Songs sung differently in concert

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I don't get to live shows often, so I don't often notice changes from the way artists sing a song in concert. But here are a few I've noticed:

* Randy Houser sings the second verse of "Anything Goes" again at the end. This apparently started when Houser appeared on Letterman in 2008 and asked him to sing that verse twice. I don't know why, because putting it again at the end doesn't really make sense.

* Trace Adkins sings a couple lines of "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing" differently in concert. I saw him once, and in the chorus, he sang "Analyze" in the line "There's nothing that we need to analyze" more quickly, yet drew out "there ain't no rhyme or reason why" more in the next line. This wasn't a one-time thing, because I also heard another live performance somewhere where he sang it the same way.

What other changes have you noticed artists do live?

[onebuffalo]

Third verse of Friends In Low Places.

[sabre14]

I've seen Sugarland twice and both times, Jennifer said "For the ladies" before starting the bridge of "Something More."

I've heard Big & Rich say "a billion bucks" instead of "a million bucks" in "Big Time."

[bboat11]

Joe Nichols:
Gimme That Girl: In the line "Gimme the girl that's beautiful without a trace of makeup on" he actually sings "Gimme the girl that's beautiful without a stitch of clothing on."

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off: When this song started, girls started throwing bras onto the stage... It was pretty funny. But in the line, "Tomorrow she'll say, 'Oh,' and 'how have I done?'", Joe said, "Tomorrow she'll say, "Oh my God, what have I done?", but he spoke the last part like a worried girl as he dangled one of the bras in front of him.

Martina McBride:
Wild Angels: This is one of those songs with a nefarious fade-out that forces the band to have to figure out how to end the song a different way in concert. For this song, she and her band solved it by continuing to sing "Wiiii-iiiiiiiilllld angels" several times at the end, just like in the fade-out, but then for the last one the band cuts out and it is just her and her background singers doing a beautiful a-cappella harmony. The band then comes in with an immediate transition into "My Baby Loves Me". They have done this transition for years. It gives me chills every time they do that a-cappella line...

Whatever You Say: This song is performed exactly like the studio version, until it ends. Then in the middle of the applause (which is usually a standing ovation after this song), Martina starts singing the chorus again a-cappella. It is really soft, with just her and an acoustic guitar. Then they incorporate some crowd interaction, letting them sing the last few lines of the song. There is a really good recording of this on Martina's Live In Concert cd from 2008.

A Broken Wing: Of course she makes her most epic song even more epic in concert. In her younger years she extended "man you oooooooouuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhttttttta see" at the very end of the song. She does not really do that anymore, because that has always been a very high note for her, and now that she is older it sounds like she struggles to hit it at all, let alone sustain it. But in the famous part of the song, the sustained "flyyyyyyyyyy" at the end, she holds it quite a bit longer than the studio version. Then follows it up with a beautiful head-voice run as the music fades out.

Concrete Angel: She adds a couple "oh oh"s to the end of the song, as the music fades out.

Where Would You Be: The studio version of this song is great, but it is almost so smooth and perfect that it loses some of the raw emotion that she has always channeled so perfectly in a live setting. I have seen live performances of this song where she sings it every bit as perfectly as the original, except she channels 200% more emotions into the performance. By the time the key change comes around, the song comes to life like the studio version never did. She uses more melisma, sustains some more notes in the last lines of the song, etc., and at the end the lights just disappear and she stands there breathing and recovering while the crowd erupts into an ovation. (On a side note, I do not think the early performances of this song were as good, despite the fact that the high notes came easier for her. I think the best time to see this song performed was around 2010. And now in 2015 I will be surprised if she ever performs the song again, as high notes continue to get harder for her.)

Love's The Only House: She does not belt the really high "Don't you know that a-love's" line at the end of the song live. I assume it's to save her voice more for the songs where the belting actually is necessary.

When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues: I don't think she ever does the intro to the song, except that one year where she started it from the audience at an award show (which was really epic, in my opinion). Then when the bridge comes along, she usually greets the crowd and/or introduces her band rather than sing the soft bridge, and then just starts right back into the final chorus when she is done talking.

Haha I am an expert Martina-watcher... I am sure I will think of more later!

