Ageing rockers and their voices...
 

After being at the Live 8 gig in London and having watched the shows back on TV I thought about the state of the voices of the more elderly rockers...

David Gilmour and Sting sounded perfect, their voices really have stood up to the ageing process. Paul McCartney had a spell around the turn of the millenium where his voice was dreadful but he has it back now and sounded very good. Bono too, still got it. Roger Daltrey has never had a "classic" voice but even he sounded pretty good so the question has to be asked...

What about Lindsey?

His voice has deteriorated significantly and was noticably bad during the Say You Will tour. So why is it so? It's not like he toured endlessly after he left Fleetwood Mac in 1987. I hope it was just a lack of a vocal coach or something. I would hate to think it was so bad they couldn't tour again without becoming an embarassment. Lindsey's voice was at it's best in my opinion around the time of "Out Of The Cradle" and the subsequent tour so it's a complete mystery what happened between then and now. :shrug:

I was also a little intrigued by the lack of any member of Fleetwood Mac in the Live 8 concerts, Mick especially considering his affections for Africa and it's people......

Well I think most of the artists were put together by Geldof and company. Maybe he doesnt like the Mac? Maybe because Stevie is on tour he couldnt get the Mac to commit to something? Who knows.

I agree about Lindsey's voice. He sounded pretty good on the Dance tour but since then he's lost most of his range...evidence of that on the way he sings Go Your Own Way now. Bummer. I liked Lindsey's voice in the early Rumours days, that high nasally sound. I also liked him on the Mirage tour. I think he smoked for many years, so that has a lot to do with the vocal chords getting older.

Roger Daltrey has an amazing voice in my opinion :shrug: In fact I'd go as far to say it's one of THE rock voices.

I think we'll agree to differ this time.. :nod: :lol:

To me, it often sounds like he's just a tad off key. I just watched him at the original Live Aid the other night on Channel 13 and had that same thought. :rolleyes: he looked good though, nice abs.

-Lis

Aging Rockers
 

Roger Dalty is ...Roger Daltry
But I find the voice of the WHO is more Pete Townsend, I loved and still love him, and he still sounds good too.
Never really been a fan of Mr. Jimmy Page, but he can still sing, as can Bono and John Mellancamp, Steven Tyler, I mean these guys have been singing for 30 years...and they still sound fresh

I can do without:
Sir. Paul, sounds like he is speaking the words-not singing
(unfortunately,) Unlike Lindsey...who seems to be screaming the words not singing :distress: )
Rod Stewart-----Please...the tourch song CD was never a good idea..
And my used to be, most favorite-Eric Clapton :distress: :distress:
This guy just has no business doing soupy love ballads, pop tunes.
I liked him better when he was drinking and partying' and playing great Rock and Roll Blues- Am I crazy, or does anyone else think he's just ...."boring"......now. Sad, sad, sad.
I miss the days of "Further on up the Road" live...and "Living on Tulsa Time"

Just my thoughts
~~eclipse~~

I vehemently disagree with this statement. While it can't be denied that he has lost some of his range, I still think Lindsey sounds better than ever. The vocals in a lot of his recordings, both studio and live, from early in his career sound entirely too high pitched and almost feminine. The loss of range has meant a deepening of his voice, thus giving him a much more masculine, and in my opinion better, sound than ever before.

Now the change in Stevie's voice, on the other hand....

Is the main reason why I've lost interest in her.

Eric can do no wrong...EVER!

Agreed. Anyone who thinks he's "boring" is definitely crazy.

""Come on you guys""... she pleads, for understanding.

You can't compare Eric Clapton working with a dude named "Baby Face",
to Eric Clapton and Cream or Dwayne Allman, or Phil Collins....
It is just SO not the same

You really like the music he is recording and doing live today?
Sorry if I sounded insulting saying boring, but it just doesn't have the same zip for me :distress:

I miss my Eric :mad:

dreams of days gone by,
....eclipse

I saw Blue Oyster Cult last night. They still sounded exactly the same and rocked out big time. Their set was pretty good.

Agreeing with Chili D...Clapton is still one of the greatest guitarists and musicians ever--hands down. I will always love his music.

Although your question of "Am I crazy or... " was rhetorical, I gave you an honest answer. :shrug:

Just my opinion.

His voice is amazing on Tommy and Quadrophenia :nod:

Much better than those Oasis lads ;)

Me, too. I love his voice.

I agree. But for a while there his voice was in dreadful shape. He dodged every high note he could. He must be doing vocal exercises, which is what they all should have been doing from the very begining but I'm sure at the time it was considered very un-rock and roll.
Lindsey smoked so that is probably what hurt him. I don't think he feels it important to do any vocal exercises.

His performance this time was better than it was 20 years ago. :nod:

I agree with this, too. I prefer his newer voice to his older one, and I think he's gotten a better sense of how to use it. It wouldn't hurt him to get a voice coach for the tours, but I still love his voice. On the other hand, Stevie got a voice coach and look what happened to her. Maybe he should stay away from one.

Ah, but I don't think that matters so much in a rock group. It's the passion and feeling that's the key. I'm sure Celine always sounds perfect but you can keep her. :)
I also think Lou Reed is one of the great rock voices and his style is just to speak-sing. Sounds damn good too.

Some of the greatest singers who can't sing: David Bowie, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed... there are probably quite a few more.

