Reply With Quotei have to say unchained melody was a tough one for him. i remember hearing that sherill nielon did the high note at the end on some occasions for elvis
Of course, that's true..! But what I really meant to say is that most people don't have the slightest clue of Elvis' true vocal potential. If he had had a role in Mozarts 'Don Giovanni', for example, he would have sang the shit out of all those so called 'intellectual critics'.
Anyway, I just miss Elvis!He could have turned out to be a nice pope!
i have to say unchained melody was a tough one for him. i remember hearing that sherill nielon did the high note at the end on some occasions for elvis
You have a similar range as Elvis???I doubt it.I really doubt it.
Hi Michu, I seem to have offended you with my comment. Elvis is my favorite singer of all time, so I certainly meant no disrespect with my comment. I do however sing in a similar range to Elvis on the high side of his range, though I fall short in the low register, I can't go as deep as he could, nor can I sing with the range of emotion, power and sheer amazing talent Elvis did. I occasionally can sound similar to him (I am told, I myself, don't hear it!). God, to be able to actually sing like that man!!!!Originally Posted by michu
I have some soundclips and videos available on my site if you wish: www.paulross.net
I hope this won't ignite a flame-war. I perform as Elvis in a show, and I do know that there are many Elvis fans who are offended by "Elvis Impersonators". I would like to note that I perform a respectful tribute to Elvis Presley AS Paul. During my show, I sing like Elvis during the songs, wear costumes, and move (similar) to how he did, but I am NOT Elvis in between.. I am myself, and refer to the songs as "Elvis performed this song in ...", give a history of the song, or an anecdote about Elvis. My show is intended as a respectful tribute to Elvis Presley, and is NEVER a joke. I take great pride in researching all available footage and recordings by Elvis, replicating his outfits, his jewelry, his guitars... but I never forget that I am just a man living a fantasy of performing as his idol.
I am first and foremost an Elvis Presley fan, the same as the rest of you, and I hope you will be kind in your responses.
Sincerely,
you have just described exactly what i want to do, thank you
BTW, you have an amazing voice! i just listened to hurt and it is amazing! man i only have half that voice, that is just terrific! keep it up man, and if anyone ever tries to give you shit, i'll stand up for ya
if ever you visit my country, i'll try my best to catch one of your shows, terrific!
sincerely, Scott, a 15 year old Elvis fan
prayers to Jackie my auntie in law, and R.I.P Charlie Hodge, both victims of cancer
Paul, I can be a pretty cynical guy at times, but... what a voice!!!!!
Everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY - listen to this:
http://www.alohafromottawa.com/audio/hurt.mp3
I'm astounded how truly powerful ALL of your vocals sound. Those are not easy songs to pull off - not by a long margin. But you pull em off. All of em. Flipping heck.
I take it you had formal training to sing like that?
Last edited by Cryogenic; 04-25-2005 at 01:12 AM.
You guys made me feel a lot better! I was all ready to get beaten up
To answer your question Cryo, I have actually never had any singing lessons. I'm 27, and I started singing about 10 years ago now, and for the first 5 years.. I actually thought I couldn't sing! My mistake was in trying to sing like 80s power ballad singers like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, etc... not realizing that I just didn't have the range for it. With the advent of grunge and alternative music in the early 90s, I was able to sing that material, and of course, classic stuff like the Beatles, Elvis, and more.
It was with Elvis though that I really found my range. I was a huge fan of his music, and the band I was playing with usually performed It's Now Or Never and One Night With You in our show... and I always got the most compliments on those songs... from there... I one night decided to surprise everyone by coming out for the second half of our show with an Elvis costume.. it was homemade, a men's white shirt with the collar turned up, some sequins glued on to look like the Comet or Adonis jumpsuit, white pants from the thrift store, and a horrible horrible wig. Being that it was NOT an Elvis fan crowd, the response was good.. and I started to think about how this could really be a bigger part of the show. I decided my costume was not professional enough, so I had my mom help me make a better one, and bought a (slightly) better wig. I entered a local Elvis Impersonator contest, and to my surprise, won 1st place based I assume solely on my voice, as my outfit and hair still left a LOT to be desired!!!
