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Solo forums => George Harrison => Topic started by: nimrod on February 11, 2011, 11:46:04 AM

Title: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 11, 2011, 11:46:04 AM
lets face it he could never belt out a song like John or Paul could, I mean.....could he sing Oh Darling or Twist & Shout ?

could he even belt out 'it was twenty years ago today....' or the difficult Eight Days a Week ?

George was very limited in his singing, always sort of gentle and not very expressive.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 11, 2011, 10:19:52 PM
savoy truffle, piggies, it don't come easy, everybodys trying to be my baby, do you want to know a secret, think for yourself, i need you. yes george could sing.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Badgirl66 on February 12, 2011, 11:59:16 AM
he could all sings also Ringo
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 13, 2011, 12:21:49 AM
savoy truffle, piggies, it don't come easy, everybodys trying to be my baby, do you want to know a secret, think for yourself, i need you. yes george could sing.

yes I know he could sing, I said I like his singing but your missing the point of the thread.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 13, 2011, 12:46:25 AM
He had a reserved voice, but in his defense, he never veered from his comfort zone in my opinion. Sure he can sing, but your never going to get a Helter Skelter out of him.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 13, 2011, 09:46:47 PM
let's look at the raw energy of the Beatles performing live,
here is i'm down at shea stadium. notice that both george and john are singing backup harmony vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwqTrtri1J0

watch this live performance at the Royal Variety Performance in London,
which includes johns famous "rattle your jewelry" remark and an absolutely breathtaking rendtion of Twist and Shout.
notice the sheer power of georges back up vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvBCmY7wAAU

let's look at what the beatles themselves said about johns singing in twist and shout.

About Twist and Shout (http://www.beatlestube.net/video.php?title=twist+and+shout)

JOHN 1963: "I always hate singing the song, 'Twist And Shout' when there's a colored artist on the bill with us. It doesn't seem right, you know. I feel sort of embarrassed... It makes me curl up. I always feel they could do the song much better than me."


JOHN 1971: "The more interesting songs to me were the black ones because they were more simple. They sort of said shake-your-arse, or your prick, which was an innovation really. The blacks were singing directly and immediately about their pain, and also about sex, which is why I like it."


JOHN 1976: "The last song nearly killed me. My voice wasn't the same for a long time after-- everytime I swallowed it was like sandpaper. I was always bitterly ashamed of it because I could sing it better than that, but now it doesn't bother me. You can hear I'm just a frantic guy doing his best."


PAUL 1988: "There's a power in John's voice there that certainly hasn't been equaled since. And I know exactly why-- It's because he worked his bollocks off that day. We left 'Twist And Shout' until the very last thing because we knew there was one take."


RINGO 1994: "We started (recording the album) about noon and finished it at midnight, with John being really hoarse by 'Twist And Shout.'"
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 14, 2011, 03:02:25 AM
Thats all great 7 Of 13, but what does any of that have to do with the thread topic.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 14, 2011, 04:59:21 PM
Thats all great 7 Of 13...
wow. the "bean counter" approach to something as delicate
and artistic as performing music, playing guitar and singing songs.  ;) (http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/angry8.gif)
george could sing, george could play guitar,
and he could rock and roll with the best of them.
i question what yardstick you are using to measure how good or bad someone can sing.
and this idea of qualifying these eccentric claims with a needless subjectivity.
nor does any of this  make george a bad singer.  ???
i can't imagine george singing we can work it out,
even though he is responsible for the 3/4 "waltz" time bridge in the song.
first there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is.
end of discussion.

George Harrison - It Don't Come Easy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5yzdCa2GE#)

The Beatles - It's all too much (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXjOf7kdHpA#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 14, 2011, 07:10:17 PM
i always thought that george had a nice voice....not great,but with it not being as strong,this is a quality that added to his songs(if that makes sense).i think some of his vocals are really lovely,songs like'that is all','all things must pass',it is true maybe that with the more rocky songs george may be found wanting a little,but george really had the wisdom to do what he was good at.after all,i never cared for 'everybodys' trying to be my baby'.i mean,how gorgeous is 'here comes the sun'-nobody can sing that like george could.a nice voice,nothing more,nothing less.well done george!!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 15, 2011, 01:40:26 AM
wow. the "bean counter" approach to something as delicate
and artistic as performing music, playing guitar and singing songs.  ;) ([url]http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/angry8.gif[/url])
george could sing, george could play guitar,
and he could rock and roll with the best of them.
i question what yardstick you are using to measure how good or bad someone can sing.
and this idea of qualifying these eccentric claims with a needless subjectivity.
nor does any of this  make george a bad singer.  ???
i can't imagine george singing we can work it out,
even though he is responsible for the 3/4 "waltz" time bridge in the song.
first there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is.
end of discussion.




Im completely baffled, is it just me ?  ???
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 15, 2011, 01:47:17 AM
i always thought that george had a nice voice....not great,but with it not being as strong,this is a quality that added to his songs(if that makes sense).i think some of his vocals are really lovely,songs like'that is all','all things must pass',it is true maybe that with the more rocky songs george may be found wanting a little,but george really had the wisdom to do what he was good at.after all,i never cared for 'everybodys' trying to be my baby'.i mean,how gorgeous is 'here comes the sun'-nobody can sing that like george could.a nice voice,nothing more,nothing less.well done george!!

yes, I agree and as I said in the thread title I do like the way he sings, my point was that he didnt have a raunchy side to his voice in the way that J & P did, you'd never hear George attempt Why Dont We Do It In The Road or Im Down for example, or the way Paul sings on I Got A Feeling.........Its a good job J & P could belt out these rockers as without them doing it the Beatles would have been more limited as a band.
I like singers who could do lovely ballads AND raunchy rock, a lot of bands simply cant do really raunchy stuff as they simply have no one who can sing it
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 15, 2011, 05:31:15 AM
Im completely baffled, is it just me ?  ???

No its not just you. The guy isnt making any sense. The thread topic is Georges voice and anybody that isnt Helen Keller can tell you he doesnt have a strong voice. Sure he can sing, but everybody knows he cant rip through the rompers.

Isnt that what this threads about? I could give a f*** less if he wrote a 3/4 waltz. Who cares?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 15, 2011, 08:21:44 AM
No its not just you. The guy isnt making any sense. The thread topic is Georges voice and anybody that isnt Helen Keller can tell you he doesnt have a strong voice. Sure he can sing, but everybody knows he cant rip through the rompers.

Isnt that what this threads about? I could give a f*** less if he wrote a 3/4 waltz. Who cares?

obviously me  ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 15, 2011, 09:39:13 AM
I meant about writing the 3/4 waltz in the song, not the singing.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 15, 2011, 07:10:28 PM
apple and oranges.

better is subjective.  roll:)

cough up that yardstick, about singing. 

your drunken strawmen certainly don't prove anything at all about georges voice or his singing.. fact is george harrison had a very powerful voice, but even john lennon would say that he had a limited range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_niy2ZM5Jo
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 15, 2011, 07:50:33 PM
yes, I agree and as I said in the thread title I do like the way he sings, my point was that he didnt have a raunchy side to his voice in the way that J & P did, you'd never hear George attempt Why Dont We Do It In The Road or Im Down for example, or the way Paul sings on I Got A Feeling.........Its a good job J & P could belt out these rockers as without them doing it the Beatles would have been more limited as a band.
I like singers who could do lovely ballads AND raunchy rock, a lot of bands simply cant do really raunchy stuff as they simply have no one who can sing it
well,i agree nimrod.i wasn't disagreeing with your point at all,i was just giving my own humble opinion on georges' singing.he couldn't sing rock stuff as well as paul and john,no way.he sort of had a way of getting around the real uptempo stuff without belting stuff out.think of 'wah wah'.uptempo and rocky?i think so....but i wouldn't say georges' voice is a real stomper in it,although he sings it real well.strange!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 15, 2011, 08:03:54 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cvUsvp9oB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KynpC1e9I9E
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 16, 2011, 01:25:09 AM
Thanks for those two examples to prove that he couldnt belt it out.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 16, 2011, 02:13:19 AM
george had a good singing voice and a fantastic range, not sure what you mean otherwise.

I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (Rare BBC) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTBivLC9pbA#)

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 16, 2011, 03:36:57 AM
Quote
george had a good singing voice and a fantastic range, not sure what you mean otherwise.

 2ch
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 16, 2011, 07:54:53 AM
george had a good singing voice and a fantastic range, not sure what you mean otherwise.


(http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif)

Why is it so hard for you?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 16, 2011, 09:14:24 AM
george had a good singing voice and a fantastic range, not sure what you mean otherwise.

