John Lennon (70,006 views)

[Osmosis]

Apr 12, 2023 2:13:27 GMT Macca said:

I'm hearing an E5 during the fadeout of "Only People" but it sounds like an E4 that cracks up an entire octave

Yeah should probably be italicised. The C5 are good but the E5 is rather crappy

[Macca]

Here's John Lennon singing some stuff from RAM

[PerhapsXarb]

Notable distorted whistle-screams in the outro of "Don't Let Me Down", at 3:05, 3:10, and 3:17. G6 to G#6 I think? They are certainly questionable, but he does hit almost the exact same note three times so it seems pretty intentional. I suppose the mic could have been overloading, but considering it sounds the same each time I sort of doubt that. His voice just sounds pushed beyond its limits lol. It would likely still go under "questionable" though.

[Macca]

May 8, 2023 23:37:28 GMT PerhapsXarb said:

Notable distorted whistle-screams in the outro of "Don't Let Me Down", at 3:05, 3:10, and 3:17. G6 to G#6 I think? They are certainly questionable, but he does hit almost the exact same note three times so it seems pretty intentional. I suppose the mic could have been overloading, but considering it sounds the same each time I sort of doubt that. His voice just sounds pushed beyond its limits lol. It would likely still go under "questionable" though.

It's actually overtones. I thought it was 6th octave the first time i heard it.

[EddieCheivz]

Apr 12, 2023 19:34:18 GMT Macca said:

Here's John Lennon singing some stuff from RAM

-First video:
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" 0:17 C5      0:28 C#5 Though listening two times I'm some doubtful if is actually John or an impersonator

-Second video:
"Too Many People"  0:03 G#2
"The Back Seat Of My Car" 0:10 A2

RAM is fairly one of my favorite Macca's albums; very good compositions here and there, awesome arrangements and that nice and lovely late 60s/early 70s smell on the music. "Long Haired Lady", "Heart Of The Country" and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" are my favorite ones :D

[Macca]

Here's an available video for Help Me to Help Myself

[PerhapsXarb]

I think the studio version of "I'm the Greatest" could be added here, as there's some backing vocals in Ringo's version that get high toward the end (E5 and D5 at some points) that I'm fairly sure are John. There may be other singers on it, but he's the only credited backing vocalist and fairly easy to pick out. Could theoretically be varispeeded, but no particular reason to think so. On that note, I would kinda like to see the D5 in Sexy Sadie bolded, probably his best falsetto moment IMO

[Osmosis]

Dec 9, 2020 8:47:41 GMT BAZanine said:

Tbh I think the D5 in "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" could stay black. There’s nothing too drastic separating it from the surrounding (uncontroversially black) C5 and A4 tonally.

Revisiting this, I too think that D5 should be black. It's clear head voice to me. 

[PerhapsXarb]

May 18, 2023 21:45:11 GMT Osmosis said:

Dec 9, 2020 8:47:41 GMT BAZanine said:

Tbh I think the D5 in "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" could stay black. There’s nothing too drastic separating it from the surrounding (uncontroversially black) C5 and A4 tonally.

Revisiting this, I too think that D5 should be black. It's clear head voice to me. 

On the contrary, shouldn't head voice or falsetto mean that note remains blue, assuming we're referring to the line just after 2:20? It's not in chest voice, like the B4 (I think at "when I hold you in my arms") and A4 (the second time the title is sung). The C5 in that falsetto section would also be blue, though it isn't in the listing as of now.

[Osmosis]

The blue notes mark soft falsetto. Sure, the note isn’t as ‘chesty’ as the B4 you mention in the song but it is still more connected than what many would consider ‘soft falsetto’. Look at the amount of black notes in a lot of female singers.A lot of those notes are in head voice. I see no reason for it not to be black following the forum’s standards and abiding by what a ‘blue’ note is supposed to be in this thread.

[Steingrim]

May 19, 2023 8:30:21 GMT Osmosis said:

The blue notes mark soft falsetto. Sure, the note isn’t as ‘chesty’ as the B4 you mention in the song but it is still more connected than what many would consider ‘soft falsetto’. Look at the amount of black notes in a lot of female singers.A lot of those notes are in head voice. I see no reason for it not to be black following the forum’s standards and abiding by what a ‘blue’ note is supposed to be in this thread.

Wouldn't it be a good idea to use blue when one is sure that it is in fact head voice ? Then bold the ones that sound connected even though they aren't that high ? It should be much easier to figure out which register is involved with male singers. A classically trained female singer like Beyonce, who doesn't want you to know which register she's in while she's ascending octave 5, is much harder.

[BAZanine]

I've deliberated with other peeps about this on multiple occasions and I think you and maybe Holsety (back in the TRP3 dark ages) are the only two people I've seen wanting to call it blue. Lennon's mix in that area isn't particularly chesty, but it's most assuredly more connected than the falsetto notes he has in that area. It sounds pretty similar to the "Only People" D5 a few years later imo. With all this in tow I've changed it to black, but I'm open to discussing it so long as we don't start Matt Bellamy-ing all over the place.

