| Jekaling 01.06.2005 10:32 |
I am just wondering that during the Jazz / Live Killers tours (1978-1979), Freddies voice was in such a bad condition. Does anybody has an explanation ? |
| Serry... 01.06.2005 10:44 |
Why do you think it was in bad condition? Any reasons? |
| flash00. 01.06.2005 10:49 |
his voice wasn't operatic back then but i prefer freddies 80's operatic voice and his sheer crystal clear passion of early 90's... but you know all in all freddie's voice used to take a rite bashing with all that high vocal stuff plus he suffered terrible with those growths on his vocal chords.. im totally addicted to mr mercury's voice? |
| ANAGRAMER 01.06.2005 14:57 |
Touring strains the voice - causes oedema of the vocal chords (striking together too often) Also, Freddie smoked...... The one noticable aspect of his vocal in mid-late Queen was that, depite not having the highs on stage - he was NEVER off key (except in Sheer Heart Attack!!) |
| Cwazy little thing 01.06.2005 15:00 |
In fact - Id be very tempted to say his voice sounds better back then than on the Magic tour - his voice is far huskier in '86, and less likely to hit the really high notes....still a good voice but different I guess. It seems it was just this tour taking its toll though, because by the Miracle he was the same old Freddie. Maybe its due to the somewhat questionable sound quality on Live Killers that makes him sound not up to his better days? He sounds superb to me though! |
| Sharon G. 01.06.2005 17:39 |
Did some one say Freddie? Freddie - you and only you................ |
| Shvili 01.06.2005 18:12 |
Although Freddie’s voice was great all along, I find it at its best on innuendo. |
| KittyCat 01.06.2005 21:27 |
yes ... Freddie´s voice was changing throught the years, but was ALWAYS brilliant ! |
| deleted user 02.06.2005 03:13 |
I love his voice in that era. earl '77 (like earls court) that's bad. |
| Queenman!! 02.06.2005 04:39 |
Please read the book from Peter Freestone. During te periode 1985- 1987 Freddie was wrestling with a strange kind of mushroom, as peter discripes, growing in the back of his mouth. I don't no if that was refecting the first complications of AIDS Also freddie got some skin problems. black dark spot on his legs and face. |
| jcrawford79 04.06.2005 01:54 |
A mushroom?? Hmmmm.......don't know about that. |
| chewing gum bum 04.06.2005 06:28 |
I don't think his voice was bad at all during the Jazz and Live Killers tours. I saw them here in the States in November of 78 and from what I remember he was really "on" the night I saw them. And listening to the boots from that tour his voice was pretty good. But the Jazz tour was a long one as well. He always had problems with it dating back to the US tour of '75 before they went to Japan. He didn't start smoking til around the time of the Game sessions and that really changed it for him. I think his voice was crap during THe Works tour but he was always brilliant in the studio. Innuendo was a GREAT example of this. |
| NTL 04.06.2005 08:27 |
People need to remember that Freddie was a natural baratone, so singing these high notes night after night was not at all natural to him and would have been quite a strain on his voice. |
| NTL 05.06.2005 08:22 |
He had surgery in '85 a few weeks before Live-Aid |
| Cwazy little thing 05.06.2005 08:45 |
I heard he didnt like the thought of surgery in case it affected his ability to sing... and the "nodules" are called pollips or something similar I believe - loads of rock singers get them because they sing in a forceful and unnatural way. |
| AndresGuazzelli 10.06.2005 12:22 |
NTL wrote: People need to remember that Freddie was a natural baratone, so singing these high notes night after night was not at all natural to him and would have been quite a strain on his voice.Any baritone is perfectly capable of hitting a High B, one semitone below Tenor High C. Since Freddie never sang above that High B (sometimes a C, but not higher), the high notes he's singing IS natural for a baritone. The tessitura itself isn't natural. A baritone can sing to a High B or C, but it's harder to sustain an entire song in the tenor's tessitura, that is, between Middle D and High C. Now, add that a 2 hour show, and be running down the stage for 2 hours too ;) |
| ANAGRAMER 19.06.2005 15:52 |
NTL wrote: People need to remember that Freddie was a natural baratone, so singing these high notes night after night was not at all natural to him and would have been quite a strain on his voice.He was actually a tenor |
| Zander05 20.06.2005 12:03 |
