Saturday, April 5, 2014

Freddie Mercury's Love Letter To Mary Austin

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia
Bernd Bragelmann under CC BY-SA 3.0 and CC BY-SA 2.5 Licenses

Before Queen's Freddie Mercury came to terms with his own sexuality, he actually wrote a song about his longtime girlfriend Mary Austin.  Appearing on 1975's A Night At The Opera, (considered to be the best work from Queen), "Love of My Life" is a true showcase of the genius of the late Mercury.


Not only did Mercury play piano on the selection, but he also did all of the backing vocals on the original studio track with flawless precision.  The breathtaking vocals are a perfect example of Mercury's astounding vocal range from low bass to high soprano.

Mercury's band mate, Brian May, played harp on the selection, doing so chord by chord and pasting each take one by one to form the entire harp portion of the song.  May also played a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar and his famous Red Special on the track.

  
"Bring it back! Bring it back! Don't take it away from me because you don't know what it means to me!

"Love of My Life" quickly became such a favorite at concerts that Mercury would stop singing the lyrics to the song and allow the audience to take over (as seen in the video above).

The song has since become one of Mercury's most covered songs with acts like Extreme, Scorpions and even Elaine Paige, each doing a rendition of this classic and wonderful Queen tune.

I'm not sure if this is even my favorite piece from A Night At The Opera, but it is a gem that is meant to be admired for generations to come.  It's too bad that Mercury is no longer with us to experience its true magic.




Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
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