Vocals with a distinct dialect

[iguana]

here's something that i thought of this morning. name some singers/vocalists that make their home region dialect shine through, despite the imperatives of universal/global appeal.

jon anderson would be an example; his lancashire origin is still evident – so is steve hogarth, whose pennines heritage increasingly seems to come to the fore as time passes. not to mention tim smith’s thames estuary snarl. or ged’s distinctly canadian vowels? the PROCLAiMER’s unabashed scottish? feel free to namedrop home turf luminaries from around the globe.

PS: on the other hand – accent, per definition, encompasses traits from a language foreign to the one used. to all cunning linguists: correct me if i am wrong. an interesting subject for another thread. hello klaus meine!

[Zeuhlmate]

Ginger Baker - Mother's Lament (Cream Disraeli gears)

[at least 100 dead]

PS: on the other hand – accent, per definition, encompasses traits from a language foreign to the one used. to all cunning linguists: correct me if i am wrong. an interesting subject for another thread. hello klaus meine!

Viz ze zinga of Eloy, on ze other hand, you'd never no where he waz frrrom.

[Yves]

Fish trrruly sounds Scottish....

Quebecois artists like Pollen, Harmonium, etc.... have a distinct Québecois French sound to them.

[walt]

Donovan's Scottish burr first comes to mind.........

[adap2it]

Jon Anderson's Manchester accent is noticeable on some vocals..

[iguana]

[QUOTE=Yves;492852]Fish trrruly sounds Scottish....

during spoken words interludes definitely.

Viz ze zinga of Eloy, on ze other hand, you'd never no where he waz frrrom.

ah, ze sann scheins ower ze maundns.

Jon Anderson's Manchester accent is noticeable on some vocals..

accrington, lancashire. not far off but defo different to mancunian. ask the gallaghers or richard ashcroft.

[PeterG]

Morrissey - Manchester
Billy Bragg - Essex
Shane McGowan - London Irish
Freddie Mercury - Middle class RP English
Cliff Richard - Middle class RP English
Robert Wyatt - Rural home counties
Suggs - North London
All of Pink Floyd - Middle class RP English


And at the other end of the spectrum, those who have always and deliberately sung with an American accent. Elton John has said in interviews that that was what you did in the 60s and 70s:

Elton John
Rod Stewart
Tom Jones
Robert Plant
Phil Collins (not always, but most of the time post-W&W)
Ozzy
Billy Idol

[progeezer]

Sade
Dave Cousins
Klaus Meine
George Jones (one of many in that genre)
Dolly Parton (one of many etc.)
Eirikur Hauksson (Magic Pie)
A stretch, but Le Orme, Banco, PFM, Balleto di Bronzo etc.

[PeterG]

Sade

Actually, Sade doesn't sing with a dialect at all, she has an applied velvety transatlantic song voice that is nothing like her spoken Southern England/Essex/London/Home Counties dialect.

[Dave (in MA)]

ALL bands seem to have accents except for a few like the Dropkick Murphys and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

[iguana]

And at the other end of the spectrum, those who have always and deliberately sung with an American accent. Elton John has said in interviews that that was what you did in the 60s and 70s:

Phil Collins (not always, but most of the time post-W&W)

15 short years between “d_ah_nce on a volcano” and “i caan’t daance” ;-)>

[KGHofSF]

Viz ze zinga of Eloy, on ze other hand, you'd never no where he waz frrrom.

regards
KGH

[Scrotum Scissor]

Sparifankal, 70s folk-kraut band, sang in a distinct Bavarian dialect which is actually quite audible even to non-German speakers.

Dutch folk/medieval band Irolt sang in Frisian tongue.

Luxembourgian group Cloud Nine apparently used lyrics in Letzebergisch, the odd Germanic language almost solely spoken there.

James LaBrie uses castrate vibrato "[...] eEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEe'h!" Recommended.

[No Pride]

Fish trrruly sounds Scottish....

So do The Proclaimers.

[mogrooves]

Nico's Teutonicism.

[Halmyre]

Noddy Holder (Slade)

[Sean]

Ian Anderson?

[Yodelgoat]

Noddy Holder (Slade)

Oh Wow, you think its an accent? Do other people from where Noddy is from sound anything like him? His voice would be distinctive no matter where those pipes came from. Sounds like his voice box is fresh out of a meat grinder.

[The Dark Elf]

The Who - Bell Boy (Keith Moon's vocals are hilarious)
ELP - Benny the Bouncer (Greg Lake trying to be Keith Moon)
Charlie Daniels Band -- The Devil Went Down to Georgia (no wait, every song Charlie Daniels sang had a twang)
Lynyrd Skynyrd -- Saturday Night Special (no wait, see above regarding Charlie Daniels)
Harmonium - Vert (French with a Québécois accent)