McCartney Super Bowl Halftime Show Ranked 9th
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It is the 50th year of the Super Bowl but there has been only 28 halftime shows with rock/pop performers. Rolling Stone magazine ranked McCartney's performance 9th and the comments were very nice. BTW - U2 was ranked #1.
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There is a show on tonight on CBS 9-11 pm about all the Super Bowl Halftime Shows.
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Paul is in the show, commenting on performing at the Super Bowl. They also show a quick segment of him in 2002, sitting down with the FOX commentators and launching into a version of "She Loves You" with them.
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joyce:
Paul is in the show, commenting on performing at the Super Bowl. They also show a quick segment of him in 2002, sitting down with the FOX commentators and launching into a version of "She Loves You" with them.
I didn't catch what you saw last night...but if I'm recalling correctly, that little inpromptu performance of SLY also included former Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw, which pretty much rendered the performance 'light hearted' before it ever began....LOL
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I know that I am prejudiced, but I can't believe that there were 8 Halftime shows better than Paul's. Everybody who I talked with, thought the show (albeit very short) was very good. Part of the problem for Paul's not rating higher might be that his performance was very basic. Some of the others from my memory seemed to be filled with all kinds of pre-taped music and vocal effects along with lots of dancing and prancing. I think that Paul's (and his band) show compared to some of the others was at least mostly "live". I noticed that the trend now is for the performer to bring an additional acts or two to make their show seem even more (you get the picture) Super. Didn't Katy Perry add acts to her show last year. And this year even Coldplay is adding a couple of performers...e.g Bruno Mars. Because it is the Superbowl, I think the advertisers and consequently the reviewers are looking Superbowl halftime shows to have more sizzle and visuals than substance. All of these extra's might have put Paul's rather minimalistic show seem rather pail to today's Superbowl music "spectacle"...thus his lower rating. As for me, I'm far more interested in the music and I'm so glad that we got "all Paul" in that show. I thought that all 4 of Paul's song choices and performance were very good and his vocal on Hey Jude in my opinion was fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't think Paul's vocal today could compare to his Superbowl performance. As a fan, I'm just happy that Paul did this huge event when his vocals were still good. I would be frightened if he tried to do a Superbowl today.
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Someone on that CBS program mentioned that Paul knew exactly which 4 songs he would do, but that he agreed to close with Hey Jude instead of Live and Let Die and that in retrospect it proved to be a great decision. I remember that on that 2002 segment with Terry Bradshaw and the FOX commentators, they also sang "A Hard Day's Night" with Paul.
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Paul was fine but I hated the camerawork on that broadcast. Too much zooming in and out. I found it hard to watch.
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joyce:
Someone on that CBS program mentioned that Paul knew exactly which 4 songs he would do, but that he agreed to close with Hey Jude instead of Live and Let Die and that in retrospect it proved to be a great decision. I remember that on that 2002 segment with Terry Bradshaw and the FOX commentators, they also sang "A Hard Day's Night" with Paul.
____________________________________________________________ Excellent point about the 3rd and final song Joyce. Live and Let Die was an easy one to predict in the set and necessary since it gave this sort of abbreviated mini concert the visual that a Super Bowl needs. But in retrospect Paul was taking a chance not to end with Live and Let Die given all the pyrotechnics and excitement with the song. Paul had to really nail the last song (Hey Jude) or the set would have been criticized as having fizzled out after all the pyrotechnics. I still remember how good the opening words sounded and he sustained it throughout the song. I didn't even mind that he had to shorten the song at the end. To me, it was one of his finest vocals ever on Hey Jude and it couldn't have come at a greater moment. Since Paul was already 60 at the time, there was still the usual criticism as an artist way past his time. I certainly didn't think so and thought it was a great performance especially given his age.
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Hm, I think he used a backing track + some (?) pre-recorded vocals. Which is almost *mandatory* by producers of such an event anyway. It worked better than when he tried to lip sync at the Olympics, haha.
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nobodytoldme:
Hm, I think he used a backing track + some (?) pre-recorded vocals. Which is almost *mandatory* by producers of such an event anyway. It worked better than when he tried to lip sync at the Olympics, haha.
_______________________________________ I'm sure there are some tricks (backing track enhancement) but having seen the replay several times, Paul appears to be singing live. There is no way that his lips could be that perfectly timed. Not saying I'm an expert but I'm just going by what I am seeing.
