And now the time is near....
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Bruce M.:
Martin Luther:
Isn't it possible he just had a bad night? Just a little hoarse, maybe a slight cold, not properly hydrated? I heard him last Summer 2011 in Detroit and he was amazing.
Sure, it's possible he had a bad night. But the sad truth is that lately his bad nights are pretty frequent (last year's Saturday Night Live appearance being another example) and his good nights (vocally, that is) increasingly rare. Bear in mind, too, that in a TV performance you're going to hear him much more clearly than in a stadium with 50,000 people. It's much easier to miss the vocal shortcomings in that sort of live situation. Personally, I doubt I will see Paul live again. I've seen him half a dozen times, and I don't want my last memory of Paul performing to be the equivalent of Muhammed Ali's sad last fights or Sinatra's gravel-voiced, struggling later shows. In the studio, it's a different matter. You can control the conditions, and if it's a bad day you can just come back and try again next week after some rest. But even in those circumstances he often struggles to sound good. While his voice on KOTB mostly works for the material, parts of it for me are painful to listen to. There are moments when he doesn't just sound strained or hoarse -- there is a fair amount of that on Back to the Egg, after all, but it works -- he sounds elderly. There's nothing wrong with growing old -- hell, I'm 56 and I'd sure prefer growing old to the alternative -- but there's also something to be said for going out on top, and for knowing when you just can't do some things anymore. But it's gotta be hard. He clearly loves performing.
and please anyone who wants to post.."i saw him in -------- and he sounded great blah blah blah.. please....if think it has been stated a million times that whilst you are at a gig you always think he sounds great. 'live tv' is not harder to do or anything...its just that we get to see/hear a truer picture . by the way 'tom jones' sounded great and he was on live tv as well...i also thought 'elton john' and 'stevie wonder' sounded miles better than mccartney and they were both inferior vocally to mccartney as little as 10 years ago. the mohamid ali comparisson is very valid and a good one. call it a day paul now[on stage] before you are defined by theses sketchy vocal performances.....by the way i would have offered the same advise to 'lennon ' in the 1970s as he sounded equally bad despite his young age.
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I do tend to agree tv live performances like this one where everyone is well behaved/nice'n'orderly etc highlight the flaws in the vocals. At a regular gig shortcomings are not highlighted maybe due to other noise/influences i.e. alcohol Maybe it is time to knock theses things on the head, hopefully the olympics show will better due to a performance and secondly track listing
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I don't agree that he should pack it in entirely. As many have said, his voice sounded fine in concert, just not on the telly so he should keep doing gigs as long as possible. On the TV stuff, I do agree he should cut it down a bit, hopefully going out with a bang at the Olympics. Apart from anything else I feel the mystique and novelty of Sir Paul McCartney has been somewhat reduced over the past 4/5 years with frequent TV appearances/interviews. It is in danger of becoming a "oh not him again" as opposed to "oh my god, its him!". Still love you Paul and hope to be seeing you again soon.
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Stevie was good vocally and Tom Jones sounded great. Paul nailed All My Loving, brought MMT together eventually and was fine on Obladi Oblada. It was Let it Be and Live and Let Die that I thought he struggled through at times. His vocals aren't horrendous but they need addressed or he needs to mix songs round so he sings more of the stuff he is still vocally good at. If he did Helter Skelter or Can't Buy Me Love that would have been better as he can still do those justice. Its the ballads that he seems to struggle with, most of them are very hard to sing anyway. At the end of the day he is 70 after all so its hardly surprising. And Lazy, although I tend to agree with almost everything you say I thought Elton sounded a lot worse than Paul. At times I couldn't even understand what he was saying.
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brettb3:
I just watched the concert, expecting it to be a train wreck after reading these comments. To my utter shock, he sounded just fine. Sure, a few bum notes here and there, but nothing like what this thread suggested. Honestly, I think Paul's fans are harder on him than anyone else. I also just googled for stories about the show to see what the media was saying about it. I read not one negative word about his voice. In fact, the general theme seemed to be that Paul stole the show along with Elton and Stevie. And for those concerned about his legacy: you do realize this is Paul McCartney, right? He firmly established himself as a legend 45 years ago. The man could literally croak through an entire set in front of a worldwide television audience tomorrow and it wouldn't affect his legacy one whit.
Try reading some of the comments under the news stories. Most are being much more harsh on Paul than we are. We, here, honestly do care about him & just wish he'd do songs he can handle. Elton *was* hospitalized a week ago...so he's got an excuse at least. But you are right Cmac, I couldn't understand him either.
