Tie Your Mother DownComposer: Brian MayAlbum: Day at the Races (1976) So how did we choose the song? Firstly, we needed to see if our idea would work and for this we needed a song with a fairly straightforward structure - so that ruled out Bohemian Rhapsody! Secondly, it had to be a song we were all very familiar with, in fact Simon's band, HMV, were regularly playing Tie Your Mother Down at the time with Simon on lead vocals and this leads into the third reason for the song choice. HMV were in the midst of recording some demos and were able to lay down the backing tracks very quickly during this process. As a result, the drums were provided by vQp's first guest musician, Steve Eastment. The first recording took place in late September 2005, although it was a few months before logistics allowed the rest of the track to start forming. Although vQp makes songs using our own arrangements rather than following the originals too closely, we decided to stick to the original structure for our first song, Tie Your Mother Down. As it turned out, Paul's guitar work really elevated the song beyond a "carbon copy" cover version. After hearing Paul's guitars in place, and hearing where we were taking the project, with the song to be released for sale on the internet, Steve chose to re-record his drums. The original recording was only ever intended as a guide and Steve knew he could improve upon his performance. This was completed in August 2006 and it was time to start the final mix. Steve has a Pro Tools setup in his garage (where the drums were recorded) and it was felt that this would present a better option for mixing than Simon's Cubase setup, primarily due to better monitoring and effects. It also meant that Steve could offer a fresh pair of ears and opinions, as well as his talents in this area. The final song features more than 30 tracks of audio, including 4 rhythm guitars, 6 lead guitars and ten backing vocals! Give the track a listen to hear just what that many tracks sound like. You won't be disappointed!
Album: News of the World (1977)
This classic anthem was the second song we decided to tackle.
Simon had an idea for an arrangement, influenced by a version Roger Taylor
had performed at his world-record-breaking Cyberbarn gig. As Simon was working on
pulling together the parts for TYMD, Paul agreed to work on compiling a demo version.
Simon described his arrangement by e-mail and Paul set about recording some tracks
based on this description.
Once this was done, Simon made a few minor tweaks and, following an idea from Matthew,
added the fast section at the end (a nod to the version that Queen played live throughout
the late seventies and early eighties).
Once again, Steve Eastment
was drafted in on drums.
Paul finally added all of the guitar parts and produced the final mix of the song.
vQp's version is a novel twist on a classic track and the song sounds as
fresh today as it did when Queen first recorded it nearly three decades ago.
Album: A Day at the Races (1976)
This is the first song where the arrangement idea has come from someone outside of vQp.
Inma Villarrubia, a classically trained pianist,
contacted the band while it was still in the planning stage and offered to record the piano for this beautiful love song.
In early August 2006 she sent a wonderfully poignant piano track and the band began thinking about
where to take this song. The final song is stripped back and retro in feel and features
Matthew on vocals and Si on bass. It is quite a departure from the rocky sound of the first two tracks vQp tackled
but the end result is a fitting tribute to this great song.
Album: Straight Shooter (1975)
This Bad Company track was begun by Paul and Matthew before the vQp project got under way.
They had both seen Queen + Paul Rodgers perform the song during the 2005 tour and decided it would be a great track to put a different spin on.
Paul set about creating the backing track for Matthew to sing vocals on in the winter of 2005/2006, making this the first remotely recorded vQp track.
In the spring of 2007, the rough track was dusted off for Simon to record bass on. Paul added some new guitars and polished the track up and it became vQp's second 2007 release.
Album: A Kind Of Magic (1986)
This beautifully sad song has always been a favourite of Simon's and he has recorded a
version of the track in the past.
Paul has now taken the reins of the vQp version, which will have a rockier, contemporary feel.
Album: Heartbreaker (1973)
This Free rock song is partly responsible for the whole vQp project. In the summer of 2005, Matthew
met up with an old schoolfriend, Tom Walker, to record a cover of this Free classic. He had
fallen in love with the song after seeing it performed by Queen + Paul Rodgers in April the same year.
Tom recorded all of the instrumentation for the track and Matthew met up with him to record the lead and backing vocals. It was on mention of this on the Queenonline forums
that Simon contacted Matthew offering his services on bass.
Since then, Tom's friend, Paul Mason, has laid down drums for the song and now Simon is in the process of recording a new bass track and final production.
Look out for this song sometime mid-2007.
Album: News Of The World (1977)
This epic, that is little-known to the masses, but a firm favourite with Queen fans is being given the vQp twist. It will have a more acoustic, pop feel than the
original recording, but there is still a lot to do before this song hits the download store.
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