[tim]

I can only think of one song off the top of my head for now (I'll try and think of more when I'm in front of my computer) and that is "Cowboy's Like Us" by George Strait. Not sure why but the speed of this song is kicked up a notch in concert compared to the studio version. The chorus stands out the most as noticeably faster live.

[Deleted]

Carrie tends to extend a lot of her songs now, particularly for crowd reactions; she's changed up "Before He Cheats," "Undo It," and "Jesus, Take The Wheel" slightly through the years.
She also leaves a lot more room for vocal acrobatics on "Wasted" live, which is understandable, because her voice soars much more live than in the studio.
She typically extends the "Last Name" ending now, too, and then builds up to the end of the song.

She's done a few medley's (See You Again with Wiz Kalifa's "See You Again, "Songs Like This" with "White Liar,") but she usually changes up the medley's for each tour, if she does them at all.

Rascal Flatts have done this several times, and it usually involves Jay or Joe Don singing lead on songs they wrote/cowrote.

[.indulgecountry]

Sara Evans likes to extend "I Could Not Ask for More" with a nice instrumental and then comes back with a big high note and a repetition of 'I could not, I could not ask, I could not ask' and then ends the song. Example:


She also likes to introduce her band members individually in the middle of "Coalmine" and have them each do a little solo before finishing the song.

[carriekins]

For a long time Dierks would add a third verse to Am I the Only One and tailor it to the city he was in. (I'm reasonably certain that there's an Opry performance video out there somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look. ;) )

[bboat11]

I thought of another one. I don't know if she does it anymore due to her age, but historically Reba has ended "You Lie" by sustaining the high "lie" note while the band fades out.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

bboat11: Do you know if Martina sings any of her songs in a lower key due to all the belting?

[bboat11]

Sept 20, 2015 21:57:14 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

bboat11: Do you know if Martina sings any of her songs in a lower key due to all the belting?

I do know that :) She still sings all of them in the original keys!

There are only two instances I can think of where she has performed in a lower key. First, that awful performance of "Independence Day" at the ACMs earlier this year was actually in a lower key. I have heard her say before that she always puts that song closer to the end of her set lists because it is one where she really has to be warmed up to sing it well. I imagine that was why she tried performing it in a lower key at the ACMs, when she didn't have a whole show's-worth of singing leading up to it. The other time is on her current Everlasting tour, she has been performing a medley of "Whatever You Say"/"Where Would You Be". When she launches into WWYB it is supposed to be the third chorus, which is technically a half-step higher than "Whatever You Say" because at that point the song has just undergone a key change. They keep it in the same key as WYS, however, so the songs don't clash. So essentially it is the ending of WWYB as if it had no key change.

And I can think of one instance where she actually changed a song to be higher. A couple years ago she was performing a medley of "Love's The Only House" and "Blessed". It was in the key of LTOH, but when they transitioned to "Blessed" it was actually a whole step higher than the original key so that it would match LTOH.

So yes, to answer your question, she still sings them all in the original key 99% of the time. However, to me it sounds like she is starting to really struggle with some of her higher songs, specifically "A Broken Wing". I cringe to think about her trying to perform "How Far" or the original key-change version of "Where Would You Be" at this point, if only for her vocal health... She is still capable of singing all the same high notes she used to, they just do not come as easily anymore, and reaching for them is wearing out her voice quite a bit. I think right now her live voice sounds kinda tired, and I am not surprised because she has been touring non-stop for the majority of the past decade... The girl needs to give herself a break! Plus she is aging. I would not be surprised to see her switch some of her more epic belters down a half-step about the time she turns 50 next year.

There is no question that she is still a top-notch vocalist, but I think when she releases a new album we will see a lot more songs that don't go any higher than C#5 or D5 rather than E5 (which is her previous highest belted note, and shows up on almost every album at least once)...

[Ten Pound Hammer]

The thing with "A Broken Wing", though, is that the verses are really low for a soprano. She goes as low as F♯3 on the verses. I can actually sing most of the verses in her range, and I'm only a low tenor at best. So I wonder if, with that one, she might take to changing some of the phrasings, because lowering the key might push the low notes too low.