ANAGRAMER wrote:Actually, he was naturally a bass/baritone but trained his voice to be tenor. He did this because that, at the time, was how most rock artists sang. For a guy who never had any real vocal training, I'd say he did VERY well in '78/79. But because he lacked training, he didn't know how to keep his voice in tact or give it a proper rest.NTL wrote: People need to remember that Freddie was a natural baratone, so singing these high notes night after night was not at all natural to him and would have been quite a strain on his voice.He was actually a tenor |
| PainPleasure 20.09.2005 22:49 |
too much cock sucking... |
| Sharron .G 20.09.2005 23:53 |
PainPleasure wrote: too much cock sucking...Are you referring to yourself or Freddie? |
| Winter Land Man 21.09.2005 02:27 |
Queenman!! wrote: Please read the book from Peter Freestone. During te periode 1985- 1987 Freddie was wrestling with a strange kind of mushroom, as peter discripes, growing in the back of his mouth. I don't no if that was refecting the first complications of AIDS Also freddie got some skin problems. black dark spot on his legs and face.never said that in Peter's book. I've read the book numerous times. |
| kagezan1313 21.09.2005 15:36 |
Messenger Of Leah wrote:The nastiest form of vocal nodule (forget what it's called) looks like a mushroom. Interesting fact is that there are exercises that will "melt" them away. Surgery should always be a last resort, because you risk losing your voice altogether or coming out of it like Elton John - a mere wisp of the voice he used to have. As for Freddie, he smoked, drank alcohol before and during performances and allegedly did cocaine - those are the top 3 worst things you can do if vocal longevity is your goal. But man, he did it anyway, and better than most despite! Love you Freddie!Queenman!! wrote: Please read the book from Peter Freestone. During te periode 1985- 1987 Freddie was wrestling with a strange kind of mushroom, as peter discripes, growing in the back of his mouth. I don't no if that was refecting the first complications of AIDS Also freddie got some skin problems. black dark spot on his legs and face.never said that in Peter's book. I've read the book numerous times. |
| usher 05.10.2005 13:22 |
freddie's voice was perfect on every show ever done on the crazy tour because if you check out newcastle both nights and hammersmith you will see that he was trying rather than on the live killers tour but the first half of the jazz tour the american one his voice still did wonders you can see that from bicycle race on tour it was like on the record vocaly with the high notes considering that the crazy tour was my favorite of all due to save which he did perfectly only that year and other than that his voice was great but best during those times in my opinion. |
| flash00. 05.10.2005 15:38 |
on a good night freddie's voice was incredible, and imo nobody could get anywhere near his power and range, but on a bad night i.e. it was common knowledge about his throat problems i.e throat nodules etc.. which from what ive read gave freddie terrible problems bothe singing and pain! jim hutton said freddie would cough for a solid half an hour in a morning and sometimes cough blood, but imo it was the ciggies and booze that was slowly damaging his voice, mid 80's onwards you can hear that smokers husky voice during his performaces, freddie once said thats why he smokes so many ciggs to gain that husky soul type sound he loved. i love his voice imo i do think he was the greatest rock/pop singer and still is, but thats just my opinion, :) |
| The Real Wizard 06.10.2005 02:01 |
ANAGRAMER wrote: Touring strains the voice - causes oedema of the vocal chords (striking together too often) Also, Freddie smoked......He didn't start smoking until late 1979, according to my knowledge. But you're absolutely right about touring straining your voice. Some tours hurt FM's voice more than others. He fared pretty well on the NOTW, Crazy, Flash, and HS tours. Game and Magic were pretty good as well. But - Jazz is still my favourite. I just have that emotional connection with Live Killers, as I listened to the album hundreds of times as a teenager, so I have such a fascination with those '79 bootlegs. The one noticable aspect of his vocal in mid-late Queen was that, depite not having the highs on stage - he was NEVER off key (except in Sheer Heart Attack!!)Fantastic point. Maybe once in a while he would be slightly off key - he was only human! But that was the great thing about FM - when his voice was