[PerhapsXarb]

May 19, 2023 8:38:08 GMT Steingrim said:

May 19, 2023 8:30:21 GMT Osmosis said:

The blue notes mark soft falsetto. Sure, the note isn’t as ‘chesty’ as the B4 you mention in the song but it is still more connected than what many would consider ‘soft falsetto’. Look at the amount of black notes in a lot of female singers.A lot of those notes are in head voice. I see no reason for it not to be black following the forum’s standards and abiding by what a ‘blue’ note is supposed to be in this thread.

Wouldn't it be a good idea to use blue when one is sure that it is in fact head voice ? Then bold the ones that sound connected even though they aren't that high ? It should be much easier to figure out which register is involved with male singers. A classically trained female singer like Beyonce, who doesn't want you to know which register she's in while she's ascending octave 5, is much harder.

I have noticed the gender discrepancy of many female singers having few if any blue notes despite frequent head voice (i.e. Phoebe Bridgers, whose belted chest highs sound nothing like her head voice, and are often bolded like the live "Me & My Dog"). Re: Lennon, I understand where Osmosis is coming from, but at the same time, the "HiaWG" D5 is very similar in tone to the blue "Sexy Sadie" D5, which is also clearly falsetto despite not being particularly "soft". I agree with Steingrim that notes like these could be blue bolds.

[Osmosis]

I actually agree that if it was to remain blue then I would have backed the vote to bold it (not least because of how create the entire passage is as a whole) but I do think it should be black. I appreciate its a contreversial deliniation to make though.
I disagree that it is that similar to "Sexy Sadie" though. Those D5s are noticeably more breathy (for lack of a better term) than the D5 we have in "HiaWG".

[PerhapsXarb]

Honestly I think the difference is largely down to the syllables ("guuuhhhhn" in HiaWG vs "oooohwooooo" in Sexy Sadie). The very noticeable contrast with the next line ("WELL DONTCHA KNOW THAT HAPPINESS...") makes it clear that there is a change in his register. On that note, the A4(s) in Sexy Sadie ("made a fool of everyoooone") are also blue, despite sounding (to me) more mixed and connected to the preceding part of the vocal line than the falsetto "guuuhhhhn".

anyway, fwiw, I did find an unequivocally black G4 in the bridge of Sadie that isn't the listing right now

[BAZanine]

Actually, thank you for reminding me; there's actually this A4 in "Sexy Sadie" that I'd definitely call black:

Man, I love this song.

[hendrix94]

Here are some notes:

B4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cicy9JR2jY&t=81s
B4 in black: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff0KQLq2638&t=90s
Various F5s and G5s: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwTJdibgh9k&t=251s

I think in the version of Money in Toronto he hits a B4.
I also think that John and Yoko s D5S and She so heavy should be included in the list.

I'm the Greatest demo A4s and the C5 should be in black.

[Osmosis]

The "I'm the Greatest" demo and the "Mother" performance are already in the thread. Those B4s are new though and should make their way into the thread.

And right enough, here is the B4 in "Money":

[hendrix94]

There are Mother's G5s, but they didn't put the F5s.

I remember that in another thread a C5 of My Baby Left Me from the rock and roll album appeared.

[BAZanine]

I was thinking about spoilering that G5 to be honest; it's quite unremarkable. If the F5 you're talking about hails from that same performance I don't really think any 5th octave note you could glean from that section is worth bothering with. "My Baby Left Me" has been added.

By the way, if you have multiple things to say within a short span of time, please just edit your original post with the new information. It keeps the discussion tidier.

[hendrix94]

Because they have removed the G5 from mother? It's a pretty powerful note. Lennon hits this note in both live versions.

It always seemed to me that it was a note that could be in bold or green.

[hendrix94]

I think there is an obvious C5 in Happiness is a... in the final lines: don t you that HAppiness.

[hendrix94]

What do you think of these notes:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFrwRnYNMT0&t=278s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlpnYgE2d8E&t=262s evenng show
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSke-7iUCXU&t=216s G5.

[Osmosis]

The second clip is very similar to the spoilered G5 from mother. The note is held for a fraction of the second longer but it is just reckless screaming, especially given the way he exits the note. I don't think there's much intent with regard to the pitch.
The thrid clip is a solid countable G5 (if my pitching is right).

Edit: is the alleged C5 in "Happiness is a Warm Gun" not what is listed in the thread as a B4? It's a bit flat of C5 I think

[hendrix94]

Mother G5s look genuine to me. Its shape is clearly intentional, just like the studio version. The note rises progressively until it reaches G5.It is a perfectly connected note. It holds up longer than many of the G5s in the thread, and I personally think that Mother's G5s are better and more consistent than most of the G5s featured in the thread.

I think the B4s of Happiness is... are in the verses of: wheN I hold you... and: ...anD I feel my finger... The final verses I see it as a clear C5. But it's just my opinion. Although it seems strange to me that they have removed Mother's G5 from the thread just because I said that before that G5 there is a fairly obvious F5.

Also there is a G2 in To Know Her Is to Love her that should be included in the thread.