bob dylan - nodes on his throat?

so has there ever been any word about dylan's throat? i know he's pretty private about his personal life and all.

i know people who have had nodes and other problems with their vocal chords, and have had successful surgeries.

i wonder if dylan ever even bothered to look into this, or just dealt with it and used the 'new' sound to develop different vocal approaches as his condition got worse and worse


i personally really like his last few albums, and think his voice sounds cool, but personally, if i lost the tunefulness and melodious quality of my voice i would be heartbroken

then again, i sing for a living.....so does dylan, but people will pay to hear him sing, shredded throat or not (obviously). people wouldn't pay me to sing covers sounding like dylan does now


just curious if any word about his throat and singing voice from the man himself has ever been addressed.

cheers!!!

 

I have a feeling that Dylan pays more attention to his health than what many might think. I woud imagine the scare with his heart made him quiet aware of how fragile things can be.

Remember though, back in the early days Dylan suffered from a hard case of bronchitis that he purposely let tear his throat up. He liked that rough sound he was getting during that time.

I think he has reached that old delta blues voice he always desired but never had. Its not a worsening "condition", I believe its very pruposeful.

Nodes? Probably has nodes on top of nodes lol.

But Im with you, I hope he never loses what range he has left. He can surprise in concert though. Just when you think he is spent and his voice has the capabilities of about a half dozen notes he will soar and surprise.

 

Well, he still smokes

 

Dylan's voice is wretched now, so nodes could be a likely culprit. He has a range of about one note, maybe two. When he sings with more than just the slightest force behind his voice, it tears apart.

When he sang "Return To Me" at Florence the other night, his voice sounded better than in recent times, but it was because he was singing mostly with hardly any power behind it. The second he would try for more output, his voice was horrid again.

 

I didn't think he still smoked.

He's nearly 70...maybe age has something to do with his tunefulness...maybe he doesn't wanna be tuneful...who knows

 

he's nearly 70 now, but his voice has been steadily becoming more gruffy for the last 20 years particularly

 

Not the times Ive heard him in concert in recent years. Im not saying Dylan is a Susan Boyles but one note? I dont think so.

Hey, I bet no one would ever think Susan Boyles and Bob would be in a thread together.

 

So, since a virtual 50 year old man...I think that's acceptable too...maybe not if you consider someone like Frank Sinatra though I suppose

 

What an expressive voice!

I've always thought Dylan is a great singer. Really.

 

Oh, he even does so on the pictures in the new TTL cd!

 

It's all a matter of the quality of his attention, night by night. Also, as we discussed back in the threads about "Tell Tale Signs" when it came out. Several of the cuts on that collection suggest that quite recently Dylan has been capable of singing with a timber and force very similar to the one he used in the mid-seventies. There has been some real physical attrition in the upper range (always the case as singers, especially male singers, age), but all of that gravelly texture in the lower register seems to be more a stylistic choice than "all he's got left." That doesn't mean his voice doesn't give out in concert at times, but that's not the same thing as chronic throat problems.

L.

 

His voice changes every three years or so.

Compare his voice from '63 to his voice in '65 or '66. Then compare that to Nashville Skyline. Compare that to his performance at the Bangla Desh concert. Compare that to something from the 80s like Infidels... and so on.

I like Dylan's voice (or lack there of). He puts excellent emphasis on his lyrics which are the most important element of his music.

 

I don't think it's just a smoking thing. Or at least smoking must have a radically different impact on singers if that is the case. I can think of many chronic smokers (John Mellencamp, David Bowie, etc.) where the smoking has seemed to have very little impact on their singing voice.

I think it has to be more than just smoking. He's taken decent care of himself physically in many ways. I've heard he boxes and he's quite trim and spry. I still enjoy Bob's voice for what it is today but he obviously has very little vocal power left. Studio cuts are one thing but in his concerts it is very obvious. He speaks/growls the words most of the time and (as mentioned above) seems to really struggle with holding anything when he sings.

It would be fascinating to hear Dylan discuss this in an interview but it's very unlikely that will never happen. I can't imagine anyone even having the guts to ask him. The funny thing is when people used to make fun of Bob's voice/singing decades ago I thought he was a great singer if they would just slightly open their mind. Now, it's very much an acquired taste.

 

i think smoking added to it, but touring ALL the damn time and screaming at the top of his lungs at his shows in the 70s and 80s didn't help either.

the way his voice sounds, i'd be hard pressed to believe it wasn't major vocal chord issues in one way or the other.

yeah, that doesn't sound like something that would come up in the standard bob dylan interview.

 

How many bad habits does he still partake?

 

Saw him last night. He does gruff these days, it's just something you have to accept (or not go). It is still a powerful voice though. Works best on newer songs like Workingman's Blues and Ain't Talkin'.

My advice if you go to see Dylan: get near the front. I was in a reasonable seat just in front of the soundboard, and the sound quality was fine, but I can't bear all the people chatting. One woman tried to engage me in conversation in the middle of Stuck inside of Mobile...

Tim

 

Without sounding too sexist why don't the Husband's just leave there Wifes at home or let them go shopping why there at the gig, Its irratating to have people present who are clearly not Fans but just there with there partner. Twice as many 'Real Fans' who will listen to the gig could be there instead then?

 

You're on the sofa tonight mate, no slap & tickle for you!

 

My notes on the show:

http://www.taggedtalk.com/blog/2009-04-30-bob-dylan-in-birmingham-april-2009.html

Tim

 

I don't node, but his voice sounds better to me now (sort of a Tom Waits/Howlin' Wolf affair) than it did when he was holding his nose (sounded like) singing.

 

In some ways he's talking not singing in more modern times. Sometimes I even get the feeling that contrary to what you hear about him preferring to sing and play all together, all live...it seems almost like he has been overdubbing whole vocals. Maybe a crazy idea...but it sounds a bit like that lately.

I heard his voice on one of the theme time radio hour with 'friends and neighbours' as the theme...and he's got some real 's' thing going on there. But he's a funny guy