QUEEN: Jazz [Original gatefold LP with inserts] Check videos.

Description

Jazz is the seventh studio album by British rock band Queen, released in November 1978. The albums varying musical styles were alternately praised and criticized but reached #6 on the US Billboard 200. Roy Thomas Baker temporarily reunited with Queen and became their producer for this album. It was three years since he co-produced Queens 1975 album A Night at the Opera, but this album also was the last he co-produced for the band.
This was the first Queen album recorded outside the UK, for tax purposes. Included in the liner notes is the attribution “Thunderbolt courtesy of God”, referring to the crash of thunder heard at the end of the song “Dead On Time” which May recorded with a portable audio recorder during a thunderstorm. The album artwork was suggested by Roger Taylor, who previously saw a similar design painted on the Berlin Wall.
Track listing:
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Mustapha” Freddie Mercury 3:01
2. “Fat Bottomed Girls” Brian May 4:16
3. “Jealousy” Mercury 3:14
4. “Bicycle Race” Mercury 3:01
5. “If You Can’t Beat Them” John Deacon 4:15
6. “Let Me Entertain You” Mercury 3:01
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Dead on Time” May 3:23
2. “In Only Seven Days” Deacon 2:30
3. “Dreamers Ball” May 3:30
4. “Fun It” Roger Taylor 3:29
5. “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy” May 3:15
6. “Don’t Stop Me Now” Mercury 3:29
7. “More of That Jazz” Taylor 4:16

Song information:

Mustapha
“Mustapha” ( Sample (help·info)) is a song written by Freddie Mercury. It was released as a single in 1979.
The lyrics consist of English, an Arabic language, Persian and possibly a number of invented words. Some understandable words are “Mustapha”, “Ibrahim” and the phrases “Allah, Allah, Allah will pray for you”, “salaam aleikum” and “aleikum salaam”.
In live performances, such as the perfomance on Live Killers, Mercury would often sing the opening vocals of “Mustapha” in place of the complex introduction to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, going from “Allah will pray for you” to “Mama, just killed a man…”. However, sometimes the band performed an almost full version of the song, with Mercury at the piano.

Fat Bottomed Girls
“Fat Bottomed Girls” was written by May with lead vocals shared by Mercury, and May, who sings lead on the chorus. On stage Mercury sang the entire song, with Taylor and May doing harmonies. Both guitar and bass are played in drop-D tuning for this song; a rarity for Queen.

“Jealousy” was penned by Mercury and features May playing his Hairfred acoustic guitar placing small pieces of piano wire under the frets to produce the “buzzing” effect of a sitar. This effect had already been used on “White Queen (As It Began)”, from Queen II. All vocals were recorded by Mercury.

Bicycle Race
“Bicycle Race”(Sample (info)) is a complex composition by Mercury. It features several modulations, unusual chord functions, a metre change (4/4 to 6/8 and back), and a programmatic section (a race of guitars emulating the bicycle race).

“If You Can’t Beat Them” was another hard rock composition by John Deacon and was a live favourite for the band in late ’70s. It is one of the few songs by Deacon where May plays all the guitars and contains a guitar solo of over two minutes, making it one of the longest guitar solos in a Queen song.

“Let Me Entertain You” was written by Mercury, directed towards the audience. The line “we’ll sing to you in Japanese” is a reference to Mays Teo Torriatte, from A Day at the Races. The idea of a guitar riff in parallel sixths was re-used later in the Innuendo track, “The Hitman”.

“Dead on Time”, written by May, features some of the fastest and most aggressive guitar work by its author, as well as some equally complicated yet ferocious drumming by Taylor. Performed at breakneck speed, it was considered by most fans to be an ideal live number, but was curiously never played in concert; May would only incorporate snippets of it in his guitar solos during the Jazz Tour.
The song resembles “Keep Yourself Alive” from Queens self-titled debut album. In the last chorus, the words “keep yourself alive” are sung, and in the lyrics attached to the album, those words are written in capitals.
The song ends with the sound of a thunderbolt, followed by Mercury screaming “You’re dead!” The thunderbolt was actually recorded by May on a portable recorder during a vicious thunderstorm. The albums liner notes credit the thunderbolt to God.

“In Only Seven Days” is Deacons other songwriting contribution on the album, and share similarities with one of his previous songs, “Spread Your Wings”. Deacon also played acoustic guitar and electric guitar.

“Dreamers Ball” is Mays tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died one year before. The arrangement for the concert version was completely different, with May and Taylor doing vocal brasses.

“Fun It” was a funk track with a disco vibe by Taylor, where both Mercury and himself shared the vocals. Taylor did the lead vocals, while Mercury was backup. Taylor used Syndrum pads and played most of the instruments. It can be seen a precursor (although it was not influenced by Queen track, but by a Chic song) to Another One Bites the Dust, especially with the intro of this track.

“Leaving Home Ain’t Easy” was a ballad by May, who also sang all the vocals (lead and harmony). His voice was sped up for the bridge.

Don’t Stop Me Now
“Don’t Stop Me Now” is Mercurys top 10 single in the UK and is one of Queens most famous songs. Mays only input is a short guitar solo and backing vocals. The song was used in the motion picture “Shaun of the Dead” in the bar scene. In addition, the BBC2 show Top Gear named it the top song in a viewer poll of Top Ten driving songs.

“More of that Jazz” is yet another one of Taylors bitter comments about current society and the way rock and roll is disrespected. It is loop based and Taylor plays most instruments and sings all vocals, reaching some very high notes (peaking on an E5). The outro also contains short clips from many songs on the album, including “Dead on Time”, “Bicycle Race”, “Mustapha”, “If You Can’t Beat Them”, “Fun It”, and “Fat Bottomed Girls”.

Personnel:
Freddie Mercury: lead and backing vocals, piano
Brian May: electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy”
Roger Taylor: drums, percussion, backing vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar, lead vocals on “Fun It” and “More of That Jazz”
John Deacon: bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars

Recorded in Montreux, Switzerland and Nice, France between July and October, 1978.In 1978, all eyes were on Queen as they released the follow-up to their monster global hit NEWS OF THE WORLD. Predictably, JAZZ didn’t achieve the massive commercial success of its predecessor, but in aesthetic terms, its a solid statement, and a marked progression of the bands musical vision. Though the band was already well into their “eclectic” mode by this time, the stylistic ventures the band takes on this album bring them even further afield from the heavy rock they’re best known for. Freddie Mercury kicks things off with “Mustapha,” a nod to his Middle Eastern origins. Queen exhibits a ribald sense of humour on “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Mercury indulges his Broadway tendencies to the hilt on “IF You Can’t Beat Them” and “Don’t Stop Me Now,” which sound like they could have come from some obscure ’50s musical. The jazzy “Dreamers Ball” and the mellow, romantic “In Only Seven Days” provide welcome contrast. Amid all this eclecticism, though, the standout tracks are the propulsive rockers “Let Me Entertain You” (whose promise they fulfill) and “Dead on Time.”