Bernie Speaks! A new interview with Mr. Leadon

[chaim]

What I'm saying here is based on what I've heard somebody else say, not my own observations. But I can understand that, even though he already had that great, unique voice, he may have had to work on singing in tune more than Don and Randy. Again, I don't recall hearing out-of-tune singing from him, but it has been said that he had to work at it.

In the following recollection I'm not comparing Peter Criss to Glenn, but it is possible that a person with a great voice has to work on something in his singing. Gene Simmons once said that Peter Criss probably had the greatest voice (the pure voice that comes out of his mouth) out of all the Kiss members, but he couldn't control it. He always had pitch problems. But people liked his voice and Beth, which he sang, was the most popular Kiss song in the 70's. But I believe Peter still has pitch problems, whereas Glenn certainly got over whatever difficulties he MAY have had in the beginning and he certainly was a great singer.

Basically all I'm saying here is that Bernie's words support what I've read before. Who knows, maybe Bernie witnessed Glenn working on his singing in the early days. Glenn's voice is probably the reason I fell in love with the band, so personally I don't have issues with his singing in the early years!

[WalshFan88]

Yeah, I guess it's basically how you define "good" singer that's the sticking point. When I think of it, I include singers who have tones to their voices that I really love, like Glenn. But if you're defining it as singers who have an impressive vocal range - who can hit those high notes, as Bernie puts it - or a similar type of criteria, then that would exclude singers like Glenn and Bernie. It seems that's where Bernie is coming from.

Agreed. There is more to singing than range. Glenn had a great voice and was a great singer/vocalist. He was both. Equal to Don.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I get what you are saying, chaim, and acknowledge that Glenn may have needed to do some work to train his voice. However, that's not what I took from Bernie's comment. He really doesn't qualify his remark, so it comes across as him saying that Don H. and Randy were superior singers to Glenn and that is what I take issue with. It's all subjective, but I disagree with that 100%. All I can say is if Glenn did have to train his voice, he sure succeeded. IMO, Glenn's vocal skills were different from Don's, but I believe he was Henley's equal as a 'great singer'. As a matter of fact, many fans, including me, prefer his voice over Don's.

[chaim]

I get what you are saying, chaim, and acknowledge that Glenn may have needed to do some work to train his voice. However, that's not what I took from Bernie's comment. He really doesn't qualify his remark, so it comes across as him saying that Don H. and Randy were superior singers to Glenn and that is what I take issue with. It's all subjective, but I disagree with that 100%. All I can say is if Glenn did have to train his voice, he sure succeeded. IMO, Glenn's vocal skills were different from Don's, but I believe he was Henley's equal as a 'great singer'. As a matter of fact, many fans, including me, prefer his voice over Don's.

Well, if that's what Bernie meant, then he's wrong.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Yep - I agree.

But, as I said earlier, since he didn't really elaborate on the comment, I can see where it may be open to different interpretations. Whatever he intended, my interpretation is that he thought Don and Randy were better singers. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bernie, but if that's what he meant, then simply put, I vehemently disagree with him on this point.

[Brooke]

All I can add is after listening to Glenn's After Hours cd, I think his voice was as good as it ever was and I think it was pretty much perfect on that cd. I don't know how he could have been any better. I don't know anything about singing or all the technical stuff, but....just listen to him.....Really!

[YoungEaglesFan]

I don’t necessarily agree with Bernie and I think Glenn is in a category above Bernie’s. However I do think he had to work on his voice to reach his peak. He mastered his tone and range towards the end of the band’s run. TIE and PEF are great songs but I think his voice shined more later in HT and NKIT. I think some of the others experienced this to a lesser extent. I think randy and Henley found the style of songs that fit them better later on. So the whole band saw improvement throughout the 70’s. think Glenn had the most work to do to perfect his voice but once he did, he became an incredible singer. I recall hearing Glenn went to muscle shoals first and tried to be a solo artist but Geffen told him he should join a band. I think that might be what Bernie was getting at in a way

[NightMistBlue]

In this week’s installment, Bernie talks about the Desperado album https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...UCjnChuFXxZjQw

John shares that Bernie has completed 8 new songs. Perhaps a solo album is forthcoming; I hope so.

[chaim]

Incidentally, Bernie refers to the other guys by their surnames. When Randy talks about them, does he say Frey, Leadon etc. or Glenn, Bernie etc.?

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Thanks again, NMB. I find myself much more in agreement with Bernie in this segment. Of course, I adore the Desperado album so I really enjoyed hearing Bernie's perspective on it even though it's pretty consistent with what we've heard from others.

And chaim - I'm not positive, but I was trying to remember some of Randy's commentary from the HOTE doc. I think most of the times, Randy refers to the members by their first name.

I think they may switch back and forth though like many of us here do. I know I particularly refer to the two Don's a lot by their surnames just to distinguish between them.