Expecting Rain

If we must talk about the damn voice (and it seems that we must), at least put a spin on things...

How would it have effected his career? It's pretty much agreed that Dylan could go back and forth between his "Nashville" and "Bob" voices at will -- the New Morning outtakes prove it -- but what if he was stuck circa 1969? While I do wish he had kept it around longer (at least through New Morning) the voice could have been catastrophic to his career.

"Nashville" Bob can't pull off much of his material, the Self Portrait LARS being the best example. "Nashville" could have done "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go", but "Idiot Wind"? "Hurricane"? I don't think so.

On the other hand, that voice may've enhanced the Gospel records. He was going for a clean, very mainstream sound and the "Country" voice is all about that. Might've even meshed with the backup singers. Even so, and say what you will about his voice's current state, I can't imagine the records from "Oh Mercy" onward without it. "Nashville" Bob honky-tonkin' Lovesick? It just wouldn't work.

Interesting to think about.

If he'd been singing like that all this time, his voice wouldn't be damaged at all. But then we wouldn't have had all the diverse interim incarnations, either.

Incidentally, I don't think the voice hurts LIKE A ROLLING STONE from Self Portrait at all. It's just his forgetting the lyrics that mucks it up.

Street Legal / Infidels wouldn't have worked !

And nothing like the Rolling Thunder Revue, at least as we know it. Those who are critical of his modern voice have to realize that he sacrificed much of his range to give us great material and performances via that blistering style. If he was aiming to sound like Paul McCartney he wouldn't have reached anywhere near the heights he has.

I think so much depends on what Dylan's real voice is or was. One can only wonder: if the Nashville voice was quite a stretch from his natural one it may have damaged it every time it was used by him, despite its soothing sound to the listeners' ear.

it's all speculation. The "Nashville Voice" was more mainstream, traditional "good" singing. He might have attracted a whole new audience and written more music that suited that particular voice. His output would have been different, but he might have been more popular as a "singer" than he is now.

I don't know if any singer has a "real" voice, but I would say that the Nashville one is his natural voice, it was the one he uses on the earliest tapes we have. I don't think the Nashville voice put anywhere near the strain his "usual" voices did.


I think he absolutely would be but that may not be good for anything past his pocket book. I love the "Nashville Skyline" album but mining that territory for years wouldn't have produced the best of results.

Bob's Nashville voice would have ruined the NET.

That type of singing is something anyone can do; it's a question of arranging your throat in a certain manner. I don't know the technical terms, but it feels like you're putting your voice to the back of your throat. Jewel is one performer that comes to mind who does it from time to time. And it's no wonder Dylan's Nashville voice is called the "Kermit The Frog" voice by some, since Jim Henson threw his voice in a similar fashion when voicing the character.

In any case, it actually results in less sound pressure, and certainly less tear on the vocal chords than the shouting that caused him to go hoarse on a nightly basis 1974-76. Hoarseness is a very bad thing, it means you have overstrained yourself and should stop singing immediately and let yourself recover. Singing through hoarseness (as Dylan often did on the RTR) is very damaging.

One thing we might have is more recordings like the acoustic set from the Isle of Wight. I've never found the electric set at all interesting beyond the novelty value, but the acoustic set is brilliant, AND it is - so far as I know - pretty much unique in his catalog. There are very early recordings from - again, as far as I remember - before the first album that are on the Ten of Swords set, "Barbara Allen" is one I remember, that is sung in the same NS voice.

I remember an interview with Bette Zimmerman in which she said NS was her favorite album because it was Bob's "real voice." I take that to mean the voice he had before he created the persona of "BOB DYLAN" that was complete by the release of Freewheelin'. The voice Robert Zimmerman sang with when he sang in the shower. [he sang in the shower?!? OMG! OMG setlists!?! ]

I don't believe he's capable of singing in that (or any other) voice today.

I remember his mother saying that but then, that would be the voice a mother would love. Meanwhile, we know the origin of his twangy, Oakie voice, but where did he pick up the upsinging style? I don't remember ever hearing about influences for it and it's the voice he'll forever be remembered for and linked to. It's as iconic now as his 60's image is.

I think that when he started singing with a loud electric band backing him he started to lose all the subtlety he was able to use SOOOOOOO well in all the songs Untrodden Path's grape fruit-sized brain tumor prevents him from enjoying.

Like this gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyrXJP1WMJA

Beautiful.

Let's not forget that Lay Lady Lay was his best charting single. I mean, sure, the Nasville Voice isn't the one that he's famous for, but on the other hand, it was never really used on many of his truly greatest songs (certainly not in any way that got out to a broad audience). It obviously had the potential--realized in LLL--to be popular, at least in the short term.

Depends on what you think his "truly greatest songs" are, which is always another way of determining how impressed you are by his attempts to mix folk, rock & French surrealist poetry in 1965-66. I am not alone in thinking that "I Threw It All Away" is as good a song as anything from the "trilogy." However, since that voice is pretty much limited to NS & SP it's true that the majority of his best songs are sung in another one.

Yep.

i threw it all away is such a good song. so fun to play on guitar with a buddy.

siruso

There is an incredible performance, the zenith of its many performances, of I Threw It All Away from The Ahoy, Rotterdam, May 2, 2002.

Jim Nabors would sue

Heh heh... You said, "zenith."


-dELVIS-

I'd be interested to know if he can still put on this voice, I'd consider seeing him live if he did.

I think that most of his best songs would not be served by the NS voice. That being said, if he quit the NET and gave his voice time to heal (it is constantly beyond hoarse), then I think he'd get closer to reclaiming the NS voice and it would benefit stuff like "This Dream of You" and CITH

woulda been boring because times have to change!

I'm really curious to hear how he tackles the most melodic songs on his xmas album.
He could have done it quite straight in his Nashville days
but how he's going to do that now without the benefit of auto-tune or something
is beyond my imagination.

Hope he goes for some kind of different approach because the NS voice is certainly gone forever.

I'll buy the album. Given that Dylan fans still buy albums while everyone else downloads singles off iTunes, I wouldn't be totally shocked if CITH charted fairly high at first, but no one but hardcore fans will buy it. It will be filled with deathly croaks and no holiday cheer. He'll rehire the children's choir from "They Killed Him" and make KOL sound good. I'm still excited though.

I anticipate it in the same way that I anticipate his concerts nowadays.
It will be completely uneven, sung by the ghost of voices lost.
Some of it will be so bad that it will be fascinating in a morbid way
but there will be one or two, or tree even, truly magical performances.
He won't win the Bing Crosby audience certainly
if they don't pitch and auto-tune his voice into something it's not.