Songs

A Voice in the Choir

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There was just one time when I looked up from my desk to find a movie star standing there waiting to talk to me.  Only once, but that was enough. It was Ned Beatty, whose birthday is today. He’s 76.

Ned Beatty Sings
Ned Beatty Sings
Beatty is a character actor, and a good one.

He spends part of his year in Minnesota and somehow managed to get into the habit of listening to a daily radio program I worked on. He was in the office to talk to some other people about a film project and wanted to stop by to say “Hello”.

That was very kind of him, and memorable too. Obviously, since I’m still flaunting it today. Beatty’s “hello” resonated across the wide-open room, which makes sense because he claims in his bio he got into acting because he has such a loud voice.

Although his first show-business love, and his career focus now, is singing. Apparently, after several hundred film and TV roles as a character actor, Beatty has come full circle to the place where he started.

Beatty’s online bio says: “Singing was probably his favorite subject in school . He also sang in church, at weddings , in a quartet, ( they sang for their supper), the Louisville a cappella choir, and received a scholarship to Transylvania University to sing in their excellent a cappella choir, under the direction of Harvey Davis, a gifted musician and composer of modern Liturgical music. Ned loved to sing in that choir, but wasn’t particularly interested in attending classes in other subjects.”

And when I listen to him sing, I understand why he enjoyed to that show, since his music would have easily fit into our playlist. In other words, it’s not chart-topping material. He sounds like a straightforward singer, not one to add lots of showy embellishments. He sings like someone who got a kick out of singing in a choir – a singer interested in honoring the song and blending with the others, not necessarily in being in the center of attention or creating a spectacle.

Kind of like a character actor.

Are you a pop star, or a voice in the choir?

72 thoughts on “A Voice in the Choir”

  1. This is just too easy. I’d be called a pop star in the hood of the western suburbs. Never having danced at all until my divorce at age 60, I’ve accumulated a fan club of sorts and long since been called “The Dancing Grandma of the Lakes”. It began nine years ago and if the fates allow will continue into my eighties. The greatest joy I derive from this late-in-life passion is that the “choir” dances with me wherever I go. It’s an indescribable treat to see people dance who’ve clearly needed that extra encouragement (permission?) to dance with abandon. The live bands know me well, sometimes pulling me up on stage while they perform and remarking that “This woman kicked cancer’s butt!!”. I swear that coming back after my battle three years ago amazed most of them because they thought I’d reached the end of my road. Perhaps I am dancing on borrowed time now but I’ll take every precious moment I can get.

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  4. I’m about to become a voice in the choir again. When Child was younger, I couldn’t afford babysitter for choir practice. Once she got old enough that babysitting wasn’t needed, gymnastics took over our lives. Now it’s the dreaded, who gets the car for what and when. But in a couple of months, no babysitting, no gymnastics, no transportation issues – so I will finally be joining the choir again. Like PJ, I am not loud.

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  5. Good morning. I have been recognized a couple of times as a “distinguished member” of an organization. I was recognized in both cases for the support I gave and not as being a charismatic leader or top personally. In fact, I have been an advocate for avoiding the top down approach where a few people take the lead and expect everyone else to keep quiet or be very distant background singers. I suppose I would like everyone to be in the choir, but would not mind if some came forward as pop stars. Pop stars are okay as long as they don’t fail to see the value of the people in the choir.

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  6. i am both at different times. i sing for myself and when i do that i am the pop star. all the tones and embelishments or often lack thereof to do a tune as i hear it in my head before i sing it. sometimes its loud and reaching and often times its a gentle purr with the words just burbling out along with the melody on top of a guitar part meant to impress no one and only there to give the voice a little company. then when i am in a choir i am able to almost coast and blend in with the others although it would be fun to do a manhatten transfer kind of harmony some time instead of the church choir

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      1. Tim, both cuts are great–voices and clothing! But the hairstyle on the dude introducing the Riders in the Sky is, um, impressive? Heavily hair sprayed? Memorable? I know– unforgettable!

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        1. are you not familiar with the grand old opry over the top presentation in hair and glittered jackets? that guy is a big star in country music circles and is actually very good. marty stuart

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        4. i love nashville but the bluebird cafe is a better venue than the opry. the opry is a must but the bluebird cafe is where they sit down 4 songwriters across from each other and the take turns playing a tune they wrote with the others maybe playing along maybe just sitting back enjoying the other persons music waiting ofr thier turn. the crown that comes in is wonderful. last time i was there we had a couple good songwriters and then a few nashville stars came in to sing along

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  7. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    Most of the time I am happy being the modest voice, one of the crowd. In several areas I have been the star, a role in which I am not entirely comfortable. Playing the clarinet, occasionally with my art, and a bit in business I have excelled. On my recent trip to my hometown someone reminded me I was the first John Philip Sousa Award winner in my High School, something I forgot about. Whatever happened to that award?

    Ned Beatty was in “Deliverance” in an unforgettable scene where he squealed like a pig, I think.

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    1. You know how to pick your starring roles, Jacque.

      I think I may have posted this before, but I love it, so you’ll just have to forgive me:

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  9. Definitely a voice in the choir, unless like tim when I’m on my own. Once in a while in the car (or anywhere) a song will come on where I have to use my “opera voice” – you kinda learn to be careful where you do that…

    And in folk dance it’s a mix – I’m a “star” when I teach, but it’s always a humbling experience – I do make mistakes when I’m out there in front of everyone. I correct it, move on, and then I’m really glad to get back to being “a voice in the choir.”

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  10. I am a voice in the choir, not a pop star. I sometimes have to sing solos with the band that husband plays harmonica for, but I am not comfortable doing that. My only good points are that I am loud and I sing in tune.

