Posted on 04/24/2025 10:27:41 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Roy Thomas Baker — the producer behind some of rock’s biggest hits, including Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — has died at age 78, his family announced Tuesday (April 22).
Baker died at his home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on April 12. No cause of death has been revealed.
The producer’s credits feature a who’s who of rock stars over the past half-century, including Journey, Yes, Foreigner, The Cars, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Smashing Pumpkins. Baker worked with Queen on five of the band’s 1970s albums, including on their bombastic A Night at the Opera lead single “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is reportedly the most-streamed song recorded in the 20th century. The 1975 single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1976
(Excerpt) Read more at billboard.com ...
I am not sure, but I believe Roy’s wife Tere was the woman who played Robert Duvall’s wife in the Godfather movies.
Lake Havasu’s a fun, wacky place.
It amazes me the long life many of these drug-takin’ musicians lived.
Heard that on SXM Classic Vinyl right about the time this was posted.
Some of those bands make up for the horror of foisting Journey and Foreigner on us
Agreed
The Cars debut album is a perfect album. All the songs are sequenced perfectly, especially Side Two. You have to play side two in its entirety, much like Side Two of Abbey Road.
Worthless trivia: First time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody was in early high school days in 1973, downtown Detroit. It was a ghetto area where the riots were, the local Masonic Temple. Maybe the place was 1/3 full (guessing 1500 people) and the stage and lighting was something you’d see in college concert at best. We heard “Killer Queen” on local radio at the time and was way different than Alice Cooper and Bob Seger who were both locals at the time.
On the encore we saw/heard “Bohemian Rhapsody” for the first time months before the Night At The Opera was released, little did we know...
Candy-O was a letdown
Candy-O was a letdown
Yeah it attempted to be a carbon copy of the first album, but it just didn’t quite make it, it’s not bad, but you can’t beat the debut.
Lol! True!
And they recorded the entire album in 14 days. (vs. over a year for Heartbeat City, with Mutt Lange). Baker was remarkable.
Mutt Lange ruined The Cars and AC/DC and Def Leppard. Much prefer the Vanda & Young produced AC/DC albums, especially Powerage.
Baker first saw The Cars after being tipped by a rep at Elektra Records to see them perform in a Boston school gymnasium. It was during a blizzard and only 8 people showed up to see the band. Baker loved it, and committed to produce four albums. All 4 albums were certified platinum and the Cars were Grammy-nominated.
“...Robert Duvall’s wife in the Godfather movies.”
Wow, that’s an obscure reference; I had to look it up.
Bohemian Rapshody-the lyrics were all over the place. Something tells me they put 3 ideas together, mixed it up and threw it up against the wall to see if it would stick.
But then what do I know?
“...Journey, Yes, Foreigner, The Cars, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Smashing Pumpkins. Queen...” — never listened to any of them. My era was 50s, 60s, and early-70s.
IMHO, it's a Vietnam War protest song. Remember it was released in 1975. Young man killing a young man. Many of them drafted (caught in a landslide, if I'm not back again). Many soldiers died (too late my time has come, calling out to Mama like a lot of dying soldiers do, I don't wanna die). But we're supposed to be the enlightened and cultured ones (Galileo, Figaro). But our wars make us no different from the Muslims (Bismallah). And the different melodies and styles in the song, IMHO, represent what's supposed to be different cultures, yet in the end we're all warlike (again a Vietnam protest song).
I can't find anything to back this up, but I am sure I heard an interview with the band long ago that said, quite simply, it didn't mean a thing. Just tossed together.
I've never read a thing into them, but then I am often amused at critics' analysis of any kind of art, which tell more about the critic than the artist.
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