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Post by Chopin1995 on Apr 21, 2021 14:05:37 GMT
I know that official story is that Freddie never had any formal voice training but I remember reading in one source that he had in fact had some informal training from an opera singer/trainer sometime in the early 1980's. Unfortunately I can't remember where I picked that up from but I do know at the time I recognized it was at odds to the official story. My guess, for what it's worth, is that his use of falsetto was a sign of the times. It was everywhere in popular music. Mercury was as much an adopter as he was an innovator. Well said.
Considering Mercury's improvements in 1977 and '79 on the road, I wouldn't be surprised if he saw a vocal coach in that period as his stamina improved quite a lot. But of course there are are so many contributing factors to how well a singer can do on the road. Plenty of singers (him included) hit points where they couldn't even speak between gigs to save their voice for the show.
There's that review of Hamburg 78 show on your website, and Mercury apparently confessed he took singing lessons on "our last US Tour". It's the penultimate paragraph. I'm sure anyone who knows German can confirm what was being said exactly.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2021 15:12:59 GMT
English operatic tenor Benvenuto Finelli (birth name Bennett Fynn) was briefly Frederick's vocal coach in 1978.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2021 18:27:12 GMT
For what it's worth, Peter Freestone mentioned to me that Freddie received singing tips from Montserrat Caballé during the Barcelona sessions.
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jlf
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Post by jlf on Apr 21, 2021 18:41:48 GMT
So, with all the evidence we might have here it seems that:
1. Freddie took singing lessons with Benvenuto Finelli, or at least had some coaching.
2. It's likely that at some point in the 1980s Freddie had coaching from Mary Hammond or someone in her circle (also consider the outstanding work on Time and In My Defence)
3. Montserrat Caballe helped him in some way
4. There would have been a timbre change due to the effects of his illness/drug therapy c.1987-91.
It's likely to be a combination of at least these four things, and I've no doubt he did his own research and practice.
For what it's worth I have *one* more anecdote.
When I was working in England, a music teacher in her 50s (c.2014) told me that her teacher (approaching 70 years old at that time) shared a rented flat with Freddie in the late 60s early 70s, before he was famous. She at the time had no idea he would go on to become the big star he became, because she thought he wasn't that good. She said that he used to practice constantly, finding different tones he liked and didn't like.
All of this points to a Freddie who spent a lot of time honing his craft and developing his ability. We can hear on Wreckage recordings for instance that he wasn't that good at that time, and even on the first two Queen albums the singing isn't a patch on what he could do later. His 70s peak in my opinion is ANATO and ADATR, which has some incredible work from him. I also think that the SHA LP is wonderful but there's definitely a step up in quality by 1975.
The singing on The Game album is some of the best he ever did, but I think that the 1984-1986 period in the studio wasn't his finest - it was very good, it was wonderful, if we hadn't had some of the earlier work to compare it with I'd say he's still a phenomenal singer at that time - but it's not *his* best.
I'm also of the opinion that stopping touring in 1986, although it was for sad reasons, it helped preserve and improve his voice.
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jo
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Post by jo on Apr 21, 2021 18:55:20 GMT
I can take a crack at translating that paragraph from the review.
Queen had a private day off. They strolled through Hamburg in the afternoon. The next day they flew to Brussels. They did not give any interviews. "A tour is so exhausting that we want to use every free minute for ourselves." explains Freddie Mercury, and he needs a day(s) off between performances because of his vocal cords. The are very vulnerable. If I sing for 12 (maybe that's 2) hours I can hardly sing a note afterwards. During our last American Tour, concerts had to be canceled because of this. I've already tried taking singing lessons to strengthen the vocal cords but that too is dangerous, I destroy the rock'n roll feeling.
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qsmjohn
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Post by qsmjohn on Apr 21, 2021 21:40:29 GMT
I can take a crack at translating that paragraph from the review. Queen had a private day off. They strolled through Hamburg in the afternoon. The next day they flew to Brussels. They did not give any interviews. "A tour is so exhausting that we want to use every free minute for ourselves." explains Freddie Mercury, and he needs a day(s) off between performances because of his vocal cords. The are very vulnerable. If I sing for 12 (maybe that's 2) hours I can hardly sing a note afterwards. During our last American Tour, concerts had to be canceled because of this. I've already tried taking singing lessons to strengthen the vocal cords but that too is dangerous, I destroy the rock'n roll feeling. Right. So that means he had tried it but how long? 🤔 |
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Post by The Real Wizard on Apr 21, 2021 21:47:05 GMT
11. Ensueño (Montserrat's Live Takes) Recorded: Townhouse Studios, London, March 14 1988 Wow - over a year later. I wasn't even close !
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Post by The Real Wizard on Apr 21, 2021 21:56:17 GMT
Well said. Considering Mercury's improvements in 1977 and '79 on the road, I wouldn't be surprised if he saw a vocal coach in that period as his stamina improved quite a lot. But of course there are are so many contributing factors to how well a singer can do on the road. Plenty of singers (him included) hit points where they couldn't even speak between gigs to save their voice for the show.
There's that review of Hamburg 78 show on your website, and Mercury apparently confessed he took singing lessons on "our last US Tour". It's the penultimate paragraph. He said the tour had cancellations, which must be referring to March 1977 (the interview may well have been done a few months prior to being published in April 1978).
He doesn't specify when he took the lessons, but I'd estimate it was in April '77 when they had some time off the road, as he was much improved on the European tour.