I'd have any of those any day over technically perfect but passionless singers.

Whew, I'm not alone!

When was Daltrey's voice in bad shape? Was it in the 1980s?

The man is 62 years old. We're lucky to have him at all.
The man had thyroid cancer. He can't belt it out the way he used to. It's a miracle he can still sing. If I remember correctly, his standards CD sold pretty well.
Clapton is still as solid a performer as he ever was, in fact he's more precise now that he's off the drugs and sober. I wouldn't call his show boring by any stretch of the imagination. His last hit ballad was a song about his son falling out of a window and dying.

It'd be pretty hard for him to work with a dead guy again, don't you think?

He actually recorded three of those American Songbook albums. They apparently were hugely successful. They're not my kind of thing, but my mother has all three.

Jimmy Page is the guitarist. It's Robert Plant who sings.
I don't think I've ever even heard Jimmy sing in fact...

They're insufferable. Now every veteran artist is doing them, Carly Simon being the newest recruit. Have mercy.

Well, I saw them live in the late 90's, so that's one time I can think of and if you have the Live Aid DVD, again, not a great performance, IMO and the 9/11 benefit show, he does the same thing. I was amazed at how good he sounded the other day.
I also saw them in the late 80's and I'd say his voice was okay but Townsend was playing acoustic guitar because of his hearing problem so that was a bit of a disappointment. I think Roger and Entwistle basically carried that show.

Yeah but you have to admit she sounds better these days then she did during the late 80s, early 90s. She sounded fantastic on The Dance and Enchanted tours.

As for Lindsey, I think he sounds great these days personally.

Nope. Even when he went solo, he had David Coverdale or the Black Crowes singing. I can't think of one song I've ever heard him sing.

It's not my thing but apparently a lot of people are buying them. :shrug:

Both times I've seen old Rog he's been great thankfully.
I'm glad Pete is playing electric guitar again these days, I remember his 'acoustic period' and it was such a disappointment. Can't really do an effective windmill with an acoustic!

I must check out the Live Aid DVD again...

Well, to cut Roger some slack, I will say that a lot of singer have trouble getting their breath here because the air is so thin. It's hard for anyone to belt it out at almost 6000 feet above sea level. :lol:

Anything sounds better than the late 80s/early 90s, my dear! :laugh: Those years were torturous. The period from '94-'98 is one of my favorites in terms of her voice. I just downloaded the East Rutherford show from '97 and it really makes me miss those days, and they were only eight years ago. She was on ****ing fire.

Me, too. :xoxo:

You just proved MY point. That Eric CAN work with BabyFace, DUANE Allman, Phil Collins...let's also name BB King, Steve Winwood, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughn, Sheryl Crow, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Dylan.

He works with EVERYBODY, any genre, anywhere, anytime. It's all Eric.

If you think he's "boring", I suggest either you listen harder or open your mind. :shrug:

I know, isn't it shocking? :laugh: At least when Midler did it, she took a unique approach to it by doing songs from only one artist and completely revamping them.

Good point. Daltrey has certainly never lacked for passion in his singing.

I also adore Neil Young's voice, although I have to be in the mood for it, otherwise it grates on me. Whenever I put on 'Harvest Moon' it makes me cry overy time; it's absolutely beautiful even though his voice totally sucks LOL.

-Lis

And...
 

Harvest Moon is a gorgeous album. You're totally right about his voice. He can't sing, but sometimes his voice sounds so sweet other times it can be really annoying! :nod: I do love Neil though.

I remember that too Christy and I totally agree :D

Opinions...and tastes, and wrong names
 

I have seemed to anger or at least upset some of my buddies here with my Clapton observations-
Sorry it wasn't my intention, I was just stating MY opinion, that I perfer the older Clapton tunes to thye newer
NOTE: The last ballad he has recorded is NOT about his son 's fall- that was years ago and it was a beautiful song. I am not talking about the unplugged Clapton years I am talking about the last maybe, 2 years...
If my opinion is different than yours...I think that is OK-Right?
Now to correct myself, I was incorrect to mention Jimmy Page in place of Robert Plante-----Just got confused :eek:
One of the best shows I ever saw was with Jimmy Page and the band was THE FIRM-
Sorry again for my error
~~eclipse~~

Of course, I'm not mad, just having a conversation.
ON EDIT: Are you talking about Change The World?

Whose lead singer was Paul Rodgers of Bad Company. Still a great voice. :thumbsup:

Sure. :wavey: Just havin' a Clapton discussion. :nod:

Are you including the album with BB King? A collaboration that was LONG overdue.

Are you including the One More Car, One More Rider concert DVD? (with the killer version of "River Of Tears"...didn't care for the Pilgrim album studio version all that much when it was released, but that live version just TUGGED at the heartstrings and made me listen to the studio version in a whole new way) Just a great concert all-around.

Are you including the Sessions for Robert j & the Me & Mr. Johnson albums? Jeez, Clapton doing a whole album of Robert Johnson tunes? What more can ya ask for?

All that said, since its release, the live Derek & Dominoes album gets more play from me than any other Clapton album. So go figure.

I USED to share your opinion about the "sloppy drunk Clapton" years, but in listening to that stuff now, he just sounds "sloppy drunk" and his guitar tone is really thin & weak.