Paul The Vocalist
June 14, 1965. If this had been the only day by which to judge Paul McCartney’s abilities as a singer, he would still be known as one of the finest vocalist in rock history. On this day Paul recorded three songs - ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’, ‘I’m Down’, and Yesterday. Three songs as different as night and day, and just days before his twenty-third birthday McCartney displayed his absolute mastery of the art.
“I could do Little Richard's voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing, it's like an out-of-body experience. You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it. You have to actually go outside yourself... A lot of people were fans of Little Richard so I used to sing his stuff but there came a point when I wanted one of my own, so I wrote I'm Down,” Paul McCartney in Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now.
‘I’m Down’ is a great example of McCartney singing his own composition in the style of one of his …show more content…
His lead vocal is double tracked, and he’s described the voice he’s using as, “…an almost falsetto… My Marianne Faithful impression,” and when you listen to the stereo mix of the song the near mirror image of the two tracks is astounding. His control of the phrasing he uses, along with the pitch perfect replication is indicative of what a great singer he has become, and he only deviates when on the last verse he does a beautiful lower harmony with his own lead on the lines, “Love never dies’, and “Watching her eyes”. In an interesting historical aside, this track was recorded beginning on June 14, 1966 - one year to the day after McCartney had recorded ‘Yesterday’. Listening to alternate takes of this tune, you can get a picture of just how good a singer McCartney really is - any of the takes could have ben used and seen as perfectly acceptable, as Paul is remarkably accurate in his delivery on each
June 14, 1965. If this had been the only day by which to judge Paul McCartney’s abilities as a singer, he would still be known as one of the finest vocalist in rock history. On this day Paul recorded three songs - ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’, ‘I’m Down’, and Yesterday. Three songs as different as night and day, and just days before his twenty-third birthday McCartney displayed his absolute mastery of the art.
“I could do Little Richard's voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing, it's like an out-of-body experience. You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it. You have to actually go outside yourself... A lot of people were fans of Little Richard so I used to sing his stuff but there came a point when I wanted one of my own, so I wrote I'm Down,” Paul McCartney in Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now.
‘I’m Down’ is a great example of McCartney singing his own composition in the style of one of his …show more content…
His lead vocal is double tracked, and he’s described the voice he’s using as, “…an almost falsetto… My Marianne Faithful impression,” and when you listen to the stereo mix of the song the near mirror image of the two tracks is astounding. His control of the phrasing he uses, along with the pitch perfect replication is indicative of what a great singer he has become, and he only deviates when on the last verse he does a beautiful lower harmony with his own lead on the lines, “Love never dies’, and “Watching her eyes”. In an interesting historical aside, this track was recorded beginning on June 14, 1966 - one year to the day after McCartney had recorded ‘Yesterday’. Listening to alternate takes of this tune, you can get a picture of just how good a singer McCartney really is - any of the takes could have ben used and seen as perfectly acceptable, as Paul is remarkably accurate in his delivery on each