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maybe youre right about elton..but for some reason i didnt think he was as bad as normal. yes stevie wonder did sound good vocally,but his set was very boring.. i actually enjoyed 'madness' better than most acts...i thought the concert as a whole was pretty dire,uninspired and seriously lacking credability...not enough genuine bands......i mean 'annie lennox'? do me a favour,shes nearly as bad as that 'texas' bird that bored the pants off us all before mccartneys hampden gig in 2010!
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A lot has been said about Macca's vocal at Buck Pal, I went through the whole concert again and he was far from the worst in the line-up, Elton was Mince, he killed Your Song, Cheryl Cole was the worst performer on the night (did i just say performer?) Cliff wasn't wired for sound, it would have been better for him and us if someone had wired him to a electric chair, anyway back to Macca, after listening to the gig??? again I thought he done ok, yeah he had a few bum notes, all in all he gets pass marks from me, like many more of you guys, i'm hoping after the Olympics he gives these bashes a miss, I would also be correct in thinking the majority of his fans who care about his reputation don't want to see him die a slow painful death live on stage, listen to RAM people, that's the Paul McCartney I want to remember. Ps. If Paul decides to continue touring, his band has got to go, especially Rusty & Brian, they don't compliment Paul's ailing vocals at all.
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Try reading the comments under the video on YouTube. 98% of them are positive. But either way, who really cares about Internet commenters? Most of those people live to rile people up under the cloak of anonymity. Heck, if you read the comments section under any story on my hometown paper's website, the vast majority of comments are negative. It doesn't matter what the subject is. That's just the nature of the beast. They're not representative of the population as a whole. Most people can't be bothered to even read comments sections, much less participate in them. At the end of the day, they just don't matter.
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Along with a few others ive been banging on about his live vocals for a while being well below par, not a fact I relish talking about, but its a fact & im glad a few more of us have seen the writings on the wall. If we "true" fans can see it as it is God help how he is viewed by the vicious general public here in the uk. Time someone took him aside & gave him a good long chat & pointed out a few home truths......maybe a tape of his isolated vocals of the performance might do the trick like Linda at Knebworth 1990.
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Macca Mad:
. Time someone took him aside & gave him a good long chat & pointed out a few home truths......maybe a tape of his isolated vocals of the performance might do the trick like Linda at Knebworth 1990.
Just have Paul listen to a tape like that. I couldn't bear to hear it. That Hey Jude performance was excruciating on the ears.
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What would be the point of that tape? Paul's voice isn't hidden in the mix, like Linda's was. Paul's voice is up front. We can hear the problems and so can he. He knows his voice has aged, like he has. He just hasn't done much about it. In a concert, his aging voice is not an issue, as many people have said here. You're in the moment, the show is thrilling, and you just don't notice. It's just the TV performances that reveal the warts. It would be nice if the hullabaloo about all this would convince him to finally see a throat specialist or voice coach. The controversy is certainly not going to go away with the Olympics ahead. Fingers crossed he is finally motivated to take some actions.
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While I agree his voice wasn't hidden in the mix, it was masked to a degree by his wailing band mates who did nowt to enhance Paul's vocals unlike Hamish in 89/90 & by the noise of the music & crowd. If, as I said, we just heard his isolated vocals of the performance im sure it would be a sobering moment for us all. While far from a train wreck, the performance was a sad reminder that we all start to go downhill at somepoint dispite our best efforts, I think that situation has arrived.
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Macca Mad:
While I agree his voice wasn't hidden in the mix, it was masked to a degree by his wailing band mates who did nowt to enhance Paul's vocals unlike Hamish in 89/90 & by the noise of the music & crowd. If, as I said, we just heard his isolated vocals of the performance im sure it would be a sobering moment for us all. While far from a train wreck, the performance was a sad reminder that we all start to go downhill at somepoint dispite our best efforts, I think that situation has arrived.
I'm sober enough, thank you. And I still say he knows the problem. He just hasn't done anything about it. ... And as I've said before, I LIKE his aging voice. I feel like a broken record here but I don't see anything wrong with him continuing to tour. I just think these TV appearances are a mistake.
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Michelley:
Macca Mad:
While I agree his voice wasn't hidden in the mix, it was masked to a degree by his wailing band mates who did nowt to enhance Paul's vocals unlike Hamish in 89/90 & by the noise of the music & crowd. If, as I said, we just heard his isolated vocals of the performance im sure it would be a sobering moment for us all. While far from a train wreck, the performance was a sad reminder that we all start to go downhill at somepoint dispite our best efforts, I think that situation has arrived.
