The collaboration between Queen and David Bowie on the single "Under Pressure" is one of the most remarkable in music history. But the track, apparently, never pleased guitarist Brian May . The member of the British band stated that he only refrained from sharing his opinion during the recording sessions because he knew it would lead to an argument.
In a recent interview with Guitar World , the guitarist delved into the issues behind "Under Pressure" and how the track underwent changes – mainly due to David Bowie – until it acquired the sound we know today.
According to May, the original version featured heavy guitar chords reminiscent of The Who . “I was thrilled because I liked The Who. I remember saying to David, ‘Oh, it sounds like The Who, doesn’t it?’ He said to me, ‘Yeah, well, it won’t sound like The Who when I finish it!’ You know, in a kind of joking way. He didn’t want it to be heavy.”
The guitarist also mentioned that the heavy guitar parts he recorded for the original version didn't make it into the final mix. But he decided not to argue with Bowie.
“It was very difficult because we all had different ideas of how it should be done. I think it was probably the only time in my career that I bowed down, because I knew it would be a struggle. So, basically, it was Freddie [ Mercury ] and David working in the studio on the mix,” he recounts. “And what happened was that most of that heavy guitar was lost… That never made it into the mix. What they used were the acoustic bits that were done as a kind of demo.”
He concludes: “To be honest, I never liked the way it was finalized. But I recognize that it works. It’s a different point of view and it was very well done. And people love it. So now we play it a little differently live… it’s much heavier and I think it works better.”
John Deacon vs. David Bowie
May had already discussed the track in a conversation on UCR , when he reported that there was tension between Bowie and Queen bassist John Deacon . “I remember David approaching John and saying, ‘No, don’t do it like that’,” said May, “and John said, ‘Excuse me? I’m the bassist, right? This is how I do it!’”
However, he stated that in the end they gave in to Bowie's ideas. “But someone has to take charge. Someone has to decide what to actually use… that person was David, because he simply said, ‘I’m doing this, I’m doing this,’ being David Bowie. And we said, ‘Ooh, ok…’”.
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