Whitney's "I Will Always Love You": Hog Calling at its best.

[VinylTurnip]

@Normal_Phase

I’m not sure why so many people seem to be aiming for “cool-kid” cred by hating Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” or snickering about her drug problems, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Yeah, it’s obvious that anyone claiming not to like the song is lying in order to sound cool. And she’d only been a drug addict for what, the last 12-15 years or so? A drop in the bucket compared to the 10 years she was relevant and successful. Stupid haters gotta bring everybody down to their level. Don’t you listen to them, Whitney… WE WILL ALWAYS LUV UUUUuuUUUUuUUuuUUUUUUUU!!!

@astorian

I’m just recognizing that what the OP dismisses as “hog calling” is part of a vocal style that Whitney learned while singing gospel in all-black or mostly black churches. And the prima female vocalists in a black gospel choir learn to do a lot of trilling, ululating and vocal gymnastics.

My father (R.I.P. if you’re dead) had another, considerably less-kind term for it, which I will not repeat here.

[Bridget_Burke]

I think there’s a racial/ethnic component to how people feel about Whitney Houston’s rendition of that song.

No, no, I’m not suggesting anyone who hates her recording is a racist! I hate it myself!

Melisma has ancient roots in non-Western cultures. Some Gregorian chants used melismatic technique but the style fell out of favor got unhip in the West after the Baroque era.

Of course the style can be overused or misused. But those who hate every bit of melisma are exhibiting extreme L7’ness…

My father (R.I.P. if you’re dead) had another, considerably less-kind term for it, which I will not repeat here.

Let me guess–it began with an “n”…

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@astorian

I think there’s a racial/ethnic component to how people feel about Whitney Houston’s rendition of that song.

No, no, I’m not suggesting anyone who hates her recording is a racist! I hate it myself!

I’m just recognizing that what the OP dismisses as “hog calling” is part of a vocal style that Whitney learned while singing gospel in all-black or mostly black churches. And the prima female vocalists in a black gospel choir learn to do a lot of trilling, ululating and vocal gymnastics.

People who grow up in such churches LOVE that style. People who don’t often find it, well, excessive. Some people (especially black fans) hear Whitney sing “Iiiiiiiiiiiiii… will always love YoooouuuuuuuuUUUUUUooooo…” and think it’s magnificent. Other people (primarily white) will hear it and think, “Just sing the song, and stop showing off!”

Whitney sang the song exactly the way she wanted to… and we either like it or we don’t. It was a HUGE hit, so obviously somebody (make that MILLIONS of somebodies) loved it. I just wan’t one of them.

WHitney had a great voice, no question, What she didn’t have was restraint. And since she had huge success WITHOUT learning restraint, where was her incentive to change?

Its funny you mention that vocal style as “being a reason for the hate”…I generally dislike that style myself when its excessive (or when applied to The Star Spangled Banner…Laws, no!) but in my opinion in this particular case, it fits the song and is beautiful. Most times though…I hate that constant caterwauling, trying to stretch a note out to its nth degree.

[mambocrow]

I never liked Houston’s version either. I thought of it as bellowing rather than singing. I thought the same for everything else she sang. No dynamics, just loud, loud, loud, all the way through. Probably why I don’t like, and will never like Gospel music.

[Ferret_Herder]

I like gospel music; I’ve even sung it and oh yes, I am very pale. I’m just not fond of this particular song by her. It’s a combination of the melisma* (which tended to be very overused around that time, IIRC, much like a stutter seems to be the latest run-into-the-ground technique), the overplaying at the time, and the near-unvarying volume after, IIRC, the first verse.

And seriously, lately, no one’s playing the quieter first verse. Cut to a news item about the latest on her death and it’s “AND IIIIIIIIIIiiiiIIiiIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOoOOoouu!!!” and you dive for the volume control if you’d turned it up to hear an earlier news item over background sound.

• After the Diva Invasion in the '90s, I began to think melisma sounded an awful lot like some kind of horrible disease name.

[Marley23]

@astorian

I’m just recognizing that what the OP dismisses as “hog calling” is part of a vocal style that Whitney learned while singing gospel in all-black or mostly black churches. And the prima female vocalists in a black gospel choir learn to do a lot of trilling, ululating and vocal gymnastics.

That’s true, but it’s also true that this stuff filtered into mainstream pop music decades ago - doesn’t everybody on American Idol sing that way? They do in the commercials - so it’s unlikely that people dislike it because they’re just not familiar with it. They just think it’s over the top.

[handsomeharry]

@CalMeacham

Pepper Mill can’t stand it.
Back when it first came out, they joked About it on (I think) the Tonight Show, using it as the sound for the Whitney Houston Smoke Alarm.

