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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The #18 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Brian May

The #18 Guitarist is an amazing technical player responsible from some of the greatest riffs and solos of the Rock Era. Embedded later in his biography below is a solo that shows him to be one of the most melodic in The Top 100*...
#18 Brian May, Queen

48 years as an active guitarist
(Some of his top solos)

Brian Harold May was born July 19, 1947 in Hampton, London. He is the lead guitarist and songwriter for Queen, along with being most likely the only guitarist to earn a phD in astrophysics. May serves as the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.

May was inspired by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, which featured guitarist Hank Marvin.  He has also credited Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Rory Gallagher as influences.  As for Led Zeppelin, May says that he used to watch the supergroup and feel that's the way it's supposed to be done.

May formed his first band while at Hampton Grammar School, called Nineteen Eighty-Four. Brian left Hampton with ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. May graduated with an upper second class degree at Imperial College in London, studying Mathematics and Physics.

May formed the group Smile in 1968, which included bassist and singer Tim Staffell and drummer Roger Taylor.  Staffell had become friends with Farrokh Bulsara at Ealing Art College.  Bulsara assumed the English name Freddie and it was Freddie that renamed the group Queen.  Staffell left in 1970, replaced by Bulsara.  Several bass players worked with the group but it wasn't until February 1971 that the group settled on Deacon.  
Brian May. Photo from: http://www.guitar-poll.com/BM.php

The lineup was now set, and the group began rehearsing for their first album.  Around this time, Freddie also changed his surname to Mercury.  Mercury designed Queen's log, called the Queen crest, shortly before the release of Queen's debut album.  In 1973, the album was released to positive reviews.  The lead single was "Keep Yourself Alive", written by May, featuring what Rolling Stone called "an entire album's worth of riffs crammed into one song."


The group's second album, Queen II, was released in 1974, reaching #5 in the U.K.  The album features long, adventurous instrumental passages and fantasy lyrics but was generally not received well.  Sheer Heart Attack, the group's third release, was their breakthrough.  It peaked at #2 in the U.K. and went gold in the United States and featured their first hit, "Killer Queen".  May's virtuosity was featured on the single, which reached #12 in the U.S.

In 1975, Queen headlined a tour for the first time, playing in the United States, Canada and Japan. Later in the year, the group released A Night at the Opera, at the time the most expensive album ever produced, featuring lavish production, especially on the classic song "Bohemian Rhapsody".  The song was #1 in the U.K. for nine weeks and ranks as the third-best-selling single of all-time in the U.K.   Re-released in 1992, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the only single to ever sell a million copies on two different occasions.  A Night at the Opera was designated Triple Platinum in the U.S. "You're My Best Friend" was also released as a single from the album.


Queen toured Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia to promote A Night at the Opera.  They then hopped back in the studio to record A Day at the Races, which landed at #1 in the U.K. and #5 in the U.S.  Mercury, May and Taylor multi-tracked their voices to create a 100-voice gospel choir to back the single "Somebody to Love".  Queen performed a free concert in London's Hyde Park before 150,000, and also sold out performances in Madison Square Garden in New York City and London's Earls Court.


Queen's sixth album was News of the World in 1977, which featured "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions".  The group's tour that year was its best yet.  In 1978, Queen released Jazz, which included "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race".  The album reached #2 in the U.K. and #6 in the United States, but was a step below previous efforts.

Queen toured the U.S. and Canada in 1978 and Europe and Japan in 1979.  The live album Live Killers was Double Platinum in the United States.  Queen released the single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which topped the Australian chart for seven weeks and the American chart for four.  In December, Queen accepted a request from organizer Paul McCartney to play at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea in London.


In 1980, Queen released The Game, which included "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and their biggest career hit, "Another One Bites the Dust".  The album reached #1 for five weeks and sold over four million copies in the U.S.  Later in the year, Queen released the Soundtrack to "Flash Gordon".

In 1981, Queen toured South America and became the first major rock band to play in Latin American stadiums.  One show in Buenos Aires drew 300,000 people, the largest crowd in Argentine history.  In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Queen played to 131,000 the first night and more than 120,000 the second.  The group also played before over 150,000 fans at Monterrey and at two shows in Puebla, Mexico.  Queen was working on their next album when David Bowie stopped by.  The result was the collaborative effort "Under Pressure".


In 1982, Queen released Hot Space, a mix of rock, dance, funk and R&B.  The band stopped touring in North America after their Hot Space Tour, as crowds were noticeably smaller than previous tours.  Queen also ended their association with Elektra Records and signed with EMI/Capitol.


Queen had toured steadily for ten years and took a break from live performances, concentrating on recording a new album.  May and Eddie Van Halen recorded a mini-album called Star Fleet Project.  

In 1984, Queen released The Works, which included "Radio Ga Ga".  The album went triple platinum in the U.K., which requires less sales than in the U.S. for the same status.  In January, 1985, Queen headlined two nights of the initial Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, playing before 300,000 each night.  The concert was filmed and released on the VHS tape Queen:  Live in Rio.  


Queen performed some of their greatest hits at Live Aid in London July 13, 1985, before an estimated television audience of 1.9 billion.  The group received high kudos for their performance and ended the year by releasing the single "One Vision".


In 1986, Queen recorded the album A Kind of Magic before going on tour.  Their show at Wembley Stadium in London was recorded and released as a live double album, Queen at Wembley, and a concert DVD.  The group played before 120,000 fans at Knebworth Park in London, 95,000 at Slane Castle in Ireland and did shows behind the Iron Curtain as well.  A show at Budapest drew 80,000.

In 1989, Queen released The Miracle in 1989 and Innuendo in 1991.  Mercury made his final public appearance with the group when they received the BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.  Mercury was increasingly ill and could barely walk.  Despite several denials to the contrary, on November 23, 1991 in a statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed that he had AIDS.  Within 24 hours, he died.