I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (Rare BBC) ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTBivLC9pbA#[/url])


mmmmmm,i agree(in a way)with the good voice part-as i have already said i think george had a nice voice,not great,nice.but i'm not too sure on the 'fantastic range' part of your quote.georges' range was a limited one.when you talk about range within a singing voice this does not mean your normal voice and a falsetto.now paul had a good range in his pomp,freddie mercury had a good range.not sure about george harrison.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 16, 2011, 11:45:30 AM
mmmmmm,i agree(in a way)with the good voice part-as i have already said i think george had a nice voice,not great,nice.but i'm not too sure on the 'fantastic range' part of your quote.georges' range was a limited one.when you talk about range within a singing voice this does not mean your normal voice and a falsetto.now paul had a good range in his pomp,freddie mercury had a good range.not sure about george harrison.
isnt the range the number of octaves you can cover ?, I think George had about 1.5
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Joost on February 16, 2011, 01:02:10 PM
I think there are two ways to be a good singer. Either you're very talented and you can do whatever you want with your voice, or you're less talented and you learn to recognize your limitations and make the best of what you've got. Apparently George with either not very good at "belting" or he wasn't comfortable doing it, so he chose not to do it. Good for him. It's fine if people stick to what they're good at, or what they're comfortable doing. Nobody blames the guy from AC/DC for never trying to sing something like 'Blackbird'.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 16, 2011, 05:07:09 PM
mmmmmm,i agree(in a way)with the good voice part-as i have already said i think george had a nice voice,not great,nice.but i'm not too sure on the 'fantastic range' part of your quote. georges' range was a limited one. when you talk about range within a singing voice this does not mean your normal voice and a falsetto.now paul had a good range in his pomp,freddie mercury had a good range. not sure about george harrison.
actually that  came from this thread
Wreck of the Hesperus (http://board.georgeharrison.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=509)
but even so george sang back up and harmony on many beatles rockers, including Help and Twist and Shout.
when i said george had a fantastic range, perhaps that was a misinterpretation or miscalculation on my part.  ;sorry
what i meant is that george could imbue alot of emotion and color into songs and lyrics. anybody who has heard guitar gently weeps, want to know a secret, wanna be your man or happy just to dance with you knows this is true.

Top 5 George Harrison vocals (http://thecurvature.com/2010/02/27/top-5-george-harrison-vocals/)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 16, 2011, 05:12:22 PM
2ch
still waiting for that yardstick.  :P

anyway...

..i'll  give you the point nimrod..

anybody can tell you that John Lennon had the more hardcore rock and roll voice.  4ac

George Harrison Is singing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01A_5xxyTg#)

I Need You, by the Beatles (with lyrics) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10CGRLLWwLc#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 16, 2011, 06:30:04 PM
isnt the range the number of octaves you can cover ?, I think George had about 1.5
erm,yes you could be right.....i also meant in terms of 'range' that paul,could sing in a lot more styles too,a broader 'range'.but yes,it probably does mean the octave range of a vocalist.
actually that  came from this thread
Wreck of the Hesperus ([url]http://board.georgeharrison.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=509[/url])
but even so george sang back up and harmony on many beatles rockers, including Help and Twist and Shout.
when i said george had a fantastic range, perhaps that was a misinterpretation or miscalculation on my part.  ;sorry
what i meant is that george could imbue alot of emotion and color into songs and lyrics. anybody who has heard guitar gently weeps, want to know a secret, wanna be your man or happy just to dance with you knows this is true.

Top 5 George Harrison vocals ([url]http://thecurvature.com/2010/02/27/top-5-george-harrison-vocals/[/url])
yes,colour and emotion were very evident in georges' stuff,particularly emotion,that was the point i was making earlier in the thread.one of the main plusses for me in georges' voice was the emotive quality.which in part,i.m.o,stemmed from his voice actually being quite weak.but still nice!!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: larainefan on February 16, 2011, 08:54:46 PM
What about the early days, when George got a chance to sing more?  I thought I read somewhere he was considered the strongest singer at the Decca auditions, that John was kind of reticent and Paul oversang his parts.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 16, 2011, 09:01:43 PM
What about the early days, when George got a chance to sing more?  I thought I read somewhere he was considered the strongest singer at the Decca auditions, that John was kind of reticent and Paul oversang his parts.
yes, excellent point. it appears that a couple of songs recorded with john singing lead vocals were actually sang by george when performed live. and yes i think george has a very good hard rock voice, but it's a bit rockabilly flavored, he could also sing the sensitive ballad.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 17, 2011, 01:53:20 AM
I think there are two ways to be a good singer. Either you're very talented and you can do whatever you want with your voice, or you're less talented and you learn to recognize your limitations and make the best of what you've got. Apparently George with either not very good at "belting" or he wasn't comfortable doing it, so he chose not to do it. Good for him. It's fine if people stick to what they're good at, or what they're comfortable doing. Nobody blames the guy from AC/DC for never trying to sing something like 'Blackbird'.

yes, but my point was the Beatles would have been a much lesser group if none of them could sing Im dOwn or Oh Darling or Money
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 17, 2011, 04:15:33 PM
What about the early days, when George got a chance to sing more?  I thought I read somewhere he was considered the strongest singer at the Decca auditions, that John was kind of reticent and Paul oversang his parts.

Colds, hangovers, and lack of sleep was why George was singing so much during those auditions. No wonder they werent signed.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 17, 2011, 04:20:23 PM
and yes i think george has a very good hard rock voice,


Where are these examples that cause you to come to this conclusion? All you keep posting are songs George sang back-ups too and songs like 'I Need You' which is so monotone i'm still shaking my head wondering why you posted it.

George was easily the weakest singer out of John and Paul. I cant believe you think he's so good. He's a smooth, expressive singer with barely any range.

Here's a great rocker for you.
George Harrison (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ODvpEt2ge0#)

Man, that was great.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 17, 2011, 08:40:54 PM
i don't see where this is going.. what you appear to be trying to say IMHO is that since John sang lead vocals and paul and george sang harmony and backup vocals in twist and shout; that therefore george wasn't really a singer in the rock and roll tradition. or something.   ha2ha
Blowing in the wind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFvkhzkS4bw#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 17, 2011, 09:18:29 PM
Colds, hangovers, and lack of sleep was why George was singing so much during those auditions.
No wonder they werent signed.

explain these...errrr.... rather... implausible scenarios
"dynamic" statements and extraneous eye-candy-isms.
mmmkay..

(http://www.clafoti.com/DICTIONARY/Beatles/B_Beatles57.gif)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 17, 2011, 11:31:40 PM

explain these...errrr.... rather... implausible scenarios
"dynamic" statements and extraneous eye-candy-isms.
mmmkay..

([url]http://www.clafoti.com/DICTIONARY/Beatles/B_Beatles57.gif[/url])


Im sorry 7 of 13 Ive tried but I cant fugure out what you are talking about or why you keep posting vids of George singing backup vocals  ;sorry
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 17, 2011, 11:44:34 PM
Im sorry 7 of 13 Ive tried but I cant fugure out what you are talking about or why you keep posting vids of George singing backup vocals  ;sorry
your ad hoc frankenstein logic is not reliable, the monotonic diatribe forced.. i remain unconvinced... sorry.
 :(
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 18, 2011, 12:01:31 AM
your ad hoc frankenstein logic is not reliable, the monotonic diatribe forced.. i remain unconvinced... sorry.
 :(

 ???
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 18, 2011, 04:09:52 AM
Black Sabbath "Paranoid" Music Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz_6jagv_D4#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 18, 2011, 09:54:37 AM
hey todd-you KNOW george had been ill before recording that album!!and that is a BRILLIANT george vocal there!!years before bono invented the 'smoke too much' rasp in popular music!!!no?ah well then....................

i am really sorry 7 of 13 but i am inclined to agree with the others......this thread is getting stranger and stranger,and i am not fully understanding some of the comments.it is true that george sang more of his repetoire at the decca audition due to the reasons that tkitna stated,it is fact i'm afraid.much as i would love to agree with you,it is also fact that john and paul had stronger voices,and georges' voice did not suit rockier tunes.sorry.and i was not aware that george wrote or sang blowing in the wind or paranoid.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: larainefan on February 18, 2011, 11:40:53 AM
I agree John and Paul had stronger voices, though I do like George's voice, which I think lent certain poignancy to songs.  My point about the Decca auditions was he seemed more confident in the early days.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 18, 2011, 06:20:00 PM
...or sang blowing in the wind or paranoid.
all that glitters is not gold.

(http://earsucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lady-gaga-sean-lennon-piano.jpg)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Joost on February 18, 2011, 07:03:58 PM
By the way, am I the only one who imagines an extra T at the end of the topic title every single time?

Maybe I should just grow up...
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 18, 2011, 07:31:11 PM
By the way, am I the only one who imagines an extra T at the end of the topic title every single time?

Maybe I should just grow up...
there you go.

i don't understand this bagging on george stuff.. or john.. or paul.. plain crazy.

thank you.  8)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 19, 2011, 02:08:01 AM
hey todd-you KNOW george had been ill before recording that album!!and that is a BRILLIANT george vocal there!!

Yeah, I know. I did it on purpose. (Its actually one of my favorites of his to be honest)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on February 19, 2011, 02:16:23 AM
i don't understand this bagging on george stuff.. or john.. or paul.. plain crazy.

Its not crazy when you claim something that isnt true.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on February 19, 2011, 03:33:53 AM
all that glitters is not gold.

([url]http://earsucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lady-gaga-sean-lennon-piano.jpg[/url])



George was looking good on that one  :-*
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on February 19, 2011, 10:42:00 PM
according to sean lennon, that's lady gaga "belting" on moms piano. he tweeted it or something and got alot of flack from some folks, peacenik folks, because the real john lennon might not approve. or something.   roll:)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on February 19, 2011, 11:25:31 PM
Yeah, I know. I did it on purpose. (Its actually one of my favorites of his to be honest)
i know,i was being sarcastic.not a strong trait..........
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: real01 on March 08, 2011, 04:57:39 PM
lets face it he could never belt out a song like John or Paul could, I mean.....could he sing Oh Darling or Twist & Shout ?

could he even belt out 'it was twenty years ago today....' or the difficult Eight Days a Week ?

George was very limited in his singing, always sort of gentle and not very expressive.

About who couldn't or could do what...

Imagine George's Something sung in a style of refrain of Oh!Darling!
That would sound... How???