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Post by The Real Wizard on Apr 21, 2021 21:57:39 GMT
English operatic tenor Benvenuto Finelli (birth name Bennett Fynn) was briefly Frederick's vocal coach in 1978. Nice - where was this documented ? |
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Post by Chopin1995 on Apr 21, 2021 22:06:30 GMT
There's that review of Hamburg 78 show on your website, and Mercury apparently confessed he took singing lessons on "our last US Tour". It's the penultimate paragraph. He said the tour had cancellations, which must be referring to March 1977 (the interview may well have been done a few months prior to being published in April 1978).
He doesn't specify when he took the lessons, but I'd estimate it was in April '77 when they had some time off the road, as he was much improved on the European tour.
I'd agree with that, the improvement on the European leg in the spring of 1977 is very noticeable, and at that time he was still a musician first and foremost, focused on mastering his craft. |
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Post by akirafish on Apr 21, 2021 23:00:33 GMT
Peter Freestone also denied Freddie taking vocal training in Gregsynthbootlegs’ interview and in other occasions. Of course we can also consider it’s publicity, since it’s impossible for him to contradict Freddie’s claim. He also said ‘Freddie knows his voice.’
Is it reasonable to assume that maybe Freddie didn’t follow the instructions of tutor strictly? Maybe because he’s afraid to lose the rock feel?
I don’t think his falsetto skills are very good. I do enjoy his falsetto in album songs like Man Made Paradise and impromptu, but in live the falsetto bits weren’t useful enough to help him sing higher notes maybe?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2021 1:03:44 GMT
I suspect that the vocal lessons done in 1977 were in the summer (before the Champions Shoot gig and the NOTW Tour):
While Freddie was strong on the European leg of the Races Tour (and sounded much better compared with the North American leg), he would overdrive his voice frequently throughout the sets with this unhealthy-sounding growl to his tone and didn't sing in his upper register with as much ease as he would later on in his touring career.
Something switched on before the Champions Shoot gig in October of 1977, because his voice and song deliveries were far stronger than before. He started singing more naturally on that gig (and the upcoming NOTW tour) and he didn't resort to forcing his upper register as much. Just about everything about his voice was better on the Champions Shoot gig and the NOTW tour compared with the Races Tour (range, ease of use, vocal shape, flexibility, etc).
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jo
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Post by jo on Apr 22, 2021 3:09:12 GMT
Peter Freestone also denied Freddie taking vocal training in Gregsynthbootlegs’ interview and in other occasions. Of course we can also consider it’s publicity, since it’s impossible for him to contradict Freddie’s claim. He also said ‘Freddie knows his voice.’ Is it reasonable to assume that maybe Freddie didn’t follow the instructions of tutor strictly? Maybe because he’s afraid to lose the rock feel? I don’t think his falsetto skills are very good. I do enjoy his falsetto in album songs like Man Made Paradise and impromptu, but in live the falsetto bits weren’t useful enough to help him sing higher notes maybe? I don't think Freestone was around during 77-78 so it's possible he didn't know. |
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Post by akirafish on Apr 22, 2021 3:28:06 GMT
Peter Freestone also denied Freddie taking vocal training in Gregsynthbootlegs’ interview and in other occasions. Of course we can also consider it’s publicity, since it’s impossible for him to contradict Freddie’s claim. He also said ‘Freddie knows his voice.’ Is it reasonable to assume that maybe Freddie didn’t follow the instructions of tutor strictly? Maybe because he’s afraid to lose the rock feel? I don’t think his falsetto skills are very good. I do enjoy his falsetto in album songs like Man Made Paradise and impromptu, but in live the falsetto bits weren’t useful enough to help him sing higher notes maybe? I don't think Freestone was around during 77-78 so it's possible he didn't know. Yes, I would assume he spoke for the 80s period. |
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Kieran
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Post by Kieran on Apr 22, 2021 23:48:52 GMT
While Freddie was strong on the European leg of the Races Tour (and sounded much better compared with the North American leg), he would overdrive his voice frequently throughout the sets with this unhealthy-sounding growl to his tone and didn't sing in his upper register with as much ease as he would later on in his touring career. Something switched on before the Champions Shoot gig in October of 1977, because his voice and song deliveries were far stronger than before. He started singing more naturally on that gig (and the upcoming NOTW tour) and he didn't resort to forcing his upper register as much. Just about everything about his voice was better on the Champions Shoot gig and the NOTW tour compared with the Races Tour (range, ease of use, vocal shape, flexibility, etc). I'd definitely agree with this. He was overdriving his voice much more on the Races tour, which can be especially heard on songs like White Man from the era (timestamped examples below) Compare that to a NOTW version, and there is a much different approach and attack. It sounds much more natural for him. (more timestamped examples) There are plenty more examples I can think of that are not just specific to White Man either. His approach to songs like Liar and Jailhouse Rock as well differ from these two tours. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2021 13:48:50 GMT
English operatic tenor Benvenuto Finelli (birth name Bennett Fynn) was briefly Frederick's vocal coach in 1978. Nice - where was this documented ? We spoke about it years ago on QZ, so I suppose it's available via QC now. |
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Post by The Real Wizard on Apr 23, 2021 18:08:30 GMT
Nice - where was this documented ? We spoke about it years ago on QZ, so I suppose it's available via QC now. Right, this one !
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Post by master marathon runner on May 23, 2021 19:28:25 GMT
Love 'Excercises in Free Love ' it's well named as basically it is just that - an exercise. But when Freddie delivers, it is given gravitas. Playing at my mates funeral, it had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
Parallels with 'Cool Cat ' to boot!
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