After seeing some of the of the more professional outfits on some of the other guys, fitted properly, and replicated from Elvis' real outfits, I decided if I was going to do this, I would do it right... I did some research on the web and found a lady in Chicago that was making jumpsuits. I had her make me my favorite outfit (the Peacock), which set me back about $1500.00. Since that time, I've been performing in my own show as Elvis, and have found my range to only increase the more I sing Elvis' harder material. They are a real stretch and exercise for the vocal chords! I have really focused on making my show the best it can be, both vocally and visually, creating my own costumes and jumpsuits in conjunction with a seamstress (www.kingcostumes.com), from the Gold Lame, to the 68 Leather, to more than a dozen jumpsuits, and recreating Elvis' guitars, finding correct microphones (such as the slim Electrovoice models he used in the 70s and the Shure mics from the 50s).
Sorry! I just realized I got in a lot more detail than I needed to! LOL
All I know is that Elvis Presley had an amazing vocal range, and I continue to be amazed by him every day.
I think Paultoronto is sincere - never pretending to 'be elvis', rather trying to learn from him.
I've been ridiculed with people saying 'ah, he doesn't look like Elvis at all' and all that jazz. Well I know it's hard to find good clothing for a reasonable prize - but the most important thing is that those kind of people do not really know me!
I now know that I have got a good voice and that it came with a lot of practice - the same goes for Paultoronto, I guess!
If I would have the possibility for a decent suit to be made, I'd choose the Mexican Sundial! But that's a personal preference, I guess - most important is that you work hard and try to sing well, that's far more important than just the 'physical appearance'.
exactly! and if all impersonators worked this way, it'd be MUCH better
sincerely, Scott, a 15 year old Elvis fan
prayers to Jackie my auntie in law, and R.I.P Charlie Hodge, both victims of cancer
Hey Paultoronto - I've listened to your version of Hurt and I must admit that this is not a bad attempt at all! There are some notes in your song which aren't really th?t easy to sing. I guess you're a lot better than a lot of those so-called modern pop stars.
There is a guy in England, named Louis Rockefella or something like that - he is singing with members of Elvis' original band, The Sweet Inspirations being among them. On the website he's being acclaimed as 'number 1. Elvis act' and all that jazz. But to be honest, I find your version of Hurt to be more compelling and, most of all, more dramatic - which is absolutely necessary for this kind of song.
I guess I would like to sing Elvis songs myself - I was being beaten up all the time during my early years, and abandoned by my mother and deprived of the love of a father, blamed for the loss of his wife and all that jazz..!
But anyway, I did survive by fighting and pure strength alone and now I do kind of consider myself to be the King Of the Jungle, at least just a little bit. I would like to sing 'Tiger Man' some time, and by doing so I would give the cruelly intended 'impersonators' a bit of a scare.
I will defend Elvis' legacy in an honest manner, never pretending 'to be Elvis' - just singing some of his songs will keep me happy enough, and he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough, an old Chinese proverb says. And I definitely don't think 'Elvis' is something to be taken advantage of or just another $-sign.
It's just that you can hear what kind of intention somebody has or hasn't got! Come on, it's not just about appearance. Sorry if I do seem to be a little strange in some way - of course it is all just my humble opinion, which is personal, to say the least, and may or may not apply to someone else!
Last edited by EnigmaticSun; 04-26-2005 at 05:44 PM. Reason: (minor typing error)
hey everyone, i'm 14 and i can hit the first few words 'i'm so hurt!' with (i think) the same power as Elvis. believe it or not, but its true. my voice has broken and i can't hit the other notes, but when i am able to later on, watch out!
sincerely, Scott, a 15 year old Elvis fan
prayers to Jackie my auntie in law, and R.I.P Charlie Hodge, both victims of cancer
HURT, HOW GREAT THOU ART and MY WAY are classic and well-known examples of Elvis' vocal ability in 1977!
