The March of the Black Queen

"The March of the Black Queen" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written and sung by Freddie Mercury, with harmonies by Roger Taylor. It is the ninth song on their 1974 album, Queen II.[3][4][5][6] The song is 6 minutes and 33 seconds, the longest in the album.

"The March of the Black Queen"
Song by Queen
from the album Queen II
PublishedQueen Music Ltd.
Released8 March 1974
RecordedAugust 1973
StudioTrident, London
GenreProgressive rock[1][2]
Length6:33
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)

"The March of the Black Queen" was recorded a month after their debut album was released in August 1973 at Trident Studios in London.[7]

Background

According to Freddie in an interview with Melody Maker in 1974,[8] he said that he began writing "The March Of The Black Queen" before Queen were even formed;" that song took me ages to complete. I wanted to give it everything, to be self-indulgent or whatever." The song was recorded just a month after their debut album was released in August 1973 at Trident Studios in London. With a variety of different sections in the song, John Deacon later described it as a long, six-minute track and said" we spent ages and ages rehearsing this one. Not very easy at all, I can assure you!"

In later years, Brian May regards "The March Of The Black Queen" as the precursor to "Bohemian Rhapsody" ; "The March Of The Black Queen" has a lot of textured work with the intricate harmonies, the guitar harmonies, and stuff. The precursor of "Bohemian Rhapsody" in many ways." In a different interview Brian talked about Freddie’s complex compositions; "you’ve got to bear in mind that we'd already made "My Fairy King" on the first album and we'd done "The March of the Black Queen" on the second album, so we were well in tune with Freddie's excursions into strange areas, and that was something that we really enjoyed."

Live performances

The song was deemed impossible to play live in entirety so only an extended version of the heavy rock section towards the end of the song was played live always segueing from "Killer Queen" in a medley. It was played at every show from the start of the Sheer Heart Attack Tour[9] in October 1974 to their performance at Hyde Park in September 1976.[10]

The first time was an abridged version of the song's piano introduction at a show in Providence on the Jazz Tour[11] in 1978 which then segued into "Bohemian Rhapsody". Other times the song was heard on stage was during The Works Tour[12][13] in 1984 and 1985 when instead of "Killer Queen" continuing on from "Somebody to Love", a brief portion of the song's melody was entwined with a small part from "My Fairy King" as a cue into "Killer Queen".

Other album appearances

The song also appears on two Queen compilation albums: Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)[14][15] (2011) and Greatest Hits in Japan[16][17][18][19] (2020). And features on the live albums: Live at the Rainbow '74[20][21][22] (2014) and A Night at the Odeon – Hammersmith 1975[23][24][25] (2015).

Personnel

Queen

References
  1. Queen- Uncensored On the Record. Coda Books Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-908538-84-0.
  2. Dome, Malcolm (29 August 2016). "Queen albums ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  3. Barnes, Ken (20 June 1974). "Queen II". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Queen II - Queen | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. Bell, Max (8 March 2019). "Queen II: The Album That Elevated The Band To Rock Royalty". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. Giles, Jeff (8 March 2016). "The Story of Queen's Second Album, 'Queen II'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. "QueenVault.com - Queen II Liner Notes". www.queenvault.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  8. Coon, Caroline (21 December 1974). "Freddie Mercury: Queen Bee". Melody Maker. Retrieved 9 November 2020 – via Queen Archives.
  9. "Queen on tour: Sheer Heart Attack 1974-1975 [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  10. "Queen in Hyde Park, 1976". queenlive.ca. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  11. "Queen on tour: Jazz 1978 [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  12. "Queen on tour: The Works 1984 [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  13. "Queen on tour: The Works 1985 [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  14. "Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976) (Remastered Edition)". Queen. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  15. "Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  16. "Queen - Greatest Hits In Japan". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  17. "Press Release: Queen - Greatest Hits In Japan". QueenOnline.com. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  18. Stavropoulos, Laura (6 January 2020). "Queen Announce Fan-Voted 'Greatest Hits In Japan' Collection". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  19. Lewry, Fraser (8 January 2020). "Queen announce Greatest Hits In Japan collection". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. "Queen - Live At The Rainbow '74". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  21. McGurran, Alice (4 September 2014). "The 7 best things about Queen's Live At The Rainbow '74". Gigwise. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. "Queen: Live At The Rainbow '74 (2CD)". Queen. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  23. "Queen - A Night At The Odeon". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  24. Garratt, John (15 November 2015). "Queen: A Night at the Odeon". PopMatters. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  25. Sutherland, Mark (12 October 2015). "Brian May Talks Queen's 1975 London Concert Film". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
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