Lindsey's not so great shows?

[wondergirl9847]

LMAO!! I love the Ledge!! Discussion abounds!!

Okay, I see what you're saying, Strand, and I see what 4Buck is saying too....I agree there is the right way of singing (diaphragm) and a wrong way (throat), and even tho, Liddy Buck has been singing/screaming for over 30 years off and on, I think he STILL sounds amazing on this tour!! Sure, he didn't do ANYTHING from 1984 through 1991, and Stevie did, so her voice took a beating moreso, but still. I am in shock that either one of them can still sing the way they like to scream and sing the wrong way. LOL

BTW, Kelly Clarkson (American Idol) is a screamer/singer and during AI, she had one particular night where she was REALLY straining her voice, but she screamed right through and by gawsh, she won the dang contest.

Oh, my point?

Yeah, people don't care sometimes if their fave singer can sing or sing correctly, it's not JUST about the voice....it's about their personality/aura too. I hate that word aura...but can't think of a synonym. LOL

[seteca]

Originally posted by Hawkeye
.
.
The chourusus are slightly better because the girl's harmonies are so good, and Stevie really steals GYOW

Yea, you're absolutely right. That's a very interesting point actually: I've NEVER heard a single GYOW where Stevie's voice on the harmonies is anything less than great. It's incredibly ironic that on almost every single version I've heard, her voice on the lines "...shackin' up's all you wanna do" and "another lonely daaaaaaaaaaay"....(i.e. the very last line of the entire song) is magnificent; it's like her voice is suited PERFECTLY for those lines. The Memphis '82 version is a perfect example of this.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by seteca
Yea, you're absolutely right. That's a very interesting point actually: I've NEVER heard a single GYOW where Stevie's voice on the harmonies is anything less than great. It's incredibly ironic that on almost every single version I've heard, her voice on the lines "...shackin' up's all you wanna do" and "another lonely daaaaaaaaaaay"....(i.e. the very last line of the entire song) is magnificent; it's like her voice is suited PERFECTLY for those lines. The Memphis '82 version is a perfect example of this.

I think Stevie's harmony adds a bunch to this already great song as well. Interestingly, here is Stevie's quote from a 1980 Rolling Stone interview on GYOW:

In an hour or so, things are edgy again. New material isn't working out. Serious drinking is under way. Stevie Nicks comes over during a short break. "That song!" She is talking about "Go Your Own Way," Buckingham's song.

"The harmony part is too high and I have to hurt and strain every time I sing it." She is upset, a little tipsy. She leans forward and whispers something to me in a voice that seems too silly to be serious. "Now, I want you to know---that line about 'shacking up'? I never shacked up with anybody when I was with him! People will hear the song and think that! I was the one who broke up with him." She smiles conspiratorially. "All he wanted to do was fall asleep with that guitar." Stevie drifts away to a far corner of the hall to talk to Sharon [Celani - her wardrobe mistressess] and some other friends.

______________________________________________

How cool is it that she now sounds great and seems to like singing the song, etc.

[CarneVaca]

Lindsey tends to strain when he sings live. He is not a natural live singer, in my opinion. I suspect he practices and practices until he gets it right for tape.

Does it matter? Yes, to some extent. You want to hear people singing in key. A lot of people may not recognize that a singer is off key necessarily, but they will recognize that something doesn't sound right.

Then again, it only matters so much. In the Today show performance, when Lindsey was blowing the vocals on Peacekeeper and Go Your Own Way, that's not what bothered me. What bothered me was the lackluster performance overall. In the Dance video, he is definitely straining when he's singing Tusk but damn, he puts so much into it that you just overlook the strained vocals. People respond on an emotional level.

Lindsey puts a lot of emotion and energy into performing. That's why he connects, even if his vocals are a little off. Lastly, I would point out that playing rhythm guitar and singing is far easier than playing lead and singing. This is why most guitar-playing singers do the rhythm while someone else plays lead. Even people who play lead, like B.B. King, are often alternating between playing and singing. When you think of the many functions that go on when you play and sing, it's actually pretty staggering that it can be accomplished.

