The project sees Brian May and Roger Taylor revisit and reflect on the rocky road to the recording of their first album.
Following the recent 7” single release of “The Night Comes Down” from the 2024 package, May now reveals the inspiration behind the deeply personal lyrics – and unearths his original acoustic guitar to demonstrate how he achieved the song's unique sound.
Fifty-one years later, the episode sees Brian explore the roots of this early track, and showcases the one-of-a-kind acoustic guitar that gave it life.
“I had moments when I thought, ‘I'm in a great place, I can make music. I'm with great friends. I'm at college doing stuff that I love doing. Everything's great,’” recalls May. “And then somehow, everything would fall apart, and then it's like the night came down in my head. So that's what the song was about. It's not a jolly song.”
In spring ’72, the Queen lineup graduated to Trident Studios for album sessions. But with the signature ‘Trident sound’ clashing with their own vision for the album, the lineup resorted to subterfuge, smuggling their preferred demo tape in a ‘Trident’-labelled box. As such, "The Night Comes Down" was the only survivor from the De Lane Lea sessions.
“I was dead set against trying to re-record The Night Comes Down,” explains Brian, “because I was aware it was a moment, and it sounded exactly like I wanted it to sound. And (producer) Roy Baker was very sympathetic. He said, ‘Look, I understand, and maybe we'll just remix it.’”
It's only now – with the release of the remixed and remastered “Queen I” boxset – that “The Night Comes Down” is aired as the band originally intended.
“Roy, bless him, put a lot of work into the song,” recalls Brian. “But his brief as dictated by his bosses was to make it sound like it came out of Trident. I was sitting there thinking: ‘At least the original isn't being destroyed here. At least this is an alternative. Maybe one day we can go back and look at the original’. And now, we’ve done it.”
Check out more episodes of “The Story of Queen 1” via the links below:
The Story of Queen 1 – episode 1
The Story of Queen 1 – episode 2
Pick up some Queen for your collection here.
See also:
Queen share second episode of The Story Of Queen 1 series
Queen release restored Keep Yourself Alive video
Queen launch The Story Of Queen 1 video series
Queen stream 1974 performance of Modern Times Rock N Roll
Search Queen at hennemusic
