Whadaya think of Bob Dylan's voice?
 

The guy's a fantastic songwriter, but sometimes his voice is just so weird. It works well on other albums, though. I thought he did pretty well on BotT.

I can't stand it. Not my thing.

He should blow his nose.

Also, his songwriting is okay save for his first few albums.

He sounds like one day he was pooping and started singing and discovered his niche

His voice is like whiskey. It's gonna burn, and you're gonna wince at first, but after a few sips, it goes down smooth, and you don't want anything else.

And too much makes you sick to your stomach and you never want to see it again.

Just earlier today I was thinking about how I can't stand Bob Dylan's voice. :laughing:

Or his half-assed, wheezy attempts at playing the harmonica.

Then you're doing whiskey and Dylan both wrong. The problem is in your inability to moderate your own behavior, not in the thing you're consuming. :)

When it's most of Dylan's discography or cheap whiskey, I put the blame on them.

Then don't listen to the Dylan albums you dislike (I listen to only four), and don't drink cheap whiskey.

I can't afford to buy the few Dylan albums I like all the time.

I assume you also cannot afford good whiskey?

mordwyr >>>>>>> frowny

His voice is perfect for the way he delivers lyrics. Swampy and so loose.

This. A thousand times this. Bob Dylan cannot really sing, but when you are listening to him, you don't care.

Could be waaay waaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay perfecter though, get real Chula.

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/...atsthejoke.jpg

Not being able to afford cheap whiskey isn't a joke!

You're sending me some LSD, right? I'll send you a bottle of excellent whiskey.

I'll get on it, just make sure it's scotch or bourbon, not too into the rest.

I know this is a thread about Bob Dylan awful vocals, but i think this needs to be said.

One scotch, one bourbon, and one beer.

I drink only scotch when I drink whiskey.

I guess Zimmie's inspiration for singing the way he does comes from Roscoe Holcomb. ... and maybe his a rabbi or a cantor. I don't know if he was religious or not to go to a synagogue to hear a cantor sing to inspire him to incorporate that into his singing. I'm not sure about the Jewish cantor, that is just a hypothesis. It seems he sounds very nasally when he speaks too, which could be a speech impediment, and with some speech therapy and some practice he can over-come it. Some people call it a "nasal whine." I guess his problem with that probably affects his singing. He really doesn't have the worst voice out there. Once you get used to it, it's no big deal. He does mention Holcomb as an influence though, so maybe that is what Zimmie is aiming for.

nasal => nose => jew => cantor?

For a singer who can't sing he has had a pretty admirable career. Then again he owes most of his success to Satan.

I don't know what you mean. Maybe you misunderstood me too, maybe I should explain what I meant. Everyone who has heard Zimmie would be aware of his unique singing voice. I was wondering if he was brought up religious and went to temple on Shabbat and heard a cantor sing that inspired him. if I am not mistaken I think Neil Diamond was.... Zimmie mentions Roscoe Holcomb as an influence. Not sure as a musical influence in general or as vocal influence. In my opinion I don't think Zimmie comes off as sounding exactly like Holcomb though. Another factor could be his nasally projection of his voice, so maybe when he sings he projects he singing through his nose. I think when you sing you should sing 50/50 nose and chest.

^ Yes, I agree. Futhermore, back in the sixties too many folkies were going in this direction, with technically pleasant voices:-



To me Dylan's was the anguished voice of the individual, cutting through a lot of sugared-up junk. I was eleven years old when I first heard this song coming out of a neighbour's radio set; so startling that I still remember the moment:-



Dylan actually has an under-ratedly good voice imo, though I don't like the poor guy's croaking in recent years.

:thumb: same here, save for the occasional Wild Turkey.

I remember, the first time i heard subterranean home sick blues i momentarily thought of giving up writing lyrics.

"why bother?" - I thought.

"I'm never going to write something that good"

^It's not a competition.

I know but whenever i see a musician do something i consider spectacular i go through a little process. First, i get bummed out. Second, i feel a surge of envy. Third, i use that envy to try to be as good him.

It's not a feeling i experience too often but they are the key moments that expand my horizons. Few artist have given my that feeling and Bob is one of them. (despite the fact i'm not a huge fan of him)

Yeah. I go through something similar.

Perhaps you should try to be as good as you can be, not as good as someone else can be.

People are not created equal, despite that seriously-flawed political document stating otherwise.

I always considered The Rooftop Singers and Kingston Trio as the cool side of the American Folk Revival. Peter, Paul and Mary as the Pop side. They (PP&M) played Nylon string guitars for Pete's sake. There is no nylon in Folk. You won't find a nylon guitar playing in Country Blues or Olde Timey or traditional Appalachian Folk music. I was undecided about Bob, and bit suspicious if he was just jumping on the bandwagon with Folk. I seen a doc about him and I guess he was legit. He came across as a music lover.



Walk Right In is amazing, you have to hear it in full to get the 12 string work, in some small way it changed the face of music. (Erik Darling from The Rooftop Singers is one of my music heroes.)

The Rooftop Singers "Walk Right In"


Kingston Trio-Scotch & Soda

Moonshiner

Aw look at you taking this thread all seriously.

^ HaHa! Nothing wrong with being serious about music though. That's what brought most of us here in the first place isn't it?

^ Thanks for that curious detail about strings, Neapolitan; it's something that would never have occured to me !
^ Walk Right In certainly has something special about it; prior to yesterday, I probably hadn't heard it for about 40 years, but I could recall it just like that - the tune the title and all.

Sorry; in my enthusiasm for Dylan I was a bit too quick to dismiss other '60s American folk singers, who perhaps I should explore a bit more. Apart from a few hardcore Greenwich Villagers like Dave Van Ronk and Richard Fariña, I don't know much about them.

Went and saw him in concert.

Was the worst and most expensive concert I have been to,he was terrible.

I saw him too and it was godawful

.................................................. .............."...worst...terrible...godawful..."

I'm sorry you both had such negative experiences at your Dylan concerts; I guess the truth is that as a live artist, Dylan is way past his prime. He has been performing live for over fifty-five years, and since 1988 has maintained a gruelling pace of concerts with the so-called The Never Ending Tour, though he himself doesn't like the misuse of that term:-

As Bob compares himself to a carpenter, perhaps we should take heed; if you hire a carpenter who's 75 years old, don't be surprised if your shelves are wobbly.

I love Bob Dylan quite alot!!!!!!!

I like Bob Dylan's voice, it fits his music perfectly.

I don't like people who can't sing at all tho, and use some weird talking voice on tracks like panic at the disco

I've yet to warm up to Bob Dylan's voice, I've tried multiple times, and will try again one day, but it hasn't clicked yet.
Not quite as magical as the Rooftop Singer's version, but Wanda Jackson's take of Walk Right In is a pretty cool to hear.


Not trying to throw out an "I told you so" or anything, your comment is true 99% of the time, but it made me think of Jerry Reed and how incredibly well he was able to incoporate nylon string guitar into country and blues. It ain't country blues in a Big Bill Broonzy kind of way but Jerry Reed has recorded some of the greatest country blues of all time using nylon string.