[rcb77]

This is a great thread, good debate back-and-forth... let me just preface my comments by saying LB is my favorite singer on the planet. He's the only artist who I can sit and listen to for hours on end and not get sick of his voice. I agree that he can sound slightly coarse and craggy at times when performing live (although he sounded great last month in MN!), and that he does have difficulty with certain vowel sounds, but I think there are simple explanations for this.
He and Stevie have very similar styles of singing, which makes for that amazing sound we all know and love when their two voices join together. However, their styles also lead to problems when their voices are overused. You are supposed to use your diaphragm, as strandinthewind pointed out earlier, and neither LB or SN does this. They both seem to sing from their throats or heads. This led to Stevie's voice dropping a register from overuse after the Rumours tour and Lindsey's getting lower over the years as well.
They also have nasally voices, and as someone who has a nasally voice himself, I can tell you that this leads to problems with certain vowel sounds. They just come out sounding a little weird and off. And as someone who plays guitar and sings, I know it can be difficult sometimes to stay completely on key all the time while playing. I'm sure Lindsey can't always hear his own voice when he's playing, and that might cause him to drift around the scale a bit.
When it comes right down to it, LB was never trained in anything, so the fact that he is as great a singer and guitarist as he is is simply amazing. And I'll gladly put up with a few off key performances just to experience the raw emotion and power he brings to a stage.

[4Buck]

I can listen to Lindsey Buckingham's voice for hours and hours and hours... I LOVE IT!

God, that FM Anaheim concert the other night.....broadcast live on the radio:

.......his voice on I'M SO AFRAID is like it's ascending a mountain....it builds and builds, then climaxes .....Awesome!

......NEVER GOIN' BACK AGAIN.......... His vocal is lovely on this.....and his phrasing - whoa!...as he drops glistening notes from his Rick Turner....

The acoustic BIG LOVE.....oooooh! aaaahhhh!... intense, passionate vocal........intricate melody he sings brilliantly.....

SECOND HAND NEWS ....."Do it! DO it! DO IT!" God, I love it when he shouts that!.... Shakes the arena....

SAY GOODBYE........... A great soundtrack for a romance....he sings this so beautifully, too.....so softly.......highlighted here by he and Nicks gazing into each other's eyes....

[WednesdaysChild]

Earlier on this thread, I posted something about "You Do or You Don't"--that wasn't the song I meant! The song where Lindsey sings funny vowels is "Turn It On."

He sings SKY WHY CRY DIE TRY like "skhhiiiiiiii" but sings it with his mouth shaped like an O (Can you tell I sing?)d

And then "turn in on" he sings it--ooohhhhhooooonnnn

Now, someone has left you alone
Somehow you will carry on
You are the man
Do what you can
Just go out and turn it on

You can fight, you can pray, you can reach for the sky
You can heal someone’s soul, you don’t even know why
Turn it on

Now, someone is dead and gone
The hurt that you feel makes you strong
Time is allowed
Make him proud
Just go out and turn it on

You can love, you can hate, you can laugh, you can cry
You can run for your life, you can live, you can die
Turn it on

You can hurt, you can heal, you can reach for the light
You could trust in yourself if you’d give it a try
Turn it on

[CarneVaca]

RCB, great points. Just last night I did three numbers at an open mic. I left kicking myself because I only started pulling my voice out of my diaphragm on the third song. Not coincidentally, that's when most people started paying attention. Singing well is so hard to do unless you're a natural singer.

The thing about the vowels is that you have to shape your lips and position your tongue in a certain way for each vowel. Some of us can only hit certain notes on some vowel sounds. So you actually have to change the vowel sound to hit the note. So an O may become something like a cross between an O and an U.

Lindsey seems to throw in some H sounds on his I sounds. "Like hi always do..." Maybe it has to do with his breathing while singing.

Singing is hard work.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by CarneVaca
RCB, great points. Just last night I did three numbers at an open mic. I left kicking myself because I only started pulling my voice out of my diaphragm on the third song. Not coincidentally, that's when most people started paying attention. Singing well is so hard to do unless you're a natural singer.

The thing about the vowels is that you have to shape your lips and position your tongue in a certain way for each vowel. Some of us can only hit certain notes on some vowel sounds. So you actually have to change the vowel sound to hit the note. So an O may become something like a cross between an O and an U.

Lindsey seems to throw in some H sounds on his I sounds. "Like hi always do..." Maybe it has to do with his breathing while singing.

Singing is hard work.

Oh to have been a fly on the wall at that open mic sessions!!!! What did you sing, if you do not mind "a tellin ?"

I too love to sing from the throat/nose. It seemingly is easier in that it requires less attention; but at the ripe old age of 36, my voice has enough of that after about an hour, esp. singing rock and roll. Conversely, if I start from the diaphragm, I can go on and on, usually to the chagrin of my friends, for days!!!!!!!! I never really have trouble with vowels, which most (if not all) tunes are carried on, until I try doing the voice inflection thingee while carrying a note al la when La Nicks sings live at the end of Sara "all I ever wanted was to know that you were dreaming SAARRAAAAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAAAAA

(It won't let me show that the first three "AAA" are one one higher each, and then they go down a third or so to the last one. )

[CarneVaca]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
Oh to have been a fly on the wall at that open mic sessions!!!! What did you sing, if you do not mind "a tellin ?"