Maybe if she could go back to that chirpy quasi-Taylor Swift phrasing she used on "Teenage Daughters". I liked that song, but seriously, what the hell was she doing with her voice on that one? Still better than the girly giggly voice she used on "I Love You"…

Getting back to the original subject, Diamond Rio's autobiography mentions a rather unfortunate case for lead singer Marty Roe that plagued him throughout the 2000s. Apparently, he was sounding like garbage, and they tried everything to fix it. At first, they just excused it as him being sick or something, but when it kept happening, they tried lowering the keys on some songs, having Dan Truman sing lead sometimes, consulting vocal coaches, and even using pitch correction software, but nothing worked. They even had to composite a lot of the vocal tracks on Completely from up to 100 takes. Finally, he consulted another vocal coach who convinced him that he was trying too hard to compensate for a slight degree of hearing loss, and was tightening his vocal muscles so much that he was only getting further off-key in his attempts to correct himself.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

A absolutely LOVE how Faith Hill and her band do "Stronger" live. Is SO much better, more powerful and raw than the album version, especially the guitar solo followed by the big high note (minute 3:40 on the video bellow)... It just makes the original very bland and uneventful by comparison.

[bboat11]

Sept 21, 2015 13:04:28 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

The thing with "A Broken Wing", though, is that the verses are really low for a soprano. She goes as low as F♯3 on the verses. I can actually sing most of the verses in her range, and I'm only a low tenor at best. So I wonder if, with that one, she might take to changing some of the phrasings, because lowering the key might push the low notes too low.

It is definitely a wide-ranging song. However, she could do it lower. I mean, the verses of "Wild Angels" go down to an E, and she can do that just fine. I have even heard her go down to Eb comfortably, and then D is her first uncomfortable-sounding low note (she hits it briefly in one of the verses of "You Can Get Your Lovin' Right Here").

I have always considered her to be more of a mezzo though, because she can hit a lot of low notes that sopranos cannot, but she also cannot belt nearly as high as a lot of sopranos can. She has almost the exact same vocal range as Reba, who I would never consider to be a soprano.

Also, that is really fascinating about the Diamond Rio thing! Maybe that helps explain why they kinda disappeared off the face of the planet shortly after the 2000s started.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ Reba is actually a lot lower most of the time. I've seen her classified as a contralto, and she doesn't really go for high notes that often.

I think Diamond Rio derailed themselves by shifting too far from their trademark sound and going more pop on the later albums. "Beautiful Mess" and "I Believe" were hits, but they barely sound like the same band who did "Meet in the Middle".

[Andy]

Sept 21, 2015 18:56:38 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I think Diamond Rio derailed themselves by shifting too far from their trademark sound and going more pop on the later albums. "Beautiful Mess" and "I Believe" were hits, but they barely sound like the same band who did "Meet in the Middle".

I agree with this. I love their first album and most of their earlier stuff, but it seems like their material got more and more uneven over time.

[someguy]

Trisha Yearwood sings the last verse of "She's In Love With The Boy" a little differently now. When she gets to the part where Katie's dad says "go on up to your room while me and junior have a talk", she sings it like she's emulating her dad's voice, rather than just singing it as a normal line. I like it, and it's neat to hear her sing it that way live, but I'm glad that she sang the original version the way that she did.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Thought of a couple more:

* When I heard Trace Adkins sing "Chrome" in concert, verse two went something like "Chrome, got her leg up high / On the bumper of my big black Mack truck / But she was wearing a miniskirt, so she shouldn't have been doing that". I don't know if that was a one-time ad-lib or something he's done before.

* Joe Diffie often sings the slower intro of "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" in an impersonation of Willie Nelson. He's apparently been doing this since it was first put out as a single.

* Ray Stevens' mid-90s live album bugged me because of how often he shoehorned in a horn section. Horns just do not belong in "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". He also cut the whole second verse of "Shriner's Convention" and "Everything Is Beautiful". Also, "It can be black or white, don't worry 'bout that" in "You Gotta Have a Hat" became "black or purple".

* Tracy Byrd re-recorded "The Keeper of the Stars" a half-step lower than the album version for the radio edit, and sang it in the lower key in concert even when it was a single.

