At the end of the night, Brian gave me a lift back to my car on the other side of Montreux.
located in the original Mountain Studios in Montreux.
Do you think that because your solo was so spontaneous it turned out differently to how it would’ve sounded if you’d had more time to prepare?
Spontaneity and improvisation can very much be the spirit of music itself and sometimes the very first thing you play after picking up the guitar can be really good. I had no time with Innuendo to be concerned about what to do and that can sometimes be easier than being premeditated. Wonderful things can happen that way and that’s how it turned out on Innuendo.
In contrast, I recently spent an unbelievable amount of time on some tracks on the new Yes album!
What do you remember about the dinner in Montreux?
I don’t think John was in the studio that day so Roger, Brian, Freddie, Dave and I exchanged stories over dinner and had a nice time.
Freddie warned me about playing in Mexico, which Yes hadn’t done at that time. “They damn well threw bottles at us” he told me, recalling how restless the fans were, not because of Queen’s performance but because the police had confiscated their drinks and then sold them back to them! It was useful advice from Freddie that not everything is great about touring in Mexico… however, Yes couldn’t ignore our fans there at any cost and we did go on to play in Mexico a lot. But as a vegetarian, I now always take my own chef there with me!
Freddie’s ailing health didn’t seem to be evident in his performance on those recordings?
Sometimes it is healing to do your art. Most probably if Freddie was able to sing for two hours a day then they are likely to be the best two hours of the day. I’ve experienced myself that consciousness can bring your art to another level and you can ignore pain and restrictions you’re facing.
And in Montreux of all places, they were used to seeing famous musicians, whether it be Miles Davis, Deep Purple, Yes or Queen and there is something nice about having a degree of privacy, at all costs and at all times.
With the Innuendo single giving Queen their first no.1 hit in a number of years, what did you make of the song when it was released?
After my session, the next I heard was the finished album. I got a letter from the guys thanking me very much and I received various versions of the album and single from their office. I loved the album and when I heard the Innuendo track, I was very pleased and very proud.
Most musicians want to absorb music from different styles and I think that shows in Innuendo. There is real drama in the opening to the track and I think they were masters at that.
The credit they gave me was nice and casual without fanfare which was perfect because that was how the whole thing had come about of course. None of it was preconceived.
How do you think the track and album stand up 30 years later?
There are records that I’ve heard that I know if I revisit them in years to come then they’re still going to sound incredibly good. Innuendo is one of them.
How does it feel to be the only guitarist to guest on a Queen recording and indeed one of the very few musicians of any kind to guest with them?
I’ve always felt very proud to be on the album but also very lucky that the timing brought it altogether because nothing else would’ve done. If I hadn’t been in Montreux and Martin Groves hadn’t seen me, I wouldn’t be on the album. Not only is it the most talked about guest performance I’ve done, but it’s also probably the most important. Collaborations are key to my musical life and that was a big one.
There was a friendly bond and respect and being shoulder to shoulder with musicians from Queen is never going to do you any harm! There is not a performance of mine outside of Yes, GTR or Asia that I’ve been asked more about than my guitar on Innuendo.
Does Queen’s ever-increasing level of popularity surprise you?
I am not surprised. I have been aware of the fan club since sometime in the 1990s when I got an overnight ferry from the UK to Holland (which I don’t recommend, by the way!) and was approached by fan club members who were travelling to an event in Holland. We spoke for quite a while about Innuendo.
Finally, what can you tell us about your current activities with Yes?
We released an album called The Quest in October and we’re very excited. Because of the lockdowns we were able to take our time and make it a creative experience. Being an international band, we were used to working online anyway. I produced it and masterminded the whole methodology of how we wouldn’t be phased by the pandemic… but essentially my sentiment was that it had to be a happy album – joyful and respective. It was a good experience.
We’ve rescheduled our European and UK dates to May – June 2022 and have other plans too…
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This article is © Dave Fordham and the Official International Queen Fan Club and is not to be reproduced without permission. Join the fan club at www.queenworld.com
Many thanks to Steve for his time. Visit www.yesworld.com for full details on the current 2022 Yes tour and how to purchase The Quest album. Steve’s autobiography ‘All My Yesterdays’ covers his five-decade long career and is available at https://www.amazon.co.uk
WATCH OUT FOR MORE future interviews of key people related to Queen [The Band] put “On The Spot” by Dave Fordham.
For Dave’s exclusive interviews in the forthcoming summer 2022 magazine with Tina Keys from the Roger Taylor band and Mr Bad Guy drummer Curt Cress, join the fan club now at www.queenworld.com.
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– Jamie Moses
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