Looking back on the band’s early days, Queen guitarist Brian May says British rock group Mott the Hoople were a huge inspiration and “in a way our mentor”. In a promotional video for his current 1998 solo re-release of Another World, he describes the influence Mott the Hoople had on Queen.
“They could have made it as big as the Stones”
With the release of their second album “Queen II” in 1974, the popularity of the rock band around Freddie Mercury increased rapidly. So it happened that Queen traveled through the USA as the opening act with Mott the Hoople, which connected the members of both bands very much. In May’s view, his tour mates “could have come out as big as the Stones.”
That’s what the musician says in the promo video, which shows an excerpt from an interview recorded in Tenerife. Sitting in nature with his guitar, May explains, “Mott the Hoople had a huge impact on us. In a way, they were our mentors. We just started playing as a rock band. We have so many great ideas. We have songs, we have presentation ideas, and so on. But we’ve never toured before and then we were very fortunate to support Mott the Hoople who were a big band at the time. In fact, they should have been bigger if they hadn’t dissolved. I think they would have been something like the Stones or whatever.”
Queen learned ‘to deal with the audience’ from Mott the Hoople
On tour with Mott the Hoople, Queen learned to really master their craft and deal with the audience. May describes the band as being particularly good at winning over the crowds at concerts: “You don’t just walk up and hope something happens. At least we don’t. You have the opportunity to excite, enthrall, and inspire the audience. And they did. They went on and on… and the whole room went wild.”
Brian May did not follow Hunter’s advice
The Queen guitarist would have gladly accepted most of frontman Ian Hunter’s advice, but he didn’t pay any attention to a single one, reports May. He also explains that one day on tour Hunter asked him if he was happy. May truthfully responded that he “misses things around me. I miss my stuff, I miss my people and everything.” The reaction of his “mentor” was sobering: “Brian. If you miss your things and your people, you’re in the wrong business.” But the now 74-year-old wouldn’t have let this hint dissuade him from continuing to make music.
Mott the Hoople failed
While Queen became more and more popular, Mott the Hoople did not have great success even after four studio albums. Since David Bowie was also an admirer of the British rock band, he offered them two tracks to boost their career. With Bowie’s support and the song “All The Young Dudes” he wrote, a short wave of success followed, which coincided with the tour with Queen. After that, there were only increased line-up changes, later the band broke up due to internal disputes.
Despite the abrupt end, Hunter’s friendship with the members of Queen is said to have endured. He performed with May at the induction of Deff Leppard – also inspired by Mott the Hoople – into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
To show his gratitude, May included the song “All The Way From Memphis”, originally by Mott the Hoople, on his solo album.
You can watch Brian May’s video here: