Who Sang for Lucy?
Who dubbed Lucy's singing voice for Breezin' Along With the Breeze?
It obviously wasn't her singing.
It actually is Lucy singing. Lucie Arnaz even says it's most definitely her mother.
shareLucille ball could sing very well. Lucy Ricardo couldn't.
shareYou have to be a good singer to sing badly. Just ask Patricia Routledge. :D
And it's too bad so many of us don't realize what a lovely singing voice Lucille really had, since what we know of her is so filtered through the Ricardo lens.
~Sarah
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Dubbing is very much used with the real actresses' real voice, from the studio.
It's tough to record in a moving car :lol:
So watching for telltale dubbing like sound not synchronized, wrong words in the score, etc, would still be present, but she's dubbing for herself!
Yes, you are quite right. Both in musicals and non-musicals that happen to include singing, the performer does his or her own dubbing. Singing is better captured when recording is done in a traditional recording studio rather than on a sound stage or worse, a location setting. Depending on the project and the need, it is done either of two ways.
Sometimes the singing and orchastrations are done first in a recording studio, and then when the scene is filmed, the performer lip-syncs to the recording playing there on the sound stage or location. Then later in post-production, the pre-recorded part is blended onto the soundtrack of the film itself. An example of recording first, then filming the scene is the "Oh, You've Got Trouble," number from the film "The Music Man" (1962). On the DVD edition, Susan Luckey (role: Zaneeta Shinn) gives commentary documenting Robert Preston's amazing skill at lip-syncing the complex number on the set during filming of the scene.
For some situations, the filming of the musical number is done first, and later the performer re-records the song in a recording studio while viewing the film clip and lip-syncing to himself/herself. An example of this can be seen in the movie, "Inside Daisy Clover" (1965) as Natalie Wood (role: Daisy Clover) has a nervous breakdown inside the soundproof recording booth.
Most exterior shots in movies of the 30, 40s and 50s - particularly those shot on-location - were always dubbed. Shooting outside can pick up all sorts of noises - wind in particular - that ruin the audio track.
It's therefore easier to record and pick up the dialogue so that words and inflection are plain to hear, then go back into the recording studio and dub your own voice - a process know as "looping".
"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"
She sang in "The Ziegfeld Follies" the number "Bring on the Beautiful Girls" - nothing to give Judy Garland a run for the money, but passable.
She did "Wildcat" on Broadway in the early 60s - but since Lucy was never really a regular singer like Judy who knew correct vocal technique she completely wrecked her vocal chords singing 8 shows a week. (She was never really a "live performer" either, understanding how to maintain one's stamina show-after-show; within a year, the performing demands of "Wildcat" exhausted her and she left the show).
That's why her voice changes so much in-between "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show", going from that semi-high-pitched tone of Lucy Ricardo to that low, gravelly-voice of Lucy Carmichael.
The "hit" which came out of "Wildcat", btw, was "Hey, Look Me Over, Lend Me An Ear" - which I can just imagine as being sung by both Lucys, one bright and hammy, the other low and salty.
"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"
I would dare to say Lucille Balls voice incurred such a drastic change due to many years of being a several pack per day smoker. She had been a very accomplisher singer.
shareLucy didn't sing in "THe Ziegfeld Follies". She only stood up on a horse and cracked her whip at chorus girls dressed as cats.
shareShooting outside can pick up all sorts of noises - wind in particular - that ruin the audio track.
Dubbing is very much used with the real actresses' real voice, from the studio.
It's tough to record in a moving car :lol:
None of the in-car shots were done in an actual moving car. The songs are composed in studio for obvious quality reasons. So in the 'Breezing Alone' scene, nothing is real. The sound is recorded in studio, the car is in another studio, the scenery is green-screened. Lucy and Dezi are all that is real. lol
share
You have to be a good singer to sing badly. Just ask Patricia Routledge. :D
Another example of this dynamic is Jean Stapleton, who played Edith Bunker on All in the Family. Jean was a renowned vocalist. Edith could've waked the dead. LOL =)
lol, gotta love edith!
I've got a jar of dirt!...and guess what's inside it...
Agree. Lucille Ball's voice was good enough to be the star of a Broadway musical ("Wildcat") in the early 60's.
shareBritish comedian Jeremy Hardy sings badly with hilarious results on the BBC radio show "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" when he does "one song to the tune of another." He is tone deaf. His "We'll Gather Lilacs" to the theme from "Hawaii Five-O" is a roll on the floor laughing classic. Another game he does so poorly it's hysterical is "pick up song" where the music stops and he has to continue until it starts again. His rendition of "I Get By with a Little Help from my Friends," with plenty of encouragement from the other panelists and the audience, is choice. So a tone deaf person CAN sing badly with wonderfully comedic results. What he can't do is sing it the same way twice. :)
I think the best singing badly on film is in Ishtar. It is masterful composing and singing to get it just a half turn off.