Mister Mercury
(extract)
by Peter Freestone with David Evans
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[p18](1979, on Crazy Tour)
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However, fot that, my first day, I merely collected the costumes which needed to be laundered and cleaned and when an available car was going back to London, I was in it with Gerry Stickells, the tour's manager. Two days later I went back to the studios laden with clean, ready-to-wear stage clothes and that was the first day each of the band told me what their requirements would be for the coming tour. For John I had to get a pair of black 'Kickers', size 43, two white t-shirts with round necks. For Roger, I needed half-a-dozen white wrist sweatbands, assorted black and white socks. Brian's requirements were two t-shirts with a low neckline, one black and one white. He also asked me to look for a western-style shirt in black with white piping which I managed to get.
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[p46](1982, South America)
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Freddie would sit, accompanied by John Deacon, with a cigarette in his hand, playing with it to disguise his nervousness and to give his expressive hands something to do and allow the less reticent Brian and Roger to do all the chatting, making only occasional interjections. He knew he was expected to involve himself in the talking but did so as little as little as possible although he always knew that it was important for him to be seen to say something.
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[p80]
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Freddie never knew anyone better at working out harmonies than Brian and always relied on him for the end results when musical harmony was concerned. John was always John. Freddie knew John was like the proverbial rock and could always be relied on. The bass line was put on very close to the beginning after which the guide vocal track was laid down around which the other instrumental colouring and harmonies would be created.
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[p96](about "A Kind Of Magic")
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This album also furnished another of the band's crowd-pleasing anthems, namely FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS. The co-composition credit on this track and on PAIN IS SO CLOSE TO PLEASURE was merely because John Deacon insisted that Freddie's contribution be recognised and acknowledged. John's honesty and integrity would not have allowed him to do otherwise.
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[p219]
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In my time with Freddie, he always had a very good working relationship with John Deacon but it never seemed to follow on in their personal, offstage relationship perhaps because of John's family commitments and family life being miles apart from Freddie's idea of a social life. I do know that Freddie had a lot of respect and was very fond of John.