I have a theory that performances of 39 maybe the reason for the decline of that ability. Up through 1976 his tone for that register stayed more or less the same. For instance, with the exception of himeji, ogre battle sounds about the same as previous years as well as him successfully singing 39 at Hyde park and Edinburgh. But on the ADATR tour, his voice seems to decline gradually. At Richfield and College Park, he sings it most of the way but with Freddie doing the top note while Seattle is similar to European versions with him taking several breaths and not going for the top note. On the European leg, he may have had a good night or two which may explain their decision not to use a harmonizer on the 1977 NOTW tour. From then on, his live falsetto would slowly decline further to about 82-85 where his stl and seven seas attempts were scarce and hit and miss
NastyQueenie74 wrote:
I have a theory that performances of 39 maybe the reason for the decline of that ability. Up through 1976 his tone for that register stayed more or less the same. For instance, with the exception of himeji, ogre battle sounds about the same as previous years as well as him successfully singing 39 at Hyde park and Edinburgh. But on the ADATR tour, his voice seems to decline gradually. At Richfield and College Park, he sings it most of the way but with Freddie doing the top note while Seattle is similar to European versions with him taking several breaths and not going for the top note. On the European leg, he may have had a good night or two which may explain their decision not to use a harmonizer on the 1977 NOTW tour. From then on, his live falsetto would slowly decline further to about 82-85 where his stl and seven seas attempts were scarce and hit and miss
yes and as we get older it changes with everyone also smoking along with other things like talking for Interviews and Flying from City to City the throat becomes very dry also Roger loved to Party and lived the Rock n Roll Lifestyle
Rick wrote:
The Rainbow 1974 screams are overdubbed as well. No way he could pull that off live.
What screams? I suspected that the high screams during ITLOTG were overdubbed, but then I heard several bootleg live recordings where he hit those high notes.
Edinburgh '76: Roger hits something else (out of tune) and Fred hits the g# (an octave lower, obviously).
Hyde Park: Roger 'almost' hits the high g#" but is still a bit flat. He didn't actually reach it.
Rick wrote:
The Rainbow 1974 screams are overdubbed as well. No way he could pull that off live.
What screams? I suspected that the high screams during ITLOTG were overdubbed, but then I heard several bootleg live recordings where he hit those high notes.
I heard bootlegs from that period as well, and they didn't sound as clean as the official release. A studio trick, in my opinion.
I think Roger's higher register last made an appearance (to my recollection) on STRANGE FRONTIER and on the backing vocals to STAR FLEET (both 1983). Thereafter, his voice seemed to decline, with the nadir being around 1987 (his vocals on SHOVE IT are raspy and strained at times). I think he gave up smoking around this period, and by the time BLUE ROCK was recorded (1991) his voice was back almost to the range and power he had in the early 1980s.