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Very cool artwork!

Artist Pablo Lobato (source)

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Good info about young Roger!

Queen drummer Roger Taylor remembers his childhood in King’s Lynn

In 1999, Roger Taylor spoke to the EDP's arts editor Trevor Heaton about his childhood in King's Lynn.

EASTERN DAILY PRESS, Saturday 20th March 1999

Roger Taylor was the King's Lynn schoolboy who grew up to be a superstar as part of rock group Queen. He talked to Trevor Heaton about his early life in the town, and his strong links to its ancient fishing community.

THE DAYS OF MY LIFE IN LYNN.

King's Lynn was proud of the new maternity wing at the West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital, off London Road. So, when it was announced that the Queen would be coming to open it officially, it was the icing on the cake for townsfolk and the band of health workers and volunteers who supported the hospital's work.

When the Queen (now the Queen Mother) arrived for her two-hour tour of the hospital on Saturday 1st August 1949, she was handed a golden key to perform the official ceremony, watched by serried ranks of the great and the good of Lynn. The opening over, the Queen chatted to the 16 mothers or mothers-to-be in the new unit.

The first one she spoke to was Mrs Winifred Taylor, who lived with her husband Michael at 87 High Street, in the heart of the town's shopping centre. The Queen told her how lucky patients were to have "such a lovely place". She chatted with Mrs Taylor about her new son, and his name.

Family home: Beulah Street, Off Wootton Road, Gaywood.  " A funny narrow house, and I had a tree house in the garden".

And thus, at just six days old, Roger Meddows Taylor found himself at the centre of attention.

It was something he would have to get used to. For years later, he joined with Brian May, John Deacon and one Freddie Bulsara - who had changed his name to the much-more memorable "Mercury" - to form Queen, and went on to grab the world of rock music by its collective scruff of the neck and sell countless millions of singles and albums.

But let's press the rewind button for Roger Taylor, the superstar singer, songwriter and musician and go back to a little four-year-old who was trying his best to resist his mother's efforts to get him to start his first day at Rosebery Avenue School in Gaywood on an autumn day in 1954.

School Days: Rosebery Avenue First School.

"I remember being dragged off to school on my first day hanging onto the ice cream sign because I didn't want to go", he laughs.

But, with a bit of persuasion, he let go and found himself travelling the few hundred yards from Beulah Street to the school, where he joined 40 or so pupils in the reception class and settled down to this new phase in his life.

Roger's parents, Winifred and Michael, a manager with the Potato Marketing Board, had moved to the street, off Gaywood's arterial Wootton Road, soon after his birth.

Beulah Street is now much as it was then, a neat collection of classic early 20th century town villas. Sturdy, no-nonsense houses, the bricks-and-mortar equivalent to a pair of sensible shoes.

A couple of years after the houses were put up around 1913, the Germans sent Zeppelins over the East Coast, and people from the town used to come and stay in the houses to escape the bombs.

Nowadays, a bridge goes over the Gaywood river which runs at the bottom of the road, joining Wootton Road to the River Lane sports pitches.

Wootton Road itself is much busier than in the early 1950s, with a constant stream commuters going back and forth to the hundreds of houses which have sprung up on the outskirts of Lynn over the past generation.

But back then, things were quieter, and Beulah Street was a cul-de-sac, with the road petering out by the river (a fact which caused many a missed heartbeat to unwary drivers over the years), and then looking out over miles of heath and farmland to the town proper.

Not a bad place to grow up in, as Roger readily concedes. "The road used to be very quiet. I remember going down to the end of the street and looking into the river. I used to see the odd pike or two. I was constantly being warned not to fall in" he says (he didn't).

The Taylors' home - "a funny narrow house and I had a tree house in the garden" - brought them into contact with the Spinks family, Edna and Ron. Ron was like Michael, what used to be a "white-collar worker".

Mrs Spinks, who later remarried after her husband's death and is now Mrs Corbyn, recalls: "We were close neighbours, with the Taylors the length of time they were in Beulah Street. Michael and Win and Ron and I often used to play cards together on a Saturday night. And we had Christmas, birthday and Bonfire Night parties at my house. We had a big kitchen table and we all used to get around it. The children used to go round in a big group over to Rosebery Avenue" she recalls.

"There was my son John, Jimmy Gathercole, Roger and Pam and Judy Raven. Roger used to go around with John and looked up to him because he was two years older. He used to say "I'll be glad when I'm as old as John Spinks" ", she chuckles.

