IN THE BEGINNING

With previously unseen photographs from their early days as featured in the new Queen | Collector's Edition, Sir Brian May talks us through sights of the band in the early seventies.

- Dave Everley

Brian May looks back on making Queen's self-titled debut album with a mix of emotions. On one hand, the circumstances were far from ideal they'd been forced to record it in Soho's Trident studios by their then-managers, who owned the place, using unfamiliar equipment. But on the other hand, it was the first major step on a journey that would take them from the clubs of London to the stadiums of the world.

"Looking back on the record, I love it," says the guitarist now. "It's a really good statement of who we were at the time - this embryonic band who were starting to flex our muscles in the studio. And it's always great to hear Freddie, of course, and the way he was- full of fun and laughter and innovation." That record has just been reissued as a lavish box set, complete with demos, outtakes and a tweaked title - Queen I. It also includes a book packed with all manner of unseen imagery, including handwritten lyrics, Roger Taylor's diary entries and several fantastic photos, many of them taken by Douglas Puddifoot. "Dougie was a friend of a friend," says May.

"He was a BBC cameraman at the time, but his hobby was photography and he got into the habit of coming to shows and taking pictures of us,. We have shots from Dougie right back to when Roger [Taylor, drummer] and I were in Smile." The photos of Queen in the early seventies capture the intimacy of the band on the cusp of fame. "We look so young," says the guitarist as he prepares to take a trip down memory lane. "We were so young."

The Marquee, December 20, 1972 (LEFT)