After the death of Mercury, May finished the solo album Back to the Light.  

There was a resurgence of popularity for the group when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the movie Wayne's World.  Queen won an MTV Award at the MTV Video Music Awards of 1992.  

In 1992, Brian formed the Brian May Band, much the same group that had played behind him in the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, Spain.  Cozy Powell played drums, Mike Caswell contributed guitar, Neil Murray was on bass and Maggie Ryder, Miriam Stockley and Chris Thompson provided backing vocals.  In 1993, guitarist Jamie Moses replaced Caswell and the Brian May Band toured the world supporting Guns N' Roses in the United States.

At the tour's conclusion, the surviving members of Queen worked on songs that became the final Queen album, Made in Heaven.  The group took demos from Mercury's solo albums and added to them.  

In 1995, May included collaborations with other artists and new material on his second solo release, Heroes.  Cozy Powell died on April 5, 1998, and Steve Ferrone was brought in to replace him temporarily.  After a brief promotional tour, Eric Singer, drummer with Kiss, replaced Ferrone for the full world tour.

May co-composed a mini-opera with Lee Holdridge, called II Colosso, for the 1996 movie The Advertures of Pinocchio.

May appeared with Motorhead for their 25th Anniversary show at Brixton Academy and was a guest at the Genesis reunion concert at Twickenham Stadium in 2007.  In 2011, Brian played guitar on the Lady Gaga song "You and I".
Recently, May has worked on remastering Queen albums and DVD's.  In 2004, May, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers, lead singer of Free & Bad Company, embarked on a world tour.  They ended up playing through 2006 in North America, Europe, Japan and South Africa.  The trio recorded the album The Cosmos Rocks in 2008, followed by another major tour.  Queen performed before 350,000 in the Ukraine, did two sold-out shows at the Moscow Arena in Russia, and also toured Europe and South America.

The number of artists who have been influenced by Queen are as diverse as the group's music, spanning different generations, countries and genres.  Those artists include Journey, Styx, George Michael, Def Leppard, Green Day, Metallica, Van Halen, Katy Perry, the Foo Fighters, Guns N' Roses, Kansas, Iron Maiden, the Smashing Pumpkins, Steve Vai, Franz Ferdinand, My Chemical Romance and Anthrax. 

Always more popular in Europe, Queen's albums have spent 1,322 weeks on the U.K. album charts, more than any other artist.  The group has sold over 150 million albums, including 32.5 million in the United States.  

Queen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.  In 2002, Queen was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 2003, all four members of Queen were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.  In 2009, "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Queen received the BMI Icon Award to recognize their airplay success in the United States.  Queen received the Global Icon Award at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards.  

May has played guitar for Steve Hackett and Black Sabbath.
May designed his Red Special guitar, built with wood from an 18th century fireplace, when he was 16 years old.  It has a thick, flat, wide neck, and Brian lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin's Plastic Coating.  The arm of the tremolo is made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob from a knitting needle and the springs from an old motorcycle.

Since 1975, May has had some replicas of the Red Special made, the most famous by John Birch, the GrecoBM90, the Guild and Fryers.  May now has his own company make guitars modeled after the Red Special.

In addition to his favorite guitar, May has also played a Pre-CBS Fender Stratocaster, a Fender Telecaster, the Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a Gibson Flying V, a Gibson Firebird, a Martin D-18 acoustic and an Ovation Pacemaker 12-string acoustic.
May has used Vox AC30 amps since a meeting with his hero Rory Gallagher in the late 1960's/early 70's.  He likes the AC30TBX with Blue Alnico speakers.  May customizes his amplifiers by removing the circuitry for the Brilliant and Vib-trem channels and alters the tone slightly.  

May uses a treble booster which helps him achieve his signature guitar tones.  He used the Dallas Rangemaster for the first few Queen albums, then Pete Cornish built the TB-83, which Brian used for every Queen album after A Day at the Races.  May has since switched to the Fryer's booster.  In live performances, Brian uses a rack of 14 AC30's, grouped as Normal, Chorus, Delay 1 and Delay 2.  He has a custom switch unit on his pedal board made by Cornish and modified by Fryer that allows Brian to choose which amps are active.

May uses a BOSS pedal, the Chorus Ensemble CE-1, a Foxx Foot Phaser and two delay machines.
Brian has been referred to as a virtuoso guitarist by many publications and musicians.  May's guitar playing has utilized sweep picking, tremolo, tapping, slide guitar, tape-delay and melodic sequences.  Because of the uniqueness of his Red Special guitar, May can create several unusual sound effects, such as imitating an orchestra in the song "Procession" and mimicking a trombone and a piccolo on "Good Company".

Elite guitarist Steve Vai had this to say about May:  "He's a class act from head to toe, and it shows in his playing.  I can listen to any player and pantomime their sound, but I can't do Brian May.  He's just walking on higher ground."  Sammy Hagar said "Brian May has one of the great guitar tones on the planet, and I really, really love his guitar work."

In addition to being an elite guitarist, May first learned to play the banjolele, which he played on "Bring Back That Leroy Brown", he is a classically trained pianist, and has also played organ, synthesisers, harp and bass.  May wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on every Queen album, including "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Fat Bottomed Girls".

In 2007, readers of Guitar World voted May's work on "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the #20 Guitar Solo of All-Time and his "Brighton Rock" solo as #41.


In 2005, May was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for services to the music industry".  In 2007, May was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.

He's been an amazing guitarist for nearly 50 years.  He can do it all; he can play an amazing solo with great technique and breakneck speed and he plays some of the most melodic solos out there.  Brian May is The #18 Guitarist of the Rock Era*...

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