Freddie Mercury’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love live in Japan footage shared by Queen

This week’s episode of Queen the Greatest Live looks back on Freddie Mercury’s tribute to Elvis Presley, penned just two years after The King’s death.

Footage of the 50s-inspired track performed live in Japan back in 1982 is featured in the video below, which includes an improvised and extended outro jam, unlike anything on the single’s recording.

The Queen singer famously wrote the lyrics in the bath at Munich’s Bayerischer Hof hotel in about five to ten minutes. He told Melody Maker: “I did that on the guitar, which I can’t play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing, because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords.”

Brian May told Absolute Radio: “Freddie wrote it very quickly and rushed in and put it down with the boys. By the time I got there, it was almost done. And I think the sounds that [engineer Reinhold] Mack managed to get – these very elemental, very real, ambient sounds in the studio – had a big contribution to make. It does sound very authentic.” Next week’s episode will look back at Seven Seas of Rhye live.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mick Jagger John & Yoko’s Elvis Presley & Priscilla Presley