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B J Conlee:
nobodytoldme:
Hm, I think he used a backing track + some (?) pre-recorded vocals. Which is almost *mandatory* by producers of such an event anyway. It worked better than when he tried to lip sync at the Olympics, haha.
_______________________________________ I'm sure there are some tricks (backing track enhancement) but having seen the replay several times, Paul appears to be singing live. There is no way that his lips could be that perfectly timed. Not saying I'm an expert but I'm just going by what I am seeing.
I remember why I think it was lip-synced. Every time there's a 'tricky part' coming up ("oh, get back, Jo(jo)/Loretta!") you can hear his live vocal being faded in, with a sudden live instead of clean sound and a live energetic vocal instead of a relaxed studio vocal, and those bits are more right than center in the mix. His live falsetto "whoooo"'s are even clipping with the pre-recorded vocal. The screams in 'Live And Let Die' and the climax of 'Hey Jude' and of course the talks are live again. The dead giveaway to confirm the lip-syncing is the faded in studio vocal after the whole spoken coda of 'Get Back', which is live. 05:09 @
I do think they did a stellar job, but the camera angles are doing wonders as well, with the mic being exactly in front of McCartney's mouth. The whole band is closed-miked and well-amped and way too clean sounding to be completely live in an open-air stadium on a rapidly set-up staged as well. Who's doing the cowbell on 'Drive My Car' anyway, haha. I recalled something about Brian Ray talking about the backing track for Super Bowl, but that was about the 2002 performance of 'Freedom' (http://www.photos.mccartney.net/brian.htm)..) -
nobodytoldme:
B J Conlee:
nobodytoldme:
Hm, I think he used a backing track + some (?) pre-recorded vocals. Which is almost *mandatory* by producers of such an event anyway. It worked better than when he tried to lip sync at the Olympics, haha.
_______________________________________ I'm sure there are some tricks (backing track enhancement) but having seen the replay several times, Paul appears to be singing live. There is no way that his lips could be that perfectly timed. Not saying I'm an expert but I'm just going by what I am seeing.
I remember why I think it was lip-synced. Every time there's a 'tricky part' coming up ("oh, get back, Jo(jo)/Loretta!") you can hear his live vocal being faded in, with a sudden live instead of clean sound and a live energetic vocal instead of a relaxed studio vocal, and those bits are more right than center in the mix. His live falsetto "whoooo"'s are even clipping with the pre-recorded vocal. The screams in 'Live And Let Die' and the climax of 'Hey Jude' and of course the talks are live again. The dead giveaway to confirm the lip-syncing is the faded in studio vocal after the whole spoken coda of 'Get Back', which is live. 05:09 @
I do think they did a stellar job, but the camera angles are doing wonders as well, with the mic being exactly in front of McCartney's mouth. The whole band is closed-miked and well-amped and way too clean sounding to be completely live in an open-air stadium on a rapidly set-up staged as well. Who's doing the cowbell on 'Drive My Car' anyway, haha. I recalled something about Brian Ray talking about the backing track for Super Bowl, but that was about the 2002 performance of 'Freedom' (http://www.photos.mccartney.net/brian.htm)..)______________________________________________ Thanks for the input "NobodyToldMe". As I said, I personally know little or nothing about the "technical" side of live recording coupled with back tracking enhancements. I have no doubt that much of your comments are true especially given the magnitude of a Superbowl appearance and all of the money involved. I remember watching last year's performance (I think it was last year) and it appeared to me that Katy Perry was lip-synching most of the time. Maybe someone can dig out the Hey Jude portion of Paul's Superbowl performance. My comment about it being mostly "live" was particularly at the beginning. From my memory, it significantly quieted down when "Live and Let Die" ended and Paul was about to perform the next song. From what I remember, the camera hit him front center and you could see his lips perfectly. You could only hear his voice and if he was lip-synching he is the best lip-syncher on the planet. That is where I thought he nailed it. His vocal sounded perfect to me especially as the song began. Now later on the performance especially at the end, I don't doubt that "tricks" were used to enhance the overall sound. Again, I am strictly going by memory and haven't seen the show in years. Maybe if I relook at it, I might think otherwise and be able to see the possibility of vocal enhancements even in the beginning of the song.
