The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke (song)

"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written and sung by Freddie Mercury, it is the seventh song on their 1974 album, Queen II.[2][3][4][5]

"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"
Song by Queen
from the album Queen II
PublishedQueen Music Ltd.
Released8 March 1974
RecordedAugust 1973
StudioTrident, London
Genre
Length2:40
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)
Audio sample
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"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" was recorded a month after their debut album was released in August 1973 at Trident Studios in London.[6]

Background

Freddie Mercury was inspired to write "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" by Richard Dadd's painting The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke at the Tate Gallery in London.

It was thoroughly inspired by a painting by Richard Dadd which is in the Tate Gallery. I thought, I did a lot of research on it and it inspired me to write a song about the painting. Depicting what I thought I saw in it. It was just because I'd come through art college and I basically like the artist and I like the painting, so I thought I'd like to write a song about it.

– Freddie Mercury[7]

Mercury, was so captivated by the painting that he composed a song based on it for the album Queen II. Mercury included the characters mentioned in Dadd’s poem (Queen Mab, Waggoner Will, the Tatterdemalion, and others.) and the lyrics are as detailed as the artwork itself.

Roger Taylor called this song Queen's "biggest stereo experiment", referring to the use of panning in the mix.[8]

Live performances

"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" was thought to have never been played live, but there is an official recording of Queen playing the song released on the 2014 live album, which features their performance at the Rainbow Theatre[9] on 31 March 1974.[10][11]

Personnel

Queen

Additional personnel

Cover versions
  • Glass Candy performed a version of this song on Dynamite with a Laserbeam: Queen as Heard Through the Meat Grinder of Three One G.[12][13]

References
  1. Popoff, Martin (2018). Queen: Album by Album. Voyageur Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7603-6284-6.
  2. Barnes, Ken (20 June 1974). "Queen II". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Queen II - Queen | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. Bell, Max (8 March 2019). "Queen II: The Album That Elevated The Band To Rock Royalty". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. Giles, Jeff (8 March 2016). "The Story of Queen's Second Album, 'Queen II'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. "QueenVault.com - Queen II Liner Notes". www.queenvault.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. "Queen - Royal Legend: Facts: Queen II". www.queenmusichall.cz. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  8. "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke". Bechstein Debauhchery. Archived from the original on 24 August 2004. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  9. McGurran, Alice (4 September 2014). "The 7 best things about Queen's Live At The Rainbow '74". Gigwise. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  10. "Concert: Queen live at the Rainbow Theatre, London, UK [31.03.1974] [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  11. "Queen on tour: Queen II 1974 [QueenConcerts]". www.queenconcerts.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. "Dynamite with a Laserbeam: Queen as Heard Through the Meat Grinder of Three One G - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits |". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. "Various - Dynamite With A Laserbeam: Queen As Heard Through The Meat Grinder Of Three One G". Discogs. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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