[someguy]

After seeing LeAnn Rimes last week:

"How Do I Live"
"Something's Gotta Give"
"One Way Ticket"

Completely different arrangements. "One Way Ticket" is probably the most jarring, though. She performs this as a ballad now.

[codyj100]

Shania Twain - "Up!" (Specifically on the Rock This Country Tour) The arrangement is slightly different. After the first chorus, the band has this instrumental piece that hasn't been performed on any previous tour or the studio version. I guess that wouldn't really qualify for "sung" differently, but it's done differently as a whole on tour.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

According to Bob Kingsley, Jay and Joe Don have started to sing lines in Rascal Flatts songs in concert so that Gary can take a breather. Guess all that ridiculous high pitched caterwauling is finally getting to Gary.

[sabre14]

Mar 13, 2016 13:27:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

According to Bob Kingsley, Jay and Joe Don have started to sing lines in Rascal Flatts songs in concert so that Gary can take a breather. Guess all that ridiculous high pitched caterwauling is finally getting to Gary.

God forbid Jay or Joe Don should sing a lead verse or chorus on the studio version of one of their singles...

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Mar 13, 2016 13:33:52 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Mar 13, 2016 13:27:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

According to Bob Kingsley, Jay and Joe Don have started to sing lines in Rascal Flatts songs in concert so that Gary can take a breather. Guess all that ridiculous high pitched caterwauling is finally getting to Gary.

God forbid Jay or Joe Don should sing a lead verse or chorus on the studio version of one of their singles...

No kidding, right? I heard their version of "Mary, Did You Know?" around Christmas time, and was stunned when Shazam told me who it was. Then Gary came in and started screeching "MaaAaAaaAry, diiiiIIIiiiIiId YooOoOOooOOooouuuuuh KnooOoOOOoOOOW?!?" and I was like, "okay, yeah, that's Rascal Flatts".

[.indulgecountry]

Lol, Joe Don and Jay don't have bad voices by any means, but I probably wouldn't buy a Rascal Flatts album if it wasn't at least 90% Gary LeVox on lead vocals. A song or two with some solo parts from them are fine, but neither one can hold a candle to Gary vocally, so less is more.

I just don't really understand that criticism with respect to bands making it all about one singer, personally. Very few of them could or should operate like Little Big Town does (and even then Karen has essentially become a defacto lead for single choices probably so they're easier to identify on the radio), lol.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Mar 16, 2016 23:20:38 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Lol, Joe Don and Jay don't have bad voices by any means, but I probably wouldn't buy a Rascal Flatts album if it wasn't at least 90% Gary LeVox on lead vocals. A song or two with some solo parts from them are fine, but neither one can hold a candle to Gary vocally, so less is more.

The problem is that Gary can go from being an amazing vocalist to an atrocious one at the drop of a hat. For every "Why" or "Winner at a Losing Game" or "I Won't Let Go" or "Riot", there's a "Bob That Head" or "Summer Nights" or "I Belch Melt".

Mar 16, 2016 23:20:38 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I just don't really understand that criticism with respect to bands making it all about one singer, personally. Very few of them could or should operate like Little Big Town does (and even then Karen has essentially become a defacto lead for single choices probably so they're easier to identify on the radio), lol.

I don't mind if they have only one lead singer. To me, what's more important is if the other band members pull their weight. Rascal Flatts does well in that regard since there's always Gary/Jay/Joe Don harmony, and Jay and Joe Don usually contribute instrumentally. Jay may not have much distinction as a bass player, but at least he's the only bass player on 99% of their recordings. Or a band like Restless Heart or Diamond Rio, where everything was done by the band themselves, unless they wanted an individual instrument that none of the band members played (e.g., session harmonica player Terry McMillan on a few early RH albums, or Nashville String Machine adding strings to later-era DR albums).

Conversely, it seems that Eli Young Band usually did their own instrumentation for the most part, except for a couple guests who played only instruments that the main members did not, on the first two Universal Republic albums. But since I find EYB's instrumentation so cripplingly generic, and there's virtually no vocal harmony at all, I always felt that most of EYB's singles (while very good songs for the most part) were basically Mike Eli solo releases. But then come 10,000 Towns, there're other bassists, drummers, and backing vocalists pitching in. What's the deal there?