Well yeah, if you listen to his style and phrasing on his early works (elton john, madman, honky etc...) and then listen to something from the late 70s, a single man, or something from the early 80s, his voice is completely different. He sang almost with an americanized southern drawl in the 80s, and his range was a lot wider than the early days, because he learned control.. then he lost almost half of his range
Someone I know lent me the original concert video (Elton John live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 1986), which annoyed me to no end because it doesn't include "madman" and "tonight" or "carla etude". I personally think his voice has changed in 4 stages..Early days (-1977/8) 80s (1979-1986) Australia era (86-7) when he lost his falsetto, and post surgery (87-present) where he had to lower some keys for the higher pitched songs
I thought this was before the surgery, but I could be wrong. Besides, either way I'm suprised he could sing at all; he either was healing from an operation or the growths on his vocals were at their worst. In any case, he was quite lucky not to lose his voice from that surgery.
Right. After he did the shows in Australia they removed some cancerous nodes from his vocal chords. He was really sick before this performance and couldn't talk at all. His doctor told him not to talk at all. So by this time and the second part (where he dresses up as Mozart and plays with the Orchestra) his voice is raspy and shot.
Wow, I just listened to the 1984 version of this song, you can really hear how wrecked his voice is here. It's sad :(
Gregsynthbootlegs 1 year ago
@Gregsynthbootlegs 15/16 notes per word! Hahahahah
formulaonemad 11 months ago
God damn!
Gregsynthbootlegs 11 months ago
just to clarify quoting Elton during a Parkinsons interview, "It wasn't marie antoinette, it was bloody chopin" in the second half
weirdguy75 1 year ago
his voice was becoming increasingly rough. 87- it got stronger
jaggass 2 years ago
"Tell everyone that ya know back home..." This is fantastic!!!
Thank you for posting this!
sbcruiser 2 years ago
what can I say - elton puts it down again!
mackystack17 2 years ago
Well yeah, if you listen to his style and phrasing on his early works (elton john, madman, honky etc...) and then listen to something from the late 70s, a single man, or something from the early 80s, his voice is completely different. He sang almost with an americanized southern drawl in the 80s, and his range was a lot wider than the early days, because he learned control.. then he lost almost half of his range
jtsnowman66 3 years ago
His best voice was from 1969-1985.
Gregsynth 3 years ago 5
This performance was BEFORE his surgery.
For the best version of Rocket Man, watch the 1984 video.
Gregsynth 3 years ago
Someone I know lent me the original concert video (Elton John live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 1986), which annoyed me to no end because it doesn't include "madman" and "tonight" or "carla etude". I personally think his voice has changed in 4 stages..Early days (-1977/8) 80s (1979-1986) Australia era (86-7) when he lost his falsetto, and post surgery (87-present) where he had to lower some keys for the higher pitched songs
jtsnowman66 4 years ago
any reason for those divisions? im just curious. his voice changes are fascinating. what was the 77/8 change?
jameswp266 3 years ago
this was before his surgery
the mozart performance is a different show
he had cancer in his throat and was told not to play.
his voice is better on the 'live in australia' album.
he sacrificed his vocal range for power, a fair trade
and he says he likes his voice better now
jtsnowman66 4 years ago
The Mozart performance is part of this concert. It's the second part of the show.
CaptainFantast1c 4 years ago 4
great vid, please check out my elton john playlist, many songs, divided into seperate concerts
thanks
FreeStyleUK123 4 years ago
I thought this was before the surgery, but I could be wrong. Besides, either way I'm suprised he could sing at all; he either was healing from an operation or the growths on his vocals were at their worst. In any case, he was quite lucky not to lose his voice from that surgery.
BadPianist 5 years ago
he kind of looks like David Bowie in his earlier years with that wig on.
bobdole9696 5 years ago
if his voice had been better this wouldve been great. the piano tone i can cope with but his voice is just so un-Elton!
chelseaboy2007 5 years ago
Give him a bloody break...He just had throat surgery before that concert. Doctors told him not to perform at all until after his recovery.
CaptainFantast1c 5 years ago
im not complaining, i still thinks its great. anyway, i thought he had the surgery after this show but...
chelseaboy2007 5 years ago
Right. After he did the shows in Australia they removed some cancerous nodes from his vocal chords. He was really sick before this performance and couldn't talk at all. His doctor told him not to talk at all. So by this time and the second part (where he dresses up as Mozart and plays with the Orchestra) his voice is raspy and shot.
SilasCilice 5 years ago
oh man his voice is utterly horrible
the piano is horrible - i hate the tonality
and his cloths
man he has nothing going for him in this concert
bobvilla11 5 years ago