weak, he would transpose down an interval and still sound great, even though it wasn't being faithful to the original melody. And the only reason why SHA would sometimes sound a bit off is because his harmonizer was set to a major third, so the harmony note wouldn't always match the cycling A and G guitar chords. usher wrote: freddie's voice was perfect on every show ever done on the crazy tour because if you check out newcastle both nights and hammersmith you will see that he was trying rather than on the live killers tourYou're right, that was Freddie's best tour, but it wasn't related to effort. He had rested his voice for over 7 months, and had recorded only 3 songs during that time (and perhaps some other unreleased songs as well). But CLTCL was recorded while Freddie's voice was practically destroyed, immediately following the Jazz tour. At the end of the song, he's straining to hit a G above middle C. The song certainly gave his voice a much different feel, and it definitely would not have sounded nearly the same had he recorded it a few months later. All the tours from 73-78 had an album recorded right before it, so his voice wasn't nearly so rested. This is totally evident on the US ADATR tour in 77. There was a long break between recording The Works and its European tour, but Freddie was smoking so much by then, and then there were the drugs... overall, he just did not take care of his voice in the 80s, and it slowly declined, until he quit smoking when he learned he had AIDS. |
| Sahin 06.10.2005 07:39 |
Dear Zander05, he was not a natural bass/baritone you don't even have an idea about bass-baritone or tenor i guess.. he was a natural light tenor..just like jeff buckley or just like early jose carreras.. hear him singin' "going back" or nevermore.. any baritone or bass can't hit those notes that comfortably..in a studio or somewhere another.. CAN NOT.. |
| Fenderek 06.10.2005 08:27 |
Sahin- he didn't hit those notes comfortably, he was forcing them, something you can hear on pretty much every bootleg avaliable. As far as I'm concern he was natural bariton, and even Montserrat Caballe confirmed it in one interview- I guess SHE knows what she's talking about, doesn't she? |
| Sahin 06.10.2005 14:14 |
he sang some songs like going back or i can hear music with high G almost F.. what it means do you know?? i am not sayin' hit "g4" or "f4" ..^i'm sayin' he sang them on these notes..a baritone even a "high baritone" just can "hit them" ..can not sing in those notes.. meanwhile montserrat never told that he is a baritone..and their repertuar was for a soprano-tenor combination..freddie's comfortable range was from A2 to A4 and it's a clear tenor range..his range appr. hmm i guess about E2 to B5 and..and his wellness in low notes doesn't make him a baritone..his clear notes was for a "pure tenor".. you can research them in a technical way and get a "real knowledge" friend.. regards.. |
| AndresGuazzelli 07.10.2005 15:24 |
Freddie was a baritone, who actually sang in a tenor repertoire. Now, when singing pop music (and especially when you have a wide range) it doesn't matter if you're a baritone, or a tenor, or whatever. Now Sahin, any Baritone well trained is able to sing and sustain a Middle B one semitone short of Tenor's High C. Even a Bass is able to sing up to a Middle F. A person's voice type is given by his low notes, not his highest notes. It's true, he could sing fullvoiced up to a High F, but a tenor simply can't sing a Low F... maybe a Low Bb, or A, scratching (at least, a pure tenor). Freddie was a high baritone, with an unusual high range. When he was young, yes, perhaps we could say he was a a tenor then... but it was actually being a baritone singing in a tenor's range. And Freddie's tessitura went from ... E2 to Ab3 until 1980 and C2 to F#3 or G3 later. Anyway, on Innuendo, his highest notes were at its peak: Simply marvelous. |
| AndresGuazzelli 07.10.2005 15:25 |
And forgive me on my crappy english (not a native english talker over here) ;) |
| john bodega 08.10.2005 01:28 |
Your english is fine! Good posts, nice and informative. |
| Sahin 08.10.2005 05:39 |