Could Ringo sing Twist 'n' Shout? No. But he could marvelously hit the drums!
Second, could Beatles be without Ringo as a drummer? Paul plays drums on
Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, The Ballad of John and Yoko, so is his (Paul's) drumming
bad on that songs - or is it worse than Ringo's drumming? It isn't - Paul could certainly
play the drums! So why didn't they stay as a trio (without a drummer), or even a duo
(Paul & John)? Probably 'cause it wouldn't function like a trio or duet. Was it George
(or Paul) who said on Anthology: When Ringo came, everything melted together perfectly...
John & Paul wrote WALHFMF for Ringo to suite his vocal capabilities - and that's why
song sound so good!

John & Paul weren't two bad guys who didn't give others any space.
When Ringo was asked by reporters for band's plans, he often replied: Don't know. Ask the other
members!
- and George once said, after the Beatles: I really like to BE IN THE BAND - I don't do
any dance steps while I perform like some others do, I just stand and play the guitar...
- and concluded,
ironically: I really didn't have career after the Beatles...
So that statement about being a part of the bend (and not the lead singer) and I just stand and play guitar
says everything about George.

Every George's song on an Beatle album is a little treasure. Within Without You doesn't fit in rock album
called Sgt. Pepper, it's too exotic - but it's great song! It should have been a single!
I won't say - oh, they should put more George's stuff on records - if you want to listen just to his songs,
you can make your own compilation, from Don't Bother Me to I Me Mine...
Album Yellow Submarine has two of his great masterpieces:
Only A Northern Song and It's All Too Much.

And, of course, it's impossible for George to have John's or Paul's voice...

And now, tell me that you didn't notice George's screaming on It's All Too Much.
You'll say: What screaming? He's singing it in a rather mellow voice. Yes, true.
But he also screams. Through his guitar. That is, George could scream!
His guitar could gently weep and scream loudly, if neceseary!

Conclusion:
If you want to hear George singing like Paul or John, you are asking
him to do dance steps. And he doesn't do that, he just stands and plays
the guitar...


Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 09, 2011, 12:24:00 AM
Theres so much wrong in the above statement that I dont have time to type it all.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 09, 2011, 05:16:15 AM
Theres so much wrong in the above statement that I dont have time to type it all.


(http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/big/big-smiley-006.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org/free-big-smiley.php)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 10, 2011, 01:48:25 AM
Theres so much wrong in the above statement that I dont have time to type it all.
wrong. there is nothing wrong with georges singing, in case you still don't understand.  roll:)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 02:20:15 AM
wrong. there is nothing wrong with georges singing, in case you still don't understand.  roll:)

Are you dense or something? Nobody said that there was anything wrong with George's singing. All that was said was that he had a weaker voice than John or Paul and he couldnt belt out rockers like they could. If you cant understand that then I dont know what to tell you.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 02:41:02 AM
Imagine George's Something sung in a style of refrain of Oh!Darling!
That would sound... How???

It would sound like sh*t but whats your point? The fact is that Paul or John could sing 'Something'. George couldnt sing 'Oh Darling'. Dont know why you brought it up.

Quote
Second, could Beatles be without Ringo as a drummer? Paul plays drums on
Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, The Ballad of John and Yoko, so is his (Paul's) drumming
bad on that songs - or is it worse than Ringo's drumming? It isn't - Paul could certainly
play the drums! So why didn't they stay as a trio (without a drummer), or even a duo
(Paul & John)? Probably 'cause it wouldn't function like a trio or duet.

Probably because they played live all the time. If they were nothing more than a studio band, they could have lived without Ringo.

Quote
John & Paul weren't two bad guys who didn't give others any space.

Lol. Yeah, ask George how easy it was for him to get a song or two on any of the albums. He practically had to beg.

Quote
Every George's song on an Beatle album is a little treasure. Within Without You doesn't fit in rock album
called Sgt. Pepper, it's too exotic - but it's great song!

No, its pretty much universally known as the worst song on the album. All of Georges indian music sucked and he had clunkers too. Piggies,,,good lord.

Quote
It should have been a single!

Great, the first Beatles single that would have bombed.

Quote
Yellow Submarine has two of his great masterpieces:
Only A Northern Song and It's All Too Much.

Masterpieces? Cripes, nobody but true Beatle fans have even heard those songs before.

Quote
And now, tell me that you didn't notice George's screaming on It's All Too Much.
You'll say: What screaming? He's singing it in a rather mellow voice. Yes, true.
But he also screams. Through his guitar. That is, George could scream!
His guitar could gently weep and scream loudly, if neceseary!

Screams through his guitar? Come on now. Your too invested. George was a decent player, but he isnt bringing that kind of emotion through his playing to the table.

Quote
Conclusion:
If you want to hear George singing like Paul or John, you are asking
him to do dance steps. And he doesn't do that, he just stands and plays
the guitar...

Basically what we've been saying throughout this entire thread.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 10, 2011, 04:05:29 AM
dense or something...
roll:)

Nobody said that there was anything wrong with George's singing.
All that was said was that he had a weaker voice than John or Paul and he couldnt belt out rockers like they could.
;D  please explain these rather bogus/simplistic/over-indulgent statements to me. ;D
your eccentric, garden variety ruminations are boorish and absurd.  
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 10, 2011, 04:07:42 AM
what's a comfort zone and why aren't you going to get a helter skelter out of george. one more time george sang many hard rockers when the beatles played live. you seem totally unable to grasp this simple yet important point.  ???
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 10, 2011, 05:33:34 AM
Are you dense or something? Nobody said that there was anything wrong with George's singing. All that was said was that he had a weaker voice than John or Paul and he couldnt belt out rockers like they could. If you cant understand that then I dont know what to tell you.

Id give it up tkitna, you'll just end up with throbbing temples, sometimes (even though your right) you just have to quit  ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 06:24:32 AM
Id give it up tkitna, you'll just end up with throbbing temples, sometimes (even though your right) you just have to quit  ;D

Ah, these f***ing people. So blinded by their own idolization of the band that anything negative said about them is shot down even though they know the truth. You cant talk to them in a civil manner. Each Beatle was perfect and could do no wrong. If you say anything less than George Harrison was the greatest guitar player and greatest singer ever, then you get crucified.



Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 10, 2011, 07:22:54 AM
Ah, these f***ing people. So blinded by their own idolization of the band that anything negative said about them is shot down even though they know the truth. You cant talk to them in a civil manner. Each Beatle was perfect and could do no wrong. If you say anything less than George Harrison was the greatest guitar player and greatest singer ever, then you get crucified.

Christ, you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be.

Of course you're right Todd. Even the untouchable John Lennon once stated that George wasn't the greatest singer of all. Because people like George, they tend to overrate George's compositions. Before 1966 it was hardly worth noting as far as I'm concerned. Taxman was a good song, Guitar Weeps (and he needed Eric Clapton to weep it), Something and Here Comes The Sun. And that's about it. He sang those songs and he did a good job there. His solo years were mostly mellow songs and his voice suited that best.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 08:46:35 AM
The sad thing about it though Cor, is that I like almost all of Georges output with the Beatles, but i'll admit to the shortcomings.

Thats not even realistic actually. Hell i'm bored, lets list them.

'Dont Bother Me' - Guilty pleasure of mine, but its not a very good song.
'I Need You' - A throw away
'You Like Me Too Much' - Sucks
'Think For Yourself' - Decent song
'If I Needed Someone' - His first really good tune. I like it a lot.
'Taxman' - Alright song that I can listen to mainly due to Pauls guitar playing. Ironic isnt it?
'Love You To', 'Within You Without You', 'Inner Light' - All sh*t
'I Want To Tell You' - I like this song. Great hook and melody.
'WMGGW' - Beatles biggest, bloated, most boring song ever. If John or Paul wrote it, it would have been just another Beatle song.
'Piggies'- An embarrassment
'Long long Long - Another guilty pleasure of mine only to be screwed by the worst production ever.
Savoy Truffle - nice, clever song. It thumps.
'Only A Northern Song' - I like this song too, but I used to smoke a lot of dope.
'Its All Too Much' - see above
'Something' - Bores me and gets too much credit, but its good I suppose
'Here Comes The Sun' - One of his best. Still sounds fresh today. great melody.
'I Me Mine' - this tune drags for me. Brings me down for some reason.
'For Your Blue' - I have never liked this song. the guitar plucks annoy me to no end.
'Blue Jay Way' - Sucks
'Old Brown Shoe' - I like it, but its monotonous. The break kind of saves it.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 08:50:19 AM
There you have it. I really like about 4 of them, tolerate the majority of them, and despise a few.

Painfully average. Oh well.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 09:09:36 AM
I've gone and totally derailed the thread. Now i'm posting about his songwriting. Sorry Nimrod.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 10, 2011, 09:10:10 AM
ha2ha

Besides his own compositions, he also sang other songs of course:

Chains
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Roll Over Beethoven
Devil In Her Heart
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby

Not the best lead singing I've heard in the Beatles catalogue. Especially ETTBMB, DIHH and DYWTKAS are not an example of a great lead vocalist.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 10, 2011, 10:32:09 AM
ETTBMB should have been a John song. Paul would have done a better ROB too.

'Do You Want To Know A Secret' is the only song the Beatles should have let George sing. (http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 10, 2011, 12:18:59 PM
Christ, you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be.

Of course you're right Todd. Even the untouchable John Lennon once stated that George wasn't the greatest singer of all. Because people like George, they tend to overrate George's compositions. Before 1966 it was hardly worth noting as far as I'm concerned. Taxman was a good song, Guitar Weeps (and he needed Eric Clapton to weep it), Something and Here Comes The Sun. And that's about it. He sang those songs and he did a good job there. His solo years were mostly mellow songs and his voice suited that best.

