Brian May's Red Special: The Story of the Home-Made Guitar that Rocked Queen and the World - Hardcover - Limited Edition
Get the full story behind the Red Special, Brian May’s hand-built guitar—a unique instrument that helped make May’s musical dreams come true. In 1963, Brian May and his father Harold started to build the Red Special—an electric guitar meant to outperform anything commercially made. Here, Brian talks about of his one-of-a-kind instrument, from its creation on. He played it on every single Queen album and during the band’s amazing shows: the roof of Buckingham Palace, Live Aid, the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics . . . and beyond. Along with original diagrams, sketches, and notes, May has included a great selection of photographs of himself with the guitar—which was fully dismantled so it could be shot— as well as close-ups and X-rays.
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Get the full story behind the Red Special, Brian May’s hand-built guitar—a unique instrument that helped make May’s musical dreams come true. In 1963, Brian May and his father Harold started to build the Red Special—an electric guitar meant to outperform anything commercially made. Here, Brian talks about of his one-of-a-kind instrument, from its creation on. He played it on every single Queen album and during the band’s amazing shows: the roof of Buckingham Palace, Live Aid, the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics . . . and beyond. Along with original diagrams, sketches, and notes, May has included a great selection of photographs of himself with the guitar—which was fully dismantled so it could be shot— as well as close-ups and X-rays.
This book offers a full exploration of every aspect of this extraordinary, hand-built musical instrument played by Brian May in Queen. It includes rare photographs of the Red Special, Brian and his father, Queen and from the set of the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
What are people saying about
Brian May's Red Special: The Story of the Home-Made Guitar that Rocked Queen and the World - Hardcover - Limited Edition
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“
It's the Red Special. What more can you say?
Anyone who is a fan of Rock & Roll knows the band Queen and instantly recognizes Brian May with his trademark curly hair and iconic Red Special guitar.
The book does both justice. Brian weaves his life story, his years with Queen, and his desire to build the perfect guitar, around the technical description of how the Red Special was assembled from bits of pieces that he and his father found around their home.
From cover to cover, the book is full of photos of the Red Special -- whole, in pieces, and in various stages of assembly -- along with hand written notes, pencil diagrams and handmade tools that helped to assemble the guitar.
And, of course, once the guitar had been completed and placed into service, there are the many photos and stories of the Red Special in use with Smile, Queen, Brian's solo work, and Queen in its present day rendition with Adam Lambert.
(It's even made an appearance in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. Or, rather, several copies have.)
If you like guitars, guitar history, or just want to see how the most-famous guitar in the world came to be, read this book. (I have...quite a few times. And each time, I find something new.)
”
- Mark
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“
I mean, it's a book about the Red Special. It has reminiscences about its construction and use; it has high quality photos of its workings. It has a section on replicas. It has only a very few things you've likely not seen or heard before, but it's a beautiful celebration of a unique instrument, and more than that has insights into the mind that made and played (plays) it.
- Karl
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