Billy Gilman's appearance
on Lon Helton's Country Countdown USA
the weekend of September 9 and 10, 2000
by Peter C.
Over the past few months, twelve-year-old Billy Gilman has amazed us with his phenomenal singing. When he appeared on Country Countdown USA recently, the host, Lon Helton, asked a lot of good questions that help us to understand the inspirations for his singing style. In this article, I will discuss what we learned from that program. I hope that, in this discussion, I don't sound like I am going overboard. I realize that I am writing about a twelve-year-old who has released one thirty-seven minute album. But I think that such a discussion may be worthwhile.
On CCUSA, Billy discussed what he admires in some other singers. Like the true artist that he is, Billy has created his own unique style by incorporating much that he likes about other singers into his own style, without merely imitating them. Because of this, I can hear similarities between Billy and some singers whom he admires, even though he obviously does not sound like them.
A lot of Billy's comments on what he likes about other singers can also apply to his own music. His comments on Reba McEntire and Barbra Streisand are especially illuminating.
He told Lon Helton that he loves Reba McEntire's style, which is his favorite. He likes the twangy way that McEntire stretches out words (Lon Helton explained she makes a one-syllable word into four) and said that helps to pronounce words better. Also, he thinks it's "really cool" that she puts a country feeling and a little swing into it. A lot of what he said about Reba McEntire applies to his own music. One of the most striking things about Billy's singing is his talent for creating emotional impact by holding syllables. When he does this, the affect is beautiful. I'll discuss this more later. (He does not have Reba McEntire's twangy sound.) Also, with his extremely clear voice, he sings so that the lyrics can easily be understood. Billy too puts a little swing into his songs. Many of them such as "Little Things" and "I Wanna Get to Ya" have a swinging dance-like quality. Moreover, I can hear many subtle similarities between Reba McEntire's style and Billy's style.
Billy also told Lon Helton that Barbra Streisand is one of his idols, along with Pam Tillis. He said that Streisand's voice is incredible and inspires him. He added that, just by listening, he learned stuff from her, from how to get down to the tenderness in his voice to the big powerful belting in his voice. Billy clearly learned well from Streisand. Billy has an extraordinary talent for putting energy and feeling into his singing. He does it without ever going over the top. When he raises his voice in songs like "The Snake Song" and "Roly Poly" it seems completely appropriate. (Billy sang "Roly Poly" on the Academy of Country Music Awards show last May with the group Asleep At The Wheel.) Also, like Streisand, he has a very smooth, pleasant sounding voice. Before I heard that Streisand is his idol, his singing already had made me think of her. In fact, it also reminded me of Mike Myers on "Saturday Night Live" saying that Streisand's voice is "like butter," and I could imagine Mike Myers saying the same thing about Billy twenty or thirty years from now. In a barnesandnoble.com online chat on September 13, he said that his all-time favorite song is Streisand's powerful version of "Somewhere." That song is an excellent example of what he likes about her singing, and he may come closest to the way she sings "Somewhere" in his stirring version of "Til I Can Make It On My Own." (I wonder if he knows that "Somewhere" originally came from "West Side Story.")
I assume that the four additional songs that were played on CCUSA were all chosen because he likes them. All four are wonderful songs: His favorite song by Reba McEntire "I'll Be," his favorite song by Lee Ann Womack "I Hope You Dance," one of his favorite songs by George Strait "Carrying Your Love With Me," and Pam Tillis's "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial." "Cleopatra" is especially noteworthy, since he says that hearing Tillis sing this song on television, when he was three, sparked his desire to sing. It seems significant that even at age three, he would be inspired by a song that was written for adults not children. Billy also told Lon Helton that George Strait influenced him.
Billy also had some interesting comments about Leann Rimes. He said that when she sang "Blue" at age thirteen, her voice sounded like she could be a twenty-year-old. He also remarked on how dynamic and powerful her voice is, adding that her voice is "just incredible." Of course, no twelve-year-old boy is going to sound like an adult, but Billy does, nevertheless, sing like an adult, and he too has a dynamic and powerful voice, which many have called incredible.
