Why rock band Queen practised early harmonies in a Cornish cave

In the summer of 1971, Queen played a dozen gigs in Cornwall over six weeks, with John Deacon on bass completing their classic line-up.

Many of the shows were organised by Taylor, using his contacts in the county, including dates at Hayle Rugby Club, the Driftwood Spars pub in St Agnes and the band’s first open-air concert at the Carnon Downs Festival.

There was also an unlikely appearance at the Royal Navy airbase RNAS Culdrose where the group performed for service personnel in the Warrant Officers and Senior Rates Mess.

Taylor said: “We would play anywhere that would give us a gig.”

“We all lived in a nice little cottage in a tiny village called Devereux and I was getting up every morning and working on a farm which was very hard but we were broke, we didn’t have any money so it was tough.”

Taylor said he still has a house on the Helford River in Cornwall and his son Rufus – who’s the drummer for The Darkness – has a pub on the other side of the water.

“I love to get down there. Don’t get down enough,” he said.

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