Id pretty much agree with all that, Ive always liked George but Ive always thought he was incredibly lucky to get with J & P
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 10, 2011, 04:10:36 PM
i agree with a lot of what you said here todd,the only things i don't agree with is some of the george songs you like,i don't,and vice-versa....but that is totally 'by the by' here.i think the nail has been hit squarely by you saying that the hero worship absolutely blinds people to the fact that some of the beatle work,solo and band work,is in fact not very good;some of it pretty poor.i read a great bit of a book the other week..........glyn johns was producing 'red rose speedway'.he said basically the band were smoking too much dope and not producing enough quality work,paul included.one session glyn got into a bit of a heated discussion with denny seiwell and henry mac,because they said that glyn wasn't showing paul enough respect....and apparantly glyn replied..."don't think that just because paul has wrote these songs they are great and they are gonna sell.they are not great-they are f***in sh*t and the album is f***in sh*t".sorry for digressing,but my point is this....some people cannot see it.now the beatles were great,george was great.he wrote some nice tunes and knocked out some nice lines on his guitar.BUT   HIS   VOICE   WAS   NOT   AS   STRONG   AS   JOHN   OR   PAULS.thats all,folks. ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 10, 2011, 05:19:15 PM
Todd, you've summed it up pretty well with regard to George's singing.  Thanks for posting that list, I forgot that Only A Northern Song and It's All Too much are two separate songs.   ;D


Id pretty much agree with all that, Ive always liked George but Ive always thought he was incredibly lucky to get with J & P


It's a good thing he knew how to play...

George Harrison and Paul McCartney playing Raunchy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K80DSkTPvIs#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 10, 2011, 07:03:24 PM
i like georges singing, he had a natural voice. he had a nice rockabilly voice, which is why he sang on so many beatles rockers. george was a talented musician and his compositions are works of art.

...but more to the point a country western singing voice is not the same as an opera singing voice is not the same as a rock and roll singing voice is not the same as a jazz voice is not the same as a gospel voice is not the same as scat singing. in fact the human singing voice is a very complicated mechanism which is why no two voices sound exactly the same. so the comparisons made here are rather arbitrary and irrational.  ???

George does sing on Twist and Shout, he sings background vocals right behind John.
Quote
from : Charukeshi in Lahaina: An Evening with George Harrison ([url]http://www.azuremilesrecords.com/georgeharrisonarticle.html[/url])
To draw an analogy between the exquisite singing voices of the Beatles with the culinary arts of India, John was sweet, salty and pungent, Paul was sweet, and George was sweet, pungent and sour. Together they achieved a new variety of musical perfection, and that applies equally to their instrumental abilities, including the joyous melodic drumming of Ringo, who is rarely given the proper recognition. And let us not forget that there really were five Beatles. It is unlikely that their music would have reached such a high level without the refined musical sensibilities of their producer, George Martin...
Harrison's singing voice frequently sounds like someone talking, a quality shared by Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra...


George Harrison and Paul McCartney playing Raunchy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K80DSkTPvIs#)

George Harrison - It Don't Come Easy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5yzdCa2GE#)

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 10, 2011, 08:21:50 PM
I've gone and totally derailed the thread. Now i'm posting about his songwriting. Sorry Nimrod.

no worries tkitna, it was bound to erm........evolve.

I agree his songwriting was in the main poor, he's always complained about getting tracks on albums but his songs were usually weak. Only A Northern Song for me is a very weak song and should never have made a Beatles album, same with Blue Jay Way, WYAWY and Old Brown Shoe, For You Blue is just a 12 bar blues anybody could make up, LLL is drab IMO as is WMGGW.

He did well on Abbey Rd and I like Taxman and I Me Mine, he was an average singer at best (many pub singers are better) with a monotone voice that had no power. I actually think he was lucky to get the songs he got on Beatle albums, the songs J&P gave away like Come & Get It and Bad To Me were better than George's songs.
For some reason fans like 7 of 13 hero worship him, I have no idea why..
 
IMO his major asset was his guitar solo's which in a lot of cases were quite melodic and inventive but he is not a natural, flowing guitarist with a virtuoso touch.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 10, 2011, 09:13:50 PM
 ;D that's total nonsense nimrod and you know it. ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Ovi on March 10, 2011, 09:39:25 PM
I agree with tkitna and nimrod. George was fine, but he was no god at all. I actually think simple lyrics are great melody are the perfect thing for George. Everybody likes "Here Comes The Sun" or "If I Needed Someone" beucase of their brilliant melody and simple, but sweet lyrics. I don't think anybody would ever care about George's voice while listening to those 2 songs. He should've always stay in that safe zone in my opinion. Songs like "Within You Without You" (which I kinda like though) or Piggies or Blue Jay Way are just not his cup of tea. Just leave psychdelic stuff to John and complicated lyrics to Paul.


Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 11, 2011, 12:49:36 AM
;D that's total nonsense nimrod and you know it. ;D

Everything he said was true. Why do you deny it?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 12:51:25 AM
William shatner in Lucy in the sky with diamonds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-yy2URAYqU#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 12:54:06 AM
Everything he said was true. Why do you deny it?
;D everything he said was self-inflated malarky or a cheap insult ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2011, 02:00:59 AM
IMO his major asset was his guitar solo's which in a lot of cases were quite melodic and inventive but he is not a natural, flowing guitarist with a virtuoso touch.

I agree, nimrod.  George worked hard at mastering guitar and was acknowledged by this virtuoso...

Chet Atkins plays The Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bajxt02h8#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2011, 03:21:03 AM
Permit me to stray off topic in deference to Mr. Atkins...

Chet Atkins "Brandenburg Concerto" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ipTcSYzprA#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 11, 2011, 03:32:17 AM
;D everything he said was self-inflated malarky or a cheap insult ;D

Like a two year old, your only answer is because. Lets review what nimrod said.

His songwriting while in the Beatles was mediocre at best. - Check
He was an average singer. - Check
His major attribute was his guitar solo's. - Check although I dont even think he was that great to be honest.

Again, Nimrod spoke the truth and you take issue with it. Instead of posting pointless videos and 'because's, tell us why you disagree. I mean seriously, have a point man.
 
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2011, 03:46:25 AM
Instead of posting pointless videos and 'because's, tell us why you disagree. I mean seriously, have a point man.

In addition to the pointless videos, there have been numerous links to articles.  We, however, are interested in your own thoughts.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 03:52:27 AM
i have been expressing my thoughts, maybe you should re-read my posts. the childish commentary on prominent display here in this thread is tedious and boring.  the videos are far from pointless, but some of the crass opinionating and bullying on this thread sure is. roll:)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2011, 04:24:36 AM
7 of 13, I have not noted any bullying on anyone's part.  What I have noted, however, are your repeated derogatory and provoking remarks accompanying many of your posts.  I have called this to your attention previously, yet you persist.

Members of this Forum are appealing to you to post your own thoughts and opinions.  I ask that you remember that this is a public forum and participate in the friendly spirit that we are accustomed to.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 04:32:37 AM
i have posted my own thoughts and opinions. you are being intellectually dishonest when you say that i am not offering up my own viewpoints or that my posts are derogatory. i have been the subject of numerous childish insults in this thread, and the bullying i was referring to comes mostly from you.  roll:)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2011, 04:40:27 AM
No, it's moderating.  If you perceive it as anything else, then perhaps this Forum is not for you.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 11, 2011, 08:16:49 AM
Disagreeing is what discussion forums like this are based upon. Besides that, music as a piece of art is subject to taste. And that is subject to acceptance in itself.

