Tim Staffell | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Timothy John Staffell |
Born | Isleworth, Middlesex, England | 24 February 1948
Origin | Ealing, London |
Genres | Rock, progressive rock |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, vocals, harmonica |
Years active | 1964–1973, 1992, 2001–present |
Formerly of | Smile, Humpy Bong, Morgan |
Website | timstaffell |
Timothy John Staffell (born 24 February 1948) is an English rock musician, visual artist, model maker and designer. He was a member of Smile, a band that included guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Upon Staffell's departure, Smile were joined by Freddie Mercury and Mike Grose and later John Deacon to form the band Queen.
Timothy John Staffell [1] was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England. [2] He attended Hampton Grammar School and was the singer in a band called the Railroaders when in 1964 he attended a concert where he met fellow Hampton pupil Brian May. They then put together a blues-rock band called '1984' with John Garnham (guitar), Dave Dilloway (bass), John Sanger (keyboards) and Richard Thompson (drums). In 1965, Staffell began a graphics and drawing course at Ealing Art College where he became friends with Freddie Mercury, while May enrolled at Imperial College, London. 1984 were a support act for Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd and Staffell left it in 1968 not long after May. [3]
Staffell and May then put together a new band called Smile with Roger Taylor who auditioned to be their drummer. [4] Staffell and May co-wrote the song "Doing All Right", which Queen included on their eponymous debut album. Following his tenure with Smile, Staffell joined Humpy Bong and then the experimental progressive rock outfit Morgan, with whom he released the albums Nova Solis and Brown Out (later retitled The Sleeper Wakes). [5]
Staffell later decided to pursue a career as a model maker, designer, animator and commercials director. Among the projects upon which he worked were the BBC television adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and he was the chief model maker for the first series of the children's TV show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends .[ citation needed ]
Later Staffell worked as the Head of Construction at one of the UKs leading Drama Schools Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, where he imparted his design and model making skills to the future generations of designers and builders.
In 2001, Staffell returned to the music industry, co-forming with long-time collaborator Richard Lightman a new blues / funk band called aMIGO, [6] drawing inspiration from folk, Latin and rock. In 2003 they released one eponymous album, with re-recorded versions of the old Smile tunes "Earth" and "Doin' Alright", featuring his former bandmate Brian May on guitars and vocals. The album was self released and available on CD-R for a limited release run (less than 300 copies) and later released via iTunes.
In April 2018, Staffell was invited to record his part of the song "Doin' Alright" alongside the other Smile members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, for the upcoming soundtrack to the movie Bohemian Rhapsody , which tells the life story of Queen. The song was credited to Smile, and titled "Doing All Right ... Revisited". [7] The music score was released on 19 October 2018, and the movie premiere was three days later. The soundtrack debuted on the UK albums chart at number 5 on 26 October 2018.
The second Tim Staffell album Two Late was released on digital platforms on 26 October 2018, and it will be followed with physical limited release in the middle of November. [8] In July 2019, 'aMIGO’ was re-released (with a live studio version of the song 'Just Couldn't Say) as a Remastered Special Edition CD by MOSCODISC with a new digipack sleeve.
In late 2019/early 2020, together with Paul Stewart, who had previously worked with the British Rhythm & Blues band 'The Others', Staffell recorded an album How High under the band name of Staffell & Stewart; containing a mixture of original material and reimagined rhythm and blues classics.
In September 2021 Staffell travelled to Barcelona to record his third solo album, Wayward Child, at Room To Studios along with his son Andrew. [9] The album is scheduled to be released in 2023, with the first single, 'The Sinner', being released on 24 February, Tim's 75th birthday.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to achieve widespread commercial success and appeal to a mainstream audience.
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.
Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman with his theatrical style, influencing the artistic direction of Queen.
Sir Brian Harold May is an English musician, songwriter, singer, astrophysicist and animal rights activist. He achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, which he co-founded with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. His guitar work and songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful acts in music history.
Roger Meddows Taylor is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He achieved international fame as the drummer for the rock band Queen. As a drummer, Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound and was voted the eighth-greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a listener poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 as a member of Queen.
Queen is the debut studio album by the British rock band Queen. Released on 13 July 1973 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US, it was recorded at Trident Studios and De Lane Lea Music Centre, London, with production by Roy Thomas Baker, John Anthony and the band members themselves.
