There’s nothing more daunting as a vocalist than having to tackle a part of a song without any musical accompaniment behind you. That said, if you can pull it off correctly, it can make for an indelible moment.
Videos by American Songwriter
These four songs feature vocalists going solo a cappella for a small segment. Those segments helped to make these tracks classics.
“Reason To Believe” by Rod Stewart
Tim Hardin stood out in the mid-60s as a singer-songwriter well before that genre was in fashion. As a result, many of his songs received their most exposure in versions done by others. The Carpenters did a version of “Reason To Believe” in 1970, a year before Rod Stewart included it on his 1971 album Every Picture Tells A Story. In fact, Stewart liked his recording so much that he released it as a single, only to have it overshadowed by the B-side “Maggie May”, which turned into a runaway hit. This is despite Stewart knocking “Reason To Believe” out of the park, especially in that portion of the song when the music falls away and Rod completely controls the audience with his expertly timed phrasing.
“Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin
In some cases, the method by which a cappella vocals are rendered is as important as the power of those vocals. Led Zeppelin doesn’t get enough credit for being endlessly inventive in the way they arranged their pummeling songs. In the case of “Black Dog”, named in honor of a canine who used to show up at the estate where Led Zep was recording their fourth album, Robert Plant belts out most of the vocals with nothing around him but faint echoes of the blasts of powerhouse rock that interrupt his bellows. The contrast between Plant’s almost ghostly howls and the thundering attack of the band helped to make this a legendary classic rock track.
“Words” by Bee Gees
Because of the Bee Gees’ popularity during the disco era, many people associate Barry Gibb’s vocals with the falsetto cries he utilized to mesmerizing effect on songs like “Stayin’ Alive”. But those high-pitched vocals only dominated his arsenal later in the band’s career. In the late 60s, the band focused on melodically rich, lushly arranged ballads that showed off their brotherly delicate harmonies. But on “Words”, Maurice and Robin cleared the way for Barry to take center stage without any vocal support. The song slowly builds in emotional intensity until Gibb repeats the final refrain a cappella, his falsetto precariously hanging in the air for a moment until the music tenderly resumes.
“Oh Sherrie” by Steve Perry
If you notice one thing about this list, it’s probably that the vocalists who pulled off their a cappella feats are all considered among the finest in rock. And Steve Perry can stand on that hallowed vocal ground with just about anybody. Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that when he went solo for the first time on the song “Oh Sherrie”, he made an immediate splash with an a cappella moment. After a twinkling instrumental intro, Perry comes out of nowhere, powerfully belting out the opening lines with nothing else around him. You have the feeling that “Oh Sherrie” could have gone anywhere from there and still succeeded. And succeed it did, landing at No. 3 on the pop charts.
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