Should I put this in Latin? ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 11, 2011, 11:38:55 AM
I tried to bring us all down to a civil manner with two posts last night  ;), but they didnt work. I thought the thread was locked.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 11, 2011, 12:36:36 PM
hey,let's get something in perspective here folks.....as has been said before we all love the beatles,and that is why we are on this site in the first place.that we may not agree on all things beatle related is surely human nature,i know that i argued strongly a few months back about the help and rubber soul albums (something or other about them anyway) and a few others disagreed but it was all in the name of being a fan of the band.some forum members love everything beatle related and will hear nothing said against their heroes,that's fine.others like myself,tkitna,bobber,nimrod,kevin (to name only a few)enjoy putting points over that others may not have thought about but it will get the old brain cells working.
there will always be something to feel strong about but let's not fall out over something as trivial as this.i don't see what kind of good posting a video of bill shatner singing lucy in the sky would do in an argument about georges' voice,but all the same nothing rude has been said about anything so let's get back on an even keel here!!!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 05:53:26 PM
...i don't see what kind of good posting a video of bill shatner singing lucy in the sky would do in an argument about georges' voice, but all the same nothing rude has been said about anything so let's get back on an even keel here!!!
hmmm.... i supplied that video as a clear, distinct counter-example of someone whom clearly cannot sing and just is going through the motions. this is not a talking blues number.. but yet we are all familiar with william shatners "loose" treatment of lucy in the sky, even though there is some artistic integrity, it is still a novelty song.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 11, 2011, 06:46:37 PM
hmmm.... i supplied that video as a clear, distinct counter-example of someone whom clearly cannot sing and just is going through the motions. this is not a talking blues number.. but yet we are all familiar with william shatners "loose" treatment of lucy in the sky, even though there is some artistic integrity, it is still a novelty song.
but the point is that nobody has said that george couldn't sing.i could name a whole host of people who i think george had a better voice than.his voice fitted perfectly within the 3 part harmonies that the beatles sang.now come on,mr 7 of 13.i am appealing to your better nature here.surely you cannot put your hand on your heart and say that george harrison had the strongest voice in the beatles.because when all said and done,in a roundabout way that is what you are claiming,is it not?if that question went out,'who had the strongest voice in the beatles',i think i can safely say the george wouldn't get the vote.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 11, 2011, 09:18:12 PM
but the point is that nobody has said that george couldn't sing.
wrong. to be perfectly honest... plenty here have said precisely that and/or have implied the same, and also that he barely knew how to play the guitar, his songs are throw-aways, the lyrics simplistic, worked hard to learn the guitar, etc. everything stated here is just an opinion, but reading some of the tedious, dogmatic assertions here one would think otherwise. and yes i do think george had a good singing voice, as you have said his harmonies are flawless. perhaps you misinterpret my simple and direct statements.  ???
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 11, 2011, 09:31:15 PM
Reread. It is said that SOME of his songs are mediocre or throw aways. There is nothing wrong with that. John wrote throwaways as did Paul. I have said that I think that, listening to the songs where George sings lead, his voice is not the best example of a convincing lead vocal. But perhaps you misinterpret my simple and direct statements as well.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 11, 2011, 09:45:00 PM
Why cant I post in this thread?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on March 11, 2011, 09:47:56 PM
Thats the third time i've typed out a long post and lost it. Maybe I am a dummy. I cant even post on the forum anymore and I dont think George Harrison was perfect. Whats next?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 11, 2011, 11:22:29 PM
wrong. to be perfectly honest... plenty here have said precisely that and/or have implied the same, and also that he barely knew how to play the guitar, his songs are throw-aways, the lyrics simplistic, worked hard to learn the guitar, etc. everything stated here is just an opinion, but reading some of the tedious, dogmatic assertions here one would think otherwise. and yes i do think george had a good singing voice, as you have said his harmonies are flawless. perhaps you misinterpret my simple and direct statements.  ???
oh,sorry about that then if that is what you think....well i certainly never said that george couldn't sing-and i never said he couldn't play guitar either.in complete contrast,george is one of my favourite players.i have never been into the hendrix-y kind of playing and georges' style was perfect in my opinion.what a shame, that you cannot seem to grasp the fact that we are all george/beatle fans who's opinions differ somewhat every now and again.we all think george was great despite what we are stating;-pity that fact is being clouded in your head.sorry 7 of 13 but george harrison did not have the greatest of singing voices when he sang on his own.nuff said.but i like his voice...............
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 11, 2011, 11:45:13 PM
the first thing I wrote when i started this thread was.........'i like georges singing.....'

that means i think he could sing and i liked it  4ac

not my fault if 7 of 13 acts like a 7 goin on 8 year old  ha2ha
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 12:41:13 AM
Disagreeing is what discussion forums like this are based upon. Besides that, music as a piece of art is subject to taste. And that is subject to acceptance in itself.

Should I put this in Latin? ;D

In discordia hic forum fundat.  Etiam musica intelligentia est subiectum.  Quod acceptio subiectum est.



 ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 12, 2011, 12:45:57 AM
In discordia hic forum fundat.  Etiam musica intelligentia est subiectum.  Quod acceptio subiectum est.



 ;D

thats easy for you to say.....
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 12:59:21 AM
Piece of p*ss, mate.  ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 12:59:36 AM
Morsum urina!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 12, 2011, 01:58:03 AM
i like how he says the word 'weird' in all those years ago . .
-
also how he said it was gonna take a 'whole lot of spending money' in got my mind set on you
-
his voice gets ballistic at the end of wah wah
-
i'm partial to don't ever change -  george shines on those vocals
-------------------------------------------
-
listen to golden slumbers and all i've got to do if you think george is in john or paul's league for singing
or yesterday and don't let me down
-
then again - sometimes hearing marvin gaye or otis redding has me thinking that john just "carries a tune" - comparatively speaking
-
it's whatever

. . . . for the first half of the beatles' fame, george played the key role of having a third kind of personality for a certain demographic of teenaged girl to have a crush on
-
so . . . . . . GET PAID !  ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 02:19:34 AM
also how he said it was gonna take a 'whole lot of spending money' in got my mind set on you


I've Got My Mind Set On You

James Ray - I've Got My Mind Set On You (Parts 1 & 2) [Stereo - 1962] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuqGm6FwZgY#)

James Ray   1962


;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 12, 2011, 02:31:13 AM
aw mannn !
thanks for the music knowledge h.g. - but i'm disappointed because i thought it was a george original
-
-
-
furthermore, when i heard an 80's george talk about it's gonna take alot of money to do it right... i was like....
DAMN ! george is pulling out all the stops ! he's dipping deep into that beatles cash to court a girl !
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 12, 2011, 02:37:28 AM
btw - tkitna's summary of george's songs was direct, smacked of unbiased honesty and . . was thoroughly entertaining to read ! lol
i felt the same as many things you wrote and didn't even realize it until i read your analysis
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 02:56:22 AM
Me too, all except for Blue Jay Way.  I like that one.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 03:42:12 AM
aw mannn !
thanks for the music knowledge h.g. - but i'm disappointed because i thought it was a george original
-
-
-
furthermore, when i heard an 80's george talk about it's gonna take alot of money to do it right... i was like....
DAMN ! george is pulling out all the stops ! he's dipping deep into that beatles cash to court a girl !


He made out all right with that song, nyfan, with its three music videos.  I've always liked that song.

Here he is doing it live...

George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You LIVE as Harry& the Hijack Band (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPZ5ueaBJQw#)

...Hari and The Hijack Band   London, 1992
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 03:47:59 AM
I miss him.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 12, 2011, 04:02:19 AM
You posted this a month ago in another thread, nyfan.  It should be posted here too...

Taxman -- George Harrison and Eric Clapton (live) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OgkjcW0g4#)

Great video...Go George!

Go Eric!!!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 12, 2011, 08:27:00 AM
In discordia hic forum fundat.  Etiam musica intelligentia est subiectum.  Quod acceptio subiectum est.

 ;D

Don't my words sound wonderful in Latin? ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 12, 2011, 08:48:51 PM
About who couldn't or could do what...

Imagine George's Something sung in a style of refrain of Oh!Darling!
That would sound... How???

Could Ringo sing Twist 'n' Shout? No. But he could marvelously hit the drums!
Second, could Beatles be without Ringo as a drummer? Paul plays drums on
Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, The Ballad of John and Yoko, so is his (Paul's) drumming
bad on that songs - or is it worse than Ringo's drumming? It isn't - Paul could certainly
play the drums! So why didn't they stay as a trio (without a drummer), or even a duo
(Paul & John)? Probably 'cause it wouldn't function like a trio or duet. Was it George
(or Paul) who said on Anthology: When Ringo came, everything melted together perfectly...
John & Paul wrote WALHFMF for Ringo to suite his vocal capabilities - and that's why
song sound so good!

John & Paul weren't two bad guys who didn't give others any space.
When Ringo was asked by reporters for band's plans, he often replied: Don't know. Ask the other
members!
- and George once said, after the Beatles: I really like to BE IN THE BAND - I don't do
any dance steps while I perform like some others do, I just stand and play the guitar...
- and concluded,
ironically: I really didn't have career after the Beatles...
So that statement about being a part of the bend (and not the lead singer) and I just stand and play guitar
says everything about George.

Every George's song on an Beatle album is a little treasure. Within Without You doesn't fit in rock album
called Sgt. Pepper, it's too exotic - but it's great song! It should have been a single!
I won't say - oh, they should put more George's stuff on records - if you want to listen just to his songs,
you can make your own compilation, from Don't Bother Me to I Me Mine...
Album Yellow Submarine has two of his great masterpieces:
Only A Northern Song and It's All Too Much.

And, of course, it's impossible for George to have John's or Paul's voice...

And now, tell me that you didn't notice George's screaming on It's All Too Much.
You'll say: What screaming? He's singing it in a rather mellow voice. Yes, true.
But he also screams. Through his guitar. That is, George could scream!
His guitar could gently weep and scream loudly, if neceseary!

Conclusion:
If you want to hear George singing like Paul or John, you are asking
him to do dance steps. And he doesn't do that, he just stands and plays
the guitar...



excellent post, that makes pefect sense. georges voice and compositions perfectly complemented the songwriting juggernaut that was Lennon and McCartney. george was a very accomplished and innovative guitarist and musician, obviously his singing was above par, or else he wouldn't have sang most of the beatles rockers when they played live.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 13, 2011, 12:18:58 AM
Don't my words sound wonderful in Latin? ;D

Te simulas Marcus Antonius!   ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 13, 2011, 12:38:57 AM
excellent post, that makes pefect sense. georges voice and compositions perfectly complemented the songwriting juggernaut that was Lennon and McCartney. george was a very accomplished and innovative guitarist and musician, obviously his singing was above par, or else he wouldn't have sang most of the beatles rockers when they played live.

did he ??

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 13, 2011, 08:17:10 AM
did he ??


no.he did not.after they hit big he sang maybe one song per gig?
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: real01 on March 13, 2011, 06:40:37 PM
No, its pretty much universally known (Within You - Without You) as the worst song on the album. All of Georges indian music sucked and he had clunkers too. Piggies,,,good lord.

Great, the first Beatles single that would have bombed.

Masterpieces? Cripes, nobody but true Beatle fans have even heard those songs before.

Screams through his guitar? Come on now. Your too invested. George was a decent player, but he isnt bringing that kind of emotion through his playing to the table.

The "problem" with George's "Indian" songs is that they don't fit our European or Western ears.
John's Norwegian Woods can pass cause it has a little bit of George's sitar in it which is nice to hear -
but it is hard to accept a whole song played on Indian instruments like Within You - Without You
(tamboura, tabla, swordmandel) or Love You Too (tabla). Now, WY - WY certainly isn't a rocker.
But, - if you accept the song as a meditation...:

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you


...then the music style in which is written works, right?

