| Smile | ||
| ||
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom | |
| Genre | Blues rock Psychedelic rock Progressive rock | |
| Years active | Two years | |
| Label | Mercury Records | |
| Members | Brian May Roger Taylor Tim Staffell | |
Smile was a British rock band that were active from 1968-70 and was a precursor to Queen. They recorded about only an E.P's worth of music and released only a single. Despite this short run they have been heavily documented and were depicted in the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic.
History (1968-70)[]
In 1964, schoolmates Brian May and Dave Dilloway after playing music together joined a band that went through many members, and ended up with only a few, including a bassist named Tim Staffell. After a while, members Brian and Tim left. The two then made a new band called Smile while during college, with Brian studying in astrophysics and Tim in art college . After an audition for a "Mitch Mitchell / Ginger Baker" type drummer, a studying dentist Roger Taylor got the job. The set now featured Brian on guitar, Tim on bass and lead vocals, and Roger on drums. They performed gigs around the London scene and grew in popularity. In 1969 the band signed with Mercury Records for a few recording sessions and made the songs Doin' Alright, Earth, Step On Me, April Lady, Polar Bear, and Blag. Of these recordings, the song Earth was released as a single along with Step On Me as the B-side, but failed to garner to much attention. Failing to see any future, Tim left the band in 1970 to start Humpy Bong, a band. After this, Tim's friend from college Farrokh Bulsara approached the band to attempt to join. The band already knew Farrokh, so after some convincing from Farrokh, he joined the band. They would later change the name to Queen. After this, they recorded a few Smile songs like Doin' Alright, now Doing All Right, aswell as a few demos.
History (After Breakup)[]
The original line up were still close and often collaborated, including a live show with members of Tim's band at the time, some appearances from Brian on Tim's album "Amigo," and most recently a new recording of the song Doing All Right for the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic. The songs they recorded as part of the Mercury deal have also been on many albums like Gettin' Smile, In Nuce, Ghost Of A Smile, and Pre Ordained.
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