Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey, Tony Bennett, Nick Cave, Norah Jones, Smokey Robinson, Thom Yorke, Chrissie Hynde, Brian Johnson and Chuck D are just a few of the 70 vocal icons whose inspirations and techniques are revealed in a riveting new book, The Singers Talk (Permuted Press).
The Singers Talk is a first-of-its-king compendium of lengthy conversations conducted with dozens of vocal greats by Jason Thomas Gordon, the lead singer and drummer of buzzworthy LA-based rockers, Kingsize. Interestingly, Gordon is also the grandson of Danny Thomas, the early television sitcom pioneer who founded St. Jude’s, the world’s foremost hospital for child cancer patients, in 1962. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the hospital through its Music Gives to St. Jude Kids, a campaign created by the author.
The lengthy subtitle to Thomas’s book tells all – The Greatest Singers of Our Times Discuss The One Thing They’re Never Asked About – The Voices. Unlike guitarists, bassists and keyboardist who get to share their thoughts on their instruments through a plethora of specialty magazines and websites, how our favorite singers cultivate their unique sounds, and what they do to maintain them during high stakes recording sessions, grueling tours and over decades-long careers, is often a mystery. Interestingly, The Singers Talk also features exclusive interviews about many celebrated voices no longer with us. These include Steven Van Zandt on Little Richard, Butch Vig on Kurt Cobain, Clive Davis on Whitney Houston, Nile Rodgers on David Bowie, Wendy Melvoin on Prince and Jimmy Iovine on Tom Petty.
Gordon’s conversations with and about the vocal greats are steered by 20 questions he poses to each. These include where and when they began singing, their earliest influences and dream duet partners (living or dead), five favorite singers and several technical questions like how they warm up (if at all) and keep their voices intact on the road. Naturally, they also reveal the stories behind some of their most famous performances on record.
The Go-Gos’s Belinda Carlisle shares that it was Julie Andrews in the film Mary Poppins who inspired her to sing and that she never takes to the stage with consuming two Aleve tablets to fight inflammation that can compromise her performance. If Emmy Lou Harris’ early dreams came through, she would be a singing actress in musicals like West Side Story. The country rock great credits Gram Parsons and his amazing story songs to helping her find her voice. The original leather rocker girl, Joan Jett, was also all about movie musicals in her youth, especially Liza Minnelli in Cabaret. This was before she would fall in love with rock via Paul Rodgers’ singing in Free’s “All Right Now” and T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong.” This trio is representative of many singers interviewed here who say they keep their voices is shape while on the road by avoiding overly air-conditioned rooms and by traveling with one or more humidifiers! And while Chrissie Hynde also ascribes to the above road Rx, she was turned on to singing by the original punk, Iggy Pop. She says, ironically I trust, his success demonstrated that there was a space on the hit parade for “ugly Midwestern voices like ours.”
Producer Butch Vig shares that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain hated to double-track his voice, claiming “it was fake.” The mercurial musician would also only be good for a couple of takes before he blew out his voice. But Vig did get Cobain to double-track by using a bit of psychology – by telling Beatlefile Kurt that his idol, John Lennon, did it on almost every record. The Doors’ Robbie Krieger credits some of Jim Morrison’s vocal punch to the size of his throat commenting: “Have you ever looked at the size of his neck? It’s as big as Pavarotti’s!” He also sets a long-discussed rumor straight saying that his singer’s spine-chilling performance on “The End” was indeed recorded while Morrison on L.S.D. Ozzy Osborne also brings up the legendary Italian opera star saying he always eats as apple before going on stage, just like Pavarotti himself did (it helps lubricated the voice according to Osborne). The Who’s Roger Daltrey feels he found his voice through the band’s songs, most notably, in the studio and live performances of the rock opera, Tommy. And rock’s most iconic scream, the one in “Won’t Get Fooled Again?” Does it obscure his singing talent? “It drives me nuts,” he says. “I’m getting to the age where it’s my least favorite song to sing.”
The recently-departed jazz great Tony Bennett claimed it takes seven years of steady work to learn how to sing properly and that his own influencers are not singers but great jazz sax players and pianists. Producer Nile Rodgers ascribes the success of David Bowie to his perfectionist preparation and thespian skills. Like his career and discography, his voice was also about constant change. Bowie would develop wholly new styles and approaches for the “characters” he took on in his songs. And the secret to Public Enemy’s Chuck D’s success? It’s that he wanted to be – and communicates very much like – a sports play-by-play announcer. “Rap carries the same rhythms as sportscasters like Marv Albert,” adds D. His technique has been helped by his recent study of Pilates and five-years of core training.
“Singing is so much more than hitting the right note,” Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “It’s about connecting with the audience, connecting with something divine, connecting to your most primitive and deepest intuition, and to your nature as a human on this planet.” Adds Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, mid-interview, “This is the most geeked out I’ve ever talked about my voice!”
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