Memorable background vocals

[Hummergeist]

Here's those Van Halen vocals in isolation. Mike, Ed, and Ted Templeman all took a hand in doing BGVs, supposedly.

 

[Hummergeist]

Not really an Elton John fan but I really love the backing vocals on this live take.

 

[Kijuer]

Also, lots of Pooh's songs.
They were an Italian quartet where all of the 4 members were sharing lead and backing vocals, creating some incredible, memorable melodies. You've got to get used to the genre, though....that 70-ish italian melodic pop. Sometimes cringy, sometimes epic. They were mostly epic IMHO.

 

[Kijuer]

Also, lots of stuff from R.E.M.

Mike Mills backing vocals are just as awesome as his bass lines. God(s) bless this guy!!!

 

[Modulus 96]

I don't know the artist, I think maybe it's Pharrell. The song might be called "Happy"....

 

[Andy Marshman]

The Webb sisters at 4:00 in this memorial concert for Leonard Cohen (program titled Tower of Song).
The sisters toured with Cohen. Damien Rice - Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

 

[roccobass]

Did you ever follow her duo with former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey, Shakespear's Sister? They had some success in the early 90's, and reunited a few years ago. I thought about that as I just got back from this very bar where they shot the video; it's out in the Mojave Desert, east of 29 Palms, fitting for the Spaghetti Western vibe of the tune…

No. I lost track of Marcy Levy (now known as Marcella Detroit) going into the 80s. Siobhan Fahey? I never knew the name since I hated all things Banarama and just couldn't get past their music and the near constant barrage of MTV play. Sorry.

However, I find this get together interesting. Found this other video of them highlighting each one vocals separately. Marcy still had the voice then. Love hers much more than Siobhan's. Will check on more from this duo. Thanks for the input.

Btw, the bar looks cool. Have you ever gigged there?

 

[roccobass]

Don't know if most of you remember these guys? Kind of a one hit wonder This always gets me especially on the chorus. The backgrounds just bring it up. This live version is pretty cool
The Marmalade: Reflections of my Life.

 

[HaphAsSard]

If backing maketh song, who's the hero of the sesh? Hm, lessee.

Sheryl Crow knows backing vocals, but on "Steve McQueen" she benefits from someone else's (Doyle Bramhall, Jr.); free little Stone-homaging whoops included:


I have a soft spot for Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir - or at least I think it's them ('fraid I'm no Deadhead) - on Phil Lesh's "Box of Rain":


Harmony vocals past the little "Lady Greensleeves" quote (starting from around 4:30) on Vanilla Fudge's version of "Shotgun" - pity they didn't sing that part live:


Honourable mentions, in quote-tags for post compactness:

Not "background" per se - it borders on co-lead, if for split-second parts - but Perri Lister is certainly the heroine of Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face":

In the same vein, Aimee Mann on Rush's "Time Stand Still":

 

[Acoop]

The "Woo, Woo!" at about 2:50 are brilliant on Midnight Train.

I had a Hall & Oates "She's Gone" ear-worm all day yesterday because I said goodbye to my sailboat after 10-years. ... But, even though Hall & Oates sing both lead and BG's together this is such a brilliant track. ... Note, it was released in 1973 the same year as Midnight Train. ... Good year for music on the radio.

 

[Ric5]

 

[Ric5]

 

[eddododo]

And strangely, modern recordings with stacked harmony vocals that are 'cleaned up' and perfectly tuned via the various digital processing tools just sound alien:. Really good harmony singers with a great sounding blend shouldn't sound like a 'Choir'patch on a synth.

I think of it as an aesthetic difference- there has been a movement of leaning into over-produced sounds. Some of this is undoubtedly led by changes in approach to production, including everything from lazy production, cheaping out or shifting the budget to other facets, and all of the other 'bad' stuff that most instrumentalists and/or old guys would instinctively view as an affront to 'good music' and how it 'should be made.'

With that out of the way, the audience, captive though some may be, becomes acclimated to the sound, and I think for many listeners the aesthetic of things sounding alien and comically over- produced and tuned and quantized simply is what's the interesting edge of what they want their music to sound like- I don't view it as different from what happened in the 80s.

There is also this reactive ebb and flow, where a reaction to this springs a renewed interest IN the old ways, the old sounds, and in many cases it's a true homage rather than a cheap sample or imitation. I think it's yin and Yang, and I don't in any way view it as invalid

We should remember that in its own time, there were plenty of songs with live background vocals that sounded like garbage- we only remember the old songs that stood the test of time

 

[J Wilson]

I spent some time around quartet gospel music, and many times have heard wonderful four-part harmony, at times a capella, sung perfectly in tune, and those four human voices and that blend does not sound like the tuned harmonies I hear today.

It very well be today's sound and the current thing, but it will always sound alien to me.

 

[Michedelic]

Btw, the bar looks cool. Have you ever gigged there?

Yeah, a billion years ago. I hadn't been out there for years, well before Covid, but this younger guy I had just sold a Sunn tube amp to had his band, a doom/sludge outfit, opening for another band whose singer I knew, so it was a good excuse to go. It's only about a 45 minute drive from where I am, but it's so desolate in that area that it feels like you're driving to Nevada.

Don't know if most of you remember these guys? Kind of a one hit wonder This always gets me especially on the chorus. The backgrounds just bring it up. This live version is pretty cool
The Marmalade: Reflections of my Life.

One hit wonder in the US maybe, they had another song with great harmonies that I thought was much better…


It got revived by the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs and Mathew Sweet…

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Jason Newsted always brought Metallica's vocal delivery to the next level of amazing live.

 

[DJ Bebop]

You have to admit, it was memorable...

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Mustang Sally.

Also, lots of Pooh's songs.
They were an Italian quartet where all of the 4 members were sharing lead and backing vocals, creating some incredible, memorable melodies. You've got to get used to the genre, though....that 70-ish italian melodic pop. Sometimes cringy, sometimes epic. They were mostly epic IMHO.

I think Ricardo Fogli played bass in Pooh at some point.

 

[Tom Bomb]

These guys would go at it,​

​

 

[J Wilson]

But then, on the other hand . . . . .



I'm in, of all things, an Elvis tribute band for a while. That time of the year comes around, and of course, he wants to do 'Blue Christmas' (. . . for some reason, I HATED doing Christmas tunes in a bar . . . .), and he wants me and the drummer to sing harmony.

Well, The Jordanaires we weren't, and every time we'd try and sing that looping 'ah-ah-ooh-ooh-ooh' figure behind the first two lines of each verse, we'd bust out giggling and just lose it. Just couldn't do it with a straight face.

After considerable consternation was expended in both directions, he wisely decided we'd do 'Please Come Home for Christmas' instead. I got to admit, he was smarter than he looked.