Rhythmic Closings
The general idea is this. It is obvious that singers can use the start of a syllable for rhythmic effect. It is MUCH MUCH less obvious that they could also use the stop consonant at the end of the syllable for rhythmic effect. (Or, any sound in the syllable could be used.) It is obviously possible, and Karen Carpenter has a very obvious example of this. Usually, it is not so obvious, and most singers probably do not use this technique.
But I think Presley does.
In the Song "Don't
There is an Elvis Presley song called "Don't". Thirty seconds into the song, on the second occurrence of the word "this", he extends it a longer than I would have expected, and he closes it off stronger than I would have expected. Something is going on. Is it a rhythmic effect? The beat is divided into thirds, and the closing occurs on the second of these three parts -- in other words, a third of a beat late. When I count out the beats, it sounds perfect
When I try to sing the song with the closing sound at this rhythmic locationt, it has a rhythmic effect that I like. So I am pretty sure Presley is using the end of the syllable for rhythmic effect. I do not know why Presley is adding rhythmic effect to this particular song, because it is a slow song.
Rhythmic effects for syllable endings occur elsewhere in this song. The 't' sound in the first two "don't"s occur on the second third of the beat. The background singers, in contrast, don't even have a t sound the first time they sing "don't".
Presley also creates some interesting rhythmic effects with the start of syllables. In "that's what you say", the first two notes are on the beat and "say" occurs a third of a beat early. The same is true for "Each time that I hold", with everything on the beat but "hold" occurring 1/3 beat early.
That's just the first 30 seconds of this song.
Fast Songs
What about when Elvis sings a fast song? The fast song is harder to analyze, but I am pretty sure Presley is creating rhythmic effects with the endings of syllables.
Listen to "Hound Dog" and "Blue Suede Shoes". These are supposed to be fast songs. They are supposed to rock. And they do. But the drums and guitars are not rocking. All the fast hard-driving rock is in the singing. Contrast this to "Let's go to the Hop", which has a driving drum and a rapid piano beat. The voice has some rhythm, but basically it can let the instruments create the rock. (Buddy Holly also has to put most of the rock into the singing.)
I think the emphasis Presley creates on the thirds of a beat create the rock. For example, the "g" in "hound dog" occurs on the second third of the beat. In "Blue Suede Shoes", Presley sings "b-lue". I can't tell if the b is a third early or the l is a third late, but it sounds to me that he is definitely creating some rhythmic the effect. Of course, the word "suede" is made for breaking into two parts -- "sa-wade", but he also breaks up "shoes", "lay" (la-ay), "face" (fa-ace), "car" (ca-ar), and "jar" (ja-ar)? These are rhytmic effects, though it is beyond me to tell where on the beat these fall. I also think there is a rhythmic effect on the mysterious "go"s, even though there is no syllable break and I don't know how he creates the effect.
In "Jail House Rock", the drum finally helps with the rocking beat, but Elvis is still probably doing a lot.
On his first song, "That's All Right Mama", I would guess that it's there, but not as developed. It is common otherwise in his 50's songs. I haven't heard the effect on any of his later songs, though. Sam Phillips, who first recorded Presley, said "He had something distinctive in the way he said his words.' Scotty Moore, Presley's first guitarist, said of the early Presley "He had a feel for rhythm that's very hard for anyone to do the same way. He had rhythm in his voice."
Can you do this at home?
Before noticing this effect, my attempts to imitate Presley always seemed very inadequate. But when I try to sing the song with hidden beats, I feel like I am finally doing a worthy Presley imitation.
Now to the psychology of creating rhythm. Basically, your body just has one rhythm. So beating your foot to the beat helps you keep the beat, and jiggling your body at the rate of three to the beat makes it a lot easier to put those beats into your voice -- your vocal muscles just have to "move" at the same time your hand (or whatever) is jiggling. Presley famous for his jiggling during his studio sessions.
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