Stephen Stills was so impressed by the lyrics that he had them carved on a stone monument in his yard.
John Lennon pronounced it one of George's best.

Also, notice that on the album Love George Martin made a great mashup of WY - WY
and Tomorrow Never Knows (John's song from his The Tibetan Book of Dead period).
The result is - George's song sounds very... rockery (since it's "driven" by drums
from Tomorrow Never Knows.)

As for the worse song on Sgt. Pepper there are some other candidates.
For instance, song about doing the garden & digging the weeds.


Piggies,,,good lord.

Well, Piggies has nice tune (harpsichord) and fun lyrics. Beneath that, there is
a strong social commentary, with a great twist in last verse (pigs eating bacon!):

Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives
to eat their bacon


And they deliberately put the Piggies between Blackbird & Rocky Raccoon
(songs about animals). Let's call that - conceptual.8)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 13, 2011, 10:19:05 PM
...
And they deliberately put the Piggies between Blackbird & Rocky Raccoon
(songs about animals). Let's call that - conceptual.8)

i didn't know that about piggies. i've definitely enjoyed that song when i first discovered all four sides of the white album
the snorting sets the perfect stage for rocky racoon because it sounds like hogs on a farm
i like the harpsicord ... the middle part of the song has great chords ... and george's voice gets demonicly hilarious on the words 'damn good whacking' and 'eat the bacon' - - he turns into something out of clockwork oragnge.
also, i like the song because it's short and there's alot to listen to on the white album

-
-

The "problem" with George's "Indian" songs is that they don't fit our European or Western ears.
John's Norwegian Woods can pass cause it has a little bit of George's sitar in it which is nice to hear -
but it is hard to accept a whole song played on Indian instruments like Within You - Without You
(tamboura, tabla, swordmandel) or Love You Too (tabla).


as far as this part of your post - i don't agree with you.
because if you say when people dont like wyawy - it's because they aren't used to a whole song of indian instruments.....
are you saying then that george's indian songs can be judged against other indian music ?
because there is alot of good indian music and truthfully, george's is kind of run of the mill in comparison (in my one opinion)
when you talk about the real top artists of indian classical music (ragas)
i think it's more that george had natural musicality and a curiosity(open mindedness/desire to learn) that let him blend indian music instruments and styles into a pop format.
it's the blend that sounds good more than the actual playing -
such as u said -> tomorrow never knows sounds great with sitar drone behind it - regardless !
he was 'that guy' at 'that time'..... he was into indian music and he turned us all on to it . . .
(although western people have liked indian music long before the beatles [read:GEORGE] turned the exposure up to turbodrive! lol)
 :D

Ustad Ail Akbar Khan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hobK_8bIDvk#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 13, 2011, 11:32:54 PM
The "problem" with George's "Indian" songs is that they don't fit our European or Western ears.
John's Norwegian Woods can pass cause it has a little bit of George's sitar in it which is nice to hear -
but it is hard to accept a whole song played on Indian instruments like Within You - Without You
(tamboura, tabla, swordmandel) or Love You Too (tabla). Now, WY - WY certainly isn't a rocker.
But, - if you accept the song as a meditation...:

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you


...then the music style in which is written works, right?

Stephen Stills was so impressed by the lyrics that he had them carved on a stone monument in his yard.
John Lennon pronounced it one of George's best.

Also, notice that on the album Love George Martin made a great mashup of WY - WY
and Tomorrow Never Knows (John's song from his The Tibetan Book of Dead period).
The result is - George's song sounds very... rockery (since it's "driven" by drums
from Tomorrow Never Knows.)

As for the worse song on Sgt. Pepper there are some other candidates.
For instance, song about doing the garden & digging the weeds.

Well, Piggies has nice tune (harpsichord) and fun lyrics. Beneath that, there is
a strong social commentary, with a great twist in last verse (pigs eating bacon!):

Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives
to eat their bacon


And they deliberately put the Piggies between Blackbird & Rocky Raccoon
(songs about animals). Let's call that - conceptual.8)

well i dont have a problem with georges songs, his compositions, his singing or his guitar work, never have never will.  :o
...but more to the point... i guess most people miss the social commentary that underlies piggies, and other george harrison songs, and the entire white album in particular.

yeah the tomorrow never knows/within you without you song on the Love album is just plain delicious.

and you're completely right, Indain music is not a good fit for western ears.
i would imagine most can't fathom the underlying complexity of just a simple raga.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 13, 2011, 11:40:44 PM
did he ??
besides the obvious examples that i have already given, there is this :

source :  http://beatles.ncf.ca/cavern.html (http://beatles.ncf.ca/cavern.html)

Chains (George)
Glad All Over (George)
Hey Good Lookin' (George)
I'm Henry The Eighth (George)
Nothin' Shakin' (George)
Roll Over Beethoven (George)
Sheik Of Araby (George)
Sheila (George)
Three Cool Cats (George)
What A Crazy World (George)
Young Blood (George)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 14, 2011, 01:07:43 AM
The basic message of this thread was that although I like George as a singer and dont have a problem listening to him sing things like here comes the sun, there is absolutely NO WAY he could blast out Oh Darling or I Got A Feeling or Twist & Shout, I expect if he'd even tried it he would have broken down coughing and spluttering, I have played in many bands over the years and seen many singers in Georges league, they are always ok with gentler songs that dont have a great range.

I dont see why some fans have a problem with admiting that the above is the case  4ac
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 14, 2011, 01:38:03 AM
i guess most people miss the social commentary that underlies piggies, and other george harrison songs, and the entire white album in particular.

do you really believe 'most people' who hear the song piggies don't pick up on a double meaning?..... that they never saw a movie where police were referred to as 'the pigs' . . or heard of the book animal farm . . . . . . .  . or understand that real pigs don't wear starched white shirts?

-
-

and you're completely right, Indain music is not a good fit for western ears.
i would imagine most can't fathom the underlying complexity of just a simple raga.
-
are you saying that someone has to understand the mathematics behind the music to appreciate or enjoy it?
because i doubt the average indian person who listens to classical ragas at a wedding or something 'fathoms the underlying complexity'
hell, ragas are boring like our classical.
they're traditional lol
at the time george was doing raga rock - the real hit music in india was pop songs of the time from indian movie musicals
only problem - the words were in hindi. not 'underlying complexity'
-
anyway, my point:
when jazz or big band was huge most of the fans couldn't dissect or analyze the rhythms or notes -> that's for the musicians to do.
the masses just liked it
-
for real.......... people in india hate ragas  ha2ha
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 14, 2011, 03:40:50 AM
anyway, my point:
when jazz or big band was huge most of the fans couldn't dissect or analyze the rhythms or notes -> that's for the musicians to do.
the masses just liked it


The Benny Goodman Story - One O'Clock Jump (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aD6-R62ynM#)


 ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 14, 2011, 05:10:57 AM
music is surely there to bring enjoyment into peoples lives, they dont have to know how to dissect anything, they either like it or not, I wouldnt pretend to understand what chick corea can do on the piano but i can still enjoy it.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 14, 2011, 08:24:22 AM
i may be wrong here but i think george was singing about politicians when he sang 'piggies'.the little piggies were us,the general public;the bigger piggies in their starched white shirts were the politicians 'stirring up the dirt'...arguing with each other,in their sties with all their backing (i.e money?)they don't care what goes on around (not bothered about the likes of me and you;they are loaded,why should they care?)the last verse was probably meant to be ironic (clutching forks and knives to eat the bacon)but make of the song what you will.i am sure i read somewhere it was about m.p's,and for years that's how i've thought about it.people generally don't like the song 'piggies',but it's not really a throw away ditty.....when viewed like this it has quite a good point behind it.clever.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 14, 2011, 09:40:52 PM
I have played in many bands
nimrod please, it still doesn't mean anything especially that you are in possession of any realworld knowledge concerning the human singing voice, singing and rock singers. that's called a classic strawman argument, in case you were unawares. as i have stated before the human singing voice is quite a complicated mechanism... how good anyone can or cannot sing is just a question of taste, personal biases and preference.
... over the years and seen many singers in Georges league, they are always ok with gentler songs that dont have a great range.
wrong again nimrod.  define georges league, this is getting waay off-track and  quite silly here. ??? the reason being your ruminations are biased and are just your interpretations... even so i have yet to see you back anything up with fact or anything beyond unreasonable conjecture.

According to Walter Everett's The Beatles As Musicians.

singing ranges for the beatles prior to 1964

Lennon: C2 > G5

McCartney: Aflat2 > A5

Harrison: B2 > D5
 
methinks that you are of the belief that george had a mediocre or average singing voice.. but that goes next to nowhere trying to explain why he sang so many of the beatles rockers, included live performances and on record.
Title: concering ragas and hindustani music
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 14, 2011, 10:02:07 PM
a raga is very structurally complex. there are different modes, different scale types, different talas or rhythms (http://www.knowyourraga.com/ragagyan/?docname=tala), in all there are conceptually hundreds of different types of ragas. 

from wikipedia : Raga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raga)

A raga (Sanskrit rāga राग,રાગ, literally "colour, hue" but also "beauty, melody"; also spelled raag, rag, ragam[1]) is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.