buddy,there's a point .. you said that any tenor can not hit "low f" .. and i'm sayin' any baritone can not hit a "high F" with his "full voice".. then it's makin' this situation relative.. and there's an important point too..any baritone or bass can not sing in a female timbre with a falsetto..freddie's falsetto register was very very strong..he'd change his head voice to chest simply and naturally..any bass or baritone can not do it..but a tenor.. look for aris christofellis..he's catogorized as a male soprano in classic music or contra tenor..though he is able to hit a soprano G (g6) is able to hit a "low A" ..and he's catgorized as a sopranist/contratenor..then it's plain to see that you can call freddie as a tenor.. just has a very wide range.. and we don't actually even now how can be high or low on a voice practise :) i think he could hit a low Eb and a soprano C#..i guess.. |
| AndresGuazzelli 08.10.2005 15:04 |
Sahin wrote: buddy,there's a point .. you said that any tenor can not hit "low f" .. and i'm sayin' any baritone can not hit a "high F" with his "full voice".. then it's makin' this situation relative.. and there's an important point too..any baritone or bass can not sing in a female timbre with a falsetto..freddie's falsetto register was very very strong..he'd change his head voice to chest simply and naturally..any bass or baritone can not do it..but a tenor.. look for aris christofellis..he's catogorized as a male soprano in classic music or contra tenor..though he is able to hit a soprano G (g6) is able to hit a "low A" ..and he's catgorized as a sopranist/contratenor..then it's plain to see that you can call freddie as a tenor.. just has a very wide range.. and we don't actually even now how can be high or low on a voice practise :) i think he could hit a low Eb and a soprano C#..i guess..Let's get one thing straight. Head Voice and Falsetto are two completely different things. Head voice is part of the full voice, or real range, and falsetto is a disconnected resource. Falsetto singing (in man)'s timbre is always femenine. Head voice isn't. Head voice, well trained, matches chest voice in timbre and power. Range comes will practice, and technique. Any man is physically capable of producing a Soprano high C by singing falsetto (and i mean absolutely any male singer, i don't care if it's a basso profondo or a light lyrical tenor). If they can't, it's not because their odies doesn't allowe it, it's because they don't have the proper technique, or the enough practise. I myself am a deep baritone, with an unusual wide high range. The reason? I'm pretty tall (6'4'') with unusually thick and long vocal cords, and flexible vocal folds. The size of my cords and laryngx give me my deep and dark tonal colour, and my low bassy range, but my years of vocal training gave me a wide range, and an extra high range. My comfourtable range (or tessitura) goes from E1 to A3, or maybe Bb3, but it doesn't mean I can't hit, reach and support notes above Tenor High Eb, which I do (i've been singing symphonic rock and heavy metal stuff for years, and High C plus is a must to sing this repertoire) I even have a recorded High F# (which is my highest note), on a Sonata Arctica cover (and i'll be glad to send it) And falsetto got nothing to do with this. When I started my vocal training, i could barely sing up to a Tenor High D in my falsetto, and 6 years later, I can fully sing and support a note up to a Soprano High E or F, which is coloratura range (and I also have this recorded for you to see). It's a matter of training, or plain practice. My point? Any singer can train his voice to reach higher notes, but it's damn harder to get your voice to exced the limits of your voice type in lower notes ( I mean, it's easier for a tenor to sing above High C, than singing below Low C (C2)... same thing with baritones, it's easier for them to sing above Middle A than below Low G (G1)) |
| AndresGuazzelli 08.10.2005 15:09 |
And usually countertenors uses falsetto to achieve that kind of a femenine timbre, not head voice. Usually head voice up to a couple of notes above their passaggios, and then falsetto. That's how they get their voices into the Soprano range. Try hearing any baroque choir (i was part of one, as a Bass and Countertenor / castratto), and listen for those timbrical differences from the highest male singers. |
| Sahin 08.10.2005 17:08 |
