Occasional Vocal Track on an Otherwise Instrumental Album

[Teasing the Korean]

Are you ever bothered by the inclusion of a vocal track - specifically one with lyrics - on an otherwise instrumental album?  I often find this to be jarring.  I feel like I am being suddenly snapped from a dreamworld into something much more literal.  I may like the vocal tracks on their own terms, but I don't necessarily want to hear them in the context of instrumentals.  Just curious.

[Pim]

Yup. I always found the vocal track on Birth of the Cool a bit weird. Not to speak of ‘Two to Tango’ on the Lester Young/OP album.

[Dub Modal]

Nah, never bothers me unless the vocals aren't good. 

[Ken Dryden]

A vocal track on an otherwise instrumental album is no big deal, unless the vocalist or lyric is sub-par.

That reminds me of a phone interview I did with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen when Those Who Were was due to be released. I asked him about how he discovered the vocalist Monique, who I had never heard of at all, who sang on one track.

His response was priceless: "It was a funny thing, I was sitting on the toilet and heard her on the radio in my daughter's bedroom."

 

[Rooster_Ties]

It’s not necessarily a deal-breaker, but more often than not, I *do* find occasional vocal tracks pretty annoying — with a handful of exceptions, if course.

Also reminds me that leaders who double on too many instruments — who insist on playing all of them equally frequently — can also be a bit of an annoyance too me too (in some cases, at least).

I’m annoyed easily, probably too easily.

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, Dub Modal said:

Nah, never bothers me unless the vocals aren't good. 

This.

[mjazzg]

Only occasionally.  There seems a trend amongst some of the younger UK based jazz musicians to add a vocal track or two that sound like a bid for a wider, R&B/Nu Soul/Rap audience (I understand the motive and have no problem with it).  Sometimes they just jar a bit with the rest of the album.  It's never a deal-breaker most often just a bit of a disappointment.

Mind you, as I type this I can't think of an example...

Turning the thread on its head, I love the vocal track on Jackie McLean's 'Bout Soul as a fine example of when it works well for me.

Edited July 16, 2021 by mjazzg

[jlhoots]

I dislike it too.

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks all for the replies.  

I feel like lyrics engage a different part of my brain than instrumental music, and I find that I prefer to keep the two experiences separate.

I remember when I first got David Bowie's Berlin trilogy on CD, I re-organized them into two vocal albums and an instrumental album.

Similarly, when I first got the instrumental versions of the Dark Shadows tracks that had Barnabas/Quentin narrations on the original Philips LP, I re-created the LP as an all instrumental program.  (I do love those recitations, though, on their own terms.)

[mhatta]

I'm interested in your opinions on Miles Davis' "Sorcerer".  As you might know, this is basically a instrumental album, but for some reason it contains a tune called "Nothing Like You" sung by Bob Dorough.  Almost all of my friends hate it -- yes, it is completely out of sync by any means.

But I secretly admire its presence.  For me, it is a nice change of pace for mostly abstract, experimental (as of 1967) music.  How do you think? 

 

[felser]

I like the occasional Eddie Jefferson vocals on the 50's-60's James Moody albums.  Find the Earl Coleman vocals with Sonny Rollins unfathomable.  So it's a mixed bag.

[Teasing the Korean]

14 minutes ago, mhatta said:

I'm interested in your opinions on Miles Davis' "Sorcerer".  As you might know, this is basically a instrumental album, but for some reason it contains a tune called "Nothing Like You" sung by Bob Dorough.  Almost all of my friends hate it -- yes, it is completely out of sync by any means.

But I secretly admire its presence.  For me, it is a nice change of pace for mostly abstract, experimental (as of 1967) music.  How do you think? 

Well, I'm a major Bob Dorough fan, so I wouldn't want to be without that tune.

I realize that the inclusion of track was a very deliberate mood-busting artistic choice, and I wish that it had been included in the Miles 60s quintet box set for the sake of completion, even though it wasn't by that group.  So in this case, I lean toward keeping the track intact.   When I've played the album, I have skipped it about as often as I've played it, depending on my mood.  

[Milestones]

Not a fan of "Nothing Like You" on Sorcerer.  I never listen to that track.

On the other hand, I recall liking Helen Merrill's vocal on the Lee Konitz album Rhapsody, which I think is the only vocal (other than Lee's odd scatting).

 

[Teasing the Korean]

9 hours ago, Milestones said:

(other than Lee's odd scatting).

Well, my issue has to do with lyrics, and not the human voice.  

[Rooster_Ties]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Well, my issue has to do with lyrics, and not the human voice.  

Lyrics, especially wordy stuff or if there’s any kind of narrative, engages a different part of my brain.

As opposed to a “might-as-well-be wordless” chorus that might happen to have some repetitive words that don’t really connect up in any sort of syntactical way.

I think I get exactly what your saying. It’s not the singing, per se, but what’s being sung. That said, really traditional scat singing doesn’t do anything for me (at all), and I usually avoid it like the plague.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[Teasing the Korean]

11 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Lyrics, especially wordy stuff or if there’s any kind of narrative, engages a different part of my brain.

As opposed to a “might-as-well-be wordless” chorus that might happen to have some repetitive words that don’t really connect up in any sort of syntactical way.

I think I get exactly what your saying. It’s not the singing, per se, but what’s being sung. That said, really traditional scat singing doesn’t do anything for me (at all), and I usually avoid it like the plague.

Understood, and I am generally with you on scat singing.  However, there is also the use of voices simply doing Oohs or Ahs.  Or, even a repeated lyrical phrase if it becomes more about the sound of the words than the meaning itself.   Completely agree about the engagement of a different part of the brain with lyrics.

[Milestones]

I tend to agree with your original statement: "I feel like I am being suddenly snapped from a dreamworld into something much more literal."

One recent album that I enjoyed was Charles Lloyd's Vanished Gardens, on which Lucinda Williams sang on half of the tracks.

 

[mikeweil]

On 16.7.2021 at 7:20 PM, Dub Modal said:

Nah, never bothers me unless the vocals aren't good. 

Same here.

[Ken Dryden]

Eric Reed released a Christmas CD that ended with a depressing lyric that began, “Won’t you stay until after the holidays…” Nothing like ending a CD with a downer song.

[duaneiac]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:54 PM, Ken Dryden said:

Eric Reed released a Christmas CD that ended with a depressing lyric that began, “Won’t you stay until after the holidays…” Nothing like ending a CD with a downer song.

Well, it is  a lovely little song.  I'm guessing it was included as the final piece on the disc since the song ends with "Goodbye".

Here is an excellent interpretation of that song:

Not every one's holidays are "merry and bright".

There are also occasions when the vocal track on an otherwise instrumental album is perhaps the most moving piece on the disc.  Case in point:

 

[JSngry]

That doesn't seem like a particularly sad song to me...homegirl just wants to party down when everybody else is, that's not sad, that's just reality. People who don't want to party over the holidays can do their Grinch stuff, that's cool to. But if you WANT to party, you want somebody to do it with, unless you got a really good stash of....something, something that you want all for yourself.

I mean, I know it's Judy Garland so we're supposed to read "tragedy" into everything, but that's never worked for me.

[BFrank]

I first heard Mark Murphy on this album and have liked it and the vocals ever since

[mikeweil]

Was not bothered by the vocal track on this one, just surprised - had no idea Sims ever sang a tune. It's okay.

Edited November 21, 2021 by mikeweil

[Ken Dryden]

I’d rather hear a vocal on a mostly instrumental album than a cover of a forgettable tune like “Feelings,” with or without its moronic lyric, it’s one of the worst songs of all time.