Did Ringo really sing on WALHFMF?

[DarkHorse]

Well...there's something creepy about 'Ringo's' vocals on WALHFMF. As I stated, the vocals sound very monotone-like. No high notes are hit, really...as if the vocalist is trying to not get 'out of range'. Listen to the end when he sings "from my frieeeennnds". Ringo has a history of hitting the notes higher than that. Listen to Yellow Submarine "in the tooowwwn I was boorrn, lived a man who sailed to seeeaa, and he tooolllld of his life in the land of submarines..." See for yourself.

There's something missing in the vocals on WALHFMF. Some energy, some spirit that is usually present in Ringo's vocals. After analyzing the vocals by listening 5-10 times, I can go on record and say that is a different voice than Ringo's on WALHFMF. If it is Ringo, then he is singing abnormally and there are many 'effects' on it. But it's a different voice imo...a made-up imitation.

The best song to compare it to is "You're Sixteen" since they are in a similar tempo. Also Act Naturally is a good one to compare also. Maybe JoJo could feature that comparison?

[JoJo]

darkhorse said:

The best song to compare it to is "You're Sixteen" since they are in a similar tempo. Also Act Naturally is a good one to compare also. Maybe JoJo could feature that comparison?

Music Box

You can play both or all three at once if you like. (might be a little confusing, lol) Glad to help, but I'm not real pursuaded that "Friends" isn't Ringo.

[plastic paul]

I agree I'm beginning to think more and more that it isn't ringo, but i do believe that "town" from yellow is lower than the end "friends"

[plastic paul]

Just changed my mind, i downloaded an audio edit program, sped up the song by 10% and it still has to be ringo

[revolver]

To me it sounds like they ran Ringo's vocal through some kind of vibrato device giving it that slightly off-pitch effect. And perhaps slowed it down a bit. We know they were using lots of studio tricks on that album.

[DarkHorse]

revolver said:

To me it sounds like they ran Ringo's vocal through some kind of vibrato device giving it that slightly off-pitch effect. And perhaps slowed it down a bit. We know they were using lots of studio tricks on that album.

But why? Ringo's vocal were perfectly fine on all of the previous recordings. In fact, they were better on the other recordings.

[beatlies]

Time to start voiceprint identifications on the Beatles songs to positively confirm who sings what. Yes, voiceprint technology can do that. Does anybody have friends who could help at a university?

The WALHFMF vocalist at any speed, if you listen carefully, does not sound like Ringo in his songs; for instance, compare it with "Act Naturally" or "Yellow Submarine." It also seems to have the warping quality of a too-slow tape.

[DarkHorse]

beatlies said:

DarkHorse, that's not Ringo on the Sgt. Pepper recording of With a Little Help from My Friends, it's someone else's voice slowed down, probably Sheppard's (he gets low with a little help from his friends and comes groovin' up slowly).

Agreed.

Try speeding up the record on a variable speed turntable and you'll hear the real recording sounds ---a higher voice singing at his usual range and speed.

Hey JoJo, sorry to bother you but is this something you can do?

[JoJo]

darkhorse said:

Try speeding up the record on a variable speed turntable and you'll hear the real recording sounds ---a higher voice singing at his usual range and speed.

Hey JoJo, sorry to bother you but is this something you can do?

Yes, we don't need to spin a disk anymore, just have to pitch shift using the right software. I'll do it, it's a medium effort job, (some trial and error probably) so it will have to wait till tomorrow.

I think I tried this once, (way back) and the results didn't impress me, I dunno. You guys can be the judge I guess.

[plastic paul]

jojo said:

Yes, we don't need to spin a disk anymore, just have to pitch shift using the right software. I'll do it, it's a medium effort job, (some trial and error probably) so it will have to wait till tomorrow.

I think I tried this once, (way back) and the results didn't impress me, I dunno. You guys can be the judge I guess.

I tried it and yes unimpressive is the result, it's hard to make it sound anything other than ringo, without it sounding like the chipmunks or barry white.

[Doc]

I just can't hear that vocal being anybody other than Ringo.

It's also a question of diplomacy. I don't think that would have flown with everybody, even if Sir Paul happens to do a brilliant imitation of Ringo. Who knows? He may, or may have at one time. But to me, there is no point served in getting everything so tricked up and convoluted.
I can't see that idea even coming up, or William thinking of it.

I just hear Ringo when I hear that tune.

[JoJo]

Here is a version that's pitched up up 1.5 semitones. Anything more is chipmunk territory, yes.

It's an interesting concept, the idea of introducing Bill with those lyrics, as if he is speaking from the point of view of Billy Shears, but disguising it as a Ringo song. The sped up version sounds like..a sped up Ringo, I just don't see (hear) any magic happening here.

[plastic paul]

Thats right JoJo that is as high "Paul" like as you can get yet it still sounds like a speeded up ringo...

[revolver]

darkhorse said:

revolver said:

To me it sounds like they ran Ringo's vocal through some kind of vibrato device giving it that slightly off-pitch effect. And perhaps slowed it down a bit. We know they were using lots of studio tricks on that album.

