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Here are Q & A with Mr Peter Hince (aka Ratty), John's and Freddie's roadie.
Questions to Mr Richards || Back to Deaky Chronicles
| Deaky Weekly vol.152 |
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| ♦ Is John's Black Precision one of the Natural Precisions painted black, just like the Sunburst Precision was remodeled into Natural? |
| You are absolutely right! The Black Precision Bass is Johns old stage natural one - the one he played almost entirely through Queens career. It was re-furbished and sprayed black. |
| Deaky Weekly vol.143 |
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| ♦ Reading a book, I found the following sentence "John throws handsful of bright blue guitar picks into the seats" Did he often do that? |
| No - John NEVER threw his picks in the audience, there were only ever a few set out on stage for him. He did use Martin Heavy blue picks on stage and lots of different things in the studio. He like the Martin picks as they had a thumb grip. |
| ♦ Was it very hard for you to handle your work as the roadie for BOTH of Freddie and John, wasn't it? And if you don't mind me asking, which one did push you around...? |
| I was roadie for John and Fred - AND head of the crew etc...... probably because I was stupid! I loved the band, believed in them and was loyal and hard working - but it was rarely appreciated. John was much easier to work with than Fred, but I loved and respected them both. Yes it was very hard work - but I enjoyed it enormously. I was also young! |
| Deaky Weekly vol.135 |
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| ♦ Recently Roger said on Rhythm Magazine, "John played acoustic guitar on 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' ". Did John actually play the acoustic on this song? |
| Yes John did play accoustic guitar. |
| ♦ In studio, was there any oppotunity for other members or staffs to touch and play Brian's Red Special just for fun? Or did Brian always carry his precious guitar and let nobody touch it? |
| Brians red special - yes people did play it - but not record with it. It was just for fun as you say. Brian did not carry it around everywhere with him - he trusted us - the crew to look after it. |
| Deaky Weekly vol.127 |
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| ♦ Last time you told me that the danelectro bass is Brian's, then was it Brian who played it in the studio? On which songs? |
| I don't think it got played. We often had lots of instruments in the studio that did not get used, but were there if needed. |
| ♦ Has John ever used a five strings bass? Did he play any guitars in studio? |
| I never saw John with a five string bass - he certainly never owned one. He did play very good rythmn guitar and had Fender Stratocasters and telecasters. |
| ♦ John was often licking his finger while playing a bass. Was it one of his habits? I see it a bit funny...have you ever made any jokes on it? |
| Yes he did do that when playing with his fingers and not a pick. No, no jokes..... |
| ♦ On your website, I saw a photo 1977 with your words "Me checking the neck of Johns Fender Precision - after he had 'punished' it at the previous show". Does it mean that it was John who had 'punished'it? Was he sometimes handling his bass rough? |
| Very occasionaly, when things had upset him, John would throw hs guitar across the stage or at the equipment. |
| Deaky Weekly vol.239 |
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| ♦ I had a question about this picture taken during some sessions in 1983. I've never seen such a bass before (One of my friends guessed it's Wal bass). Is it John's own bass or just a borrowed one? |
| I knew all John's instruments and I never saw the Bass in the photo and was not at this Jam session (The drummer is Martin Chambers from The Pretenders). I am sure that it was borrowed from somebody at the studio. |
| Deaky Weekly vol.251 |
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| ♦ Which songs did he use picks? Does it really depend on songs? It depends on capacity of stage? Or merely it's up to John himself...? Moreover, we can see two graphic equalizers which have different waves, so could John use them properly in either case (pick/finger)? |
| In Early Queen days John never used a pick for live shows, he started using them around 1979/1980 - if I remember correctly...... He only ever used blue Martin heavy picks. He would use them selectively on stage: sometimes he just use fingers on certain songs (Another one bites the dust) sometimes just pick (Under pressure) and sometimes both fingers and pick (Now I'm Here) It could also depend on his mood. The graphic equalisers were part of John's electronic rack which controlled his sound on stage. He did have 2 - he had 2 of everything. The reason being, he could switch between his sound controls to get a different sound and the second one was a spare if anything went wrong or broke!!! It didn't, because his roadie was very good - totally professional!!! |
Questions to Mr Richards
On Dec. 2002, Mr. David Richards (the producer of Queen) came to Japan with his partner Nathalie Mansel (beautiful cellist) for their first Japan Tour. I had a opportunity to meet him and asked the following questions.
| Deaky Weekly vol.152 |
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| ♦ How did John write songs in studio? |
| John played Yamaha Piano first and then bass, but John was so shy that he used to make demo tapes at his home and bring them to the studio, then Freddie listened to them and sang. |
| ♦ Did those demo tapes have his singing voice also? |
| No, they have only melody lines. |
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