It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a rāga. Non-classical music such as popular Indian film songs and ghazals sometimes use rāgas in their compositions.

from : Indian Classical Music: Tuning and Ragas (http://cnx.org/content/m12459/latest/)

One reason that Indian music sounds so different to the Westerner is that the major/minor tonal system is not used. Harmony, and specifically tonal harmony, has been the basic organizing principle in Western music - classical, folk, and popular - for centuries. In this system, a piece of music is in a certain key, which means it uses the notes of a particular major or minor scale. The harmonies developed using those notes are an integral, basic part of the development and form of the music. Most of the complexity of Western music lies in its harmonies and counterpoint. (http://cnx.org/content/m12459/latest/)

The music of India does not emphasize harmony and does not feature counterpoint. In fact, most Indian classical music features a single voice or instrument on the melody, accompanied by drone and percussion. There is no counterpoint and no chord progression at all. Instead, the interest and complexity of this music lies in its melodies and its rhythms. (Just as Indian music can seem confusing and static to someone accustomed to listening for harmonic progressions, Western melodies - based on only two types of scales - and Western rhythms - based on only a few popular meters - may sound overly similar and repetitive to someone accustomed to Indian music.)

Western music divides an octave into the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. But most pieces of music mainly use only seven of these notes, the seven notes of the major or minor key that the piece is in. Indian music also has an octave divided into twelve notes. These twelve notes are called swaras; they are not tuned like the notes of the chromatic scale (please see below). Also similarly to Western music, only seven notes are available for any given piece of music.

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 14, 2011, 10:15:19 PM
there is absolutely NO WAY he could blast out Oh Darling or I Got A Feeling or Twist & Shout,
and John and Paul have both said they ruined their singing voices in the process, John had to scream the lyrics into the microphone, because his voice was shot from singing the whole day, and he has said that his throat was sore and it hurt when he swallowed for two weeks after the fact. Paul has a similar story, he was completely hoarse after practicing and shouting the lyrics all day to get the perfect take.

even so i don't think you can see how illogical this is, just because george isn't singing lead vocal on certain songs, doesn't mean that he couldn't sing or that he couldn't sing rockers as well as the others. George had a very unique voice, so did John and so did Paul. this proves absolutely nothing.  4ac
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nyfan(41) on March 14, 2011, 11:00:55 PM
so now it's 'john and paul ruined their singing voices with the beatles?'
lol
years later john went on to sing 'woman'
and paul went on to sing 'maybe im amazed'
 . . you hear that string of pretty sounding high notes paul sings quietly in 'maybe im amazed?' george never sang like that  . . before . . .  after . . . EVER
george harrison isn't/wasn't a born songbird like that, he himself knew it
if you love his voice that's great

but it's like -once again - you're only arguing to be right  - cutting and clipping what is a raga and who said/sang what when . . . 'obviously' this and 'obviously' that
-
-
please brother:
(http://www.jpalink.com/images/stfu.gif)
 ha2ha ha2ha ha2ha ha2ha :-\
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 14, 2011, 11:41:05 PM
I bowing out of this now, for the sake of sanity I pronounce you right 7 of 13  8)

 
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 14, 2011, 11:45:40 PM
 ;D nyfan(41) there is nothing to argue. ;D

george could sing, he could play the guitar he wrote fantastic songs and melodies, deep compositions.

that he wasn't singing lead vocal in twist and shout proves absolutely nothing. for the others here to keep suggesting this is undeniable truth is illogical and just plain silly.  roll:)

"The first album was recorded in one long twelve-hour session. The last song to be done was called 'Twist and Shout,' which nearly killed me. I was always bitterly ashamed of it, because I could sing it better than that. But now it doesn't bother me. You can hear I'm just a frantic guy, doing his best."

john lennon said those words.

it is well known that paul mccartney deliberately sang himself hoarse to get the right feel for the vocals in Oh Darling.

Quote
from wikipedia : Twist and Shout - The Beatles Version ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_and_Shout#The_Beatles.27_version[/url])
..."Twist and Shout", with John Lennon on lead vocals, was the last song recorded;
producer George Martin knew Lennon's voice would suffer from the performance,
so he left it until last, with only 15 minutes of scheduled recording time remaining.


Lennon was suffering from a cold, and was drinking milk and sucking on cough drops to soothe his throat. His coughing is audible on the album, as is the cold's effect on his voice. Even so, he produced a memorable vocal performance: a raucous, dynamic rocker. He later said his voice was not the same for a long time afterward, and that "every time [he] swallowed, it felt like sandpaper".[2]

A second take was attempted, but Lennon had nothing left and it was abandoned.[3] George Martin said, "I did try a second take ... but John's voice had gone."[4]


Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 14, 2011, 11:49:02 PM
I bowing out of this now, for the sake of sanity I pronounce you right 7 of 13  8)

 
well nimrod it's not so much that i disagree with you... and make no mistake about it, i do strongly disagree with the unqualified george bashing going on upon in this thread, it's just that this idea of being a good singer or not, or being a good rock and roll singer or not is poorly defined. but i will give you this, i was wrong about george singing the most rockers on stage, he apparently sang his fair share, and many will agree that john had the stronger voice.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 15, 2011, 04:08:04 AM
I bowing out of this now, for the sake of sanity I pronounce you right 7 of 13  8)

 


It's for the best, mate.


(http://i55.tinypic.com/10e0k1k.jpg)


 ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on March 15, 2011, 06:57:34 AM
 ha2ha
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Bobber on March 15, 2011, 08:09:15 AM
besides the obvious examples that i have already given, there is this :

source :  [url]http://beatles.ncf.ca/cavern.html[/url] ([url]http://beatles.ncf.ca/cavern.html[/url])

Chains (George)
Glad All Over (George)
Hey Good Lookin' (George)
I'm Henry The Eighth (George)
Nothin' Shakin' (George)
Roll Over Beethoven (George)
Sheik Of Araby (George)
Sheila (George)
Three Cool Cats (George)
What A Crazy World (George)
Young Blood (George)



Some of these can hardly be qualified as rockers. Plus it's a minority in the total Beatles repertoire of that time.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on March 15, 2011, 08:36:30 AM
george martin was the expert on these things.....he says on the anthology when he was deciding who was going to be lead singer in the band...."there was john....paul.....george-well,maybe not so strong as the other two......"i'm going to make this my last post on this thread too,i feel as though this is carrying something on that is not going to reach any conclusion.but sometimes people knock pauls' voice and this amazes me....perhaps 7 of 13 just really admires georges' voice and will hear nothing said against it.with that being the case then it's a waste of time posting even logical points to suggest anything like georges' voice wasn't so strong as the other two (which it plainly wasn't;sorry 7 of 13).i can judge well with my own ears but i'm going to agree with sir george martin that mr harrisons' voice was not as strong as john or pauls.and that has been MY personal point since the very start of the thread.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on March 16, 2011, 01:06:52 AM
Some of these can hardly be qualified as rockers. Plus it's a minority in the total Beatles repertoire of that time.
i have already conceded that point Bobber. to be honest i can't imagine george singing Leave My Kitten Alone as good as John, nor can i imagine it the other way around.
 ;sorry
Title: Re: i love georges' singing...
Post by: 7 of 13 on April 06, 2011, 05:54:53 PM
george martin was the expert on these things.....he says on the anthology when he was deciding who was going to be lead singer in the band...."there was john....paul.....george-well,maybe not so strong as the other two......"
thank you glassonion. there it is right there.. george was a competent and professional singer, and his singing was good enough and his voice strong enough, to be considered for the lead singer of the band, during recording sessions as soon as Sir George Martin got his hands on the thing. georges voice was more subtle, more sardonic, if that's even measurable or realistic.
 ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on April 06, 2011, 10:58:48 PM
perhaps we reach the point where we are all happy!! ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on April 07, 2011, 12:24:21 AM
perhaps we reach the point where we are all happy!! ;D
for me that's easy peasy.
 ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: PaulRamon on April 13, 2011, 07:45:33 PM
I'm a great George fan, I really love his work being a Beatle and most of his solo-stuff too. But in fact: he was not a brilliant singer in a way guys like Ray Charles, John, Paul or someone like the great Aretha Franklin was. But it's also wrong saying he was a bad singer, he was NOT!!!!!
Listen to the Beatles harmony vocals, he was very important for the classical Beatles-vocal-sound. Best example is the acapella version of Because (Anthalogy 3), in Germany one say's "I'm getting goose-pickels listening to that", I don't know the english equivalent to that, but I'm shure you will know  :)
What I mean: he was a excellent harmony singer, he also proved that later with "The Traveling Wilburies" !!
I think the quality of his solo singing depends on the songs:
"Something" for example features great singing of George, strong feelings!!!!!!
Other songs remain kind of pale like "You like me too much" on Help and others.
Anyway, I love George, he's may favorite Beatle, although John and Paul always were the better singers, but in fact : I love them all!
The Beatles are the biggest band ever!
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on April 15, 2011, 11:04:20 PM
PaulRamon...well that's something to think about, beatle songs are music, like john said it could have been anybody.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on April 16, 2011, 12:53:55 AM
Best example is the acapella version of Because (Anthalogy 3), in Germany one say's "I'm getting goose-pickels listening to that", I don't know the english equivalent to that, but I'm shure you will know  :)

The voices were still triple tracked there. It might not be the best example. I do agree with you though that George was a great background/harmony singer. Nobody said he was a bad singer anyways.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Jema on April 19, 2011, 12:59:11 AM
I've been reading almost every comment people have written about this topic and I've been wanting to comment myself for a while and now I decided I'm going to.I really love George's voice,it's my second favorite with John being the first.I also like George's solo work because I think his voice is beautiful.Some comments on here are about which songs George could'nt have sang as good as John and Paul and I can agree with that because the song wasn't meant for him anyways for obvious reasons.We all know that John or Paul could'nt have sang as good for George's songs either,I wanted to point that out and others here have as well.Let's say they took a song that was originally either one of theirs and had the other two sang it and compared which version was best,they'd all be good but depending on the feel the song was meant to be they all have their diferent ranges because everyone has diferent voices of course.I know I'm just stating the obvious but it's sort of hard for me to put my thoughts on this topic into words.I'm totally not trying to offend George because I love him but I kind of agree with Nimrod that he was limited in singing.The space between the limits of his singing though is absolutely beautiful and I love George's voice so much :)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on April 19, 2011, 11:03:33 AM
We all know that John or Paul could'nt have sang as good for George's songs either,I wanted to point that out and others here have as well.

