BF was never a Tom Jones, to put it mildly. The quality of his voice lies in its refinement.
I prefer BF to RM. With Ollie, Jorja, TGPT, Chris Spedding and a couple of sirens on stage I am more than content. I have to admit that AM has a significiant role in the "soundscape", but there is also the visual aspect...

...indeed it's the frailty and delicacy of the voice that is so often cited as his quality now. I'm inclined to agree...

Couldn't agree more; BF is professional enough to know what his voice can and can't do and to select his songs (and use his backing singers) accordingly.

I think his voice can seem fragile (rather than frail perhaps), but very moving as a result. Song Of The Siren is an example of this, as were the slower Dylanesque numbers; his version of Make You Feel My Love blows Adele's out of the water for me (the lyrics are not right for a young girl and require an older, slightly careworn romantic who knows what love, and lost love, means...) and remains a missed opportunity (still think it could have been his biggest thing since Jealous Guy).

I just hope Team BF doesn't read all this doom and gloom; we should be encouraging him to do more live work (there was far too little in the 80s & 90s, after all), rather than criticising him for the notes his voice can no longer easily reach...

Hmmm. Team BF worried about what we post here on the VRM forum.? I wish it were so, but if that was the case the new Roxy album would have been released back in 2009!!!

Just having a little fun Smudge, nothing personal...

Methinks the newly married Mr Ferry is living a very complicated life as a 67-year old hipster, and lord only knows what plans Mrs. Ferry has for him (and herself and them). He loves to live The Posh Lifestyle and he can't do it based simply on the royalties and residuals from his catalog (he doesn't get any songwriting income from two of his biggest hits LST and JG, also AndyM cowrote LITD). So he has to keep working with a voice that has trouble doing what it did in years past. I think he has done an amazing job integrating his voice with his background singers, but this can only go so far.

On a related note, I saw a recent tweet from Emily Dolan Davies - drummer for the BF Corporate band - indicating that she was getting "on this flight to shanghai." Perhaps these means that BF is doing a Corporate gig in China. Travel (even in First Class) takes its toll and BF has gotta do it in order to maintain the lifestyle to which he (and his bride) have become accustomed...

Agreed Smudge and yes - 'fragile' would have been a better description of what I was trying to convey.

I concur about 'Make You Feel My Love'. I wouldn't necessarily say BF is defined by his ballads, but for me it's pretty indisputable that each of the last four albums have contained a truly standout ballad - to the extent I don't even think they need listing. Each could have garnered valuable airplay to promote the relevant album and just possibly that elusive new hit (though I guess to be fair the nature of the singles chart, downloads and BF's demographic are stacked against this nowadays). I know singles or even just a promo single are not as simple and straightforward as we might sometimes think, but notwithstanding this, sometimes 'team BF' don't seem capable of recognising what is blindingly obvious in terms of what might play well with a radio audience.

Contrast the failure to exploit what is, by any measure an outstanding version of 'Make You Feel My Love' (before Adele's version surfaced) with what I think can only be described as a chaotic schedule of releases from Olympia. It's either feast or famine but they don't seem to get either right.

Might sound like it, but not intended to be a moan or negative - just a degree of frustration!

BF is hardly alone as a 60+ year old Rock Star who can't get radio airplay for new albums/recordings. That's just the way it is and all the planning and strategizing in the world by artists and their teams doesn't seem to be able to change it.

I think the marketing of Dylanesque was pretty successful overall - speaking to the power of both Bob Dylan and the connection of BF to BD dating back to Hard Rain is Gonna Fall (BFs first solo hit).

With Olympia, Team BF pinned a lot of hopes on connecting BF to the Dance Music/Club scene in order reach/cultivate an audience of 20 somethings that otherwise have no interest in 60 year old rockers. In retrospect, the ad nauseum promotion of "dance mixes" didn't work out so well, but not for lack of trying by Team BF. A lot of thought, energy, and money went into the promotion of Olympia but it just didn't pan out. So it goes. The Music Business (like the Movie Biz) always involves a roll of the dice: nobody really knows what will be a Hit. This is why so many people in the Music Biz and in Hollywood are so insecure. All the planning in the world can't guarantee success...

Ageing Hipsters,
I couldn't agree more with Mr.Smudge it was a marvellous rendition. Our hero did well,the band did well and the orchestra were superb.
Peerless EXCEPT, Bryan's trousers were a fraction too long and as we all know; "A half inch does matter" as the actress said to the Bishop.
Regards, Windswept

Yes, I spotted that sartorial faux pas as well, Windswept. Obviously the new Mrs Ferry, like most brides, has still to learn how to properly adjust the length of her husband's trousers. A crucial but often overlooked skill for any bride-to-be in my book.

This might well explains why some of us thought that Bryan was looking uneasy on stage. Perhaps he was painfully aware of this but was too gallant to criticise his new bride's efforts and chose to go out improperly tailored instead. A dangerous choice, I feel. Here's hoping, with gentle encouragement and guidance, that he can get her skills up to the requisite standard soon. Either that or he will need to find himself a decent tailor because he surely can't allow this situation to run on for too long.

Anyway, the heavy trouser break proved strangely irritating throughout the performance- so much so that I felt compelled to express my discomfort to Lady Avondale. She extended the same understanding and tolerance towards me on this as she usually does on Roxy related matters, by telling me to "get a life".

Perhaps she has a point.

Lady Avondale may have a point, but no doubt she has her own eccentricities that even out the grand repartee of the marital chess board... When it comes to Roxy et al Lady DCJ has about a gnat's worth of interest. But she can spend hours looking at catalogs and mentally planning a kitchen re-do, something that renders me comatose in about five minutes... Ain't Love Grand!

Regarding the Lengthy Trouser Issue, I take this to mean that baggy trousers are coming into style for the hip and fashionable set. I can't believe that it was the result of some oversight on BF's part. He takes these things very seriously and this was a moment when he was reaching a huge audience. Thus, I find it hard to believe that the length of his trousers represented some slip up or oversight. That said, I think the "Baggy Pants Look" seems less than cool, but maybe that simply reflects my own deficit when it comes to coolness...

"Can't be doing with those ankle wafters. They're for the geeks of this world!"

Ageing Hipsters,
I couldn't agree with Helen more about those "ankle wafters" and I hope that none of us would for a minute suggest that our hero goes out dressed as Pee Wee Herman. Nor are we asking, as DJC suggests that we ask Bryan to resurrect the "Bolero" look.
The explanation for this rare sartorial faux pas could be, as Avondale mentions, that the new bride is still learning the ropes in the tailoring department albeit, I think a more likely explanation is that somebody at "Anderson & Sheppard" needs a good slap around the head. I'm quite sure Bryan will see to that when he's next in!
Returning to the music, the Titanic performance did have me pining, yet again, for the return of the ATGB tour band. That whole ensemble was just the best ever and would perfectly complement his maturing vocals. I'd also love to see, as JO'B suggested elsewhere on this site, Bryan reinterpret some of the Roxy/BF songs in the style of the '30s & 40s.
Regards, Windswept