This is hiliarious. I shall ****definitely ****be stealing this. Now, if I can only manipulate the conversation at work around to the topic…

[handsomeharry]

@mambocrow

I never liked Houston’s version either. I thought of it as bellowing rather than singing. I thought the same for everything else she sang. No dynamics, just loud, loud, loud, all the way through. Probably why I don’t like, and will never like Gospel music.

Bellowing…yes, bellowing.

Of course, some says bellowing, some says hog-callin’.

[handsomeharry]

@Normal_Phase

I like both versions, can’t really choose between them.

I’m not sure why so many people seem to be aiming for “cool-kid” cred by hating Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” or snickering about her drug problems,

Yeah…people at work, church, and the social scene that I am part of really think I’m a gangsta now! If I’d known it was this easy to get the cred, which I’ve been desirous of for, lo, these many years, I’d have hated the song and snickered about her drug problems years ago.
Now, I think all I need is an Autotuner to finally get me that contract with Death Row…

[handsomeharry]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

Its funny you mention that vocal style as “being a reason for the hate”…I generally dislike that style myself when its excessive (or when applied to The Star Spangled Banner…Laws, no!) but in my opinion in this particular case, it fits the song and is beautiful. Most times though…I hate that constant caterwauling, trying to stretch a note out to its nth degree.

Caterwauling…yes, caterwauling.

Of course, some says caterwauling, and some says hog-callin’.

[Marley23]

@handsomeharry

Now, I think all I need is an Autotuner to finally get me that contract with Death Row…

The label essentially went out of business years ago and I don’t think they ever did the Autotune thing, but good luck with that.

[handsomeharry]

@Dung_Beetle

No, I’ve been cool since at least 2005: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6383452&postcount=32

Wow! You *WERE *cool!

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Yes, give Suge Knight a call by all means. He takes great care of his white rappers.

[handsomeharry]

@Marley23

The label essentially went out of business years ago and I don’t think they ever did the Autotune thing, but good luck with that.

Uh-oh. Did I just lose some street cred?

[handsomeharry]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

Yes, give Suge Knight a call by all means. He takes great care of his white rappers.

[Marley23]

@handsomeharry

Uh-oh. Did I just lose some street cred?

I can say this with total confidence: No.

[RealityChuck]

There was an article in Slate a few years ago that seemed to hit upon what the problem was with Houston’s rendition: Basically, it does not build to a crescendo; it puts all it’s strength into the very first line and keeps it there. The problem, then is a lack of contrast in the song. When you’re singing everything as powerfully as you can, it gives no respite and also reduces the emotions that can be portrayed.

[alice_in_wonderland]

I always preferred Whitney’s version, and I’m not remotely bothered by the amount of airplay it’s getting now. (Yes, I’m a freak).

I’m also very sad about her death - yes she was a drug addict, but I grew up first seeing her as a model in my 17 magazine and then listening to her thinking I want to dance with somebody who loves me too!! I guess I always hoped after she and Bobby Brown split up she would get it together and have a triumphant comeback. Not gonna happen now, but I don’t get the hate.

[Colophon]

@RealityChuck

There was an article in Slate a few years ago that seemed to hit upon what the problem was with Houston’s rendition: Basically, it does not build to a crescendo; it puts all it’s strength into the very first line and keeps it there. The problem, then is a lack of contrast in the song. When you’re singing everything as powerfully as you can, it gives no respite and also reduces the emotions that can be portrayed.

I agree with quite a lot (but not all) of this blog post.

A couple of my favourite snippets:

… if we’re honest, greatest singers of all time tend not to approach songs with all the empathy of an articulated lorry approaching a hedgehog. Sure, onlookers are treated to a Technicolor spectacular, but something is lost along the way.

By any reasonable reckoning, in judging a great singer - as opposed to a technically great voice - we must factor in the ability to interpret a lyric. And alas, though it would be apt - and mean the world a more beautiful place - her version of I Will Always Love You is not frequently listed in the Top Ten Songs By Which To Exit Divorce Courts. Instead, with all the appropriateness of coffins taking their curtain call to Walking on Sunshine, newly married couples walk down the aisle to it every week. Somewhere, in all the showboating of vowel stretching time, the essence of the song has been so utterly lost that down means up and left means right.

Yes, people actually use this song (opening lines: “If I should stay, I would only be in your way, so I’ll go…”) as their special wedding song :smack:

[well_he_s_back]

Just cause I don’t like melisma, or Whitney’s vocal stylings, or Whitney’s pop songs or what she did to the SSB does NOT mean I hate Whitney. just musical preferences.