I agree with a lot of what people are saying here. This is a good topic! As with the start of any major tour you're still warming up. The Dallas show at the start was just a warm up phase. I saw them two weeks later in Providence and they seemed pretty good to me except for some technical difficulties. But if you listen to Chicago, Montreal and Toronto his voice AND the band were absolutely on fire and well oiled at that point. By Japan in April 79 his voice was tired and worn out. For the Crazy Tour I believe the smaller scaled shows and venues and the fact that they were probably more rested maybe allowed Freddie's voice to sustain show after show. The tour was in the UK so there were no time zones to cross into, no long flights from city to city etc.
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]on my way up wrote: [/b]
The way I see it:
During the early years of Queen you can hear that Freddie's voice was a rough diamond. The sound of his voice was beautiful from day one, with a very rich tone, also his falsetto.
When singing live he really tried hard to sing as good as possible but his voice hadn't developed yet, hadn't come to full fruition.
He is known as one of the most flamboyant people in rock but the fact that he worked very very HARD to make his instrument AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT is something that is sadly overlooked by almost all.
The fact he made this rough diamond into the ultimate diamond (I'm such a big fan, can't help it!) is for me something truly amazing. I think there are few singers with the same evolution. He wasn't that young when Queen started and had it's first big successes. Something else people tend to overlook. The major development of his voice took place when he was in his early 30's!
What I basically want to say is: during the seventies he just got better and better. You can very well hear it when listening to the shows. His first really fantastic tour is A day at the races may-june 1977. NOTW was great.
The reason Jazz was pretty weak (certainly compared to NOTW) was that his voice was getting really tired. So, as Bob says, he learned a lot from it. Mainly, how to keep the voice in shape.
Then comes he Crazy tour. You guys can't believe how badly I'd like to hear more shows from that tour. He was at his most daring and that amazing voice was in the best shape it would ever be. he even had acces to the higher parts of his range, allowing him to deliver the entire set in a nearly perfect way.
So, the reason he got better: training, training and training (and the fact mother nature gave him an incredible talent of course: THAT voice). I love the fact he was so dedicated to his job. He always went for it!
Then, in the period 80-82 you can hear his voice getting husky(by 1982), the sound just changed. As bob says: it's the smoking!! All the things smoking does to a human voice he experienced: more time needed to recuperate, less range, change of timbre (which he liked),...
All his best shows from the period 1984-1986 came after a period of rest or it was a show played among the first of the tour. Examples enough: Brussels 24/08/1984 and probably also the Dublin shows in 1984, Tokyo 08 and 09/05/1985
1986: Stockholm, Leidenx2, Cologne (2day break) and Budapest(4 day break before that one),...
From time to time there was of course the odd exception (Berlin and Stuttgart'84).
[/QUOTE]
Nice post,
Gregsynth · Member since
I don't think Freddie's voice got husky until 1983. His voice in the early 80s sounded similar to the 1979 voice, but just a bit deeper. I think that was just age-related, but listen to his voice on the Works and the tour to support it, a much deeper yet RASPIER voice. [/QUOTE]Plus the yell-singing from 1984-1986 didn't help matters.[/QUOTE]
Yara · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b]
What did Freddie do to improve his voice between the Jazz Tour and Crazy tour? Example: At the beginning of the Jazz tour (Dallas 1978), he sounds just like he did the previous tour/year. Now go to the Crazy Tour: Freddie's power, range, and confidence increased, and developed this AMAZING vibrato (example "Spread your Wings", Hammersmith).[/QUOTE]
You're so absolutely right about his vibrato. The thing which struck me the most when I first listened to the Rock Montreal DVD was this bit of Play The Game from 2:10 to 2:15. Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKY5C4Zto
I'm a fairly experienced singer, and I've met some good ones from all kinds of music styles, but I can say that *this* can of perfection, control and beauty is attained only by very, very few.
As for Freddie's live vocals in general, the gigs I find him to be at his peak come most from the "News of The World" tour, but all the period ranging from late 1979 to 1982 is quite impressive, you're right.
