is John or Paul singing this?
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RMartinez:
There are other voices in the back doing "oooooos" probably Paul, John and George. The main voice doing the "aaaaaaaaah" has reverb and delay, which creates the illusion of double tracking or that two voices are singing in unison. But it is one voice. I believe it is Paul.
I agree completely.... except for who the "one voice" is, of course.
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favoritething:
RMartinez:
There are other voices in the back doing "oooooos" probably Paul, John and George. The main voice doing the "aaaaaaaaah" has reverb and delay, which creates the illusion of double tracking or that two voices are singing in unison. But it is one voice. I believe it is Paul.
I agree completely.... except for who the "one voice" is, of course.
Haha!! I honestly don't mean to be so persistent. And I really feel this is a good-natured, mutually respectful debate. I'm not sure why this seems to matter to me so much. But, honestly, I am certain that this is Paul. I could be wrong, of course, and I certainly have been wrong many times about many things. But I implore you...this is Paul.
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I will say this, though. Whoever it is, this vocal track is unbelievably cool. How great to hear it isolated like this. They were so inventive on Sgt. Pepper. These vocal tracks have an other-worldly feel. Awesome, really.
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But it's Paul. Please. I beg you.
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I keep listening to it and it still sounds like John to me. Mainly because if it was Paul it would have sounded "better" and "sweeter."
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It's Paul.
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Shawn:
I will say this, though. Whoever it is, this vocal track is unbelievably cool. How great to hear it isolated like this. They were so inventive on Sgt. Pepper. These vocal tracks have an other-worldly feel. Awesome, really.
I definitely agree with that, Shawn! But I also agree with Nancy R that if it were Paul, it would sound "sweeter" than it does. But it's all cool! And as you know, I agree with you on the Destiny "Hope" song.
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Exactly, listen to the beginning of Lovely Rita. That's Paul on his own double tracked. It doesn't sound like the 'ahs' in A Day in the Life. In fact continue listening to Lovely Rita and John and Paul harmonize on the first few lines on the chorus. It sounds more like this. To me it sounds like John and Paul in A Day in the Life. Not Paul on his own. Paul starts and then John joins in. The 'Ahs' In the stereo mix starts in the right and pans across to the left and John returns to his verses. Another effect to join Paul's middle eight with John's verses.
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dcshark:
Exactly, listen to the beginning of Lovely Rita. That's Paul on his own double tracked. It doesn't sound like the 'ahs' in A Day in the Life. In fact continue listening to Lovely Rita and John and Paul harmonize on the first few lines on the chorus. It sounds more like this. To me it sounds like John and Paul in A Day in the Life. Not Paul on his own. Paul starts and then John joins in. The 'Ahs' In the stereo mix starts in the right and pans across to the left and John returns to his verses. Another effect to join Paul's middle eight with John's verses.
I've listened back to this again, and also to "Lovely Rita." I agree, the beginning of that sounds like Paul double-tracked, but then listen to the "aaahh"s in the middle of the song, right before Paul shouts "Rita!" and the piano solo begins.
That is definitely a blend of Paul and John, and Paul's full-throated sound is very audible in the last two notes of that, to me. In the "Day in the Life" vocal track, listening again, it seems possible that Paul is singing in the first few seconds of the "aaahh"s, but blended with John, who continues through the entire section, quickly taking over on his own. I listened several times to the "went into a dream" line, and the intake of breath that leads from that to the "aaahh" is seamless, doesn't sound like a sudden edit from Paul to John. So it COULD be the two of them for the first few seconds, and then just John multi tracked and echoey (it gets all nasal, none of Paul's full-throated quality), backed by some distant spooky background vocals that sound to me like Paul and George (possibly John too), with Paul's trademark "oooo" sound audible back there, almost in a jokey way. (You can hear laughter behind Paul as he sings "Somebody spoke..."?they obviously had fun with this.) That's my unbiased and most generous assessment, but I still think it's mostly John. By the way, over in my other poll, none of the Paul theory people are forceful about it, while several of the John people say things like, "Of course" or "Unmistakeable voice" or "Obviously" and even "Give us a hard one next time." Only 5 out of 58 people said Paul over there (a couple of people said it's a blend). -
favoritething:
Shawn:
I will say this, though. Whoever it is, this vocal track is unbelievably cool. How great to hear it isolated like this. They were so inventive on Sgt. Pepper. These vocal tracks have an other-worldly feel. Awesome, really.
I definitely agree with that, Shawn! But I also agree with Nancy R that if it were Paul, it would sound "sweeter" than it does. But it's all cool! And as you know, I agree with you on the Destiny "Hope" song.
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rich n:
For those who haven't heard and had a chance to make their own mind up
You know what that part really reminds me of? When Paul sings the line 'every after' during the song 'One of These Days' from McCIIExactly! It's his McCII voice. Approximately 13 years early He was still the same guy, folks. The "Paul is dead" thing was a hoax.
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Shawn:
rich n:
For those who haven't heard and had a chance to make their own mind up
You know what that part really reminds me of? When Paul sings the line 'every after' during the song 'One of These Days' from McCIIExactly! It's his McCII voice. Approximately 13 years early He was still the same guy, folks. The "Paul is dead" thing was a hoax.