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It is often said that one's memory is not as good as one thinks it is. This is definitely true for me regarding Paul's Superbowl Hey Jude performance. I was wrong as I just now watched it again for the first time in years. The camera was clearly not squarely on Paul's face as he began the song. But as the song progressed you did see Paul squarely singing the song at several points. If he was lip-syncing, than he had certainly perfected that art. I wouldn't doubt that there is a backing track for the music, but assuming there is a backing vocal used, I don't know how Paul could be so perfect singing with a second vocal. I would think at some point, you could see an imperfection. With my eyes I couldn't see it. Certainly look like Paul was singing live. Again, I am a novice when it comes to the technical side of things for a huge live performance. Any other thoughts.
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He indeed does a truly great job at it, and unlike for 'Get Back' I can't detect any obvious lip-sync error for 'Hey Jude'. But again, the 'evidence' is in the audio: there's his live vocal fading in and out at certain moments in between the pre-recorded vocal throughout the whole performance. For 'Hey Jude', the whole song up until the climax has got the pre-recorded vocal. The crossfade between pre-recorded and live happens during "better, better, better, better".
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I'd rank Paul's show #2. I only remember seeing one, so it wouldn't be fair to give him the top spot.
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B J Conlee:
I know that I am prejudiced, but I can't believe that there were 8 Halftime shows better than Paul's. Everybody who I talked with, thought the show (albeit very short) was very good. Part of the problem for Paul's not rating higher might be that his performance was very basic. Some of the others from my memory seemed to be filled with all kinds of pre-taped music and vocal effects along with lots of dancing and prancing. I think that Paul's (and his band) show compared to some of the others was at least mostly "live". I noticed that the trend now is for the performer to bring an additional acts or two to make their show seem even more (you get the picture) Super. Didn't Katy Perry add acts to her show last year. And this year even Coldplay is adding a couple of performers...e.g Bruno Mars. Because it is the Superbowl, I think the advertisers and consequently the reviewers are looking Superbowl halftime shows to have more sizzle and visuals than substance. All of these extra's might have put Paul's rather minimalistic show seem rather pail to today's Superbowl music "spectacle"...thus his lower rating. As for me, I'm far more interested in the music and I'm so glad that we got "all Paul" in that show. I thought that all 4 of Paul's song choices and performance were very good and his vocal on Hey Jude in my opinion was fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't think Paul's vocal today could compare to his Superbowl performance. As a fan, I'm just happy that Paul did this huge event when his vocals were still good. I would be frightened if he tried to do a Superbowl today.
"Part of the problem for Paul's not rating higher might be that his performance was very basic. " Very true it was basic but so were higher ranked performances by U2 and Springsteen.
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yankeefan7:
B J Conlee:
I know that I am prejudiced, but I can't believe that there were 8 Halftime shows better than Paul's. Everybody who I talked with, thought the show (albeit very short) was very good. Part of the problem for Paul's not rating higher might be that his performance was very basic. Some of the others from my memory seemed to be filled with all kinds of pre-taped music and vocal effects along with lots of dancing and prancing. I think that Paul's (and his band) show compared to some of the others was at least mostly "live". I noticed that the trend now is for the performer to bring an additional acts or two to make their show seem even more (you get the picture) Super. Didn't Katy Perry add acts to her show last year. And this year even Coldplay is adding a couple of performers...e.g Bruno Mars. Because it is the Superbowl, I think the advertisers and consequently the reviewers are looking Superbowl halftime shows to have more sizzle and visuals than substance. All of these extra's might have put Paul's rather minimalistic show seem rather pail to today's Superbowl music "spectacle"...thus his lower rating. As for me, I'm far more interested in the music and I'm so glad that we got "all Paul" in that show. I thought that all 4 of Paul's song choices and performance were very good and his vocal on Hey Jude in my opinion was fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't think Paul's vocal today could compare to his Superbowl performance. As a fan, I'm just happy that Paul did this huge event when his vocals were still good. I would be frightened if he tried to do a Superbowl today.
"Part of the problem for Paul's not rating higher might be that his performance was very basic. " Very true it was basic but so were higher ranked performances by U2 and Springsteen.
On a McCartney fan board, he is no. 1. But U2, the Rolling Stones, and Springsteen are also huge artists, so Paul may not rank as high in general. Hard to believe, but Paul may not be no. 1 to the general public.
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This years show was terrible.
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oobu24:
This years show was terrible.
They seem to be getting worse each year, as they try and make them "youthful." Coldplay are NOT a stadium act. You are better off having KISS perform!
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oobu24:
This years show was terrible.
I thought that too
