Odd question
 

This is a very odd question, but I'm going to ask. Does anyone think Christine sounds like a man when she sings or talks? Two people told me that she sounds like a man. I don't think she does.

Thank you!

I think her accent gives that illusion but I do agree that she has a feminine voice.

I don't, but then I knew even before i started listening to her music.
However, friends who nothing about FM have have always first thought it was a guy. Depends on the song I guess too.

My wife (a Fleetwood Mac hater) always says Christine is just a man in drag... :lol:

Oh and Honey Hi has just come on my iTunes shuffle as I'm typing this...spooky!

I had a friend who heard her sing "Love In Store" on the Mirage video and thought it was a man until she looked at the screen. Her voice is on the deep side, but I don't think she sounds like a man.

I can see people thinking Christine's voice is that of a man, but it really isn't "manly" in as much it isn't "womanly" in a high pitched soprano style.

Plus Christine's general vocal style is more subdued and almost sensual.

The first time I heard her speaking voice, I was suprised how British it sounded. Yet when she sings, she doesn't sound British. Does that make sense? :shrug:

I do think her voice leans towards the genderless, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Some of my favorite male artists have effeminate voices. In fact, I think it often makes a singer more interesting--I can't think of another artist who sounds like Christine.

Before I owned Rumours I would hear Don't Stop played on the radio quite frequently and had no idea Lindsey sang on it until I bought the album. So in that sense one might think Chris sounds like a man but that might be the only song we could compare it to.

Many English singers sing with an American accent. The Beatles did; which makes it cool.

Before I knew who Fleetwood Mac was, and when I heard Don't Stop, I also thought that it was a man singing the whole thing. Also, friends of mine who heard The Smile I Live For thought it was a man singing. I've heard interviews with her where she was obviously tired and perhaps had been smoking a lot and I can see how people might mistake her voice for a man's if they only heard a very short snippet.

As for the accent thing (Brits not sounding as British when they sing as when they speak), it has something to do with the fact that when we sing, we only hold vowel sounds. I think it has to do with a large part of the accent being made up of the consonant and vowel sounds and how they sound together and the lengthening of the vowel sound when we sing makes all singing sound more similar. I read about that in grad school, but man, that was a long time ago. Anyway, I totally agree. The first time I heard Christine speak I was flabbergasted at how strong her British accent was. She must have taught Stevie how to sing "can't" in Everybody Loves You. :)

Kevin

Well I'm glad what I said makes some sense! :cool:

Well, Lindsey sometimes sounds like a woman, so it gets confusing when they're singing together. Gotta be an expert to know who's asking to hold me. Michele

Fleetwood Mac: two shemales and a goat.

That's interesting & seems to make perfect sense.

That's so true. I think Lindsey sounds like a woman in I'm So Afraid. Am I crazy for saying that.
Another song you have to be an expert on Christie & Lindsey is Think About Me. My cousin thinks he sounds like a woman in Crystal.

^^^^ Is it Chris or Lindsey that sings... "come on and...." hold me, hold meeee eeeeeeeee

Also, keep in mind that enhancing the vocals with tape speed and other tweaks in the studio can make a man sound more female, and vice versa. Those repulsive grunts on "Big Love" are a kind of extreme example.

It never occurred to me that Chris sounds like a man or that Lindsey sounds like a woman, but maybe that's because I know both of their voices so well. They do have very similar vocal ranges which makes for the perfect unison singing on "Don't Stop" and a few other songs.

World Turning comes to mind..

Hmm... I've never thought Christine's voice in the Buckingham/Nicks era of FMac ever sounded like a man... Speaking voice maybe.. but I blame a lot of that on the ciggies.

I've always found it interesting that there is a Christine/Lindsey blend (can't really call it a duet) on every album.... World Turning, Don't Stop, Think About Me, Hold Me, Isn't it Midnight.

I always thought he was a little bit in awe of her, as she was classically trained and he was self-taught.

Don't forget Mystified.. :)

Feminine voice
 

Christine never sounded like a man to me, not singing or speaking. If anything, Stevie's speaking voice might get mistaken for a man!

I can think of a couple of singers with vaguely similar timbres as Christine: Jon Anderson of Yes and Sandy Denny. For years I was convinced that the lead singer of Yes was a woman. And even when I first saw Jon Anderson in a concert video, I still thought the lead singer of Yes was a woman, albeit, a tragically unattractive woman. :lol: I have also thought that, purely in terms of tone, Christine sometimes sounded like Barbra Streisand; they both share that French horn-sounding range. Of course Barbra can sing rings around Christine in terms of vocal range and power; however, when she sings softly, you can sometimes hear Christine.

I have to admit that when I first heard the Fleetwood Mac Live (1980) album, I thought it was Lindsey speaking the introduction to "Over and Over." At first I thought, why is Lindsey affecting a British accent? What a pompous jerk. :lol: I think this kinda validates the OP's assertion that Christine speaks like a man. She really does!

I also think the key and tone she sings Love In Store (live) sounds male. I love the character of her voice. She has tone and gender range. :)

I think it all depends on the song that Chris is singing. Songs like Out of My Mind, she sounds very angelic.

:shrug: :shrug:

She should have called it Out of My Mind instead of Only Over You, because it might be easier not to get confused. Right now, I might say Over My Head when I mean Only Over You, even though they sound nothing alike.

Michele

I used to say Hold Me vs Got A Hold On Me back in the day... :eek:

Thank you for saying that. I told my best friend that when Stevie speaks, she can sound like a man. She thought I was crazy. I'm glad someone agrees with me.