Friends is the 14th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968, through Capitol Records. The album is characterized by its calm and peaceful atmosphere, which contrasted the prevailing music trends of the time, and by its brevity, with five of its 12 tracks running less than two minutes long. It sold poorly, peaking at number 126 on the Billboard charts, the group's lowest U.S. chart performance to date, although it reached number 13 in the UK. Fans generally came to regard the album as one of the band's finest.
"Innuendo" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor but credited to Queen, it is the opening track on the album of the same name (1991), and was released as the first single from the album. The single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1991, the band's first number-one hit since "Under Pressure" in 1981, and additionally reached the top ten in ten other countries. It is included on the band's second compilation album Greatest Hits II. It was described as "the band's first complex work released after the 1970s".
"Liar" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1970. The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily truncated version of "Liar" was released as a single – backed with "Doing All Right" – in the United States and New Zealand by Elektra Records in February 1974.
Smile were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 and was the predecessor of the band Queen. The band was formed by Tim Staffell and Brian May, who later went on to form Queen. They were later joined by drummer Roger Taylor, who also went on to form Queen. They recorded six songs and disbanded in 1970. These songs were titled "April Lady", "Step on Me", "Polar Bear", "Earth", "Blag", and "Doin' Alright". These songs exist on the CD Ghost of a Smile. "April Lady" was dedicated to Roger Taylor's girlfriend at the time.
Humpy Bong was an English folk rock band formed in London in 1970, by former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen and Irish folk rock singer Jonathan Kelly.
Morgan was an English progressive rock band, formed and disbanded in the early 1970s.
John Richard Deacon is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "I Want to Break Free"; co-wrote "Under Pressure", "Friends Will Be Friends" and "One Vision"; and he was involved in the band's financial management.
The Hot Space Tour was the ninth headlining concert tour by the British rock band Queen in support of their 1982 album Hot Space. The tour started on the 9th of April in Gothenburg, Sweden and ended, after sixty-nine concerts, in Tokorozawa, Japan on the 3rd of November.
Queen Rock Montreal is a live album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 29 October 2007 as a double CD, Blu-ray, DVD, and triple vinyl in the UK and the following day in the US.
"Blue on Black" is a song by American blues rock group Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. Written by Shepherd with Mark Selby and Tia Sillers, it was originally released on their second studio album, Trouble Is... (1997). In 1998, the song was released as a single and reached the top position on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Queen + Adam Lambert is a collaboration between the remaining active members of the British band Queen and American vocalist Adam Lambert. As with all other Queen performances since 1997, longstanding bassist John Deacon has declined to participate in the project due to his retirement. This is the first long-term collaboration of Queen since the Queen + Paul Rodgers project ended in 2009. Like the previous project, it was made clear that Lambert would not be replacing Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, but rather that he would be featured with the band's active members.
A Night at the Odeon is a live album by the British rock band Queen. The album is the first official release of the band's Christmas Eve performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975, filmed by the BBC. The show was broadcast on BBC2 and BBC Radio 1, and included one of the first live performances of "Bohemian Rhapsody". It is the band's most popular bootleg.
Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 biographical musical drama film that focuses on the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen, from the formation of the band in 1970 to their 1985 Live Aid performance at the original Wembley Stadium. It was directed by Bryan Singer from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, and produced by Graham King and Queen manager Jim Beach. It stars Rami Malek as Mercury, with Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, and Mike Myers in supporting roles. Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor also served as consultants. A British-American venture, it was produced by Regency Enterprises, GK Films and Queen Films, and was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the Queen biographical film of the same name. The soundtrack features many of the band's songs and unreleased recordings including tracks from their legendary concert at Live Aid in 1985. The soundtrack was released by Hollywood Records and Virgin EMI Records on 19 October 2018, on CD, cassette and digital formats. The soundtrack was later released on 8 February 2019, as a vinyl double album specially cut at Abbey Road Studios. A limited and much sought after double picture disc edition of the album, as well as a 7" coloured single featuring the original "Bohemian Rhapsody"/"I'm in Love with My Car" pairing, was also released on Record Store Day, 13 April 2019. The disc artwork takes its inspiration from the photography of Denis O'Regan. In November 2019, the soundtrack received an American Music Award for Top Soundtrack.