A dirty little secret behind today's so-called singers
Posted by Larry Jordan on December 16, 2014, 3:15 pm
You don't have to be able to carry a tune to become a successful singer and earn a fortune. Many of today's so-called artists have proven that. But most people probably don't know just how fake the music business has become.
Now I'm not talking about the great singers of a bygone era -- the people like Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Patti Page, Nat Cole, and so many more stylists who each had a unique sound, sang with perfect pitch, and whose artistry continues to shine even today.
I'm referring instead to a whole new crop of performers who lip sync during live concerts to pre-recorded tracks that were helped by something called "Auto Tune" -- a process by which off-key vocals can be electronically brought on pitch. It is a giant fraud that's being perpetuated on an unsuspecting public.
The BBC did a very interesting video on this subject that will show you how even some of the world's superstars are cheating their fans.
For the record, I have never had to use Auto Tune on the voices of any artists whose recordings I've worked with. Sometimes an entire track may be slightly out of tune due to a piano not being tuned properly, which threw everything else off. But that is not the singer's fault. Once we make the correction, everything else is fine. But even that is a rare occurrence. In Jim Reeves' day, singers actually had to be able to SING. (A novel concept).
Click the link below for a fascinating look behind the scenes at today's music business.
Wow. More evidence that my disinterest in current "singers" is justified. But it isn't just the "singers" lack of appeal to me, it is also that I don't like the songs that are being sung now. I'll stick with Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, etc..
Re: A dirty little secret behind today's so-called singers
Just a quick anecdote re secrets of to-day's singers and a question.
Back in 2000 or 2001 I sat in on a concert given by Jimmie Rogers (he of Honeycomb fame) in Branson. He basically did a lot of talking about his career and 'sang" a few of his hit recordings.However, prior to his first song he let us in on a little 'secret'.He said that he would be lip synching all the tunes he would be singing that afternoon.I think it would be fair to say all of us in the audience were taken aback at his comment.Then he paused to explain that after he was severely beaten by an off duty policeman he lost the ability to sing as well as we had heard him on various records (had he not said a word the backing for each of the songs would have alerted us that something was up because he was on the stage by himself with only a guitar in hand). Furthermore, he indicated that a number of the singers in Branson at that time were doing likewise in the the shows that we might be attending during our stay in the town.He provided a rationale for this practice and we the audience were left to wonder whom he might be talking about.Whatever the case the audience seemed to be very appreciative of his show and gave him a very hearty round of applause when it was all over!
My question is why would JR be involved in lip synching some of his hit songs (witness some of the his videos on youtube and elsewhere) given his great voice? Would that have been his decision solely or that of the producer given that he seemed somewhat uncomfortable doing it.?
Re: A dirty little secret behind today's so-called singers
First to Jimmie Rogers -- you should look into his story sometime because it's a fascinating tale of how he challenged powerful people and they retaliated. He was savagely beaten and left for dead by the roadside, and it permanently affected his voice. He was one of the nicest guys around.
According to Leo Jackson, Jim Reeves HATED to lip sync because he felt it was "cheating the audience." However, the stars who appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand show" typically would lip sync their hit records because it was too expensive (or so the producers thought) to pay all the musicians that would be necessary to accompany a roster of singers who were booked on each broadcast.
Jim sang live on the "Ozark Jubilee" and the "Town Hall Party" shows, he sang live on the "Jimmy Dean" TV program, and of course on Oslo.
The pilot he shot -- under protest -- that was put together by Ray Winkler in Dallas, in which he lip synced everything, was done because it too was filmed on the cheap. He would have been better off having the Blue Boys perform live with him, like he did on the Opry TV shows featuring T. Tommy Cutrer.
I am proud to say that "The Great Jim Reeves Anthology DVD" 2014 revised edition in which I was involved has STRICTLY Jim Reeves live performances (except for a little video special effects thing we did at one point; but we did that, not Reeves).
So you get to hear and see his evolution as a singer from his early days when he wore western suits, to his more polished later crooning. You can order the DVD at the link below. It is in an ALL REGION format so it will play regardless of where you live in the world. And it is bargain priced.
Even Dolly Parton was accused of 'lip-synching' by some of her critics while performing at The Glastonbury Festival this year,something she totally denied,I know that there can be a short delay between what is happening on stage and when it appears on the screen,it isn't 'lip-synching',but it could appear that way,I recall Larry mentioning something about it a while back,too technical for me!
on December 16, 2014, 3:15 pm