dear Andres, firstly, you told about the timbre difference that between contratenors falsetto and a soprano's high notes..somehow it's the reason that it's catagorized in a two way : contratenor and sopranist..a sopranist : aris christofellis (who can sing baroq with farinelli's notes and timbre (?) ) a contratenor: Mircea Mihalache (even may be Mike Matijevic) meanwhile..you indicated a point..with falsetto ,any man can hit a "high C"..there's something wrong i guess : To hit a note is not putting it in your "Range" ..you must hit it whenever you want(of course with a full warmed up and healthy condition) to call it in your range..and it must be in a full resonance and controlled.. i mean there's no meaning in your records if you can not hit them whenever you want. and there's a man who called Adam Lopez..he's a natural baritone and can hit a C# in last octave on piano with his whistle register (guinness record)..but his timbre and voice comfort ,colour is not in a tenor range.. with your opinion,i found out that a high castrato voice = tenor voice..there's no pure tenors almost.. :)) but surely you listened to early (when he is a lyric tenor) Jose Carreras ,Nicolai Gedda or William Matteuzzi ... they are classified as PURE/NATURAL TENORS in CLASSIC MUSIC HISTORY..but with your criteria they're all lyric or high baritone.. and Farinelli & Alessandro Moreschi are "real tenors"..oh.. do not forget that there's no baritone who could sing Nevermore with this timbre and in this "clear resonanced" notes.. |
| kdj2hot 08.10.2005 21:17 |
AndresGuazzelli wrote: And usually countertenors uses falsetto to achieve that kind of a femenine timbre, not head voice. Usually head voice up to a couple of notes above their passaggios, and then falsetto. That's how they get their voices into the Soprano range. Try hearing any baroque choir (i was part of one, as a Bass and Countertenor / castratto), and listen for those timbrical differences from the highest male singers.What kind of vocal training did you do to increase your range? Do share. |
| flash00. 08.10.2005 22:32 |
i heard somewhere that freddie was countertenor in fact it was tim rice, im not talking live, because opera singers from what i gather take rests between performances/songs, where freddie would be tearing his throat out for 2 hours so he's gonna sound rough edged etc.. im talking about freddie in the studio when his voice is 100% listen to the end of its a hard life the very high part that sounds nothing like baritone, it sounds more like tenor, ive heard baritones going for it and there voice's sound nothing like freddie's, i was watching a U2 documentary last year and bono was listening to early stuff with a producer and the producer was saying some of the notes he's hitting are tenor, now im no musician but ive never been impressed by one vocal from bono as some operatic voice no dissrespect, i dont think theres one opera singer today with the range of freddie. i like brian may's story when he brought the show must go on in the studio and he couldn't sing the chorus in falsetto and said to freddie something like i think its too high or something and freddie said i can sing anything dear and downed the vodka and sang it full voice perfect, true power!!! i think im just waffling on now folks lol |
| SomebodyWhoLoves 09.10.2005 19:55 |
Freddie was not a baritone. Baritones cannot come close to hitting a high B. Baritones usually top out at high F. (source) link Interestingly, Freddie's name was included as a Tenor, among other popular singers. link I don't understand the confusion between a baritone, and a tenor, because the two are very different. Freddie was clearly, a Tenor, and at his best, a light tenor. By the way, a speaking voice is different from a singing voice. Freddie in his 80s, had a baritone speaking voice, but he was still a tenor, albeit a heavy one. Freddie in his 70s, had a tenor speaking voice, and a light tenor singing voice. |
| beautifulsoup 13.10.2005 21:39 |
Fenderek wrote: Sahin- he didn't hit those notes comfortably, he was forcing them, something you can hear on pretty much every bootleg avaliable. As far as I'm concern he was natural bariton, and even Montserrat Caballe confirmed it in one interview- I guess SHE knows what she's talking about, doesn't she?Which interview? Does anyone have that handy? Was it magazine or "live?" Thanks. |
| luthorn 14.10.2005 00:23 |
Crap, I am no musician and I don't understand any of that pro talk of freddie hitting low F, middle C, crossed B and fuck who knows what else. I give him a high A for the voice though. A Brilliant voice, like no other. |
| on my way up 14.10.2005 08:50 |
I don't know anything about the technical side of singing but I do know I love freddie's voice and the way he sings live.The emotion and passion were always there,also when his range was limited and when his voice was obviously tired. Of course I have some favourite shows and particular liveperformances of songs I prefer.I recently downloaded the 2ndNewcastle night from 1979 and I am very impressed.I really love this show('liar','save me','spread your 'and 'Don't stop me now', are breathtaking!!)Hammy from the same year is of course also great!!I also love the NOTW shows I have(houston,berlin)and the shows i have from ADTR from europe(bristol,glasgow,gothenburg)Another great one is London8/12/1980!!!Also a fantastic rendition of 'save me'.Brussels from the works-tour is also great together with tokyo9/5/'85.I think he had great shows during every tour but the works tour has too much bad nights unfortunately.My favourite period is 77-82 |
