Billy Idol was recently a guest on My Planet Rocks with Liz Barnes and made a comparison between Jim Morrison‘s and Robert Plant‘s singing styles during their conversation.
The Doors’ iconic frontman Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant dominated the 1960s rock scene with their musicianship and distinctive sound. Both were active in the music scene during the same period and are among the most influential frontmen of all time. However, there were some clear-cut differences between Morrison’s and Plant’s styles of singing and the sound of the Doors and Led Zeppelin.
Jim Morrison wasn’t only a singer; he was also a poet and songwriter. While writing the Doors’ songs, Morrison used his extraordinary imagery and the themes of alienation and psychedelia. The rebellious rock icon was a highly talented singer with a distinctive and deep baritone voice, besides his unpredictable and erratic persona. However, Morrison’s alcohol addiction took its toll on his vocals and negatively affected his singing.
On the other hand, Robert Plant has influenced many music icons like Sammy Hagar, Axl Rose, Jeff Buckley, Jack White, and Freddie Mercury with his vocal techniques. Plant’s singing exaggerated the vocal style of several blues singers like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and he drew influence from blues music in his sound. The Zeppelin singer’s high-range voice sounds powerful and raw, and he’s in the tenor range.
In a recent interview with Liz Barnes’ My Planet Rocks, Billy Idol reflected on Jim Morrison and his singing. Idol argued that Morrison’s style was radically different from his contemporaries. Comparing the Doors icon to very high singers who dominated the rock music scene like Robert Plant, the musician said Morrison was crooning and shouting like a blues singer while singing. According to Idol, Jim’s drinking affected his voice, but his ‘whiskey-soaked’ vocals were still fantastic.
Here is what Billy Idol said:
“I also really loved Jim Morrison and his singing style because it was quite radically different from many other people at that time. As the ’60s progressed, rock music turned into very high singers like Robert Plant and people like that, but Jim was crooning. He was crooning and shouting his way through things. By the time they did the ‘L.A. Woman’ album, he was drinking a lot. You can really hear that wreck of this whiskey-soaked voice, but it sounds fantastic.
And again, the way you hear that, you kind of in miniature to these sort of bands we were watching in the ’60s and ’70s. You saw a lot about how their careers went, how they changed inside what they were doing, how they grew inside what they were doing, and how that was very much an important factor in keeping the excitement of what you’re doing and keeping people interested.”
You can listen to the full interview below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUEeZ1PX818
