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Bands with GREAT backing vocals

#50
Zooberwerx said:
Elton John for best backing vocal arrangement.

Riis
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The original line-up (Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone) produced some outstanding vocal arrangements on EJ tracks. Interestingly, Elton didn't play much of a role in most of those background harmonies, the boys and producer Gus Dudgeon worked them out and Elton was always more than satisfied with the results.
 
#53
electracoyote said:
Freddie, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor all contributed greatly to Queen's barber shop quartet meets Led Zeppelin harmony assault. Some tracks feature more of one than the others, but frequently, especially the "choral" arrangements, were all three.
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Yeah, Roger Taylor even did the operatic high note in Bohemian Rhapsody ("For MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!").

+1 for Mike Mills with REM.

Drummer Alan Wren (Reni) gave hauntingly awesome harmonies to the Stone Roses.

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Made of Stone
 
#54
electracoyote said:
Freddie, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor all contributed greatly to Queen's barber shop quartet meets Led Zeppelin harmony assault. Some tracks feature more of one than the others, but frequently, especially the "choral" arrangements, were all three.
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Warning: this post will be mostly dealing with Bohemian Rhapsody in detail.. if not interested, move a head to next post:)


I happen to have a 24 track dump of Bohemian Rhapsody (dumped directly from the original 24 track tejp, track for track to wave) pre mix and pre-eq/comp.. and although there are bouncing a plenty in sections of backing vocals, it is as close as we'll ever get to hear how that song was "compiled"..... I can certainly testify of it not just being Freddy, although he does a LOT of the takes on that particular song but it is very clear that both May and Taylor are all over it too (not just the obvious bits)... quite interesting to go through the tracks and see how it was done back when..
Backing vocal wise, they all sing each others parts (apart from the very highest Meeee before the heavy part, which is just Roger T. But otherwise, it seems like their "standard approach" to to at least have 3 parts but all those parts are sung by all 3 making it a 9 part layer as a bare minimum.. than it swells out from there LOL

3 tracks for the bass... one DI, one close cab and one sounding as it was about 7-10 meters away in the room... another area of interest is the 5 different lead vox takes that remains .. (and as was standard back when, if there was a "hole" in a track, it was used for something because tejp realestate was pricey:) so a track called lead guitar had some vox parts when the May isn't playing and so on... One highlight for me was to solo the "shivers down my back" response thing which I always thought was piano and strumming along the strings, but it's actually Brian May who is playing a part and when in isolation, the part actually makes a lot of sense:)

If you have any questions regarding the song and how it was done....or want to hear any particular part in isolation, I can arrange it... I will however not share the whole track as there would be black cars with an armada of Queens lawers arriving :eek: The dump is in high res and could be "misused" if it got out.. but I'm more than happy to share "bits" for educational purposes ... if so, pm me..

anyhow.. + one for Queen and ELO... if one with great harmonies also mean how they are made up in terms of counterpoint and not going the simplest most obvious line.... Journey (which I love) sounds great but they are for the most part quite obvious and "natural" 3rd above and 5th below...

Eagles, I've done an Eagles tribute show and it was my task to pick out all harmonies in 20 of their songs.. and as good as it sounds, there's a lot of rinse and repeat. :hiding:
 
#55
+1 to much of what has been posted here already, especially IMO Yes, AIC, and Phish. One other band that is doing some great, creative backup vocal work is Umphrey's McGee, especially on their latest studio release. It seems to me they went for a lot of Beatles-esque harmonies, and it really works well.
 
#56
I was gonna mention the Moody Blues today but someone beat me to it.... also Toto... and the Turtles... and ELO... the 5th Dimension.... the Mamas and Papas.... the Association... the Bee Gees... and so many more

And I'm glad the misconception about Queen has been cleared up... Their harmonies were from Freddie, Brian, and Roger... Roger actually sang the highest notes... Both Brian and Roger were great lead vocalists as well...
 
#57
Hmm... Can this be extended to duets? I am thinking of Simon and Garfunkel on,"Only Living Boy in New York". One of the best harmonies ever. Almost any Everly Bros song would fit too.

Maybe we should start a thread about melodic bass part and their contribution to the harmonies. The bass line to the aforementioned Simon and Garf song has one of the best best lines ever. "Something" is very melodic too.
 
#59
Kings X has been mentioned earlier but I'd like to add my voice to the chorus!

What you have with Kings X are three guys who could all be lead vocalists. Doug and Ty take lead on most songs, but I know Jerry has sang lead on occasion. He has recorded at least one solo album where he sang lead vocals.

Same is true for the Eagles. With the exception of Felder, perhaps, every member of the band does lead vocal duty.

Obviously the Beatles fall into this category.

Then there's KISS.

My biggest weakness as a bassist is the fact that I have never developed my vocals.

Well, my second biggest, actually. Being a mediocre bassist is my absolute biggest weakness.
 
#60
Had the good fortune to see the Bee Gees many years ago at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert in NYC. 3 guys and an acoustic guitar - their vocals absolutely knocked me out. I was there primarily for the rumored Zeppelin reunion but ended up witnessing one hell of a music education seminar that day.
 

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