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  11. Better off as a voice in the choir – I can carry a tune, mostly, but I do not have a voice built for soloing. Frankly, I’d probably do better as the accompanist. Now there’s an apt analogy: the accompanist has to be an agile enough musician to play the right notes, at the right time and follow the rhythms and inflections of the soloist. Their primary job is to make the soloist look good – it’s a wholly different skill set than playing solo or in a directed ensemble. If you are a good accompanist, people won’t notice you. The same is true for set design and construction (if folks are looking at your set while the play is going on, either the actors are really bad or your set is “too much” or horrid). Most of my day jobs have been like that, too, now that I think on it…

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    1. The politically correct term for an accompanist is Collaborative Pianist. I learned that at a Suzuki Summer String Institute in Montreal.

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  13. I have had aspirations to be a soloist and I’ve done a few but my preference would be to be in a quartet or trio. Singing the melody is boring; my favorite songs are ones with a glorious and pretty obvious harmony. Think Everly Brothers or the McGarrigles. I instinctively harmonize to any music that shows up in my life.

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  14. I am Anna’s opposite. I have a lovely singing voice (or so I have been told) but cannot keep a tune. Whatever note I sing is sure to be higher or lower than what it should be. I was told by my father when I was five years old that I “couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.” That led to my first big clash with authority.

    My second grade was taught by Miss Steele, a bony old maid who disliked children, me especially. She put us through weeks of rehearsals so we could perform a Christmas concert for our parents. Since I knew I couldn’t sing, I just mouthed the words, a 1948 version of Milli Vanilli. And since I wasn’t really singing, I decided they could run the concert without me, and I didn’t show up. The next day Miss Steele confronted me about having skipped the concert. Her words were, “We missed your lovely singing voice.” I made the mistake of telling the truth, telling her that she had never heard my lovely singing voice since I had been mute through all of those rehearsals. Bang! The ultimate punishment in my grade school was to be sent to the principal’s office. I don’t know what we thought happened to children who were sent there, but those were terrifying words. I was the first kid in our class to be sent to the principal. As I remember it, she was pleasant–much nicer than Miss Steele. I sat there bawling and soaking up the tissues in a box of Kleenex.

    Years later a friendly music teacher insisted that I should sing. She refused to believe I was as bad as I said I was. After we performed one carol (this was for another Christmas concert) Miss Moore said brightly, “Steve! I think you would be a perfect person to be our narrator!”

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  15. Dale! what a delight to be on your email list! Not as good as hearing YOUR voice, but I love each of the samples you gave us today. My daughter saw a jar of Picallili at Byerly’s, which started a round of comments on Facebook. I’m sure I learned “A Little Bit of Cucumber” from your show, and I used to sing it to my grandchildren, Thanks for all the joy you have given to my family!

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  16. Neither. I might be in the audience, but more likely I am off somewhere by myself daydreaming and wandering around.

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      1. This is the reunion choir in the big gym in Skoglund Center at St. Olaf College. I sang in the St. Olaf Choir for 2 years in 1973-1975.

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  20. Not many pop stars sing bass, so I guess that puts me in the choir. I’m an instrumentalist by training but love accapella groups like The Blenders, Tonic Sol Fa, Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, etc. I’d love to sing bass with any of those groups, or even the doo-wop groups of the 50s and 60s.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  21. I wish I had a video of my own children’s choir doing the song I wrote that was published in a music textbook. Unfortunately, I don’t. But I found one on youtube! I have no idea where this choir is from, but it’s my song!

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      1. No, the people putting the curriculum series together made CDs of all the songs in the book. The CDs have tracks with and without singing so kids can perform karaoke style if their teacher wants to do it that way. The series also includes piano accompaniment and guitar chords for each song.

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  22. OT – the fun never ends around here. after weeks of being at middle daughter’s beck and call while she is on strict bed rest, it looks like i will get to be the main cleaning lady at the apartment she and boyfriend just rented. it makes sense to clean it thoroughly while it’s still empty but daughter can’t do the cleaning herself and is a little stressed (understatement) that it probably won’t be cleaned to her satisfaction. apparently it is pretty dirty! so come Sunday or Tuesday, i will be scrubbing away….

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      1. Yes, indeedy. Sorry for the whine there; now I wish I could go back and delete or edit that comment, but I was feeling decidedly grumpy and ungrateful when I wrote that. I am going to try to do what MIG says – take it with a dollop of gratitude and hope for a good time even though cleaning will never make my list of “Fun Things to Do.”

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        2. Exactly. Although she and boyfriend are pretty quiet and I have been happy that I can help daughter during this time, I find it gets rather emotionally exhausting to always have to be thinking of the needs of someone else.Luckily she is now able to very gradually increase her activity level – she still has to take it very easy, but life will be easier for her if she can get up to get her water bottle filled herself instead of asking me to do it (for example).

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    4. I have to keep reminding myself that adult children have been worrying and disappointing their parents for the entire span of history, I in particular have been the bane of my Mother’s existence–I have never done life to her satisfaction until she had Alzheimer’s. Now she likes me.

      When our kids worry me, disappoint me, I try to find something else to think about. The weight of parenthood just never lightens. Sounds like you are in the same spot, Edith.

      Will they let you out of jail to clean the apartment?

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      2. Yes, Jacque. I wouldn’t say any of my kids are a disappointment to me – but WORRY, yes! Some kids seem to have nothing go right for them ever and life is so very hard while others seem to more or less glide through life.

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      3. How ironic about your mom, Jacque! I wonder if my mom, who currently thinks I walk on water, will do the reverse.

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  24. Something is seriously amiss. Daughter just kissed me on the top of the head and is smiling. I wonder if it has anything to do with this college wrestler/literature major who works as bouncer at a local sports bar and likes to write poetry and is taking her out to dinner tomorrow night? Children are always a mystery.

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