Strand, I did all originals. The only cover I've played in public was Take the Skinheads Bowling, a Camper Van Beethoven tune. One of these days, though, I'm going to break into Save Me a Place. Now that I've practiced playing the song in four different keys, I just have to decide which works best for me.

but at the ripe old age of 36,...

Dude, I thought you were older! Must be all that wisdom. And here I was trying to be respectful and all. Turns out we're contemporaries.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by CarneVaca
Dude, I thought you were older! Must be all that wisdom. And here I was trying to be respectful and all. Turns out we're contemporaries.

Contemporaries it is!!!! Thank you for the compliment and also great minds of the same age must think, well, sort of alike !!!!!!!!

Also, I love "Save Me a Place!!!!" I think the LB arranged the harmonies to his passionate lead on that just incredibly. In fact, I often think I hear him not only in the lead, but perhaps in a higher and lower harmony along with CM and La Nicks.

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by WednesdaysChild
Earlier on this thread, I posted something about "You Do or You Don't"--that wasn't the song I meant! The song where Lindsey sings funny vowels is "Turn It On."

He sings SKY WHY CRY DIE TRY like "skhhiiiiiiii" but sings it with his mouth shaped like an O (Can you tell I sing?)d

And then "turn in on" he sings it--ooohhhhhooooonnnn

LMAO!!! When I first got OOTC and listened to it, and that song came on, I went "What the?" His voice on that song is SO wierd!! LOL The way he says ON.....it's insane!! He's kinda yodeling the word. BWAH!!

[seteca]

Originally posted by CarneVaca
Lastly, I would point out that playing rhythm guitar and singing is far easier than playing lead and singing. This is why most guitar-playing singers do the rhythm while someone else plays lead. Even people who play lead, like B.B. King, are often alternating between playing and singing. When you think of the many functions that go on when you play and sing, it's actually pretty staggering that it can be accomplished.

Yes...very much so. What do you think are the greatest examples of this? IMO...his greatest two moments of live guitaring happen on songs that he has to play lead and sing at the same time: NGBA and Big Love. Songs like ISA and Come (where the lead guitar and vocals happen at different times) are great....but nowhere near as impressive.....neither vocally nor guitar-wise.

By the way, do you (or anyone else!) know what the technical term (if there even is one!) is for that thing Lindsey does with his voice in almost every single live song: where he sings a part, then there's a split second pause (so short it's not even really a gap) and the voice "breaks" into the higher octave?

E.g On Go Insane '97: When he sings "So I go, i-innn...sa-(h)ANE"....the final part of the word "insane" (which I've written in capital letters) is sung much higher. He does this so naturally with so MANY songs live. It's very "country" sounding. A really amazing example of this happens at about 2:10 on the mp3 of Say Goodbye at the Columbus show, when he sings "when the lies come around"....it happens right at the beginning of the word "when."

I hope that all made some sense!

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by seteca
By the way, do you (or anyone else!) know what the technical term (if there even is one!) is for that thing Lindsey does with his voice in almost every single live song: where he sings a part, then there's a split second pause (so short it's not even really a gap) and the voice "breaks" into the higher octave?

E.g On Go Insane '97: When he sings "So I go, i-innn...sa-(h)ANE"....the final part of the word "insane" (which I've written in capital letters) is sung much higher. He does this so naturally with so MANY songs live. It's very "country" sounding. A really amazing example of this happens at about 2:10 on the mp3 of Say Goodbye at the Columbus show, when he sings "when the lies come around"....it happens right at the beginning of the word "when."

I hope that all made some sense!

I was just about to say, before I read that last paragraph...

That's kuntry sangin'!! *she says as she chews on her piece of wheat* I don't know the term for it tho....like you said, if there IS one.

[shackin'up]

Originally posted by CarneVaca
Strand, I did all originals. The only cover I've played in public was Take the Skinheads Bowling, a Camper Van Beethoven tune.

WHAT??????

You really amaze me, Carne!!! One of my favorite tunes back in the early nineties, when I was a DJ in a rockclub overhere! The reason why I'm into cracker in the first place.

I think i speak for strand, too, if I ask you to post an MP3 of you singing.... Would he dare??????????????????????????????


Hahaha my 100th post is about Take the Skinheads bowling, Take them bowling!!! who would have thought of that!