McCartney Concert Voice
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BOYCIE:
oobu24:
True. I wouldn't mind if he changed it up a little & sang a few songs a little lower.
They might sound a little better because of it. Hearing Elton sing most of his songs lower hasn't really ruined them from what i've heard.
oh god I think Elton sounds horrible now! I am sorry, I have loved him since the 70s and I still love him but he is dreadful now. I cannot understand him and he just sorta throws the words out there. Where did the singing go? it is all blown out. Paul can still actually physically sing, and and really well
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jena:
BOYCIE:
oobu24:
True. I wouldn't mind if he changed it up a little & sang a few songs a little lower.
They might sound a little better because of it. Hearing Elton sing most of his songs lower hasn't really ruined them from what i've heard.
oh god I think Elton sounds horrible now! I am sorry, I have loved him since the 70s and I still love him but he is dreadful now. I cannot understand him and he just sorta throws the words out there. Where did the singing go? it is all blown out. Paul can still actually physically sing, and and really well
You and I are McCartney fans, and so we will give him a lot of leeway. But frankly, there are many people out there who aren't as devoted who feel that way about Paul, and think he should retire. I'M not saying that, but many folks do. And those people probably don't go to his shows or buy his music. For my part, when I saw Elton John about five years ago, he was great. But maybe that has changed.
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Hey, when you think Paul's current voice isn't good..... Think about Bob Dylan...
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RMartinez:
jena:
BOYCIE:
oobu24:
True. I wouldn't mind if he changed it up a little & sang a few songs a little lower.
They might sound a little better because of it. Hearing Elton sing most of his songs lower hasn't really ruined them from what i've heard.
oh god I think Elton sounds horrible now! I am sorry, I have loved him since the 70s and I still love him but he is dreadful now. I cannot understand him and he just sorta throws the words out there. Where did the singing go? it is all blown out. Paul can still actually physically sing, and and really well
You and I are McCartney fans, and so we will give him a lot of leeway. But frankly, there are many people out there who aren't as devoted who feel that way about Paul, and think he should retire. I'M not saying that, but many folks do. And those people probably don't go to his shows or buy his music. For my part, when I saw Elton John about five years ago, he was great. But maybe that has changed.
Now wait a minute. What's this "you & I" are Macca fans? As if I am not? I think this whole board is going crazy lately. NO ONE said anything about retiring. At least I didn't.
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KingMacca:
Hey, when you think Paul's current voice isn't good..... Think about Bob Dylan...
The fallacy of that comparison is that Dylan NEVER had a good voice!
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oobu24:
RMartinez:
jena:
BOYCIE:
oobu24:
True. I wouldn't mind if he changed it up a little & sang a few songs a little lower.
They might sound a little better because of it. Hearing Elton sing most of his songs lower hasn't really ruined them from what i've heard.
oh god I think Elton sounds horrible now! I am sorry, I have loved him since the 70s and I still love him but he is dreadful now. I cannot understand him and he just sorta throws the words out there. Where did the singing go? it is all blown out. Paul can still actually physically sing, and and really well
You and I are McCartney fans, and so we will give him a lot of leeway. But frankly, there are many people out there who aren't as devoted who feel that way about Paul, and think he should retire. I'M not saying that, but many folks do. And those people probably don't go to his shows or buy his music. For my part, when I saw Elton John about five years ago, he was great. But maybe that has changed.
Now wait a minute. What's this "you & I" are Macca fans? As if I am not? I think this whole board is going crazy lately. NO ONE said anything about retiring.
My bad! You are a fan too!
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Usually, at the show, with the blaring loud speakers, and imperfect acoustics, combined with the overall excitement of being there, I won't even notice a few bad notes. Only when I watch clips back later, on Youtube, etc, do I even notice them.... But as long as it's not WAYYYYY off, I'm okay with it. I do think maybe they should consider adding a touch of reverb to Paul's live vocals, just to smooth it out. But it's all good.