"They used to do the things boys do - riding their bikes around, that sort of thing. They were good neighbours and we missed them when they left".

Roger, and later his younger sister Clare - who had arrived on the scene three years after Roger - also used to play at the home of Beryl and Norman Raven, who lived in a house on Wootton Road, which backed on to the cul-de-sac.

Mrs Raven - now Mrs Chadwick - recalls: "I remember Roger and his little sister well. Roger and his friend John used to play cricket in our back garden".

Stick 'Em Up - From left, Roger Taylor (standing on a box!), John Spinks, Jimmy Gathercole, Leonard Fiddy

"My dad worked for the Potato Marketing Board, based in Lynn. He used to go out and visit the farmers, and occasionally I'd go out with him", he says. "I used to go regularly on the train to Hunstanton and Heacham… I remember it was a hell of a long way to get out to the sea. I remember those times with very great fondness. We used to go sledging down those sand pits in Wootton Woods, when they were covered in snow. I remember my toboggan well. And then we used to go to see Castle Riding as well".

But as well as his immediate close-knit circle of family and friends, older members of his family exerted a considerable influence on his life. His great-grandfather, Charlie Fysh, was a former fisherman, and a stalwart of the old North End fishing community, who lived to the ripe old age of 95. The Fysh family can be traced back hundreds of years in the town.

North End Link: Roger's great grandfather, Charlie Fysh, pictured around 1949.  "He was a real character... a very, very funny man".

"He was a real character" says Roger. "He used to go on the radio singing slightly naughty sea shanties - and make up rude rhymes for me. He was a very, very funny man. He used to go for a walk every day of his life with his navy blue sweater and fishing cap on, and he had this big white moustache. During the war he used to sew up all his money in his trousers!"

Charlie Fysh was also an expert at the old Norfolk art of step-dancing, and his radio broadcasts included a 1957 BBC broadcast in the River and Byways of England programme. The North End Trust - which works so hard at preserving the memory of this centuries-old community - believes a tape of this broadcast still exists in the Wisbech area, but, tantalisingly, had never been able to track it down.

And then there were his grandparents, Arthur and Annie Hickman, who lived in Birchwood Street. Even after the Taylor family moved to Cornwall in 1957, the grandparents - especially Annie - remained an important part of Roger's life.

"I was very close to my grandmother. I used to come every summer holiday and stay with her. She was another one who lived a long time - she was 93 or 95 when she died. She had a very strong personality and a very strict moral code, although her politics weren't like mine - in fact, she was a little bit right win. She used to say things like "Never, ever borrow money", and "Don't ever, ever do that". I was very close to her".

Roger managed to keep in close touch even when he was in the globe-trotting superstar bracket, sending her regular postcards and visiting as often as he could.

Michael Taylor was brought up in Cornwall, and the family moved there in 1957 when his job permitted. It was in Truro that the now teenaged Roger first became serious about his music, but moved to London to begin studies in dentistry at the Royal London Hospital. Unluckily for dentistry but luckily for rock, he joined the group Smile, and then helped to form Queen. 

And as for Queen? Well, the story has so many highlights... The 40-plus hit singles, including Bohemian Rhapsody - regularly at the top of "best single ever" lists... Roger's own classic compositions such as Radio Ga Ga and These Are The Days Of Our Lives... the stunning performance at Live Aid... playing to a quarter of a million fans in Rio De Janeiro...

Roger, now set to return to Norfolk with his new band, is constantly amazed at how the Queen phenomenon lives on, even though it is now more than eight years since Mercury's death.

"Well, it'll always be the thing for which I'm best known - and that's fine by me" he says. " It was a fantastic 25 years. We were a very strong team and I'm still good friends with Brian and John".

The musician might now live "in the depths of Surrey, close to London but out in the country"... but Lynn will always be able to claim him as one of its own..

My note - this post has been collated from these sources: this original site, this photo print, and this online article.

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From the boys❤️❤️❤️❤️🤎

Roger's greeting and Brian's letter for the OIQFC Magazine Winter 2024 🥰💖

(Brian's Gold Series is still running!! And "new plans for Queen in the New Year" sounds super exciting!!)

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This song always makes me cry 💔

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Thanks to @riaaanna for providing this info!

Queen I (2024) Boxset - Handwritten Lyrics, Diaries, and Other Memorabilia

Well as they say, Enough Time Has Passed. From the Queen I book here are the underrated gems of handwritten materials which I haven't seen posted around, not as trigger-quickly as the portraits and photos from the book anyway!

