Ousetunes
07-10-2008, 14:11
Who, in your most humble opinion, was the better or even best singer in the Beatles? Who was the best singer even when their Beatle days had passed? Was it the raucous Lennon tearing his larynx to pieces on Twist and Shout or wailing like a banshee on Yer Blues? Or was it Uncle Paul with his comfy, gentle voice singing Yesterday or Here, There And Everywhere?
Maybe you preferred dear old George and the husky tones of You Like Me Too Much or the slightly weak but attractively delicate vocal on The Inner Light? Maybe Ringo even...oh; leave that one for another day, huh?
On purpose though, I've portrayed each Beatle in the erroneous light generally given when summing up each Beatle's vocal style. Lennon as the rock and roll belter, Paul the crooner and George as the weaker-but-still-decent singer.
Which, of course, just won't do with me!
Because for every Lennon singing Bad Boy, there's a Paul singing I'm Down or Kansas City. For every Paul singing The Long And Winding Road, there's a Lennon singing Julia or Girl. The fact being, that for all the labels the media attached to the Beatles, they were wrong because all of them were good singers who could deliver in a variety of styles. Even George, in the early days had quite a nice little rock and roll voice, distorting nicely on stuff like Three Cool Cats and Roll Over Beethoven.
However, Paul was, and would be the most versatile vocalist both with and beyond the Beatles. George was restricted but at least knew his vocal limits. Lennon could rock with the best, be gentle and soothing but rarely had a 'somewhere inbetween'. Thus, it's hard to state which was, by definition, the best singer but I think, outside of the Beatles, their reputations as rock and roll or ballady singers takes a bit of a twist.
Paul's voice never sounded better as a rock singer than when he fronted Wings. He out-Lennoned Lennon on stuff like Let Me Roll It and Soily. Even today, listening to Wings Over America, his voice astonishes me. Lennon, once he'd moved on from the Instant Karmas and Power To The Peoples, gave us some beautiful, melodic and gently yearning vocals on Imagine (the album) but the best a few years later on Walls And Bridges, an album which truly captured the beauty in Lennon's singing voice (Bless You, #9 Dream and Scared. Also, Old Dirt Road). Both Beatles, in their 30s showing us just how good they were as singers (and reminding us of just how young they were when they were Beatles).
George rarely stretched his vocals but he could also sing with feeling and emotion. Songs like Soft Hearted Hanna, Your Love Is Forever and Someplace Else; beautifully sung and always in a setting where you awaited the guitar break or slide solo.
And in a strange way, I'll end on these little notes, that Paul McCartney sung Long Tall Sally in one take (a live session, music and vocal recorded in one) and Lennon did likewise on Twist And Shout (his voice had gone by the time a second attempt was made). Paul's finest rock vocal is on a throw away little song called The Pound Is Sinking (Tug Of War, 1982) - listen to the middle eight - and for my money, Lennon's Jealous Guy is the most beautiful vocal he ever recorded. With the Beatles, the Anthology version of It's Only Love shows a great, hoarsy rock vocal.
And stranger still, I loved George's voice - and still do - more than the others. 'Let me in here, I know I've been here' - sublime and so George.
Maybe you preferred dear old George and the husky tones of You Like Me Too Much or the slightly weak but attractively delicate vocal on The Inner Light? Maybe Ringo even...oh; leave that one for another day, huh?
On purpose though, I've portrayed each Beatle in the erroneous light generally given when summing up each Beatle's vocal style. Lennon as the rock and roll belter, Paul the crooner and George as the weaker-but-still-decent singer.
Which, of course, just won't do with me!
Because for every Lennon singing Bad Boy, there's a Paul singing I'm Down or Kansas City. For every Paul singing The Long And Winding Road, there's a Lennon singing Julia or Girl. The fact being, that for all the labels the media attached to the Beatles, they were wrong because all of them were good singers who could deliver in a variety of styles. Even George, in the early days had quite a nice little rock and roll voice, distorting nicely on stuff like Three Cool Cats and Roll Over Beethoven.
However, Paul was, and would be the most versatile vocalist both with and beyond the Beatles. George was restricted but at least knew his vocal limits. Lennon could rock with the best, be gentle and soothing but rarely had a 'somewhere inbetween'. Thus, it's hard to state which was, by definition, the best singer but I think, outside of the Beatles, their reputations as rock and roll or ballady singers takes a bit of a twist.
Paul's voice never sounded better as a rock singer than when he fronted Wings. He out-Lennoned Lennon on stuff like Let Me Roll It and Soily. Even today, listening to Wings Over America, his voice astonishes me. Lennon, once he'd moved on from the Instant Karmas and Power To The Peoples, gave us some beautiful, melodic and gently yearning vocals on Imagine (the album) but the best a few years later on Walls And Bridges, an album which truly captured the beauty in Lennon's singing voice (Bless You, #9 Dream and Scared. Also, Old Dirt Road). Both Beatles, in their 30s showing us just how good they were as singers (and reminding us of just how young they were when they were Beatles).
George rarely stretched his vocals but he could also sing with feeling and emotion. Songs like Soft Hearted Hanna, Your Love Is Forever and Someplace Else; beautifully sung and always in a setting where you awaited the guitar break or slide solo.
And in a strange way, I'll end on these little notes, that Paul McCartney sung Long Tall Sally in one take (a live session, music and vocal recorded in one) and Lennon did likewise on Twist And Shout (his voice had gone by the time a second attempt was made). Paul's finest rock vocal is on a throw away little song called The Pound Is Sinking (Tug Of War, 1982) - listen to the middle eight - and for my money, Lennon's Jealous Guy is the most beautiful vocal he ever recorded. With the Beatles, the Anthology version of It's Only Love shows a great, hoarsy rock vocal.
And stranger still, I loved George's voice - and still do - more than the others. 'Let me in here, I know I've been here' - sublime and so George.