Richard's Best

[leadmister]

Richard was the perfect background singer for Karen. Background singing is a skill (I do quite a bit of it myself) and Richard is phenomenal at it. He's a master at blending and matching phrase with whoever he's singing with. He as just as good singing backgrounds for others too like Matthew Sweet, Scott Grimes, & Dusty Springfield.

Ed

Boom. You nailed it again. Doing BV's is an art form in and of itself. It's also something he felt the most comfortable doing as far as vocal work goes, which no doubt produced better results.

 

[John Adam]

Boom. You nailed it again. Doing BV's is an art form in and of itself. It's also something he felt the most comfortable doing as far as vocal work goes, which no doubt produced better results.

Yes. The songs where Richard and Karen sing their own background vocals are so much more "classic" than on the songs they utilized choirs for those sounds. But after Karen died there wasn't much choice.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Yes. The songs where Richard and Karen sing their own background vocals are so much more "classic" than on the songs they utilized choirs for those sounds. But after Karen died there wasn't much choice.

I like his backgrounds on "Prime Time Love" and "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore". He did a great job on them and I don't miss Karen in that role.

Ed

 

[John Adam]

I like his backgrounds on "Prime Time Love" and "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore". He did a great job on them and I don't miss Karen in that role.

Ed

Yes, I am also OK with his background vocals. With a Karen lead it sounds perfect. So I agree what what you said.

 

[TheOneBeatleManiac]

Richard was the perfect background singer for Karen. Background singing is a skill (I do quite a bit of it myself) and Richard is phenomenal at it. He's a master at blending and matching phrase with whoever he's singing with. He as just as good singing backgrounds for others too like Matthew Sweet, Scott Grimes, & Dusty Springfield.

Ed

Richard was a key component when singing in the background. Without him, the songs seem to lack something:

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Richard was a key component when singing in the background. Without him, the songs seem to lack something:

On top of being a natural lead vocalist, she was also a natural with backgrounds. Yes, Richard's low end is missing but that's just because that's the way his arrangement is constructed. She could fill the spectrum and do it incredibly well. In fact, on her solo record, she did and nailed every time.

Ed

 

[TheOneBeatleManiac]

On top of being a natural lead vocalist, she was also a natural with backgrounds. Yes, Richard's low end is missing but that's just because that's the way his arrangement is constructed. She could fill the spectrum and do it incredibly well. In fact, on her solo record, she did and nailed every time.

Ed

Yeah, the video above is just an idea. Still, in some of the harmonies, Richard doubles the same notes that Karen is singing; without him, even if Karen is singing the same harmonies, there seems to be something missing (and this video has those Karen harmonies up front almost at par or above the lead).

But yeah, on the solo album she was marvelous. One of my favorite vocal moments of her, are the very buried background/harmony vocals of the chorus of ''If We Try''; they are really outstanding.