How he managed to achieve that level of excellence, well, that I'd like to know as well. : ))))
Gregsynth · Member since
The NOTW era was great, and Freddie was great live--but he lacked the power and range he would later develop. [/QUOTE]Maybe Freddie wanted to "try a new method of live singing?"[/QUOTE]
Sebastian · Member since
Smoking was the primary factor for his deterioration, but not the only one. Drinking, especially in large amounts, also damages the voice, same for coke.
Gregsynth · Member since
That was the key factor that wrecked Elton John's voice, and he had to get surgery done.
Sebastian · Member since
Speaking of voices: while Roger still sings great, he's certainly not even close to what he did in his prime. I know he quit smoking in '86, so it's probably an effect of him not taking good care of his voice while growing older, plus drinking and maybe drugs (I don't know if he ever took them or not).
Brian, IMO, sings even better now than he did in his youth, and he's always been a good singer!
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]
Speaking of voices: while Roger still sings great, he's certainly not even close to what he did in his prime. I know he quit smoking in '86, so it's probably an effect of him not taking good care of his voice while growing older, plus drinking and maybe drugs (I don't know if he ever took them or not).
Brian, IMO, sings even better now than he did in his youth, and he's always been a good singer!
[/QUOTE]
I disagree 100%.....Brian does have a stronger voice now then he did back in the day, but on his solo albums to the present he oversings, and that makes him sound like a dying cat....meow!....Now listen to songs like "sail away sweet sister" and 39, doesn't oversing and sounds much better.
Gregsynth · Member since
Roger wasn't a druggie. All he did was drink and smoke. [/QUOTE]Now, does Brian oversing in the classic sense (yell-singing), or is he oversinging like Mariah Carey (vocal gymnastics)?[/QUOTE]
April · Member since
It is mostly smoking that ruins one`s voice. And all these night parties. One has to rest well and to sleep well to have it strong.
Dusta · Member since
As a former smoker, I certainly agree that smoking can absolutely ruin a voice. I can't imagine how he was even able to do his falsetto in the studio!
beautifulsoup · Member since
Smoking is drying to the vocal cords. And not good for you, besides. You've gotta hydrate like crazy if you're going to smoke. And I don't mean alcohol, because that also is a "drying" agent.
And sorry to put in my two cents (or pence) about Freddie's vocal type, but a baritone trying to push up to tenor will do just that; [i]push[/i]. Registration is wacked, and you end up shouting. Even if you're not in the baritone camp regarding Freddie's voice, I will say that his actual singing technique could have been improved upon.
Nodes are basically callouses on the vocal cords. Often they form from misuse (excessive coughing) or incorrect singing technique. Singing as much as Freddie did; it's just a lot of singing! Heck - opera singers sing full operas and have a day or two off in between. So, smoking, drugs, tired, whatever else.
We know that Freddie did not get surgery to remove the nodes. So, there you go - the pressure on the cords continues, the nodes are still there, and they will not get better. Even if he had opted for surgery, he would have had to make sure to take care of himself and learn a bit about technique. If one doesn't re-think their singing and vocal health, and learn good habits after surgery, one will get nodes all over again.
(Sorry, I talked way too much. And now I'm done).
JMO, YMMV, etc.
pittrek · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]
Speaking of voices: while Roger still sings great, he's certainly not even close to what he did in his prime. I know he quit smoking in '86, so it's probably an effect of him not taking good care of his voice while growing older, plus drinking and maybe drugs (I don't know if he ever took them or not).
Brian, IMO, sings even better now than he did in his youth, and he's always been a good singer!
[/QUOTE]
Roger was the only one who admitted to smoke marijuana.
Gregsynth · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]pittrek wrote: [/b]
[QUOTE]
[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]
Speaking of voices: while Roger still sings great, he's certainly not even close to what he did in his prime. I know he quit smoking in '86, so it's probably an effect of him not taking good care of his voice while growing older, plus drinking and maybe drugs (I don't know if he ever took them or not).
Brian, IMO, sings even better now than he did in his youth, and he's always been a good singer!
[/QUOTE] Roger was the only one who admitted to smoke marijuana.
[/QUOTE] It's fun to smoke marijuana! LMFAO! [/QUOTE]In all seriousness though, Freddie got nodules from over-touring back in late 1974/early 1975. The smoking in the 80s, plus the "macho Freddie" vocal style live, and the yell singing during the mid 80s certainly didn't help matters.
