Ffloramint - Chopaeng

Brian's letter, from the Winter 1991 edition of the Queen Fanclub Magazine.

Here's the text for those who find it difficult to understand the writing.

Wed. 27th Nov 91

3:00 Early morning

Dear folks,

This time I'm putting pen to paper for the 3 of us, John, Roger and myself. We have spent many hours together over the last few weeks and especially the last few days, and I think we feel very closely the same. We couldn't let this special magazine go out without a very special message of thanks to you, our wonderful friends ('fans' has never seemed quite the right word for you guys, (by which I mean ladies and gentlemen) who have been so incredibly understanding and supporting to us over the years). As you know by now, Freddie was fighting the terrible AIDS disease for many years, and for much of the time even we didn't know. For Freddie, his art and his friends were everything. He poured himself with huge vigour into both. He was determined that no hint of frailty should mar his music, or our music, or make life difficult for his friends. By refusing to concede anything to the illness, his amazing strength and courage enabled him to continue at full strength in making albums, videos, etc., even though it cost him more and more in private(?) pain. Life was already almost impossible for him while we were making the Innuendo album (After pacing himself very carefully during 'The Miracle' he hardly expected he would be alive for another.) By the time 'Days Of Our Lives' was being shot on video, he could barely stand. He never in our hearing complained about his lot, and never let despondency creep into his work. His voice seemed to get miraculously better and better. And he died without ever losing control. Freddie never wanted sympathy - he wanted exactly what you, Queen fans, gave him :- belief, support, and the endorsement of that strangely winding road to excellence that we, Queen, have tried to follow. You gave him support in being the outstandingly free spirit that he was, and is.

One final word. Whatever the despicable press may have made out, Freddie had nothing to be ashamed of. He lived life to the full, and was generous to everyone he came close to. His announcement, made by his own will only when he knew his fight was over, will, with our help and yours, be a major factor in persuading the public that AIDS is now EVERYONE'S problem. But Freddie, his music, his dazzling creative energy - those are forever.

Thank you all so much from us:-

Brian, Roger and John.

