Dylan sings different on Nashville Skyline?

Why does he sound so different on this record? He actually sings, instead of the what I call nasal talking that I normally hear. I think he sounds better on Nashville Skyline. Any ideas?

 

Bob supposedly quit smoking cigarettes around this time. Hence, the change in the timbre of his voice.

 

He was always able to sing like that. He purposely chose not to. I think it was a nice change of pace, especially suitable for the material on that album. But, he would have never gotten famous with that voice. It doesn't "stand out", for better or worse, like his Guthrie drawl. Seriously, can you imagine him singing "Rainy Day Women..." or "Like A Rolling Stone" with that voice?

Also, imagine how different Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen's careers would have turned out...

 

I find that Dylan finds a "new voice" for each and every record and appearance. It's one of the things that amazes me and I think confuses most people. I've been a fan for 40 years and I still discover new complexities....

 

I find this very similar to Springsteen now. He does not sing anymore. He does the Dylan thing. Everything after Tunnel of Love is the spoken lyric instead of singing it. I agree, the other Dylan songs would not sound as good, but I love Lay Lady Lay the way he does it.

 

I don't know. I think he might be down to just the two now. The Tom Waits rasp, and the Tom Waits mumble...

 

He quit drugs (at least a certain kind for sometime). He was tired of being Bob Dylan and wanted to bury his old image. If that required a new voice, so be it.

I never liked his singing voice at that time.

 

that's why it's my favorite Dylan LP, Lynsey Dawn Mackenzie in tha house, wowie zowie !!!!!

 

There are some pre Columbia recordings of him with a voice, while not as "croony" as the Nashville Skyline/Self Portrait voice, is closer to that voice than the affected nasal Guthrie "okie" accent voice. The remarkable thing is that his early affected accent became his voice, and the departures from that voice are notable.

 

My least favorite Dylan "voice," but some of my favorite Dylan music.
Can't wait for that Sundazed mono to show up, even if he does sound like Mac Davis.

 

I did a Danny Thomas coffee spit when I read that! So true!

 

He said he wasnt sure where that voice came from. heheh.Others that had heard him sing when he was much younger said he sounded like this from the beginning. Some early tapes sure seem to indicate he had this mellow throaty caught in half swallow kind of voice. So maybe so.

The folk voice, from what I understand and have read , was more an attempt at Woody Guthrie.He really was into Woody.

Some of the inflection he uses in the Blonde on Blonde era was influenced by beat poets and Lord Buckley.The NoDirection Home film touches on this.

I have a real early radioshow with Cynthia Gooding in which he plays some Hank Williams . You can tell he also was immersed in that Hank sound.

Ive always thought he loved these guys so much and got so into them that he then soaked up every style and it couldnt help but come out in its own Dylan style.

Ive heard concerts where he goes back and forth with all his "voices". Sometimes it works to great effect and sometimes it sound contrived.

So, was the Nashville Skyline his "real" voice?

Dylan would probably say" What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean my "real" voice?.

 

When we were kids in 69 (Grade 4!!) someone said that "Lay Lady Lay", which was all over AM radio, was the new Dylan single. We all couldn't believe it! We thought it was a country singer like Charlie Rich or someone we weren't that familiar with!!

 

That's not really true.

 

Actually, he pretty much does use that voice on the Isle Of Wight recording of "Like A Rolling Stone" on "Self Portrait" and, just as you suggest, it doesn't really work!

 

From what I've read he wasn't going to do Masters Of War on the 1991 Grammy's. The Gulf War had just started and all the artists scheduled to perform that night were asked to not sing or say anything of a "sensitive" nature on the subject. Apparently Dylan said something backstage about being asked to sing something different on The Ed Sullivan Show years before, so he did a version of "Masters..." that only the true fans would "get". It was a last minute decision which is why it sounds so ramshackle and rough! I remember my Dad saw this and asked me why I liked Bob Dylan because he thought the performance was one of the most terrible he had ever seen.

 

One of my old neighbours was at The Isle Of Wight and said that Dylan's performance was the most anticipated and the most dissappointing to everyone there. Everyone felt let down and didn't like the voice he used that night.

 

Please give examples if you are going to tell me I'm wrong flat out like that. Name me some Springsteen songs since Tunnel of Love and maybe Streets of Philadelphia where he sings.

 

I loathe a transparent affectation. At least, even if some of his earlier voices (to me they sound of a piece, even if there is some 'development;' this does not) were also affectations, it doesn't show as much. 'Vocal posturing' was a good way to put it. This is the sole Dylan album that I don't love (okay, maybe Saved and Shot of Love, but I still like them a lot better than Nashville Skyline) and the sole collection of original songs that I think are overly lazy. Honestly, do y'all really put this on very often? Or is it just one more of those things that has a cache of cool, so you're supposed to like it?

 

First off, I didn't say you were "flat out wrong". You're entitled to your opinion. I said that's not "really" true. I don't think that Springsteen "talks" his lyrics. a lot of "The Rising" album is very nicely sung (Empty Sky, Paradise are 2 examples) His singing was great (I thought) on the recent "Seeger Sessions" album. Maybe my judgement is clouded 'cause I'm a huge fan (I love everything he's done!) Anyway, to each their own...

 

In our mania for authenticity, let's not forget that there is such a thing as singing somewhat "in character," and that it's not uncommon for singers to mold their voices to the songs they're singing. Dylan obviously thought adopting that style would work with the songs he was recording.

Not only is it natural for a singer's voice to change with age -- everyone's does -- it's natural for an ambitious artist to try different styles of vocalizing at various points in his or her career.