But first, I want this to be visible at the top - big love and thank you to the loveliest @justlike-awoman ❤ for helping me get this boxset, and the cutesy bonuses in the package, and the support for literally anything I do in this fandom, you are an absolute star babe 🥰✨

What I've done, apart from buying the boxset 💸 is take amateur photos and put on amateur filters on them. There's no way I'm splitting the book spine to press it face down on a proper scanner, so this is the best you'll get. I tried to edit them to make them look clearer but again, amateur filters, so manage your expectations. But if there's a specific bit you want to see much clearer let me know!

Also a heads up, they're not all new, like some of Roger's diary entries have been posted online and some of Freddie's scribbles are from Sotheby's. Still, I'll put them on here with context - these headings and descriptions are mostly taken as they are from the book.

So yes, this is for the "I'm not buying the boxset, I'm sure someone will post them online" crowd. As of now I am that someone, so while I'm fully aware I don't own the copyrights, if you're reposting these anywhere (I prefer these don't get reposted at all but doesn't seem like I have a choice these days), I would greatly appreciate being mentioned for sharing. I've been having issues with reposters who only ever take without any credits or a thanks, saying they don't remember where they got their stuff from (but they suddenly do when they find out I block them for reposting... so welp.)

Anyway! LONG POST warning. Click images then open in new tab to enlarge. I hope those of you interested in these will enjoy! 🥰

To start, here is Roger's diary entry dated May 27th 1970, that we've seen before, deciding that Queen was the best name for the band.

My Fairy King

The first time Queen's music was ever broadcast anywhere in the world was My Fairy King. On Feb 15th 1973, John Peel played a BBC session version of the song on his Radio 1 "Sounds of the Seventies" evening program. This is in the boxset on Disc 5.

Below is Freddie's handwritten lyrics for the song.

The Imperial College gigs (1970 - 1973)

August 1970 - This has circulated before. Roger's hand-drawn invitation for a show in a lecture theatre at Imperial College, to an invited audience of around 100 people. This, in August 1970, is their first ever London show. Two songs from this show are in Disc 6 of the boxset (Jesus and I'm A Man) and are taken from the earliest Queen recording in existence.

July 18th, 1971 - This invitation (titled inked by Freddie, text by Roger) was for a second private show in the Imperial College lecture theatre (another photo caption mentions it's in the Mechanical Engineering building), where the band had been rehearsing.

The handwritten agreement below (signed by Brian) for the use of the room confirms the show's date. The show was attended by John Anthony who will later produce their first album.

November 2nd 1973 - Here is another diary entry from Roger following their performance at Imperial College Main Hall in the Beit (Imperial College Union) building. Unlike the previous private shows, this was for a paying audience of around 1,000 people (30p admission price). This show earned the band's first live review by Rosie Horide for Disc Magazine. (Having to turn away people at the door must have been such a flex!)

The Black and the White Distinctively

Black/white became the band's recurring theme as they play other gigs in this era, such as Cornwall on August 21st 1971 (their first outdoor gig at Tregye Hotel, Carnon Downs, Truro) and a dance at King's College Hospital in London on 10th March 1972.

One of the gigs they did before those was for a Balls Park College Show in Hertford, Hertfordshire, on November 14th 1970. Here is Roger's diary entry on that show, confirming that they received £50 for the show (supposedly significant for that time!)

The accounting letter from the college is below signed by Brian, and afterwards he did the accounting to split it with the band.

De Lane Lea Studios (Dec 1971 - Jan 1972)

Queen recorded their demos at De Lane Lea on 16-track analogue tapes, including the following songs. Below is Freddie's handwritten lyrics for Jesus.

Here is Brian's original lyric sketch for The Night Comes Down, which was the only song in the album recorded in De Lane Lea studio, Wembley, with engineer Louis Austin. The band decided to add this demo recording (remixed at Trident) at the last minute, hoping the Trident owners (the Sheffield Brothers, also Queen's managers) wouldn't notice, and they got away with it.

Lastly, here is Freddie's lyrics of Great King Rat.

Live at the Marquee (1971 - 1973)

Queen performed four times at this venue during this period.

This is Freddie's lyrics for Mad The Swine which was supposed to be the fourth song on the debut LP in an early version of the tracklist, but it didn't make it there until it resurfaced as a bonus track in 1991. The boxset version of the album puts it in its original place.

Next is Freddie's lyrics for Hangman, one of the first songs written and rehearsed in the band's early days. It only ever featured in live sets and no studio recording of it exists. It's now released in CD 6 of the boxset, recorded from the last night of the US tour in early 1976.

