Summer Of '75 (Roger Taylor/Queen)

Chapter 2

By the end of the evening, everything had quietened down as the band had organised themselves and gotten to know where they'd be staying a bit better. Some of their crew and equipment arrived not long after they did and once it was all set up they spent the rest of day in the recording studio, getting familiar with where they'd be spending most of their time for the next 4 weeks. They rehearsed a bit that evening too, as they could be clearly heard from the house and other areas of the farm. I had to give it to them, they were really good from what I could hear coming from the barn and I'm sure I'd be hearing much more of it soon, which I looked forward to. Anyway, that night my mum had made a gorgeous dinner for us all and everyone was quick to gather around the table when it was served.

'So, what were you guys up to before you came here?' my dad asked.

'We just finished our tour in Sweden. We'd never been there before so it was quite an experience for us.' Freddie told. That explained the clogs.

'Yeah, I've been there a few times myself; beautiful country,' Dad nodded.

'I hear you're in the midst of writing a new album, how's that coming along?' my mum chimed in.

'Grand. We're about half way through it, so there's still some things left to do but on the whole it's going really well. It should be ready to release by the end of the year.' Brian said, proudly.

'That's great. Thought of a name for it yet?'

'Um, I think we've decided on 'A Night At The Opera'.' John said.

'As in, the Marx Brothers film?' Dad asked, puzzled.

The guys laughed, 'Yeah, we watched it one time and when it came to thinking of a title for the album, that just sort of kept popping up as a suggestion. It fit with some of the things on the we were doing on the album, such as the operatic parts of certain songs.' Roger elaborated.

For the rest of the meal I kept quiet whilst my dad caught up with the band about everything he'd missed since he'd stopped working with them a year ago, which involved sharing many stories of the antics they got up to whilst on tour. Some of them were hilarious, some were just downright outrageous. I think it was safe to say now that some of the rumours I'd heard concerning Queen were in fact true.

'God, I'll never forget that party after the concert in - where was it again? Boston. That's right. Everyone got absolutely hammered, as you'd probably imagine. We left the bar at about 4am, planning to head back to where we were staying across town. Easier said than done.' Brian reminisced, 'I remember Roger, John and myself stumbling out the front doors at the end of the night - and Freddie was nowhere to be found. He was with us at the beginning of the evening, but disappeared for the rest of it. I don't think we'll ever know what he got up to that night.'

'I can't even remember myself.' Freddie said, gaining laughs from everyone at the table.

'Anyway, we were going to get a cab back to the hotel, which involved going down the flight of steps at the front of the building. That, plus the drink - obviously a recipe for disaster. We started descending the steps and the next thing I know, I see John going head over heels down the steps and landing in a heap at the bottom. Roger, attempting to help him, starts running down the steps, also tripping and falling before landing right on top of John, who was probably already in enough pain as it was. Not exactly the greatest end to a night out, spending the rest of the early morning in A&E.'

'Oh yes, I remember that clear as day!' My dad exclaimed, wiping away tears from the fit of laughter he was currently in, 'I remember the phone call from the hospital telling us what had happened and having to come and collect you all. It was like a group of teenagers going out on a bender then their parents showing up after they ending up in hospital. Shame though, we'd managed to go the whole tour without any incidents up until that point. It was certainly was one hell of a night.'