Elvis vs. Plant

[paplbojo]

Anyone catch the recent HBO special on Elvis? "The Searcher"

[kirchzep27]

They are 2 totally different times in rock history, so its interesting to compare them singing each others songs. I can imagine each of them doing that with quite a few songs...but i do not see elvis doing some of the songs live the way plant did with the range....and i could never imagine plant singing the later gospel power elvis singing.

[Chick-N-Picker]

On Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 9:39 AM, Little Robert Anthony II said:

I think Elvis preserved his voice better, probably due to superior technique. It's also a lot easier to control singing in that range as opposed to wailing in the 5th octave like Plant did. I don't think his voice change was as noticeable as Plant's. I know we're comparing them when they were around the same age, but it would have been interesting to see what Elvis would have sounded like in his late 40s, 50s and 60s like we have with Plant. I suspect his voice would have aged well because of his technique and style. Plant of course can still sing his ass off, but he prefers not to sing in the 70s style, softer stuff is easier on his aging voice.

I agree Elvis had drastic changes in his voice but you would have still known it was him. Mighy have shocked you but still. If someone heard him in 56 and didn't hear again until 68. They may go "Is that Elvis? Damn his voice changed."

However if somebody listed to early Zep, say 1970, then stepped away and came back after Plants change they would probably "Who's the new singer for Led Zep?" "Nah, man that's Plant." "WTF happened? I thought that was a completely another guy."

I know what I said about Plant to be true because I was playing Communication Breakdown one day at my sisters and then played something off HOTH (I think The Ocean) and she says who is this band. "The same one", I said. She replied with "That sounds like a different guy." I then showed her other examples and she almost acted like I was joking about it being the same guy on the firsr 4 vs the other albums.

 

 

[Chick-N-Picker]

Don't know how many of you guys have heard this but fast forward to 53:00 and wait for it. It is pretty awesome.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uOPNJQ9jvOo

[SuperDave]

13 hours ago, Chick-N-Picker said:

Don't know how many of you guys have heard this but fast forward to 53:00 and wait for it. It is pretty awesome.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uOPNJQ9jvOo

I've heard this before and quite cool.

[BledZabbath]

Would I be biased if I chose Robert Plant?

[TheMadIrishman]

To start, we need to realize the differences between the two. Elvis sang mostly in a Baritone voice- so naturally much lower (EX: Blue Christmas). However, Robert Plant always strided to sing the loudest and best he could. Yes his voice changed but not because he “lost” it, because he just got older and wanted to still perform at the max volume. Also, just basking in who’s singing is better, defining Plant, Elvis would be swept under the rug compaired to him. 

[SteveAJones]

1 hour ago, TheMadIrishman said:

Just basking in who’s singing is better, defining Plant, Elvis would be swept under the rug compaired to him. 

Pull the other one. Robert Plant spent the better part of a decade making strange bird chirping noises and moaning in unison with the guitar.

[mstork]

We had a family friend who was an accomplished opera singer, sang and taught opera all over the world.  Ask him who has the best voice and he would say “Elvis Presley!”  He meant it too.

 

i think some are underrating Elvis’s gifts as a vocalist.

[Zepfan2001]

You can't compare Elvis to Plant. Elvis has him beat in popularity and chart success and a range of other factors. Elvis had a bassy voice, Plant sings the upper register. Both singers are soulful and passionate. Ultimately I think Elvis would win a talent contest if they were to compete.

[IpMan]

It really depends on what you are looking for in a singer. Elvis had excellent tone and pitch, but not much power in the higher register. Baritone to Alto was his power range and damn, what power indeed. Plant had power across the whole spectrum for a while and was one of the few singers with a ver powerful higher range while he had it which is very rare. Singing in the upper range is not rare per se but singing it with power from the throat vs. the head is very rare. That being said, Plant focused on the power and projection of his voice which resulted in less tone and pitch control. Bottom line, Plant even in his heyday was more erratic whereas Elvis was almost always spot on. I give the edge to Elvis.