, and the single was released at the height of Glittermania, on 29th June 1973 (EMI 2030).
U.K. copies of “I Can Hear Music” are now immensely collectable, with copies changing hands for at least £80. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for the German picture sleeve edition on EMI’s Electrola subsidiary label (1C 006- 94 677).
The single also found a simultaneous outlet in the States on Anthem Records (AN 2041), and while many have believed this to have been an unofficial release, it was in fact sanctioned by those involved, a point that has been confirmed recently by ex-Trident boss Norman Sheffield. This issue is currently worth £40. South African pressings also exist.
During the mid-80s, the single got a second, albeit wholly unofficial wind as a ‘white label promo’. The disc was credited to Joe Perfect and fans were fooled into believing this was the original choice of name before Larry Lurex was amusingly thought up. In fact, far from being a very rare demo disc, the truth was that bootleggers had, as with the case of the Smile 45, recorded the original single onto reel-to-reel tape and re-pressed a new batch of 7’s, again in dreadful sound quality. Copies of this, and its bootlegged tape, were again part of the cache recently discovered in Liverpool and picked up by the press. But as we recently reported in our news pages, these are most certainly bootlegs.
Following many requests over the years, Norman Sheffield, who still owns the original master-tapes, is planning to re-release both tracks, in conjunction with Queen, in the near future. This will give collectors the opportunity to own a rare slice of Queen history without going to great expense — and with today’s remastering techniques, it should sound pretty good too!.
Record Collector- December 1992
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