[tigerstrat]

Then there are the songs where Bob's harmony part changed when the 3rd vocalist changed from Donna to Brent in mid-1979.

Eyes Of The World comes to mind. With Donna, Bob sang a high part; with Brent he actually sang a low harmony, at least on the 80-82 versions I've listened to recently.

Not sure how Vince affected Bob's role...

[strumminsix]

Not sure how Vince affected Bob's role...

But you know he was affected......

Clearly singing 'Samba in the Rain, ooh, baby, Samba in the Rain' has to have had some lasting affect on Bobstar



Ps - I like Samba, alot! Brings back very good memories!

[strumminsix]

Bobby's harmonies aren't THAT hard to get....some of them DO start below the melody and jump above the melody in the middle of a line - "Brokedown Palace" is a clear example of this.

Agree you just need to listen carefully.

Bobby usually doesn't do anything too extreme.

Sometimes he doesn't even change his note as the chord changes.

Alabama Getaway's chorus is an fun one....

Start singing the harmony to Jerry's root (A) then over to the A as the song jumps to the D

[pappypgh]

Then there are the songs where Bob's harmony part changed when the 3rd vocalist changed from Donna to Brent in mid-1979.

Eyes Of The World comes to mind. With Donna, Bob sang a high part; with Brent he actually sang a low harmony, at least on the 80-82 versions I've listened to recently.

Not sure how Vince affected Bob's role...

Well, actually on Eyes in the 70s, Bob still sang lower than Donna....but he DOUBLED Jerry on the first 2 lines of the chorus. THEN on the 3rd & 4th lines, he'd sing the same part as Brent sang, but Donna sang the part that Bobby took in the 80s...just an octave HIGHER.

VINCE....feh. Never cared for him...no disrespect intended, as far as the deceased are concerned...I just never liked his play, 'tude or vocals.

[HawaiianDedhed]

I was asking about Bob's lower harmonies (really, not real low or high - his parts seem to be in the same register as Garcia, I could be wrong).

A pretty good example is the 2-21-92 rehearsal of So Many Roads (tracks 7 on archive, 6 is good too). The slow versions of They Love Each Other is another example, you know "Lord you can see...)

http://www.archive.org/details/gd92-02- ... sbeok.shnf

[HawaiianDedhed]

And by the way, thanks for all the responses.

[BuddhaG]

I think a good pointer on singing like Bob would be to wear some very tight shorts or pants. The ball squeeze as noted by Dozin is necessary for the high harmonies and for the sudden jumps from low to high harmonies.

Now I understand why he needed all that extremely taught support around the genitalia.

I sat next to an opera singer on a plane ride once and his tips were: sing from the diaphragm, keep the back of your head open, and support with the balls.

I think Bob may have taken that last one a little too far. Not bashing, just making an observation.

[pappypgh]

Bobby's lower harmonies weren't that frequent. He usually did sing above the melody. There are examples of his lower harmonies, though...like you said - TLEO and the afformentioned Eyes. I thought he went ABOVE the melody in SMR, though....haven't heard it for a while - I will check it out.

Other lower harmonies from Bobby were Brokedown (again, he modulates ABOVE the melody in mid chorus - I think it was Phil who wrote most of the harmonies for the GD), Black Peter (again - modulating ABOVE the melody midway through the bridge), Brown Eyed Women (AGAIN with the modulation, but only when he goes, "oooooh"), Cold Rain & Snow, Foolish Heart, LTGTR (modulates above melody midway through chorus), Mississippi 1/2-Step (can you tell I'm doing this alphabetically?!) and Tennessee Jed (wow, all the way from M to T?! I MUST be missing a few!). That's all I could come up with, just breezing through the list of songs my band plays ( www.thecausejams.com/tunes ).

[HawaiianDedhed]

That "modulate above the melody midway through..." sounds promising. I'll take another listen with that in mind.

Listening to that So Many Roads rehearsal, it seems the Boys weren't too worried about doubling parts either - so that might work right in line with pappypgh's suggestion.

Thanks!!!

[pappypgh]

[quote="HawaiianDedhed"]That "modulate above the melody midway through..." sounds promising. I'll take another listen with that in mind.quote]

It may sound promising, but it takes some work to nail it. For example....

"Brokedown Palace"

(Lower part) Fare ye well, fare ye well...I love you more than (middle part - just above melody) words can tell....listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul.

Killer...very well written, but it only works because the melody demands it.

Fun stuff....