Queen drummer – and Truronian – Roger Taylor has taken to social media to pay tribute to one of the band’s original members, who was from Cornwall.
He was joined by guitarist Brian May in paying his respects to the rock legends’ first bassist Mike Grose, who lived at Carlyon Bay near St Austell.
Both musicians – who have recently seen huge Oscar and Bafta-winning success for their film Bohemian Rhapsody about the rise of Queen – took to Instagram to remember Mike.
Roger, who grew up in Truro and attended Bosvigo and Truro schools, shared a photograph of him and Mike in the early 1970s and wrote: “So sad to hear about my old friend Mike Grose, who I first heard in a band called The Individuals, when we were both still at school. He always sounded huge. RIP.”
Brian, sharing an image of the band featuring Freddie Mercury and Mike, added: “Mike Grose was Queen’s first bass player. Around 1970, Roger invited him to come up to London from Cornwall to rehearse with us, putting those first songs together. He was a powerful figure, with powerful gear! His sound was massive and monolithic! In the end the liaison didn’t work out, but we owe Mike gratitude for helping us take those first steps. RIP Mike. Bri.”
On Facebook, he added the three dates Mike played while a member of Queen between April and August 1970: June 27 – City Hall, Truro, July 18 – Imperial College, London and July 25 – PJ’s Club, Pydar Street, Truro.
Queen started as Smile, featuring Roger, Brian and singer/bassist Tim Staffell. They regularly played in Cornwall thanks to Roger’s links to the county.
Fan of the band Freddie Bulsara soon became their new singer and with bassist Mike Grose – a Truro regular at Smile shows at PJ’s in Truro – Queen was born.
Queen’s first gig under that name took place at the aforementioned City Hall in Truro (now Hall For Cornwall), The new band intended to concentrate on its own material. Mike recalled rehearsing tracks from the first album, as well as Father to Son from Queen II and Stone Cold Crazy from Sheer Heart Attack from day one.
The band opened their set with that song, almost speed-metal in construction. The rest of the set was a mixture of original songs and covers. The early Queen gigs, featuring Mike, included rock and roll standards by Elvis and Little Richard.
A few years ago Mike told author Rupert White about that gig, the first with Freddie – who changed his name to Mercury after the concert – on vocals: “I know we had £50 for it. But there wasn't enough there to pay us I don't think, as it was a very small crowd. It was advertised as Smile but by then we were Queen.
"Freddie put a lot into that first concert at the City Hall. I remember he jumped about all over the place, prancing about, a bit like Mick Jagger - but Freddie-style."
According to Mark Blake's Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen, Mike, unlike the other three members of the band, wasn't a student and the time they spent between gigs working on songs didn't mesh with his style.
"Grose was used to working a day job and playing gigs in the evening," Blake wrote. "Grose thought the band had potential but wasn’t prepared to wait. He quit after a few months, returned to Cornwall, played briefly in a group called No Joke with, bizarrely, Tim Staffell, before forming his own haulage company and dropping out of the music scene."
Mike was replaced by Barry Mitchell, and the band played a few shows in 1971 with Doug Bogie before the bassist most associated with Queen, John Deacon, joined in February 1971.
Mike ran a garage at Holmbush, St Austell.
