Stevie's vocal transformations

[SillyDreamer]

I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that Stevie Nicks was the only big rock star I could think of whose voice changed significantly with each release.

Sure, the changes weren't as big in the beginning. But I still think you can tell the difference between White Album and Rumours Stevie, or Bella Donna and Wild Heart Stevie. And then of course, each album after that may as well have been a different person.

Can anyone think of any other huge musical talent that shares this distinction?

Two honorable mentions I thought of were Joni Mitchell and Saves the Day. From the late Sixties still 2002, Joni's voice has become lower, huskier, and generally more hoarse on a pretty predictable path. However, she has been so much more prolific (at least in the 70's) than Stevie in terms of releasing album after album that her voice from, say, For the Roses through The Hissing of Summer Lawns was fairly indistinguishable. The other thing with Joni is that her voice became more and more limited as a direct, sole consequence of decades of cigarette abuse. As such, you can chart the degradation. With Stevie, it's more like she went from bright and versatile (70's) to thick and powerful (early 80's) to froggy and wild (late 80's) to measured but limited in range (90's) and finally to an even, yet overwhelmingly nasal croon. In short, it was been a wild and largely unpredictable ride for Stevie's voice as a result of a multitude of elements--not singing properly, cocaine, cigarettes, etc.--and so can't really be compared to Joni's.

The other one I thought of was the band Saves the Day, but their lead singer's vocal changing follows the changing styles of the band from album to album. He's in control of the different inflections of his voice, and that's not really what I'm referring to here.

So is Stevie alone in this realm? Or are there other mega artists whose voices have not only weathered over the years but have morphed over and over again?

[BlackWidow]

We always hear so much about Janis. A friend of mine told me that Stevie told her Joni was a HUGE INFLUENCE. But when they met in the 70's Joni was not very nice to her...I think that is why Stevie does not mention her much...

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by SillyDreamer

So is Stevie alone in this realm? Or are there other mega artists whose voices have not only weathered over the years but have morphed over and over again?

Well, the obvious one has to be Bob Dylan. He's changed his vocal style with almost everything he's ever released, and of course his voice today is quite a far cry from what it was in the early 60s.

[SillyDreamer]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Well, the obvious one has to be Bob Dylan. He's changed his vocal style with almost everything he's ever released, and of course his voice today is quite a far cry from what it was in the early 60s.

Although I'm sure there are scads of Dylan worshippers who would back you up on this, I just don't see it. While I'll concede that his voice over the years has aged, and that his vocal stylings might change, you can always hear that Dylan voice. Listening to, say, Like a Rolling Stone and Idiot Wind back to back, it's very obvious it's the same person singing, despite the 10 year lapse. The same thing can't always be said for Stevie. Compare a cut from the White Album to something from Rock a Little, and the untrained ear probably wouldn't even know it's the same vocalist.

[Sahara]

Chris Rea's style has certainly changed over the years from a sort of general rock to very bluesy-jazz type stuff.
Sorry. My vocabulary is as bad as, like, whatever today.

[David]

Bunches of great vocalists in our century--the century of recordings--have gone through various transformations. Fans of Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland & many, many others often chart their idol's rising & falling fortunes & acclaim by the sound of his or her voice. Entire cottage industries have been built up around the various vocal eras of these & other great singers/stylists. (The critical writing on Holiday, for example, divvies up rather neatly into three distinct periods based on, among other things, the sound of Billie's voice: the Columbia/Commodore years, the Decca years, & the Verve years--with subdistinctions within each of those, even.)

Stevie Nicks is just another example of a stylist whose changing vocal sound can be studied & plotted along chronological lines.

[Tango]

Nope, as others have said, Stevie's not alone. I'll add Ella Fitzgerald to the list.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by SillyDreamer

Although I'm sure there are scads of Dylan worshippers who would back you up on this, I just don't see it. While I'll concede that his voice over the years has aged, and that his vocal stylings might change, you can always hear that Dylan voice. Listening to, say, Like a Rolling Stone and Idiot Wind back to back, it's very obvious it's the same person singing, despite the 10 year lapse. The same thing can't always be said for Stevie. Compare a cut from the White Album to something from Rock a Little, and the untrained ear probably wouldn't even know it's the same vocalist.

I can turn that argument back around on you, though. Compare Stevie's vocals on Street Angel to her vocals on Say You Will. They're far more similar than Dylan's on At Budokan and Oh Mercy.

[tothegypsy]

I grew up with 90's Aerosmith, and I was absolutely shocked to find out that Dream On was the same vocalist.

[SillyDreamer]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

I can turn that argument back around on you, though. Compare Stevie's vocals on Street Angel to her vocals on Say You Will. They're far more similar than Dylan's on At Budokan and Oh Mercy.

well, i'll concede defeat, having never heard either

[goldustsongbird]

Marianne Faithfull. Listen to As Tears Go By... and then something from Broken English on.

[elie]

Originally Posted by goldustsongbird

Marianne Faithfull. Listen to As Tears Go By... and then something from Broken English on.

That's exactly what I was going to write. I was about to cite Yesterday -as an example of her "early" years- and anything from Broken English.

To me it is the most obvious comparison (Stevie and Marianne Faithfull, that is), in terms of voice-transformation, because they both had delicate voices that later became husky and hoarse because of -mainly the same reason-, drug abuse (*useless trivia alert* M.Faithfull was an infamous heroin addict, but in the 80's she was very much into cocaine as well).

Other than that, I don't see anything else in commom between the two.

[Josh2003]

One person that came to mind for me was June Carter. I recently discovered her, thanks to the movie, so I downloaded some of her older things, like "Jackson" and "Time's A Wastin'"...then I listened to her version of "Wildwood Flower" that was released right around the time of her death, and I couldn't believe the difference...granted she was much older, but the difference is really noticable.

[JazmenFlowers]

most may not notice it but Barbra Streisand's voice changed over the course of her 50+ albums. it's not been very dramatic, but her voice has changed.

to me, I love the changes of Stevie and Barbra's voice. I think it shows growth and more character each time.

[ELIUD]

I haven't followed his whole career, but Leonard Cohen's voice is totally different today than it was when he first started.