What accent is this?

[ceciliovictor]

It seems to me as American, but I can't tell the region. Maybe California?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGEC_quVM2Y

 

[probus]

It doesn't sound at all American to me. I thought I heard notes of the British midlands, but the web says he was from Bristol. Is Bristol perhaps a western extremity of the midlands? I've never visited either Bristol or the midlands.

 

[Roman55]

Recognizing an accent from a singing voice is mission impossible. There are so many possible influences, and so many non-English speaking singers who affect an 'American' twang (which is not the case here BTW).

@probus. It would be more accurate to say that Bristol is in the north east extemity of South West England, rather than in the south west extremity of the Midlands, or more precisely the West Midlands. You're not far off though, but the accent is not the same..

 

[Mrfatso]

It doesn't sound at all American to me. I thought I heard notes of the British midlands, but the web says he was from Bristol. Is Bristol perhaps a western extremity of the midlands? I've never visited either Bristol or the midlands.

Although Roman55 has already given a good description of it, to find where Bristol is looking at a map of the UK it is on the Severn Estuary close to where England borders Wales at the southern point.

 

[probus]

Originally posted by Roman55

Recognizing an accent from a singing voice is mission impossible. There are so many possible influences

Fair enough, good point. But I think on careful listening one can sometimes sort out some fakes and hear some specific sounds as I did in this case in determining that he was not American.

 

[Roman55]

You're quite right.

What is impossible is to distinguish regional accents from a singing voice (with no spoken portions at all). Recognizing a Jamaican accent, for example, is much easier than telling a Bristol accent from a Kenilworth one, unless you're Zoltan Karpathy from My Fair Lady. :-D

 

[emsr2d2]

Probus, please use "Reply with quote" if you wish to include a previous poster's words in your post. It makes it clear that you are referring to a previous post, not just to something you heard/found, and it attributes the words to the person who wrote them.

 

[probus]

Probus, please use "Reply with quote" if you wish to include a previous poster's words in your post. It makes it clear that you are referring to a previous post, not just to something you heard/found, and it attributes the words to the person who wrote them.

Ehhmm, not to be testy, but I think I did so. If not, "please elaborate", a phrase for which I have previously received an entirely undeserved sh*tkicking, (phrase deliberately unedited.)

 

[emsr2d2]

In post #5, your quoted post (by Roman55) originally appeared at the top of your post simply enclosed in quotation marks. There was no quote box and the words weren't attributed to Roman55. I edited the post to add the blue quote box and the attribute. If you did hit "Reply with Quote", something went wrong. It has clearly worked fine in post #8.

Please note that I have done the usual with your swear word and added an asterisk.

 

[probus]

I edited the post to add the blue quote box and the attribute.

Ah, so that's why I thought I had done so. Point taken.

But I think that instead of the inelegant "reply with quote" function I will continue to use simple quoted phrases on appropriate occasions. It is standard English usage, and there is no chance of misunderstanding in my opinion. It is what we should be teaching our students to do.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Not Californian at all! Very, very British.

For the pure Californian found in popular music, listen to the Beach Boys or the Grateful Dead. It's a blend of white, middle class northern and southern U.S. accents. Nothing British about it - in fact, it's extreme American.

Keep listening and you'll start to hear the differences. For instance, the Beach Boys say "I wish they all could be California GIRRRRRLS."

Where the Beach Boys drive that R into the ground, a Brit would avoid it altogether: Gulls or gells or gills, depending on class and region - anything but girls! (They usually skip the R in California, too.)

 

[David Smith]

Definitely English but it's very hard to tell which region of England it comes from. People often sing with a slightly different accent to their normal speaking voice, so it is very difficult to work out an accent from a song.