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Just to put things into perspective here, I am a vocalist myself and my voice is good up to F3. From F#3 onwards, my voice is horrendously unreliable and it's about 50/50 as to whether it will break or not. I am 26, supposedly around my physical peak. Paul is 70, and can sing at that pitch with very little effort! To touch on the subject of Elton John, I have seen a few performances of his from recent shows and he's sounding fine. He hasn't lost his voice as such, but it is considerably deeper and consequently somewhat different to what it used to be. As far as I'm aware, he, like Paul, has not actually changed the key of any of the songs he's currently playing live, but has altered his vocals to suit the change in his voice. Most people's voices change over the years and it's just something we have to accept and find ways around as we get older. There are exceptions of course. Sting, for instance, is still singing as well as he was 20 years ago at the height of his solo career. Some of us are just very lucky! Must also just touch on Bob Dylan here too. I was unfortunate enough to see him live in 2011. My reason for going was to see a huge hero of mine, Mark Knopfler as they were touring Europe together. Mark and his top-drawer band were absolutely brilliant and Mark is singing beautifully these days. But then Mr Bob came on. He doesn't actually sing anymore. He just barks. He is simply incapable of getting any sort of note out now, and to make matters worse, the sound mix at his shows is dreadful. FAR too loud and you can't tell one instrument from another. What really annoys me is that people still heap praise on Dylan. His newest album, Tempest, received rave reviews literally everywhere even though it was totally and utterly unlistenable. I was baffled by the positive reaction to that album. And yet Paul, and indeed Elton are often ridiculed, particularly in the UK, on the basis that they're past it and can't sing anymore! Sorry for the long post but people are so cynical and hypocritical these days, it's just unbelievable!
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I was second row to Bob him 2 weeks before Paul last fall, when he was on tour w/Mark. Yes he was never a singer, more a voice. Sprechtstimme, speak singing, is his thing. And yeah now he has that whole bubbly gravel Beelzebub sound but I dig it hard! I could listen to him do anything. the ideas behind the sound have always been what counts with Dylan. soz to annoy you though! I saw him in the 90s before though and felt the same as you, until this last time. evidently he is hit and miss.
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Paul has a really great back-up band...the audience! Regardless of talent, we all sing along - best audience performance I've heard was at Anfield - "Something" gave me shivers! And, the band onstage is not too shabby, either. Saw Bob Dylan 2 years ago - he phoned it in. That NEVER happens with a McCartney concert.
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Guitarman147:
Just to put things into perspective here, I am a vocalist myself and my voice is good up to F3. From F#3 onwards, my voice is horrendously unreliable and it's about 50/50 as to whether it will break or not. I am 26, supposedly around my physical peak. Paul is 70, and can sing at that pitch with very little effort! To touch on the subject of Elton John, I have seen a few performances of his from recent shows and he's sounding fine. He hasn't lost his voice as such, but it is considerably deeper and consequently somewhat different to what it used to be. As far as I'm aware, he, like Paul, has not actually changed the key of any of the songs he's currently playing live, but has altered his vocals to suit the change in his voice. Most people's voices change over the years and it's just something we have to accept and find ways around as we get older. There are exceptions of course. Sting, for instance, is still singing as well as he was 20 years ago at the height of his solo career. Some of us are just very lucky! Must also just touch on Bob Dylan here too. I was unfortunate enough to see him live in 2011. My reason for going was to see a huge hero of mine, Mark Knopfler as they were touring Europe together. Mark and his top-drawer band were absolutely brilliant and Mark is singing beautifully these days. But then Mr Bob came on. He doesn't actually sing anymore. He just barks. He is simply incapable of getting any sort of note out now, and to make matters worse, the sound mix at his shows is dreadful. FAR too loud and you can't tell one instrument from another. What really annoys me is that people still heap praise on Dylan. His newest album, Tempest, received rave reviews literally everywhere even though it was totally and utterly unlistenable. I was baffled by the positive reaction to that album. And yet Paul, and indeed Elton are often ridiculed, particularly in the UK, on the basis that they're past it and can't sing anymore! Sorry for the long post but people are so cynical and hypocritical these days, it's just unbelievable!