I'm sober enough, thank you. And I still say he knows the problem. He just hasn't done anything about it. ... And as I've said before, I LIKE his aging voice. I feel like a broken record here but I don't see anything wrong with him continuing to tour. I just think these TV appearances are a mistake.
so mccartney should still tour till his heart is content but just avoid performances where people can hear just how bad his singing is before hes had time to edit it or indeed add a 'good evening new york' style voice gimmick? i cant say i agree with you there michelley. i wonder though do you have a cut off point..is there a level of sheer garbage singing when even the likes of yourself would prefer paul stopped doing the live thing?...or is the sheer excitement and occasion of his bootleg beatles nostalga gig just far too much of a pull?. for me , hes whats known as 'past it' as a live singer.the good news is that excellent live singing is/was just one of the many features of his amazing talents...mccartney if he desired could record another 10 new albums before he passes on.i just hope he starts concentrating on that.
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I so want a proper new album from Paul it hurts. The thrill of a new album is an amazing feeling. I don't count his Robbie Williams karaoke album. It has been 5 (five) years since his last album and even that was the bits he left up town from Chaos. At the moment I could not care less if he never plays live again, new recorded music will last forever. Groundhog day tours have become a bore. I can't wait until the new album. It will bring my Macca raised eyebrow back to my face.
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Adrian A:
At what age have other vocalists retired? Have any kept performing well into their 70s? I could do with some expert input on that - failing that, I will google the question.
Well, look at Tom Jones' great performance--and he will be 72 tomorrow!
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I don't think Paul's live voice is in terminal decline. His show at the O2 last year had the clearest sound of any show I've ever attended, and his voice sounded just fine. But, at his age, it'd definitely going to become more hit and miss. When I saw him in Liverpool in 2008 it wasn't great. And as some people have pointed out, he needs a few numbers to warm up, so playing for 15/20 minutes is always going to be a pointless exercise -- and live TV is only going to highlight his frailties. That said, his voice is undoubtedly in decline and I do think this kinds of shows are not helping his legacy. I don't want to go into work and having people queue up to slag him off, as happened today. Surely Paul doesn't want people's view of him eroded by performances like this (though the X-Factor debacle of a couple of years' back was far worse). So I would generally agree with the posters who say he needs to drastically cut back on his live shows, stop doing the marquee headlining events like this (people are getting bored of him, in any case) and concentrate on new ventures, overseeing the reissues and giving us a NEW album!!! I doubt it will happen, as he loves performing so much, and so many people are eager to fawn over him, whatever the quality of his performance. But we live in hope.
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brettb3:
Try reading the comments under the video on Heck, if you read the comments section under any story on my hometown paper's website, the vast majority of comments are negative. It doesn't matter what the subject is.
This is absolutely true. I stopped reading comment sections completely because of this. It could be a feel good story about someone surviving cancer and half the comments are idiots making fun of the way the person looks or turning it into a nasty political fight over the health care law. It wouldn't have mattered how good Paul sounded, there are always atrocious comments. I agree with Michelley that he should retire from live TV appearances after the Olympics. As far as touring goes, I think he should do it as long as he is enjoying it and the fans are still getting a thrill from seeing him live (and clearly many are).
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Mumbojunk:
Surely Paul doesn't want people's view of him eroded by performances like this (though the X-Factor debacle of a couple of years' back was far worse). So I would generally agree with the posters who say he needs to drastically cut back on his live shows, stop doing the marquee headlining events like this (people are getting bored of him, in any case) and concentrate on new ventures, overseeing the reissues and giving us a NEW album!!!.
I, too, thought the X Factor performance was far worse. And I agree with you that he's been overexposed for awhile and people are getting bored. You could tell that in the coverage leading up to the Jubilee with all the comments of "oh god, he's not going to do another Hey Jude singalong, is he?" He's been in the spotlight too much. I really wish he could find a reason to drop out of the Olympics show. Wake me when it's over.
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I think he know's that his vocals aren't as good as they were, I mean its just science. Things deteriorate with age...shock, Maybe he has got to a point in life where he just doesn't care what people think!? I know that doesn't sound like Paul but he the whole release of KOTB and the name of the album. And maybe he just wants to do these shows. I'd rather he didn't and so do most of us by the sound of it but maybe he wants to be part of these historic events.