I'm not an advocate that it's Paul singing the "ahhhhh" bit, but here's "One Of These Days":
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Nancy R:
Shawn:
rich n:
For those who haven't heard and had a chance to make their own mind up
You know what that part really reminds me of? When Paul sings the line 'every after' during the song 'One of These Days' from McCIIExactly! It's his McCII voice. Approximately 13 years early He was still the same guy, folks. The "Paul is dead" thing was a hoax.
I'm not an advocate that it's Paul singing the "ahhhhh" bit, but here's "One Of These Days":
Yeah, sorry, that doesn't prove a thing to me. It's echoey, that's all. (Also shows that even by 1979/80 Paul's voice was starting to show wear and tear.)
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favoritething:
I just posted this question to another group of Beatles fans, and out of 14 responses so far, only 2 think it's Paul. Plus someone pointed out that Beatles tribute bands always have the John character doing that part.
that does not mean it is John.
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favoritething:
My ears hear that nasal quality and are absolutely certain it's John. If you listen to "Aaahh, look at all the lonely people" in "Eleanor Rigby," you can easily pick out John's voice from Paul's because of that nasal quality, and that's what you hear in this song, too. Maybe the Paul fans here are biased to think that everything is him!
or maybe it is you who is biased to think it is John! and the way you mention the other poll place with pride shows it all by the way. for years and since I have first listened to this song when I was 4 years old maybe I thought it was John! not this only,even the very first phrase of "You Never Give me Your Money" was always John to me..(the sound of John Nasal as you call it) Then after hearing all the Beatles Songs, and understanding their vocals clearly, and beginning to listen to solo Beatles. someday I heard it clearly it was Paul. similar to the way he did many ahhs in songs like "Lovely Rita" today after hearing the separate vocal of the song I was not surprised at all!
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RMartinez:
I disagree. There is actually NO nasal quality, especially what one would attribute to John. That is one reason WHY I am convinced it's not John. Listen to the controlled inflections in the voice. The little trills and movements are pure Paul, not something John ever did. Watch it live in recent concerts. Paul's voice is perfect on that part. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one! Maybe Paul himself can chime and say, "It's me!" or "It's John!"
I believed many years ago it is Paul, but after hearing this separated vocal track I caught these trills and movements you mentioned the same way as you are they are more clear now.
RMartinez:
The problem with it being John is it sounds exactly like Paul. It's Paul. That part of the song was composed by Paul, it's the tail end of Paul's bit, the "Woke up, fell out of bed..." sequence. Paul sings "Then I went into a dream..." then he GOES into a dream. Paul does. Then it returns to John's part and John sings. Hey, for decades I thought it was John because it is more in the SPIRIT of John. But the isolated track clearly shows it is Paul.
You Rock in those posts man! that point you mentioned (I made it bold) is really great clue. it is the dream part of Paul's section of the song. Never looked at it this way before but yes, also the melody of the "ahhhs" is much like a dream which ends in a way with the background music waking up the story teller (the singer) to continue on John's finishing section of the song.
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I still think those trills are something like what Paul would do (and maybe he came up with the melody here), but it's not as clean-sounding as Paul would sing it. Still sounds like John to me. We DO know that John initially sang the verses of "Lucy In The Sky" in a different way, more flat, and Paul suggested that he sing it a little more lively, emphasizing the waltz time more strongly. So I can see Paul suggesting how John could sing the "aaahh" part in "A Day In The Life" too. Sorry, didn't mean to be "prideful" about my poll, just thought it was worth mentioning that other Beatles fans see this completely opposite to the people here. Maybe that doesn't mean anything, but it also doesn't mean anything that Paul sings about going into a dream and then John sings afterwards. I think the whole song is meant to be from the point of view of the same character, so it doesn't matter who is singing at any one point. Just my thoughts!
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Another issue is how high the notes go. Paul always had a steadier high voice, though to be fair, John could hold his own. This is an interesting discussion, it is a testament to their amazing vocals we are even debating this! I was always fascinated how on many songs where John and Paul sing in unison, they almost create a third voice, and it is difficult to tell them apart, even with John's nasal tone.
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Yes, RM, all very true!
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Ammar:
RMartinez:
I disagree. There is actually NO nasal quality, especially what one would attribute to John. That is one reason WHY I am convinced it's not John. Listen to the controlled inflections in the voice. The little trills and movements are pure Paul, not something John ever did. Watch it live in recent concerts. Paul's voice is perfect on that part. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one! Maybe Paul himself can chime and say, "It's me!" or "It's John!"
I believed many years ago it is Paul, but after hearing this separated vocal track I caught these trills and movements you mentioned the same way as you are they are more clear now.
RMartinez:
The problem with it being John is it sounds exactly like Paul. It's Paul. That part of the song was composed by Paul, it's the tail end of Paul's bit, the "Woke up, fell out of bed..." sequence. Paul sings "Then I went into a dream..." then he GOES into a dream. Paul does. Then it returns to John's part and John sings. Hey, for decades I thought it was John because it is more in the SPIRIT of John. But the isolated track clearly shows it is Paul.
You Rock in those posts man! that point you mentioned (I made it bold) is really great clue. it is the dream part of Paul's section of the song. Never looked at it this way before but yes, also the melody of the "ahhhs" is much like a dream which ends in a way with the background music waking up the story teller (the singer) to continue on John's finishing section of the song.