Also regular songs played live during that era are Modern Times Rock 'n Roll, Song and Daughter, and Doing All Right. Here are their handwritten lyrics by Roger, Brian, and Freddie respectively.

April 9th 1973 - Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records, attended and later signed the band to the label. Here is Roger's diary entry on that show, also saying there was a lot of nervous energy because there were too many people attending that he knew (I am mentally giving him a hug).

Keep Yourself Alive - Debut Single Release July 1973

Brian's original lyric draft for the song is below (left), containing some ideas he later discarded and replaced. Meanwhile, here is Freddie's "singing copy" separately (right), as apparently he found it helpful to sing from a song sheet in his own handwriting (I too would need my own copy if I had to read Brian's scribbles - I don't blame him!)

Brian also made handwritten notation and lyrics for the song.

Queen Debut Album Release - July 13th 1973

Here is Brian's original rough sketch for the cover of the album. The original source photograph was shot by Douglas Puddifoot during the band's show at the Marquee on December 20th 1972.

Brian worked on paper prints and cut out the image of Freddie with a scalpel, then pasting it on an enlarged print of the spotlight part of the picture, assembled on a 24-inch square wooden board and then re- photographed. The back cover collage was made in a similar way, but the original boards disappeared from an EMI archive sometime later and never resurfaced. 💔

On Tour with Mott the Hoople

Queen's first tour opening for Mott the Hoople began in November 1973 around the UK. One of the shows was in Central Hall, Chatham on December 2nd 1973, when Roger, Brian, and Freddie joined Mott the Hoople to sing backing vocals on All the Young Dudes and Roll Away the Stone for the encore.

Here is Roger's diary entry from that day.

During this tour, Brian also wrote brief impressions of the shows they were playing, handwritten on a folded up Queen poster. Here are his notes from eight of their shows.

Headline Performance

Queen had been rehearsing not only for their Mott tour but also as they finally started to tour for the first time as a headlining act, promoted by Mel Bush.

This is Roger's diary entry dated July 8th 1973, when they had been rehearsing in Fulham, around the time their single and album were getting released.

US Album Release on Elektra

Elektra Records released Queen's debut album in September 1973, with a different color for the album cover (slightly pink/red) for release in their territories including North America and Japan. On their first run, the Queen logo and the crest on the back were embossed in gold foil. The slogans "British Rock in the Royal Tradition" and "Queen Has Arrived." were used for their promotion.

While EMI enver released a second single, Elektra released an edited-down Liar as a follow up single, in February 1974, as a follow up to Keep Yourself Alive. (I consider this unofficially the second single, since Roger mentioned in a recent interview that the band wanted The Night Comes Down as a third single but it didn't happen).

Here is Freddie's handwritten lyrics for Liar (left), and his arrangement notes for the song (right).

Lastly, here is a music chart handwritten by Freddie for Liar and Jesus. It was noted that this was not Queen's normal way of notating music, because Freddie's usual method to plan harmonies was to write the names of the notes in block.

And that is all for this post! That's... virtually half of the boxset book so you are welcome. Thank you if you've made it this far and I hope it was useful! I prefer if you don't repost but if you do, please don't forget to credit for sharing. ❤

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it turned out to be too feminine, but I still like the result!!

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actually for xmas but i just cant wait, dont tell my friends i post it here (what

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Roger looks so slutty in these photos and I'm down for it🔥🔥🔥

Queen in 1975.

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Happy boys❤️

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The sexy dad waist coats

I hear you anon, I hear you. I don’t have that #hottest of hot dads tag for nothing, you know

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Loved him then; loves him now❤️❤️❤️

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Legs🔥🔥🔥

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Roger is such a 'cool cat'❤️❤️❤️

Roger at SAS Band 30th anniversary. Gorgeous close-ups ❤️

📸 Alf Dickhaut

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Adorable!

They had a wee argument and Freddie bought the get along jumper as a joke. He's very chuffed to get to use it.

My submission for @jogerweek day one, prompt: Get Along Sweater

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Lovely view🔥🔥🔥

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Jim's so concerned about Freddie exposing his secrets! I can't remember where I read this but the back story is that a friend gifted Freddie the bubble bath. The video was taken to show the the gift giver how much Freddie enjoyed the gift.

this actually exists omg so adorable kill me now he is a child

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Two beautiful boys🥰 I love Roger's jacket! Wonder if he still has it?