See, i'm not sure that I agree with this. A better singer is a better singer regardless.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: glass onion on April 19, 2011, 07:36:41 PM
See, i'm not sure that I agree with this. A better singer is a better singer regardless.
yeah.i would love to have heard paul sing 'something'.i personally think he could have done a fantastic job on that.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 20, 2011, 06:39:29 AM
Stray all you want; that guy was a genius!


You'd like this album, Kelley...

(http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2009-10/1256139548_img055.jpg)


Chet Atkins - If I Fell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4VgRelwQm0#)

Chet Atkins - Hard day's night (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHu-q3DBnwU#)

Chet Atkins "I Feel Fine" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsEAR54ZuBw#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 21, 2011, 01:09:42 AM
Chet Atkins plays The Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bajxt02h8#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: PaulieBear on April 21, 2011, 02:32:13 AM
but, in the early days it was kinda nasally ;sorry
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 21, 2011, 04:43:14 AM
It was just his timbre.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on April 25, 2011, 05:26:37 PM
yeah.i would love to have heard paul sing 'something'.i personally think he could have done a fantastic job on that.
he does. he did. he absolutely sings that song beautifully when he tours. it is breathtaking, sounds as good as georges abbey road version.
 ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: chimac on August 28, 2011, 03:51:30 AM
"Something" for me was one of the top 3 moments from the Wrigley Field shows.  I was pleasantly shocked when the ukelele transitioned into a full on band version of the original.  Good call, Paul.

However, as regards this threat it seems to prove the point that Paul (and John) had much more powerful singing voices, with a broader range.  Paul obviously pulled off "Something".  I can't imagine George ever pulling off an "Oh! Darling", "Twist and Shout", or "I Saw Her Standing There".

I love George's voice but recognize it for what it is:  limited.  A lot of George's songs are sung in a similar voice, and I don't think that's 100% by his choice.  He does what he can and never professed to be a world class singer.

The ability of John and Paul to sing so differently (particularly Paul) is one of the keys to their longevity and popularity.  When they got bored of how something sounded, they sang it differently, or in the voice of one of their idols.  Ie, Little Richard, Elvis, Fats Domino.  George couldn't pull off that kind of range, or one suspects he would have done so at least once throughout his career.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on August 28, 2011, 05:34:31 AM
yes fully agree chimac  :)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on August 28, 2011, 11:19:12 PM
but, in the early days it was kinda nasally ;sorry
don't know how to put it, but nasally good.
 ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: KeepUnderCover on October 17, 2011, 04:05:46 AM
George was always about emotion and feeling, not really powerhouse vocals.

John was the rocker, Paul was the balladeer, George was the melodic guy that was somewhere in between. And Ringo was the goofy songwriter who never took himself too seriously.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on October 17, 2011, 02:03:37 PM
While George wasnt the worlds best singer he was a deep thinker and that came out in his lyrics, I absolutely love the words to somgs like WYAWY and The Inner Light....superb.
George also had a tenth of the ego of John & Paul and is probably the Beatle I would have most like to go to dinner with..
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: 7 of 13 on October 19, 2011, 08:09:08 PM
While George wasnt the worlds best singer he was a deep thinker and that came out in his lyrics, I absolutely love the words to somgs like WYAWY and The Inner Light....superb.
George also had a tenth of the ego of John & Paul and is probably the Beatle I would have most like to go to dinner with..
there you go.

i just plain like the way georges voice inflects so much emotion into song lyrics and words, yet he still can maintain that rockabilly edge IMHO.
 ;yes
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Mairi on October 20, 2011, 05:12:31 PM
I don't see George as a great singer (Paul was the best vocalist of the group, IMO) but his voice has a very soothing quality to it, I find it to be comforting.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Klang on October 20, 2011, 08:18:42 PM

Just a thought: I find George's singing on 'While My guitar Gently Weeps' to be chilling. I think it's his best lead vocal piece with the group. He was always excellent on back-up, too. Check some of those live performances. Always on key and full of energy. He was good.

 8)

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Marvin on October 30, 2011, 01:24:12 PM
savoy truffle, piggies, it don't come easy, everybodys trying to be my baby, do you want to know a secret, think for yourself, i need you. yes george could sing.
I think he did a good job of Roll over Beethoven also.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Ollier on November 05, 2011, 02:38:49 AM
Been listening to the Dark Horse Tour '74 boots and I must say that's the best version of Give Me Love I've heard, heart and soul indeed...

George Harrison - Give Me Love (Live 1974) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvGg9anVRBE#)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Ted Kv on February 14, 2013, 12:58:11 PM
I like George's voice too much. I think his voice is the exact timbre for The Beatles in all the early songs like "You're gonna loose that girl", "This Boy", "Don't bother me", "Please, please me", "Love me do" etc... . Without George's voice the basic timbre for The Beatles wouldn't exist .   
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Dcazz on February 14, 2013, 02:12:51 PM
I like George's voice too much. I think his voice is the exact timbre for The Beatles in all the early songs like "You're gonna loose that girl", "This Boy", "Don't bother me", "Please, please me", "Love me do" etc... . Without George's voice the basic timbre for The Beatles wouldn't exist .
I agree Ted. George is crucial to their (can't find the right word) sound, exsistence...
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Klang on February 14, 2013, 02:23:55 PM

Yep. Each member had a distinct sound, and together they made a wonderful blend.

 :)

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 14, 2013, 04:28:46 PM
I agree Ted. George is crucial to their (can't find the right word) sound, exsistence...

Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?



 ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 14, 2013, 05:07:29 PM
Yep. Each member had a distinct sound, and together they made a wonderful blend.

 :)





The Beatles - Because [Vocals Version] - Anthology 3 Disc 2 - 1996 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SD7y0cSsY#ws)

John Lennon – triple-tracked lead harmony vocals (middle register)
Paul McCartney – triple-tracked second harmony vocals (high register)
George Harrison – triple-tracked third harmony vocals (low register)





The Beatles - Flying (2009 Stereo Remaster) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFrpclWP3eQ#)

Vocals - John, Paul, George and Ringo

 ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Dcazz on February 14, 2013, 05:26:52 PM
You know?... Timbre sounds right! : )
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on June 06, 2014, 10:35:25 AM
Bumped for everyones reading pleasure
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on June 06, 2014, 12:20:03 PM
Bumped for everyones reading pleasure

great thread I started  ha2ha
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Moogmodule on June 06, 2014, 12:27:11 PM
great thread I started  ha2ha

I've been enjoying reading it for Friday night relaxation.

I'm a big fan of George but... wow. Perspective needed.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 06, 2014, 10:48:38 PM
I've been enjoying reading it for Friday night relaxation.


You like this thread, huh?  Well, when you're finished reading it take a look at this one:  A Day In The Life - The Truth At Last! (http://www.dmbeatles.com/forums/index.php?topic=2065.msg46252#msg46252)



It was Paul

Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Moogmodule on June 07, 2014, 12:07:33 AM
Well. To quote Anchorman, that escalated quickly.  ha2ha

Not a very nice Guest.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 07, 2014, 05:30:20 AM
That was a member who left, Moog.  That thread shook things up.

But it was Paul.   ;)
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Moogmodule on June 07, 2014, 07:55:31 AM
That was a member who left, Moog.  That thread shook things up.

But it was Paul.   ;)

Are you sure? Sounds a bit like John to me  ;D
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: nimrod on June 07, 2014, 11:18:54 AM
Are you sure? Sounds a bit like John to me  ;D

Its John, see Emericks quote

Although the overdubs to the middle section were being done separately from the main body of the song, it had already been edited into the fourtrack master, which made Richard's job of dropping in and out a bit tricky. Paul's vocal, for example, was being dropped into the same track that contained John's lead vocal, and there was a very tight drop-out point between the two--between Paul's singing"...and I went into a dream" and John's "ahhh" that starts the next section. Richard was quite paranoid about it--with good reason--and I remember him asking me to get on the talkback mic to explain the situation to Paul and ask him not to deviate from the phrasing that he had used on the guide vocal.  I was really impressed when Richard did that--I thought it showed great maturity to be proactive that way. John's vocal, after all, had such great emotion, and it also had tape echo on it.  The thought of having to do it again and re-create the atmosphere was daunting...not to mention what John's reaction would have been!  Someone's head would have been bitten off, and it most likely would have been mine.  But Paul, ever professional, did heed the warning, and he made certain to end the last word distinctly in order to give Richard sufficient time to drop out before John's vocal came back in.  Listening carefully, you can actually hear Paul slightly rush the vocal; he even adds a little "ah" to the end of the word "dream" giving it a very clipped ending.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: tkitna on June 08, 2014, 12:00:33 PM
Ironically, I didn't get involved with the Day In The Life thread too much. I always thought it was John, but the extent that people dissected it was pretty wild. I never knew it was such a hot topic. I guess I just didn't have that much interest in it.
Title: Re: I like George's singing but....
Post by: Mairi on June 16, 2014, 03:13:14 AM
never forget