I actually love Live at the Rainbow ‘74 outfit <3

Queen in London - Part I: Freddie

A brief timeline of the band members' living arrangements, focused on London/England. I put this together from a variety of sometimes contradictory sources - if anyone has additional or differing information, please let me know!

~~~

When the Bulsaras arrive in England in the spring of 1964, they settle down in Feltham. In November 1964, they move into 22 Gladstone Avenue x x

While Freddie officially continues to live in Feltham for the next 5 years, he often stays with friends who live in London. One important address is 49 Addison Gardens, Kensington, where Chris Smith and Paul Humbertone share a basement flat (QonC, 31). Roger's flatshare at 15 Sinclair Gardens is just a street away, and they form one big circle of friends, often hanging out with each other.

Freddie with Paul Humberton at the back garden of 42B Addison Gardens.

"When we all got together [...] Brian would stay at Roger's, while Tim and Freddie would stay with me." (Chris Smith, QonC 31)

In October 1969, Freddie moves into a flatshare at 40 Ferry Road, Barnes, with Roger and others (Denise Craddock, QiC). The cast of flatmates fluctuates a lot, but for a while Brian lives there as well.

View of 40 Ferry Road and a floor plan with occupants; QiC

After about a year at Ferry Road, Freddie moves into a flatshare in Fulham with Roger, Jo, John Harris and others in the autumn of 1970 (Pat McConnell, QiC). According to Pat, "Freddie was [in the Fulham flatshare] for a while but went to live with Mary."

Probably in early 1971, Freddie and Mary move into £10-a-week bedsit x. The article states the address as Victoria Road, Kensington, but Victoria Road is a lot further north, in Acton. It might be a mix-up with Victoria Grove, Kensington.

The dating is a bit of an educated guess: according to the article, Freddie first asked Mary out on his 24th birthday - September 1970. In this article, Mary is quoted saying that that they moved in together about five months after their first date.

"After two years together" - probably Autumn 1972 - Freddie and Mary move just about a mile into a slightly more expensive one-bedroom apartment at 100 Holland Road x They live there with two cats x, Tom and Jerry.

100 Holland Road; the "dress-up"-photoshoot with Doug Puddifoot took place there in March 1973.

In Spring 1976, Freddie is still living in the Holland Road flat with Mary, but has been house-hunting for a while - in vain, so far x

In mid-1976, Freddie rents a flat in Dovehouse street, Chelsea, for himself and David Minns, who calls it "a hellhole" (WtMS, 31; TWTRL).

In October 1976, Freddie talks about "the new place he's got in Kensington" x - probably the first mention of 12 Stafford Terrace.

In Spring 1977, Freddie is busy furnishing his new flat at Stafford Terrace (WtMS, 31), while still living at Holland Road x (the article refers to his lush flat 'upstairs').

It's not entirely clear when Freddie finally moves into Stafford Terrace, but it seems to have been sometime in late 1977 or even early 1978: According to David Minns, Freddie moved into Stafford Terrace with Joe after he came back from a "long, arduous tour" x (the US leg of the 1977 NOTW-tour), and he still calls it a "new flat" at this point (TWTRL).

"Freddie’s home was the lower part of a house conversion. The hallway and dining room were on ground level and the kitchen on the mezzanine. In the basement were the bedrooms – Freddie’s facing the street and Joe Fannelli’s at the rear – and a large sitting room looking out on to a small, patioed garden." (M&M)

Freddie at Stafford Terrace.

In the first half of the 1980s, Freddie spends significant amounts of time in New York and Munich, but 12 Stafford Terrace is his home whenever he is in London for the next 7 years.

In 1980, he buys a new property, Garden Lodge, 1 Logan Mews, in Kensington (FM, Ch. 4). It's a two-story, Neo-Georgian mansion surrounded by high walls and a landscaped garden x

Freddie spends five years completely refurbishing the place. The process is finished in July/August 1985, while he was still mainly living in Munich. In the autumn of 1985, Freddie permanently moves into Garden Lodge with Jim (M&M). They're going to live there along with Phoebe, Joe, and an assortment of cats until Freddie's death in 1991.

Aerial view of Garden Lodge; Freddie in his garden.

Sources

FM - Peter Freestone & David Evans: Freddie Mercury.

M&M - Jim Hutton & Tim Wapshott: Mercury and Me.

QiC - Rupert White: Queen in Cornwall.

QonC - Mark Hayward: Queen on Camera, off Guard

TWTRL - David Evans & David Minns. This Was The Real Life

WtMS - David Evans. When the Music Stops

One of Brian’s many tributes to Freddie; this is my favorite.

I might just actually post a fic on this god help me  Update: I did the thing (x) Originally from BrianMayNumber1Fan on youtube (x)

“He said, ‘here you are’ and he signed it for me. It was a very nice thing to do, you know. Just to sort of make me feel appreciated, I guess.”   how can anyone not love him

Freddie Mercury gives a radio interview after their show in Detroit, January* Boston, February 1977.

It's so lovely oh my god 🥰 He's so toughtful and soft-spoken, chuckling to himself saying "oh dear, oh dear"! Also, the mic must be so close to him! I listened to it with headphones and it was like he was speaking directly into my ear.

~~~

Some interesting bits (time stamps approximate):

6:10 - talking about being business savy and learning from Smile's experience getting ripped off

14:40 - Freddie got the idea of playing the entirety of BoRhap live while rehearsing for the tour in Boston

18:30 - Roger has books about the Marx brothers and Freddie sees some parallels between their and Queen's approach to their art (meticulous)

23:15 - "That's the whole fucking point of doing it!"

23:50 - they weren't confident initially to play the lighter stuff (Freddie at the piano etc.) on stage when they were just starting out, focusing on the hard rock aspect instead

24:45 - Freddie is being served tea

26:30 - They want to do Long Away live and have rehearsed it, but don't feel it's quite right yet [spoiler: they're never going to play it live *cries* I wonder who'd have sung it, Freddie or Brian...]

27:40 - Somebody to Love is 'nerve-wrecking' and 'a killer': "The first time we ever did it we did it so fast - we just wanted to get it over with."

27:36 - "You want some tea?"

29:10 - Freddie munching on a biscuit?

36:30 - How to keep an accurate picture of yourself with all the things written in the press. Lovely bit.

40 - How they write their songs and approach album recording.

43:15 - They are quite rudely cut off because Roger and John are sitting outside waiting for their turn (Brian already had his turn)

Also, this is the interview where Freddie forgets the name of Brian's 'vaudeville' contribution to ANATO (Good Company) and tries to remember it for a whole blessed minute (forgot to note the time stamp).

(Yes, the others' interviews are also on Youtube, and I'll spend the rest of my day listening to them 😊)

~~~

*It seems the date and place on the vid is wrong, since Brian implies in his interview that they're in Boston.

Interview with Brian

Interview with Roger

Interview with John

“I won’t be touring on my own or splitting up with Queen. Without the others - I would be nothing. The press always makes out that I’m the wild one and they’re all quiet, but it’s not true. I’ve got some wild stories about Brian May you wouldn’t believe!”

— Freddie Mercury, 1985