Post by Perplexed on Sept 13, 2003 6:17:42 GMT
I bought my second Beatles recording ever (the only other one I bought was a 45 that had "You know my name, look up my number"on th flip side, back in 69 or 70). I think it was either Hey Jude or Let it Be on the front........
Anyway, I bought the one that is titled "1" CD, which contains the 27 number one hits (American, I guess). I have been listening to it in my car for the last two evenings back and forth to work.
What a joy. How suprising when I hear certain songs. I hear things I never noticed when I was younger. I don't think they've changed the recordings; my ears are just more attuned. The new things I am hearing are the excellent guitar work of Harrison, Ringo's grooves, the vocal blend between Paul and John, and between George, Paul and John at times. There is a lot of doubling and unison, with clever splits to thirds and fourths here and there. And Paul seems to keep up his end on the high notes, although the early recordings they are "raw" in a really good way.
In fact, the earliest 5 or 6 tunes, I guess the "skiffle" tunes etc., are like, well, prehistoric punk. The fresh raw edge--I hear it now the way I didn't on radio when I was young. You can like, hear the amps, like they just dropped mikes down in front (as they do today sometimes) but no direct boxes. Raw and natural. LOve She loves you, and Hold Your Hand, etc etc.
Love Paperback Writer! Love We Can Work It Out.
The vocal lead on "Hello, Goodbye" makes me hear "Band on the Run", "Jet", and "Band Across the Water."
The lead on Yesterday does not strike me to be the same voice as on "Hey Jude." It is a question of vibrato, first. When I play ..Jude and then switch back to Yesterday, I am immediately impressed by a richer vocal sound. I don't think the first Paul was a regular baritone; I think he was a "lyric" baritone with access to some tenor notes. His voice has a nice, subtle, cover to it, sounds totally natural, no "manufacturing" whatsoever. Whether ascending or descending the scale (as Yesterday constantly does) his throat seems to adjust naturally. There is a touch of poignancy on the top E's and F's, as the voice shifts slightly to accomodate the height of pitch. It does not seem to shove into the nose.
On "Hey Jude", the "fundamental" of the voice just seems to be higher. The bridge has a few G's in it., the second bridge has that high Bb on "well you KNOW that it's..." and the ease of attaining it means , to me, that this voice in a tenor.
There is precious little vibrato on "yesterday." Most long final tones seem to end very straight, almost like a bluegrass or country singer. There is a definite simplicity, almost naivity to the technique in the singer of "yesterday."
The vocal on "Hey Jude" has a certain "quiver" vibrato on the end of some times, almost a "jazz" vibrato, a sentimental wobble. The performance seems like the person is keeping the voice, for the first part of it, very intentionally "light." There is a little air added.
The section at the end the leads into the la la la la chant has a little blues improv in the lead voice. It seems more sophisticated than waht early Paul would have done. It seems a little out of charactor, but I have to admit I don't have a lot to base that on......
The voice on "Lady Madonna" seems like the same one as "Hey Jude", but the person is "grabbing" from the throat just a little to spread the sound. The effect is to make the voice a little loungy, on purpose. Nice stylistic choice. Again, the accent on certain wods doesn't seem consistant with Paul. There weren't a lot of tricks" in his early vocal bag. There are tricks in the vocal "bag" on jude and madonna. Did Paul suddenly get savvy? lady...heaven....feet......they........money...suitcase....This is a studio singer.
Anyway, I bought the one that is titled "1" CD, which contains the 27 number one hits (American, I guess). I have been listening to it in my car for the last two evenings back and forth to work.
What a joy. How suprising when I hear certain songs. I hear things I never noticed when I was younger. I don't think they've changed the recordings; my ears are just more attuned. The new things I am hearing are the excellent guitar work of Harrison, Ringo's grooves, the vocal blend between Paul and John, and between George, Paul and John at times. There is a lot of doubling and unison, with clever splits to thirds and fourths here and there. And Paul seems to keep up his end on the high notes, although the early recordings they are "raw" in a really good way.
In fact, the earliest 5 or 6 tunes, I guess the "skiffle" tunes etc., are like, well, prehistoric punk. The fresh raw edge--I hear it now the way I didn't on radio when I was young. You can like, hear the amps, like they just dropped mikes down in front (as they do today sometimes) but no direct boxes. Raw and natural. LOve She loves you, and Hold Your Hand, etc etc.
Love Paperback Writer! Love We Can Work It Out.
The vocal lead on "Hello, Goodbye" makes me hear "Band on the Run", "Jet", and "Band Across the Water."
The lead on Yesterday does not strike me to be the same voice as on "Hey Jude." It is a question of vibrato, first. When I play ..Jude and then switch back to Yesterday, I am immediately impressed by a richer vocal sound. I don't think the first Paul was a regular baritone; I think he was a "lyric" baritone with access to some tenor notes. His voice has a nice, subtle, cover to it, sounds totally natural, no "manufacturing" whatsoever. Whether ascending or descending the scale (as Yesterday constantly does) his throat seems to adjust naturally. There is a touch of poignancy on the top E's and F's, as the voice shifts slightly to accomodate the height of pitch. It does not seem to shove into the nose.
On "Hey Jude", the "fundamental" of the voice just seems to be higher. The bridge has a few G's in it., the second bridge has that high Bb on "well you KNOW that it's..." and the ease of attaining it means , to me, that this voice in a tenor.
There is precious little vibrato on "yesterday." Most long final tones seem to end very straight, almost like a bluegrass or country singer. There is a definite simplicity, almost naivity to the technique in the singer of "yesterday."
The vocal on "Hey Jude" has a certain "quiver" vibrato on the end of some times, almost a "jazz" vibrato, a sentimental wobble. The performance seems like the person is keeping the voice, for the first part of it, very intentionally "light." There is a little air added.
The section at the end the leads into the la la la la chant has a little blues improv in the lead voice. It seems more sophisticated than waht early Paul would have done. It seems a little out of charactor, but I have to admit I don't have a lot to base that on......
The voice on "Lady Madonna" seems like the same one as "Hey Jude", but the person is "grabbing" from the throat just a little to spread the sound. The effect is to make the voice a little loungy, on purpose. Nice stylistic choice. Again, the accent on certain wods doesn't seem consistant with Paul. There weren't a lot of tricks" in his early vocal bag. There are tricks in the vocal "bag" on jude and madonna. Did Paul suddenly get savvy? lady...heaven....feet......they........money...suitcase....This is a studio singer.
