Mick Jagger: why did his voice get better in late 80's/early 90's?

I was listening to a couple Stones live albums this morning. Still Life (from the 1981 tour), and Flashpoint (from the Steel Wheels tour). One thing I can't understand is how Mick's singing is SO MUCH BETTER on Flashpoint. On the 1981 tour he seemed to bark out the words with not much thought. Same is true for much of the Dirty Work album.

So, what happened on the Steel Wheels tour? Did Mick need the rest & time off from 1986-1989 to regain his voice? Was he just lazy before, and by the Steel Wheels tour motivated to sing well? I should also say the whole band plays very professionally on Flashpoint, albeit a little slick at times.

 

Don't know but he did release an album in 1987 (Primitive Cool) and did some touring in Japan & Australia in support of it.

 

Good point. I've never heard Primitive Cool, so not sure how he sounded on that album.

 

He warmed up before each show. Pretty simple.

 

There was also the studio album "She's The Boss" before that. He did not tour for that album though.

 

I think it was just a choice of vocal style. I don't think Mick did all that much - he just changed the way he sang the words.

It does amaze me how good Mick still sounds, though. I'm not gonna claim his voice is the same as it was 50 years ago, but he sounds a lot closer to his young self than almost any other singer in his age range.

I've seen a lot of other 60s/70s artists, and virtually all of them have more than a few vocal clunkers these days - except Mick. I can't say for a fact I've never heard him sound iffy live... but man, I can't remember any vocal clunkers from him.

He's done a remarkable job of keeping his voice in shape!

 

Maybe because he quit smoking in the late '80s?

 

He also became a health and fitness nut, at some point.

 

Keith Richards said that, at some point, he hired a vocal coach and started taking singing lessons.

 

Mick seems to be very conscious of trends in popular music and is not hesitant to use them in his own performance. The disco falsetto makes me cringe sometimes though.

 

Maybe someone pulled him aside after '81 and said, "Hey man, it's not enough to just run around and jump up and down, ya might wanna sing too, especially if you're going to release live albums!"

 

I dislike his live performances in the "barking" era.

He sings much better now but his singing is too affected. I think he "overdoes" the affectation and feels a bit artificial.

 

He also stopped doing coke which does not aid the vocal mechanism.

 

He deliberately started to sing more melodic and dare I say, conventionally. And frankly he lost most of his magic - his voice on the later day Stones albums does nothing to me while I love the earlier grittier MIck. His rough vocal style was essential to 70's-early 80's Stones magic IMHO!

 

He learned how to really sing and stopped yelling.

 

Did it? Yikes.

 

The whole act became more refined with "Steel Wheels" tour. Elaborate stage set (with all those inflatables), fancy costumes for everyone, a 5/6 piece brass section, backing singers... Mick was up there with his short hair and theatrical moves (he riminded me of UK light entertainer Michael Crawford). It was all a bit too much for me but good to hear him deliver tighter vocals.

 

I thought Mick sang better at the show I saw two years ago than I'd ever heard him sing Live. Every time I'd seen him before he was basically running around the stage shouting. This time he truly sang and sang great. It was really impressive.

 

I don't think it got better. He cleaned up the rock life and became a regular adult. "Haven't made a great album in 40 years" is the price he pay for it.

 

imo his voice was at its peak from 1987-1996.

 

Sadly.

 

Sadly.

 

Technically yes, but for some reason it lost it's emotional intensity.

 

There's a recent pic of him standing on a balcony smoking...