Brian May has posted a third behind-the-scenes video in support of the upcoming reissue of his 1983 album, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project, featuring Eddie Van Halen, former REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer, bassist Phil Chen and keyboardist Fred Mandel. This time out he talks about the recording sessions, saying that there was “no pressure because there was no end product. We didn’t say, ‘We’re going to make a record here.’ It’s just like, ‘Let’s have some fun and see what we can do.’” Star Fleet will be out on July 14th.
Brian May has posted a second behind-the-scenes video in support of next month’s re-release of his 1983 Star Fleet Project album. This time he talks about the four musicians who are on the album -- Eddie Van Halen, former REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer, the late bassist Phil Chen, and keyboardist Fred Mandel. You can watch the video on YouTube. Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project will be out on July 14th.
Brian May will release a deluxe edition of his 1983 EP, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project, on July 14th.
The sessions took place on April 21st and 22nd, 1983 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. May, on a break from Queen, called a few friends to collaborate on some tracks. The friends were Eddie Van Halen and then REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer, along with bassist Phil Chen and keyboardist Fred Mandel.
May writes in the sleeve notes,"We are going to give you everything…every take of every song, the things that went wrong, the laughing, the finding new things to do. But it won’t be just a remaster -- we’ve rescued everything from the original multi-tracks, every detail magnificently remixed, and more. You’ll hear every take from the historic 1983 sessions plus fragments of conversations, out-takes and musical experimentation.”
This new release contains 23 tracks spread over two CDs, one vinyl LP, and a vinyl single, as well as other collector’s items.
A separate exclusive seven-inch double-A-side single, also available on CD, features newly mixed single versions of “Star Fleet” and “Let Me Out.” A special red vinyl version will be available exclusively through the Queen online store.
With this announcement, May has released the title track, "Star Fleet."
It's the third in the “Brian May Gold Series” following 1992's Back To the Light and 1998's Another World.
The original three-track mini album, released October 31st, 1983, featured a full-length take of “Star Fleet,” May’s hard rock re-imagining of the signature tune from the Japanese-made kids science fiction series of the same name. The program was compulsive regular viewing for Brian and his four year-old son Jimmy on Saturday morning TV, inspiring his attachment to its title song, written by English musician Paul Bliss. The album also featured "Let Me Out,” including extensive opportunities for May and Eddie Van Halen to solo.
May says, “If Paul hadn’t written a very catchy song as the theme tune for that kid’s TV science fiction drama series, things would have been different. The signature tune began to stick in my head, and I could hear my own arrangement of the tune developing in my mind. But how to record it?
“So one morning, I woke up in Los Angeles on a break from activities with Queen and made some phone calls. I’ve told the story of what happened next in the material you will find in this box. The outcome was something I will forever treasure.
“We did a little preparation on the phone and at home with tiny Rockman amps and earphones. Then we went in. The tapes rolled. My LA neighbor Alan Gratzer beat the hell out of his kit with the fattest, heaviest drum sticks I had ever seen. Phil Chen, a friend I had met when he played with Rod Stewart, brought his unusual style of funk-orientated rock playing to the party, along with his sunny Caribbean energy and humor. Fred Mandel, one of the classiest keyboard players I have ever met, tickled both the ivories and some very technical synth patches to bring the spacey riffs to life. Ed (I can still never call him ‘Eddie Van Halen’ because he more than once told me that he found it annoying!) played the guitar as if it were a piano…tapping and snapping and sliding and skipping around the fingerboard like an electric sprite -- always with a cheeky smile. If anything he did was difficult for him, he never showed it. A total original. Pure joy. What an everlasting privilege to play with him...
“It’s been very exciting to open up the vault to find these tapes where, in the blink of an eye, I’m trading licks with my friends including the fantastic Ed Van Halen. It’s highly emotional, especially since Ed is sadly no longer around. We have since also lost Phil -- so the rest of us cherish these fleeting moments together.”
The collection also includes a jam, "Blues Breaker," which was dedicated to Eric Clapton. Unfortunately, Clapton wasn't impressed, reportedly saying something along the lines that playing the blues has rules.