This week’s episode of Queen the Greatest Live looks back at the most unexpected moments from the band’s concerts.
Aside from the occasional melody of greatest hits to avoid fans being disappointed that their favourite wasn’t in the show, Freddie Mercury and the guys also liked to indulge in the occasional cover.
These would include classics that inspired the band from Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti to Ricky Nelson’s Hello Mary Lou.
In the footage from Queen’s 1986 Magic Tour below, Queen perform these tracks in a medley with Elvis Presley’s (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care.
The King famously sang the track in his 1957 classic Jailhouse Rock while he played an electric bass.
In a new interview in the video, Sir Brian May said: “Why cover other people’s songs? It’s just an instinct. Sometimes you just want to give it that thing which you loved when you were a kid. Maybe like Heartbreak Hotel. And every now and again we would want to go into that area.
“I suppose it refreshes us and sometimes it’s quite refreshing for the audience. It’s out of the blue. They don’t expect it.
“It just brings something out of you, you can be a bit more reckless with other people’s material than with your own sometimes. Fun. It’s just fun, I guess.”
Roger Taylor added: “Yeah, absolutely. Those things like Tutti Frutti, Little Richard.
“It’s kind of telling people this is why we love rock and roll, because these songs really influenced us. It’s nice to do those. It keeps our interest up and kind of broadens the show a bit.”
Next week’s episode will look back at Queen performing Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti live.