But on the lesser-known side, one of the best examples of Elvis' vocal range is the ending note he hits on CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE from his show in Largo, MD. on 5/22/77. (BOBBY....WHERE ARE YOU BUDDY???)
I have NEVER heard Elvis attack the end of that song like he does in this show....if you haven't heard it, you need to check it out if you can....it's THAT good, in my opinion!!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
Good topic and a great view on those songs. I agree that it's not only the volume or note that Elvis reached with a few songs, but even more the vocalchange that's necesary to reach that note.
Padre might not be as cool or popular as Hurt or How Great Thou Art, but I think this song was a much more challeging (difficult to sing) for Elvis than those previous mentioned songs. A big belly and some time to take a big breath should be enough for many professional singers to hit the "Hurt" or "How Great Thou Art" notes.
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"It's Still Here", and the ones that are already mentioned: "How Great Thou Art", "Unchained Melody", "Hurt" and so on ..
"It is no secret what God can do,
and I believe there will be peace in the valley some day,
so take my hand, precious lord, lead me and guide me."
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Heres what Terry Blackwood and Jim Murray of the Imperials had to say about Elvis's vocal abilities in an interview:
How would you evaluate the voice of Elvis Presley?
Terry: He would probably be considered a baritone, but he could reach notes that most baritone singers couldn?t reach, so?
Jim: He had a great range.
Terry: You had to say that much of his abilities were eminated from a very intense desire to execute a song as he wanted to do it, which meant that he really sang higher than he really was able to sing. Because he had the desire, he had the will to excel above what he was really capable of. I think often when the adrenalin is going, and the song is really pumping, you can get into that mode where you can actually do things vocally that you couldn?t normally do. He had a tremendous range because of his desire to excel and be better. That?s why he could do a lot of things that most people couldn?t do.
Everyone left off Tomorrow Never Comes, all the others i think are spot one as to testing his range btu i think Elvis liked testing himself out
The lowest note Elvis probably hit was in Just Call Me Lonesome ...
"... but no one greets me in my gloom."
I definitley agree with you Mike. All of them are excellent and were so well performed IMO in 1977. But you have to add Unchained Melody to that list...and Bridge Over Troubled Water from 6/26/77 Indianapolis.
"How do I get placed in situations like this? Ah hell, I guess it's all part of showbusiness "~ Elvis in his limo on his way to perform in Omaha, NE on June 19th 1977
Well from a guitar player point of view, that´s not knowing a lot of singing my self, my choices are not so much about big or high or extreme low notes, but about incredible well tweaked singing, this is more about emotions and texture, (to keep it short I´ll avoid naming songs already mentioned):
Rock and Roll: Big Hunk O´ Love, Jailhouse Rock, Trouble/Guitar Man, Promised Land.
Soul: Any Day Now, Only The Strong Survive, Suspicious Minds, If I Can Dream.
Pop: Such a Night, Don´t, Love Letters '66, You Lost That Lovin´Feeling.
Blues: Merry Christmas Baby, Feel So Bad, Like a Baby, Milkcow Blues Boogie.
Country: Blue Moon of Kentucky, I´ll Hold You In My Arms (till I Can Hold You In My Heart), I Really Don´t Want to Know (studio), I Really Don´t Want To Know (studio), I´ll Be Home On Christmas Day, Pieces of My Life.
Gospel: Terry Blackwood talking about emotions, remember the rehearsal version of Oh Happy Day in TTWWII Special Edition?, Amazing Grace (alt Take on Walk a Mile in My SHoes), You Never Walk Alone, Where no One Stands Alone.
In my opinion 'Sweet Caroline' is an extremely difficult song to sing for any artist. The part which is difficult is the lower bit e.g. 'never seem so blue' etc. It is very difficult to go straight to a lower note from one which is a couple of octaves higher.
Brian
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