God Save The Queen
When I was on the road with Genesis in 1991 we had the opportunity to play the Prince’s Trust in the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was a long and interesting day due to the fact that Prince Charles would be attending the show. The load in went as normal, with the exception of lots of extra security. In the afternoon we had to get all dressed up, (which isn’t saying much for a bunch of roadies) because we were to have an audience with the Prince himself.
The Production Manager was beside himself because there is no telling what a bunch of rock and rollers is going to do with in the presence of the Prince. But, in the end that part went off very well. Just some casual chit chat and off we went to do the show.
Just prior to the show there was to be a bit of ceremony as the Prince and his entourage entered the hall. They would “
” and we would all stand and turn to face the prince. I was reviewing this with the spot light operators when one of the operators, Mick an english truck driver, interrupted and asked if I knew “
”. I said that did I know it was the same melody as “God Save the Queen”? Since Mick was so knowledgable I asked him if he knew the words, which he said he did. So, I bet him that he would not sing the words over the clear com(our back stage communication device) as the Prince entered. He took the bet.
Mick was a burly englishman with a very deep resonate voice and to my surprise he knew the words and began singing it at the top of his lungs. Unknown to all of us, they only play a portion of “God Save The Queen” depending on what level of royalty is entering. So for the Prince they did not play the whole song. When the recorded music abruptly stopped, there was Mick, all alone, singing “My Country ’Tis of Thee” at the top of his lungs. As we were all facing the royal box, the whole audience saw the look of shock on the Prince’s face and then he burst into laughter. I almost couldn’t start the show I was laughing so hard. I will never forget those days. I hope Mick is sitting in a pub somewhere telling that story as well. Cheers Mick!