| beautifulsoup 15.10.2005 01:49 |
luthorn wrote: A Brilliant voice, like no other.I'll second that sentiment. |
| Richy Mercury 15.10.2005 13:25 |
Freddie's voice went down in 78/79 due to lack of sleep and drugs. Cocaine can keep you up all night. I mean, who would go to sleep when there is a bee line of people wanting to give you a rim job. Plus all the skye you can snort. |
| phoenixfm05 16.10.2005 01:31 |
That's not very nice. You guys don't need to talk about rim jobs, sucking and whatever else. We all know that has nothing to do with your voice. Let's be adults about this topic. We are all fans of Freddie. Let's respect him and talk about his voice, not about his extra affairs that we will never be able to confirm. |
| ANAGRAMER 22.10.2005 08:19 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote:It seems to me that the Hot Space tour really sucked the tone from his voice - On fire at the Bowl; he's on top form, even going for some of the highest notes, then in Japan (at the end of the tour), the voice had completely lost its natural timbre - he never really recovered it on tour, 'specially the recorded nights on Works tourANAGRAMER wrote: Touring strains the voice - causes oedema of the vocal chords (striking together too often) Also, Freddie smoked......He didn't start smoking until late 1979, according to my knowledge. But you're absolutely right about touring straining your voice. Some tours hurt FM's voice more than others. He fared pretty well on the NOTW, Crazy, Flash, and HS tours. Game and Magic were pretty good as well. But - Jazz is still my favourite. I just have that emotional connection with Live Killers, as I listened to the album hundreds of times as a teenager, so I have such a fascination with those '79 bootlegs.The one noticable aspect of his vocal in mid-late Queen was that, depite not having the highs on stage - he was NEVER off key (except in Sheer Heart Attack!!)Fantastic point. Maybe once in a while he would be slightly off key - he was only human! But that was the great thing about FM - when his voice was weak, he would transpose down an interval and still sound great, even though it wasn't being faithful to the original melody. And the only reason why SHA would sometimes sound a bit off is because his harmonizer was set to a major third, so the harmony note wouldn't always match the cycling A and G guitar chords.usher wrote: freddie's voice was perfect on every show ever done on the crazy tour because if you check out newcastle both nights and hammersmith you will see that he was trying rather than on the live killers tourYou're right, that was Freddie's best tour, but it wasn't related to effort. He had rested his voice for over 7 months, and had recorded only 3 songs during that time (and perhaps some other unreleased songs as well). But CLTCL was recorded while Freddie's voice was practically destroyed, immediately following the Jazz tour. At the end of the song, he's straining to hit a G above middle C. The song certainly gave his voice a much different feel, and it definitely would not have sounded nearly the same had he recorded it a few months later. All the tours from 73-78 had an album recorded right before it, so his voice wasn't nearly so rested. This is totally evident on the US ADATR tour in 77. There was a long break between recording The Works and its European tour, but Freddie was smoking so much by then, and then there were the drugs... overall, he just did not take care of his voice in the 80s, and it slowly declined, until he quit smoking when he learned he had AIDS. |
| ibanez122 23.10.2005 14:03 |
vivival wrote: Freddie Mercury did, of course, become addicted to heroin around 1978-1979, so it effected Freddie's voice severely. Freddie couldn't even sing on stage too well. Freddie Mercury became addicted to morphine around 1985, so that's why Freddie stopped touring. Freddie Mercury was found dead in Freddie's hotel room on February 23rd, 1992. Freddie had apparently overdosed on a combination of morphine and barbituates, becasue Freddie Mercury felt he wasn't important. |