I've been listening to Dallas 1978 pretty frequently, and something sounds really wrong with Freddie's voice throughout the entire gig:
Despite being the first show of the Jazz Tour, he sounds tired and is squeaking and squawking on random notes. When he attempts to hit notes in the G4 range and up, he would often "air" the note, or "squeal" it. I know his voice wasn't in the best shape at the end of the 1978 leg (Toronto, Chicago, etc), but at least there, he was able to "control" his voice to an extent, and hit solid Ab4s on songs.
Before Sebastian's site went down, he had written that the Jazz album sessions went up to October 1978. The Dallas show was on 10/28/1978. Did Freddie actually record vocals up to October 1978, then go out on tour shortly after? His voice just sounds "shot" on Dallas 1978 (like he was either using it a lot, or something).
If that assumption is true, then it explains why he sounded hit-and-miss on the 1978 Jazz Tour: He didn't recover his voice fully after the album sessions, and his voice was "off balance" for the tour!
You're probably bang on. A simple matter of him not having enough time to rest his voice.
Freddie sounded his best in 1981, and their touring schedule was very sporadic. Coincidence? Unlikely.
The Real Wizard wrote:
You're probably bang on. A simple matter of him not having enough time to rest his voice.
Freddie sounded his best in 1981, and their touring schedule was very sporadic. Coincidence? Unlikely.
Why would Queen tour so quickly after recording the album? If Freddie did record up to October, then that set the stage for that "tired" voice throughout the 1978 leg. I was looking throughout the recording sessions for the albums, and the Jazz tour was the only tour (besides from the Opera tour) where they went out touring the same month that they finished recording the album!
If Queen started the tour at around the NY 1978 dates (mid November), Freddie would probably be fine!
If Queen recording up until October 78 then they were more than likely finishing the mixing and mastering the tracks. The band had to get on with rehearsing for the upcoming tour and getting the show just right. Personally I doubt they were still recording in October. And Gregsynth, I saw them in Providence right before the NYC shows and his voice was great that night!
Jazz 78 wrote:
If Queen recording up until October 78 then they were more than likely finishing the mixing and mastering the tracks. The band had to get on with rehearsing for the upcoming tour and getting the show just right. Personally I doubt they were still recording in October. And Gregsynth, I saw them in Providence right before the NYC shows and his voice was great that night!
Ah, you made a good point as well--rehearsals: Maybe Freddie was pushing his voice a bit too hard in the rehearsals, and maybe worn his voice a bit for the actual tour!
Sounds like Providence was a great show! Do you have any awesome fan stories? :)
Hell, some bands were touring during the recording sessions. Pink Floyd is probably the best example. Their 1972 tour was ace, playing an embryonic version of DSOTM. It's really nice to hear how those songs developed throughout that year.
To Gregsynth:
Yeah, I have a lot of fan stories. When in Providence that night there were apparently some issues going on with the lighting rig. My cousin Joe was their lighting director at the time and midway through the gig Freddie starts yelling about how, "these lights suck!" I wasn't sure what was going on but I could see Joe at his console down on the floor. Freddie did it again a few nights later in Long Island where after, I think it was Brighton Rock, he once again yelled from the stage, "let's have some fucking lights!" Then he said something to the effect, "you're gonna be murdered tomorrow." When I asked Joe about this last year he said that Stickells went backstage and tore Freddie a new asshole and told him to NEVER chew out the crew ever agin from the stage. And as Joe told me, if there was ever a problem, let the crew handle it. A few weeks later when in Chicago they had problems with the sound early in the set and if you listen to the bootleg you hear Freddie when they came back after a few minutes away from the stage, he said nothing.
The Real Wizard wrote:
You're probably bang on. A simple matter of him not having enough time to rest his voice.
Freddie sounded his best in 1981, and their touring schedule was very sporadic. Coincidence? Unlikely.
Why would Queen tour so quickly after recording the album? If Freddie did record up to October, then that set the stage for that "tired" voice throughout the 1978 leg. I was looking throughout the recording sessions for the albums, and the Jazz tour was the only tour (besides from the Opera tour) where they went out touring the same month that they finished recording the album!
If Queen started the tour at around the NY 1978 dates (mid November), Freddie would probably be fine!
Hmm, his voice could depend on a lot of things. Maybe the recordings took more from his voice than expected and there was not enough time to have enough rest.
Most likely i believe he just had a bad night, first show of the tour, maybe nervous, maybe lack of sleep, maybe drank too much the day before, maybe a broken heart. I think it was something small.
I agree that Freddie's voice was the best in the early 80's, from 1980 until 1982.