But why? Ringo's vocal were perfectly fine on all of the previous recordings. In fact, they were better on the other recordings.

Well, they did a lot of experimenting around that time. Strawberry Fields is another example. GM spliced together two different takes by altering the speed of each one, making them about the same pitch. Without a voiceprint analysis, it's hard to know for sure if that's Ringo or not.

[TotalInformation]

I see it as an artistic choice. If they could imitate JPM, why not imitate Ringo? It was a late choice to even include it on the album, right? I don't think it was necessarily even the man we know as FAUL, but it could have been. Maybe it was Denny Laine?

I'm not convinced FAUL was scheduled to sing on the album at first. I think he probably started demanding more creative input into the music as he found himself able to pull off the public appearances. FAUL is probably on the reprise and maybe "Little Help," but i don't think his voice is elsewhere on the album.

[TotalInformation]

It's an interesting concept, the idea of introducing Bill with those lyrics, as if he is speaking from the point of view of Billy Shears, but disguising it as a Ringo song

"Bill Shepherd" aka Billy Shears was a FAKE NAME the Beatles operation had been using since 1963. By introducing the singer as Billy Shears, they are telling you it's not who they say it is. It really could be anyone imitating Ringo: Lennon, FAUL, Mal Evans, Denny Laine, Neil Aspinall,. . . Brian Jones?!

[JoJo]

totalinformation said:

"Bill Shepherd" aka Billy Shears was a FAKE NAME the Beatles operation had been using since 1963.

Well.. There were the Merseybeat articles, and that paperback book written under the name Billy Shepherd. By a strange coincidence, Someone named Billy Shepherd wrote some songs for Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots. That name got around.

But let's be careful here.. Just because it was possibly a pseudonym for someone a little more intimately connected with the Beatles than the publishers of the magazine/book would like you to believe, doesn't mean you must conclude the person using that fake name in the past went on to be Bill the imposter.

In other words, Billy Shepherd="symbolic of fake name". Perhaps the imposter was really named Bill anyway, an ironic twist?

[TotalInformation]

doesn't mean you must conclude the person using that fake name in the past went on to be Bill the imposter.

In other words, Billy Shepherd="symbolic of fake name".

exactly

[plastic paul]

totalinformation said:

It's an interesting concept, the idea of introducing Bill with those lyrics, as if he is speaking from the point of view of Billy Shears, but disguising it as a Ringo song

I agree that as a theory that is totally valid and makes sense.

As for Faul not singing much on the album, here's my theory.

1. Sgt. Pepper's Faul
2. WALHFMF Unsure - Probably Ringo but perhaps Faul
4. Getting Better Faul
5.Fixing a Hole Faul
6. She's Leaving Home JPM
9. When I'm 64 JPM
10. Lovely Rita Faul
12. Reprise Faul
13. A Day in the Life (middle) JPM

JMO

[DarkHorse]

I think Getting Better is JPM. When I'm Sixty Four sounds like someone totally different from JPM or Bill.

[JoJo]

totalinformation said:

doesn't mean you must conclude the person using that fake name in the past went on to be Bill the imposter.

In other words, Billy Shepherd="symbolic of fake name".

exactly

I'd further add that because maybe Neil was writing as Billy Shepherd, ( a distinct possibility, the list of people who could be writing that paperback with such a seemingly intimate knowledge of the goings on for example is a short one) doesn't mean it follows that he became a "Faul". I only say that, because it's my perception (maybe i'm wrong) that that was the chain of reasoning that went on here..

[JoJo]

darkhorse said:

I think Getting Better is JPM. When I'm Sixty Four sounds like someone totally different from JPM or Bill.

I believe someone (Dezomb?) at Tkin mentioned that slowing that one down would yield a JPM sounding voice, I haven't tried that one myself. I can see this one being a "hit", it always had a "helium" quality to it.

[DarkHorse]

jojo said:

it always had a "helium" quality to it.

Yes, very good description. I would include Penny Lane and Hello Goodbye in that category also. Hello Goodbye is also very nasally.

[-Wings-]

I'd wager (although not much, as I'm not a gambling man) that Penny Lane, Getting Better, Fixing a Hole, When I'm Sixty Four, Lovely Rita, and Fool on the Hill are neither JPM or Sir Paul. They all have that "off" quality about them when compared to the voices we've come to know pre-Pepper and post-Magical Mystery Tour. The same goes for the Paul interlude in Day in the Life. Some have said that it sounds like JPM, but I think it has the helium quality found in these other songs. Plus, the context of his bit fits in well for what a replacement would be singing about.

Hello Goodbye could fit into that category, but I've always thought I could hear Sir Paul in that at times, especially when the notes get high. Ditto for the Sgt. Peppers (the original and the Reprise). It might not be him doing the singing, but it's definitely Sir Paul counting at the beginning of the Reprise ("one, two, three, four!").

I still believe She's Leaving Home and Your Mother Should Know are JPM leftovers that were touched up by the others.

[DarkHorse]

wings said:

Hello Goodbye could fit into that category, but I've always thought I could hear Sir Paul in that at times, especially when the notes get high.

...especially in the line "Do you say Goodbye, goodbye bye bye bye bye!"