I miss the harmonies | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Mr. Kite said
Beatles harmonies really are a bit of magic. Listening to Because , especially the Anthology 3 version, always hits me. What’s funny is looking at pictures from that era, where John looks Amish, and imagining those beautiful voices coming out of those three men.

The harmonies are a major part of why The Beatles’ music sounded so good and probably won’t ever be matched.

Their harmonies were simply angelic, unmatched by any others, whether it was only just Paul & George belting out the last verse of ‘All My Loving ‘, or more often, John, Paul & George performing repeated 3-Part Harmonic Brilliance throughout many of their classic works, The Beatles established a benchmark of sorts to which all other singers can only strive for but never truly achieve.  Sure, there’s been many more who are, in fact, technically more accomplished than any of them ever were, but ANY combination of them displaying their pension for creating another voice beyond their own could NEVER be duplicated, the closest representation of “the voice of GOD” that humans will ever know.

Don’t discount Ringo’s contributions here as well eventhough his range was the most “limited” of the four, that goes without saying, but ‘Hey Jude ‘s (THE Greatest Song of ALL Time) epic refrain wouldn’t be what it is without Rings’ spirited contribution, nor would ‘Carry That Weight ‘ have made The Beatles’ swansong known as ‘The End ‘ so very effective.  John’s Fired Aspirations in combination with Paul’s Watery Inertia was tempered by George’s Aired Spirit, while Ringo’s Earthly Presence grounded the entire experience for us all to relate to exoterically, and it’s no more obvious to all than when they locked in on their vocals together.  For The Beatles, it was a NATURAL (or more accurately, SUPERNATURAL) projection, something that others can only try to accomplish with the aid of many years technical training…:-)

Bulldog said

Von Bontee said
I thought Denny Laine & maybe a coupla others did vocals too. Maybe just on the ones they wrote themselves?

I should check the credits in my few Wings albums more often.

Yeah, Denny definitely sang, along with Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English (obviously Paul and Linda as well – only full Wings line-up I know, sorry).

I’m certain at least three members sang in some of the harmonies on BOTR. Oh, I just looked it up, BOTR only had three members of Wings working on it: Denny, Linda, and of course Paul. Anyway, if you listen closely to the verses of Jet , specifically to the part with the harmonies: “…funny faces”, “sergeant major”, and “thousand laces”, there is CLEARLY a second male voice in the background, which must be Laine (however, I don’t hear Linda here…) So, yes, Wings did three+-part harmonies too. Or at least every member sang backing vocals in certain parts of songs. (I’m sure, also, that there is further evidence of this from Rockshow if anyone wants to investigate.)

I had Rockshow on my dvr last week.  Unfortunately I let it get deleted or I’d check for sure right now (I did watch it about 5 times though so it’s fairly fresh in my head).  Laine sings harmony and lead (harmony on Picasso’s Last Words and others – his was the primary male harmony voice – and lead on Richard Cory).  McCulloch sings lead (I believe he wrote one of the songs), and backing vocals on other songs.  Usually several members sing on “big” lines (like “Let Me Roll It to You”, “Band On The Run “, “Hi Hi Hi ” and “Go now” – the lines not the whole songs).  English sang some harmony, I’m pretty sure.

Bulldog said

Ouch… it’s weird, because I remember her sounding alright in Rockshow… (haven’t watched it in a couple months though.) It doesn’t detract from the spirit of the whole performance though:

I think she has good and bad moments in Rockshow – can’t think of any high or lowlights offhand though.  Well, one for me is when they sit in the chairs and play acoustic, I could do without her (but of course Paul was going to include his true love in that arrangement).