Always thought it was Bill Wyman

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Keep On Rolling

a true hidden gem. too bad we never hear it on the radio. would have been nice if they tried to play it in concert.

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TornAndFried
I was listening to "Winter" today getting into the Christmas mood, and was wondering who is doing the opening vocal lines (Oh, ohhhh...wah, na, na, la, etc...) after the guitar intro. Is that Keith? Sure sounds like it.

Hi TornAndFried--

Good question. I asked the same question some years ago and I'm still not sure!

[www.iorr.org]

Drew

That vocal intro is by Mick - I can´t imagine why anyone would think otherwise...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-26 01:45 by rootsman.

For all those out there that responded to my question with something all the lines of "It's Mick, 100%...I can't undertand how anybody could possibly think it was Keith" etc. All I can say is in spite of the strong opinions of some that it is definitely Jagger, there are apparently quite a few others who feel it could be Keith. So, obviously the answer is not as cut-and-dried as some would like to believe. Anybody else want to weigh in with their opinion?



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-26 21:34 by TornAndFried.

>> Maybe it's me but their voices are quite different and recognizable, it's hard not to notice right away who's singing. <<

in fact all that means (no matter who says it - i don't mean to pick on whoever it is i'm quoting)
is "whenever it sounds just like my idea of Glimmer A's voice, it sounds just like my idea of Glimmer A's voice".

i too believe i have very fine-tuned Keith Receptors, and the voice at the start of Winter sounds like the Mick to me.
but i think this is a lot like the "who wrote what" questions: our strong beliefs can be totally wrong.
the Glimmer Twins are very good at sounding alike when they want to

100% Jagger. I can see (hear?) why people think it could be Keith - the phrasing, etc. - but, to me it's classic Jagger. Remember, they used to sing a lot together in those days. You do adjust your timing and phrasing to that of the other person when you sing with them a lot, in my experience, so you do start sounding like each other in some ways.

100% Jagger

Van Morrison lost brother...kidding... it's Mick Jagger.

- Doxa

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TornAndFried
I was listening to "Winter" today getting into the Christmas mood, and was wondering who is doing the opening vocal lines (Oh, ohhhh...wah, na, na, la, etc...) after the guitar intro. Is that Keith? Sure sounds like it.

It's definitely without a doubt Mick Jagger, just listened again - this is my favorite Stones tune, never thought anybody else was singing the opening.

Mick's rock, I'm roll.

funny, this seems to me like asking whether it's mick jagger playing the lead guitar on "Star Star." It's epistemologically possible, but it would never occur to me.

it also would be unusual for keith (or anyone) to lay down vocals on the track just for a couple of bars at the opening, before the song really even starts. On a track like "Sway," where he sings but doesn't play, he does a backing vocal throughout the song.

if keith plays on "Winter," what does he play? The consensus here has been that it's jagger on the rhythm guitar, and the bass sounds like bill to me (one of the reasons the track stands out nicely on the album, I think). And I think there's just the 2 guitars, the rhythm and the taylor-anza.

Frosty the Snowman

"it also would be unusual for keith (or anyone) to lay down vocals on the track just for a couple of bars at the opening, before the song really even starts. On a track like "Sway," where he sings but doesn't play, he does a backing vocal throughout the song."


Yes although Sway and Time Waits For No One both have choruses in which it'd be more natural for him to blend in. I've always thought that one of the reasons that a Keith background vocal would pop up on those songs where he was mainly absent (besides the fact that he was a great background singer in those days) was that it provided some continuity. Made it sound like The Rolling Stones.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-26 22:43 by milliondollarsad.

They used some leftover tape of Brian Jones warbling incoherently into a microphone during the Beggars Banquet sessions and tacked it onto Winter.

I have never come across a Stones song with a vocal mystery to it as to it be Mick or Keith. This is clearly Jagger doing some awful vocal waggle - because there's nothing else going on perhaps. Keith has never done something that goofy.

Yoko Ono?

There is also another possiblility nobody has yet mentioned...the vocal in question belongs to Charlie. He seems to mumble whenever he speaks. Perhaps in Keith's absence he was coerced by Jimmy Miller into doing some scat-singing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-27 00:25 by TornAndFried.

I can distinctly hear mick's voice in that intro, no question for me.

Mick said he was impersonating Van Morrison.

That's interesting...that part does sound a lot like Van Morrison. I know "Astral Weeks" was released around that time, but I never knew Mick was a fan of Van.

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with sssoul
>> And did [Keith] play on Fingerprint File? <<

yep he sure did. and where are we getting the concept that he doesn't play on Winter, please?
("he wasn't at the initial sessions" doesn't mean he doesn't play on it at all)

He could have played bass, but obviously Jagger is playing the open G-guitar, and Taylor the lead guitar.

To me, the intro of Winter is classic Jagger. Compare to the humming on Time Waits For No One. Same era, same campy stuff (which I like very much, btw )

>> He could have played bass <<

that's what i thought - thanks

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DandelionPowderman

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with sssoul
>> And did [Keith] play on Fingerprint File? <<

yep he sure did. and where are we getting the concept that he doesn't play on Winter, please?
("he wasn't at the initial sessions" doesn't mean he doesn't play on it at all)

He could have played bass, but obviously Jagger is playing the open G-guitar, and Taylor the lead guitar.

Open G guitar on Winter? That's standard tuning for sure.

Mathijs

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TornAndFried
That's interesting...that part does sound a lot like Van Morrison. I know "Astral Weeks" was released around that time, but I never knew Mick was a fan of Van.

for what it's worth, I thought Astral Weeks was 1967. But he has other albums, too...

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TornAndFried
That's interesting...that part does sound a lot like Van Morrison. I know "Astral Weeks" was released around that time, but I never knew Mick was a fan of Van.

Astral Weeks came out in 1968.

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Gazza

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TornAndFried
That's interesting...that part does sound a lot like Van Morrison. I know "Astral Weeks" was released around that time, but I never knew Mick was a fan of Van.

Astral Weeks came out in 1968.

Yes, of course. Don't know why I was thinking "Astral Weeks" came out in the early 70's.

I guess the final verdict on this subject is: The vocal part is Mick..trying to sound like Van Morrison...and ending up sounding a little like Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-28 01:55 by TornAndFried.

It's sexy Mick for sure...Keith can't do that sexy thing.

Another vote for MJ. And another vote for Winter being a really great song.