Queen’s Brian May has revealed that he recently unearthed a recording of one of the band’s earliest gigs in London – and he might share it with fans.
“We're always looking at finding stuff that is historically important,” May told Classic Rock. “And this one tape that cropped up very recently which I am excited about, which is one of the first gigs we played in a lecture theatre at Imperial College. I didn't even know I had the cassette.”
May did not say specifically when the recording was made but his band, with original bassist Mike Grose, played at Imperial College in 1970.
“We were very unformed,” May said. “Hearing Freddie at that point in his development is fascinating. He had all the will and charisma and passion, but he didn't have the opportunity to harness that voice yet. Which makes me hesitate a little bit, because I'm not sure Freddie would be that happy hearing himself at this stage.
“But strangely, if he were alive and sitting here at this moment, he'd probably be the same as me: ‘Oh darling, we were kids.’”
May said he and Roger Taylor are debating what to do with the tape.
“A few years ago we'd have felt very protective and thought, ‘Nobody should hear this, because we’re very rough.’ But now, in the position that we are in our lives, we feel forgiving,” he explained.
“We’re not ashamed of where we were at that time. It was us against the world.”