A singer/songwriter with a penchant for creating his own memorable melodies has recently devoted his time and talent to creating a song to honour the legacy of one rock and roll’s all time greats – Freddie Mercury, the legendary frontman for the equally legendary British band Queen.
Syracuse, New York-native Kevin Michael Giordano wrote, recorded and has released God Save the Queen via Subcat Records to pay tribute to Mercury, but also the band that he fronted as the song was composed and produced in a way that is very reminiscent of the band during their creative peak in the mid to late 1970s.
Although he passed away in November of 1991, the music of Mercury and Queen is never far away from the public consciousness, thanks to consistent and frequent airplay, placement in movies and television, Broadway shows such as We Will Rock You, and most recently, the award-winning Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Giordano said he was always a fan of Queen, but the passion for the band and for Mercury’s remarkable ability to command a massive crowd, while also pulling off virtuosic vocal performances on stage, was rekindled when he started re-watching some of the band’s live shows, including their show-stealing set at Live Aid in 1985.
“That performance by Freddie and Queen that day is one of the greatest moments in the history of rock music and something we’re not likely to ever see again. The energy was so raw and real, but the set was also so exceptionally performed and so tight. And then their next tour [the Magic tour which began in the following year and saw the band play only stadiums] was one of the best rock and roll tours of all time. And it was so tragic that it was the last shows Freddie would perform. So, a few months ago when my manager suggested I write a song in the style of Queen, it was a no-brainer,” said Giordano, adding that while he wanted the sound to be Queen-like, lyrically he wanted to look at Mercury’s last days, focusing on what he might have been thinking and feeling over his last days.
“We know all about the wonderful songs and the concerts and all the amazing things he did as a musician and songwriter – all the glamour and excess and the adoration of millions of fans. But at the end – when he knows there wasn’t much time left, we don’t know how he reacted to that, what he was doing, what he was thinking and feeling? I wanted to try and put myself in his position and create this fictional emotional journey of him reflecting back over his life and career.”
Even with modern technology, especially compared to the gear bands like Queen used in the mid-1970s, it was still a long and arduous process to get the sound Giordano wanted on the track, especially for the guitar and vocals.
“I could not recreate Brian May’s guitar sound through all my arsenal of equipment and everything, so I was resigned to having to buy one of his guitars and right before I did, the studio found out what I was going to do and said they thought they had a patch that would work. And once we did that, it made so much of a difference. Nobody sounds like his guitar, his sound is so unique, because he built that sound and it’s just all his, but we’re pretty close,” he explained, adding that he played all guitar parts on the track.
“With a lot of Queen backing vocals, especially on songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, they did it in groups of three, so that’s how I did it. Brian, Roger [Taylor, Queen’s drummer] and Freddie would all sing the same line in unison and then they would sing the same line in unison again, and then they would do it again. And those nine voices would then be all one track. Then they would do the next harmony track the same way, so it sounded like there were lots of people in there.
“I did it the same way, except it was all me. I made sure that I just didn’t double exactly the same, so there was a little difference from one to the other, so it sounded like a chorus. I studied a lot of the harmonies in a lot of the tunes where they used a lot of thick harmonies, so I tried to get mine to where they were top heavy. I didn’t just use roots and fifths, I put nines and 13s in there. I put sevens in there so that the choruses are thick and have layers so that a lot of the notes are above and there aren’t so many notes underneath. I did that on purpose for it to sound like they do. In all, we did about 35 vocal tracks on this song.”
Other musicians on the track were bassist Joe Arcuri, drummer Gary Iacovelli, and pianist Andy Rudy. Giordano was well into the recording process for God Save the Queen, when he learned of the release date for the long-anticipated biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, which recently garnered two Golden Globe victories.
“We could not have planned it better, releasing this song while people all over the world were talking once again about the life and legend of Freddie Mercury. We hope people will download it and appreciate the honest effort and passion that went into this project,” he said.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/kevinmichaelgiordano.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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