Bohemian Rhapsody - the full story (From Free Press Series)

Bohemian Rhapsody - the full story

IN the summer of 1975, Freddie Mercury sat in the cool of a Monmouthshire recording studio at a piano, close to the window.

Gazing at a weathervane outside turning in the wind, there was a moment of inspiration and he words 'anyway the wind blows..' came into his mind. A page in history was complete.

He had found the last line of a song which would become the most celebrated in music history -Bohemian Rhapsody.

Next year, Bohemian Rhapsody will celebrate its 30th anniversary and the BBC is screening a special documentary on the recording of the song.

The documentary features Monmouth's Rockfield studio, where Queen recorded a majority of the track.

Guitarist Brian May and fellow band member Roger Taylor made a one-off visit to the studio in February especially to take part in the documentary, where they re-record their parts of the song.

Bohemian Rhapsody was recorded in Monmouth's Rockfield Studio 1 in August 1975 while Queen were creating the album 'A Night At The Opera.'

Following a three-week rehearsal period in Herefordshire, Queen spent over two weeks at Rockfield recording tracks for the album, but it would be Bohemian Rhapsody that would take the music industry by storm.

The six-minute epic broke all the rules, becoming the first ever single to combine rock and opera together.

The song flew to the top of the UK charts after its release in October 1975, remaining there for over nine weeks, and it has since won a string of accolades.

Over the years Rockfield Studios has also become an integral part of music history, with thousands of famous artists using the venue to record their music.

Kingsley and Charlse Ward, who built Rockfield Studio 41 years ago, say 80 per cent of Bohemian Rhapsody was recorded at Rockfield.

Charles said: "They really took 24 track type recording, which had only been around 18 months then, to another level. Every track they did was a master track. They were extremely precise people, that was their hallmark.

"Their video was also ground breaking. It brought a completely new era to videos and popular music."

Kingsley, who runs the studio, added: "I think Bohemian Rhapsody is about all of them. The guitarist Brian May was brilliant, the drummer Roger Taylor was brilliant, but it was a team effort. Even though Freddie Mercury wrote it, they all contributed equally.

"They did all the backing tracks and extra dubs here and all the mixing went elsewhere. "I would say 80 per cent was done here and the mixing went to another studio.

"We had Queen here and another band called Rush. The two biggest Queen albums were done here and also the two biggest albums by Rush."

Legend has it that the famous last line of the song 'anyway the wind blows..'is reference to a weathervane outside the room now used as an office at Rockfield.

Freddie Mercury is said to have been sat at a piano gazing out of the window at the weathervane when he penned these famous lyrics.

Charles says the upright piano used by Mercury was actually purchased by the brothers for just £7 from the farm next door.

He said: "Freddie Mercury knew we had the piano and about a month before they came to Rockfield we were instructed by their management to make sure the piano was tuned up for him."

However, another piano used by Elton John during a tour is on the final recording of the track.

Rockfield Studios still have the original invoice for EMI Records for use of the studio by Queen.

The company paid £240 for a ten-hour day recording and, as the invoice shows, the band often spent up to 15 hours a day holed up recording songs.

However, Charles and Kingsley say when the band first came to record at Rockfield they had very little money, so little that Charles's wife had to borrow one of them money for petrol for his car.

Kingsley: "They turned up here with very little equipment in 1974 and within 12 months they came with roadies, tour managers the lot, we couldn't believe it."

The brothers say the BBC documentary on Bohemian Rhapsody, due to be screened in August this year, will highlight Rockfield's place in music history.

Kingsley said: "The village of Rockfield is the most famous in Wales. This has always been one of the most top rated studios in the world and anyone will be able to tell you where Rockfield is. It is synonymous with history."