THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

918-Queen-Brighton Rock.

1974-It has never been released as a single in the UK.

Best Bit-At 4.27. This was a very important song at Queen concerts, as it often went on for an improvised 12 minutes, giving Freddie Mercury enough time to make his costume change.

‘Brighton Rock’ is the opening track from ‘Sheer Heart Attack,’ which is the third studio Album released by Queen, (see also best songs 615-208-126-47 and 3) from November 1974. The Album is seen as the transition of Queen from a ‘Progressive Rock’ outfit, into a ‘Hard Rock,’ and ‘Glam Rock’ band, and a step towards the ‘Classic Queen’ sound of the mid 1970’s. There were two singles issued from ‘Sheer Heart Attack,’ the first was ‘Killer Queen,’ which peaked at Number 2 in the UK, and Number 12 on Billboard in America, and the other was ‘Now I’m Here,’ which failed to chart in America, but reached Number 11 in the UK. ‘Brighton Rock’ was written by Brian May, with the production credited to Queen, and Roy Thomas Baker, in total Baker would work on five Queen Albums, including all of the first four, and the seventh ‘Jazz’ from 1978. Brian May had been working on ‘Brighton Rock’ during the sessions for Queen’s previous Album ‘Queen 2,’ but the song was not recorded at that time as the group felt that it would not fit in with the rest of that Album. As ‘Brighton Rock’ starts, if you listen carefully, you can hear someone whistling the 1907 ‘Music Hall’ song,’I Do Like To be Beside the Seaside.’ On Queen’s previous Album ‘Queen 2,’ the final track ‘Seven Seas of Rhye,’ (see also best songs 615) closes with a sung rendition of ‘I Do Like To be Beside the Seaside.’

‘Brighton Rock’ is considered by many to be Brian May’s finest composition, being borne out of many hours of studio experimentation. The song includes a three minute unaccompanied guitar solo interlude, which makes use of extensive ‘Delay,’ and an ‘Echoplex’ unit. The studio version of ‘Brighton Rock’ only contains one ‘echoed’ guitar for a short section, but May would pull out all of the stops when playing the song live, by splitting his guitar signal into one ‘main’ and two ‘echoed’ guitars, with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers. Usually the song would be played for somewhere between 9 to 13 minutes, stretching out the guitar solo, and often improvising other Queen tracks into the performance. A 12 minutes and 13 seconds recording of the song can be found on Queen’s 1979 double Album release ‘Live Killers.’ During a live performance Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) would top and tail the song with his vocals, while John Deacon would play bass, Brian May the electric guitar, and Roger Taylor the drums.

Roger Taylor was born Roger Meddows Taylor on July 26th, 1949, in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, he has composed at least one track on every Queen Album, and is also credited as a co-writer of three Queen UK Number 1 singles. Taylor first met Brian May in 1968, when answering an add for a drummer for the band ‘Smile,’ which May was a member. In 1970 Taylor turned down the chance to become the drummer for ‘Genesis,’ (see also best songs 741) which led to Phil Collins joining instead. In 1971 Taylor was one of the three founding members of Queen, (named by Freddie Mercury) who were then shortly joined by John Deacon, to complete the line up. Away from Queen, Taylor has released six solo Albums between 1981-2021, and 21 singles between 1977-2021, with four of those singles reaching the UK top 40. In 1987 Taylor also formed the Rock Group ‘The Cross,’ with which he released three studio Albums between 1988-1991, and nine singles between 1987-1991.

‘Brighton Rock’ tells the tale of two people, who by chance meet in Brighton while on a day out, on a public holiday. The girl (Jenny) can’t relax because she is frightened that her mother will find out. Following the day out she writes everyday to the boy (Jimmy) who was eager on the day, but now responds by writing that he is afraid of discovery by ‘My lady.’ It is possible that ‘The Who,’ and their 1973 Album ‘Quadrophenia’ (see also best songs 265) could have been an inspiration for ‘Brighton Rock,’ as ‘Mods’ would travel to Brighton on Bank Holidays, and the lead character in ‘Quadrophenia’ was a character called Jimmy. ‘Brighton Rock’ is also the title of a low budget 1947 British movie, that was based on a novel by Graham Greene (1904-1991.) The film includes a romance of sorts, that is entirely one sided. ‘Rock’ is a confectionery that is often purchased at British seaside towns such a Brighton, and Brian May probably. and cleverly, was using a play on words, for this ‘Rock Classic.’

‘Jenny pines away, writes a letter everyday. We must ever be together, nothing can my love erase. Oh no I’m compromised, I must apologise, If my lady should discover how I spent my holidays.’