Yep, never understood the "love" for Dylan especially at this stage of his career. I think for most songs McCartney still sound pretty good, I just worry when he tries something like "Maybe I'm Amazed".
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In this 1993 interview, Tina Turner spoke about her vocal cords and singing-voice after three, consecutive one-nighters: (skip to 00:57):
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I think part of being there live is enough. You're excited and seeing an idol perform and singing along yourself with tens of thousands of others. It's more about the experience than being the perfect performer. I remember watching the 121212 concert and I remember him struggling so much on Let Me Roll It that a lot of it morphed into spoken-word because he couldn't get the high notes which made me think he should maybe retire that song but then I saw a video of him doing it later and it was fine. All singers have off days especially if you've been singing non-stop for ages. I did about 2 hours recording vocals the other day and I couldn't use anything towards the end because my voice was crackly and off-key so I don't know how the legend does it. I personally love Elton. I saw him back in November last year when he came to Melbourne and thought he was wonderful. I think he hasn't got as much of the vocal energy for the big songs as he used to but so long as you get into it, you don't notice.
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The first time I watched Paul on The Colbert Report I thought he sounded great! Then I just watched it again and I noticed he had trouble hitting the high notes on Listen To What The Man Said (he sounded fine in concert when I saw him in Memphis) So, yeah, he has his off days vocally and he will never again sound like he did in '76 and earlier (so pristine and clear!) Thankfully we have the albums to listen to forever. (And I want his music played at my funeral!)
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From '76 to '89 there was a change in McCartney's voice. That is natural. Even in '76 he sounded more seasoned and mature than in the mid 60s with the Beatles. In 93 he sounded about like he did in 89 and I thought then he struggled with a few notes. Jump to 2002, and yeah, his voice was even more weathered than nine years earlier. He sounds really good FOR HIS AGE. But he is not vocally where he was in 2002, and certainly not where he was in 93 or 89. I suppose it is all relative. In ten years, when he is touring and is 81 years old and still hasn't played Australia or New Mexico, there will be people who say he sounds great and love going to his concerts. The live experience is where it's at.
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RMartinez:
From '76 to '89 there was a change in McCartney's voice. That is natural. Even in '76 he sounded more seasoned and mature than in the mid 60s with the Beatles. In 93 he sounded about like he did in 89 and I thought then he struggled with a few notes. Jump to 2002, and yeah, his voice was even more weathered than nine years earlier. He sounds really good FOR HIS AGE. But he is not vocally where he was in 2002, and certainly not where he was in 93 or 89. I suppose it is all relative. In ten years, when he is touring and is 81 years old and still hasn't played Australia or New Mexico, there will be people who say he sounds great and love going to his concerts. The live experience is where it's at.
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rlj1010:
Usually, at the show, with the blaring loud speakers, and imperfect acoustics, combined with the overall excitement of being there, I won't even notice a few bad notes. Only when I watch clips back later, on Youtube, etc, do I even notice them.... But as long as it's not WAYYYYY off, I'm okay with it.
This is my experience as well. I can tell when he's struggling on some of the high notes, but when I'm there in the moment it doesn't detract from the experience at all. Only when I watch my video or see it on YouTube later do I really notice it more. I still think considering the number of shows he does and that he rocks for nearly 3 hours, he does an amazing job. There are performers in their prime who don't sound that good live. For what it's worth, the Indy concert was the first time my husband has gone with my daughter and me. We always get the highest price tickets and he didn't want to spend the money before. But this time he decided to go. He is more of a heavy metal guy but has become a casual fan through osmosis since we play his music all the time. He was absolutely blown away by the experience and posted all over Facebook how fantastic this concert was. He is ready to go again.
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Some said he can't sing "My Love" as good anymore, but he sang that fantastic in Charlotte, N.C. in the summer of 2010. It sounded perfect Everything else did, too
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His voice sounded great here in Memphis. I think his voice seems to be getting better with age. We saw him in St Louis last November and he hasnt lost anything vocals wise.
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Getting better with age? Well... Despite my polyana universe, even I know that's not quite true, fletch.