Roy Thomas Baker, the prolific producer who worked with the likes of Queen, The Cars, David Bowie, Devo, Journey and The Smashing Pumpkins, has died according to The New York Times. He was 78.
Baker is best known for his work on one of rock’s greatest and most enduring anthems: Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The sprawling operatic song proved a challenge to record, especially given the technology of the time. Baker and the band had to transfer the tune’s many overlapping tracks across eight generations of 24-track tape, which required close to 200 tracks for overdubs.
“We had to record it in three separate units,” Baker later recalled. “We did the whole beginning bit, then the whole middle bit and then the whole end. It was complete madness. The middle part started off being just a couple of seconds, but Freddie kept coming in with more ‘Galileos’ and we kept on adding to the opera section, and it just got bigger and bigger.”
The song, released in 1978, originally reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It found a whole new life when it became part of the soundtrack for Wayne’s World in 1992.
“When the song was released, I thought it was going to be a hit,” Baker told The New York Times in 2005. “We didn’t know it was going to be quite that big. I didn’t realize it was still going to be talked about 30 years later.”
Brian May, John Deacon and Freddie Mercury of Queen with Roy Thomas Baker in 1978 (David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
He also worked with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Nazareth, Santana, T. Rex, Yes, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper, Foreigner, Pilot, Ozzy Osbourne, The Stranglers, Dusty Springfield, T’Pau, Mötley Crüe and Cheap Trick, among many others.
On hearing the news of Baker’s passing, Queen guitarist Brian May wrote, “Very sad to hear of the passing of Roy Thomas Baker. Roy played a huge part in the production of so much Queen music in the early days…Roy’s production contribution along with Mike Stone’s engineering for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ will never be forgotten. I regret slipping out of touch lately with Roy. I suppose life moves at such a pace these days that we imagine there will be plenty of time to rekindle a friendship, and then suddenly, one day, it’s too late. Thank you, Roy for all the great work you did for us, and all the fun we had. Rest in Peace.”
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corrigan shared a photo of the duo working together and wrote, “RIP Roy Thomas Baker.”
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