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It's all in their head (voice)...


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Head voice. Falsetto. Whatever you want to call it, what are your favorite recorded examples?

 

One of my all-time favorites. I listened to this over and over when I was a kid the same way Brian used to listen to Be My Baby... :lol:

 

[video=youtube;lW0YGC68qP4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0YGC68qP4

 

Historical note: In addition to Brian's angelic falsetto, this entire recording is all-Beach Boys, with no outside musicians used on the track.

 

 

So, what are some of your favorite falsetto tracks?

 

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Always loved falsetto. And without it, my vocal range ain't much :)

 

Curtis Mayfield - Keep On Pushing

[YOUTUBE]HU-mEsCk3D8[/YOUTUBE]

 

these guys certainly can do it in the refrain, BeeGees style:

[YOUTUBE]RLCGQagBCOw[/YOUTUBE]

 

this guy has a really haunting quality to his falsetto-Active Child

[YOUTUBE]l3WdgBLFhD4[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Thom Yorke has an excellent falsetto. And who said he can't dance? I DID!

[YOUTUBE]cfOa1a8hYP8[/YOUTUBE]

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Great stuff! Don't Worry Baby has always been one of my favs. I grew up listening to The Beach Boys and others in the Surf Rock genre where head voice was dominant. My older sisters listened to this stuff a lot. When I got into high school I rediscovered it and it was about all you would hear playing from my '72 Mustang Mach I, which I used to race a lot. I had Jensen 3-way speakers in the back seat and a couple auxiliary mid/high range speaker in the front. I also had a pair of Jensen 3-ways in the front grill of the car with a switch I wired in to turn them on and off. I never lost a race in that car. People asked me what I had under the hood. I said, "speakers" and added how important it is to have the right music. :D

 

Here's another I'll never forget...

 

Beach Boys - "Spirit of America"

 

[video=youtube;Gc0cvsSwvs0]

 

And another fav from those days....

 

Beach Boys - "Hushabye"

 

[video=youtube;0kugBjlnnaA]

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Not exactly falsetto, but it is that "high lonesome" sound that you hear frequently in bluegrass. John Duffy (the mandolin player in the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene) did this to a tee. You can hear it real well on this performance of "Wait a Minute" by John with the Seldom Scene.

 

[video=youtube;3Rps80QdDtM]

 

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The do-wop and soul guys with the great falsettos brought the technique into popular music from roots in gospel. One of the all-time greats, Claude Jeter with the Swan Silvertones - just an incredible voice - listen through, 'cause he really gets it on starting about halfway through....

 

[YOUTUBE]v9Ffy5VL4ps[/YOUTUBE]

 

nat whilk ii

 

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Steven Bishop- Animal House is the first one the popped into my head:

 

 

 

Followed Frankie Valli- Big Girls Don't Cry. My little brother and I got the 45 at a garage sale sometime in the early eighties (we were something like 8 and 10 at he time) and thought it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard.

 

 

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What's wrong with you people?

[video=youtube;_LBmUwi6mEo]

I know how politically messed up this ^^^^ is, but ... that's one helluva vocal.

 

[video=youtube;GQ9Nm_c3GVY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9Nm_c3GVY

 

And you could make an argument that Brett Anderson's career was based on falsetto ... this is a particularly gorgeous song and singing performance that is lesser-known than the hits. The first three and a half minutes are basically a mellotron / intro - paydirt is at 3:32. For fans of lush, orchestral ballads, this is your stop.

[video=youtube;3lK-lBToezw]

 

 

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I like most of what's already been mentioned. I especially like a singer who's natural range and falsetto are pleasing to me, hence both Brian and Carl Wilson. Eddie Rabbit could do that too, for example on several parts of the old "You Don't Love Me Any More".

 

Lou Christi (who I'm privileged to know name dropper that I am) is great between his natural voice and falsetto on "Lightning Strkes" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine".

 

I'd also single out Frankie Valli on several tunes, especially "Dawn" (listen to that thing in mono real real loud sometime).

 

As an aside observation to falsetto singing, the art of overdubbing footstomps on plywood is a lost art.

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