Freddie Mercury by Peter Freestone Read Free Book Online
Authors: Peter Freestone
Show Day
9: Dallas, Texas. Show Day
10-11: Houston, Texas. Show Days
12: Atlanta, Georgia
I really thought I’d lost my job in Atlanta, Georgia. We were there two nights, the day before the show and show day itself. On the first night, as usual, Freddie, Paul and I went with our car and driver out to the bars. Paul got lucky early on in the evening and Freddie waved him and his date off for the evening. For the first time I was left with Freddie as alone on the streets as any two people can be with a limoand a driver in tow! I was quite aware of the responsibility with which I had been implicitly entrusted.
Up until this point, Paul had never gone home leaving Freddie behind. Paul had given me complete instructions of where else there was to go and the telephone number of the hotel if it was absolutely necessary to get in touch with him. Freddie decided that we were going to stay in the bar where Paul had left us and then started drinking with a vengeance. He was the boss so I didn’t feel I could tell him to slow down. At about four o’clock in the morning after many spearmint schnapps, Freddie decided it was time to go home. I think it was more in gestures than in words that he communicated, because he couldn’t string more than two words together at that point. We got back to the hotel and as we were going up in the lift to Freddie’s suite, he almost collapsed in my arms.
I managed to get him into his room and mostly undressed and onto his bed. And this is where the real problem started. He was hallucinating that the room was spinning around him and wanted to be sick. He tried to find the edge of the bed but here was another problem… The bed was round so he was trying to find a straight edge over which he could safely vomit but he was going round and round the bed desperately seeking the straight side and leaving little pools of barff all round the circumference.
I couldn’t believe what was happening and thought to myself, ‘Well, this is it! The first time I’ve been left to look after Freddie and he ends up like this!’ I called Paul to the bedroom and he just laughed.
“Don’t worry about him,” he said, “he’ll sleep it off.”
I cleaned up as much as I could and left Freddie to sleep as he was soundly out of it by this time.
Early the next afternoon, I was called to Freddie’s suite and I really did think that my end was nigh but as I walked into the room, breakfast had been laid out and instead of my cards, I was given orange juice and toast and we spent breakfast laughing about the previous evening.
We were, thankfully, amused.
August 13: Charlotte, North Carolina
14: Greensboro, North Carolina
I’m not sure whether it was in Charlotte or Greensboro but it was in one of those cities where we had our first taste of a Howard Johnson.
Howard Johnson was the man who started the chain of motels which now links most of America. This really was the best hotel the city could provide. The band and party were lucky enough to be on the top floor which required a special key in the elevator which separated us from the ordinary business man or woman of the town. One of the first things Freddie did on arriving at a hotel was to order pots of tea. I firmly believe that the hotel really did try to accommodate his wishes but after about half-an-hour, all he had in his room were four tea bags, four waxed paper beakers and an open jug of luke-warm water.
We were definitely not amused.
August 15: Day Off
16: Charleston, South Carolina
It was at one of the gigs around this time that Tony Bastin arrived from England to spend time with Freddie. Whenever Freddie was away from London, every now and then he had an urge to ‘call the cats’. He’d get to a hotel, we’d dial through to Stafford Terrace and he really
9: Dallas, Texas. Show Day
10-11: Houston, Texas. Show Days
12: Atlanta, Georgia
I really thought I’d lost my job in Atlanta, Georgia. We were there two nights, the day before the show and show day itself. On the first night, as usual, Freddie, Paul and I went with our car and driver out to the bars. Paul got lucky early on in the evening and Freddie waved him and his date off for the evening. For the first time I was left with Freddie as alone on the streets as any two people can be with a limoand a driver in tow! I was quite aware of the responsibility with which I had been implicitly entrusted.
Up until this point, Paul had never gone home leaving Freddie behind. Paul had given me complete instructions of where else there was to go and the telephone number of the hotel if it was absolutely necessary to get in touch with him. Freddie decided that we were going to stay in the bar where Paul had left us and then started drinking with a vengeance. He was the boss so I didn’t feel I could tell him to slow down. At about four o’clock in the morning after many spearmint schnapps, Freddie decided it was time to go home. I think it was more in gestures than in words that he communicated, because he couldn’t string more than two words together at that point. We got back to the hotel and as we were going up in the lift to Freddie’s suite, he almost collapsed in my arms.
I managed to get him into his room and mostly undressed and onto his bed. And this is where the real problem started. He was hallucinating that the room was spinning around him and wanted to be sick. He tried to find the edge of the bed but here was another problem… The bed was round so he was trying to find a straight edge over which he could safely vomit but he was going round and round the bed desperately seeking the straight side and leaving little pools of barff all round the circumference.
I couldn’t believe what was happening and thought to myself, ‘Well, this is it! The first time I’ve been left to look after Freddie and he ends up like this!’ I called Paul to the bedroom and he just laughed.
“Don’t worry about him,” he said, “he’ll sleep it off.”
I cleaned up as much as I could and left Freddie to sleep as he was soundly out of it by this time.
Early the next afternoon, I was called to Freddie’s suite and I really did think that my end was nigh but as I walked into the room, breakfast had been laid out and instead of my cards, I was given orange juice and toast and we spent breakfast laughing about the previous evening.
We were, thankfully, amused.
August 13: Charlotte, North Carolina
14: Greensboro, North Carolina
I’m not sure whether it was in Charlotte or Greensboro but it was in one of those cities where we had our first taste of a Howard Johnson.
Howard Johnson was the man who started the chain of motels which now links most of America. This really was the best hotel the city could provide. The band and party were lucky enough to be on the top floor which required a special key in the elevator which separated us from the ordinary business man or woman of the town. One of the first things Freddie did on arriving at a hotel was to order pots of tea. I firmly believe that the hotel really did try to accommodate his wishes but after about half-an-hour, all he had in his room were four tea bags, four waxed paper beakers and an open jug of luke-warm water.
We were definitely not amused.
August 15: Day Off
16: Charleston, South Carolina
It was at one of the gigs around this time that Tony Bastin arrived from England to spend time with Freddie. Whenever Freddie was away from London, every now and then he had an urge to ‘call the cats’. He’d get to a hotel, we’d dial through to Stafford Terrace and he really
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