In discussing how Billy developed his singing style, it's also worth considering Billy's taste in music, since it would have affected how he sings. His taste does not just include current favorites. Instead, his interests go back fifty years or more. It was especially intriguing when Billy was asked what songs from the past he would like to record. He named four Country and Western songs from forty to fifty years ago: "Crying Time," "Lovesick Blues," Marty Robbins's "Don't Worry," and Patsy Cline's "Crazy." He also said in the barnesandnoble.com chat that his favorite country singer is Patsy Cline because she is so incredible. He said that what he likes about these songs is the style of them and the style of the singers. He added that that's what counts in an artist, the style and the perfection in their voice and how they can express the song. That's also what people like about Billy's album. It is the style and perfection in his voice and how he expresses the songs. Singers like Hank Williams, Sr., who recorded "Lovesick Blues," and Patsy Cline were masters at putting their hearts into songs. Every note in their songs perfectly expresses the emotion of the songs. They could sing sad songs and leave people feeling happy to hear a song so well sung. Billy too has a singing style in which every note is just right in bringing out the meaning of the song. Billy touches our hearts with sad songs like "What's Forever For," "One Voice," "Oklahoma," and "Til I Can Make It On My Own." As with Cline and Williams, someone who listens closely to Billy's songs will notice the sophistication in his style. Furthermore, some of the songs by these singers had a bounce in them that can also be felt in Billy's livelier songs (bearing in mind that Billy does not sound like them).
Moreover, there are many ways that Patsy Cline may have influenced Billy's style of singing. Like Billy, she had a very smooth, silky voice and was excellent at putting energy and feeling into songs and keeping everything in total control. She was brilliant at expressing the emotional subtleties of songs by drawing out syllables. I have already mentioned how beautiful it sounds when Billy stretches out words, especially when each held syllable seems to flow into the next held syllable, as in songs like "One Voice." I remember when I first listened to his album being so impressed that I started looking at a watch to see how long the syllables were lasting. (By the way, the word "way" in "One Voice" lasts about twelve seconds. It is hard to tell exactly when it begins and ends because Billy does such a good job of fading in and fading out.) He has many ways of drawing out words. He does it for various lengths. Sometimes he just holds the note. Other times there is a flutter in his voice or a flutter at the end. Sometimes he sings a syllable as one syllable and other times he breaks a syllable up into several syllables. There are times that he raises or lowers the pitch or the loudness as he sings a syllable. No matter what he does, every note he sings sounds just right.
There are also other ways that Billy has shown an interest in the older songs. On the back of the CD case for the "One Voice" album, there are pictures of posters for Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, and the Carter Family. I assume that this was done to place Billy's singing in the context of those three performers. The Carter Family, one of the earliest Country and Western groups, began to record simple Appalachian folk songs in the 1920's, and Elvis Presley's and Patsy Cline's recording careers began in the 1950's. (There is a recent report that in the IMAX movie "The Twang," Billy will be one of twenty-five singers singing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," which was first recorded by the Carter Family.) It is also notable that Billy made his television debut singing "Roly Poly" which is a fifty-year-old Western Swing song. The Elvis poster may signify an interest in Elvis Presley's style of singing which stood on the boundaries of country, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. Although Billy has not sung any of Elvis's songs, some of the songs on the album sound like country rock. These include "Little Things" (by the country and pop star Bobby Goldsboro), "I Think She Likes Me," "Little Bitty Pretty One," and "I Wanna to Get to Ya." Billy's performance of "Roly Poly" especially suggests that Billy may have some of Elvis's dynamism. We also learn about Billy's preferences from the fact that Billy said in an online chat on twec.com on September 6 that his favorite song on his album is probably "Little Bitty Pretty One," which is originally a rhythm and blues song from the 1950's.
This all seems to show that his interests and abilities may extend from the traditional folk music of the Carter Family to 1940's and 1950's Country and Western music to present day country music to country-influenced pop and rock music. In general, he seems to like meaningful songs that are sung with passion.
When Billy sings songs that others have previously recorded, he makes the songs his own, by singing them his own way. Because of this, he makes the songs seem like they were always meant to be sung his way. For example, he was sensational when he belted out "Roly Poly" on television. Also, he adds new charisma and poignancy to songs that others have already recorded, such as "Little Things," and "What's Forever For." I mentioned that he may be interested in the kind of country rock songs that Elvis Presley sang or old Country and Western songs or older folk songs. Of course, I am only guessing. Still, I would like to see him sing any songs that he likes in his style, including the four that he mentioned on CCUSA. His rousing performance of "Roly Poly" hints that he may give electrifying interpretations of those four songs. That performance also makes me believe that there are aspects of Billy's talent that we have barely seen so far. In fact, it would be interesting to hear Billy sing songs from a variety of genres in his own style. (For example, he might want to sing his favorite song "Somewhere.")
This all shows that Billy Gilman is a true artist, with excellent taste in music, who is able to understand what he likes about others singers and use this understanding in developing his own style.
© 2000 Peter C. All Rights Reserved (09/23/00)
|
