Why did Florence Ballard sound like an older woman

**homebody** · 02-01-2012, 04:57 PM

In interviews from like 1965 Flo had this voice even though she was in her early 20's she sounded like a woman in her late 40's to early 50's while Diana and Mary sounded okay.I heard she was assaulted at a young age and drinking too much but does that make a person sound old unless thats how people talked back then.

dzMusica · 02-01-2012, 05:06 PM

She might have just sounded that way on mic.

**homebody** · 02-01-2012, 05:10 PM

No because in 1975 she also sounded like that when interviewed by Peter Benjaminson and I think people talked different back then.

**stephanie** · 02-01-2012, 05:27 PM

She sounded tired to me. I think she was drinking so much and smoking and being depressed that it took a toll on her voice. In her later years Flo didnt have much luck. On the flip side her voice was lower even in the 60s but in the 70s she even looked a little bit older than her years unfortunately,

**carlo** · 02-01-2012, 05:33 PM

I never really noticed her speaking voice. To me, Flo's voice was Flo's voice, period. I never questioned it as being lower due to her past history or anything like that. Some people just have distinct speaking voices. She sounds the same to me in 1965 as she did in 1975...and in 1965, I don't think she had REALLY started drinking yet. Tina Turner has also always had a lower raspy speaking voice, but that's just the distinct voice that God gave her. I don't think it has anything to do with her past history. But then again, they say real blues and soul singers usually have voices with "depth" because of the pain they have experience during their lives. It gives them something "real" to sing about. So maybe you do have a point...

In terms of maturity, I think Flo was at a completely different level than Diana and Mary.

I do agree that Flo did look tired and older than her years in the mid-70's before her untimely passing.

dianesfan_1965 · 02-01-2012, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by homebody

In interviews from like 1965 Flo had this voice even though she was in her early 20's she sounded like a woman in her late 40's to early 50's while Diana and Mary sounded okay.I heard she was assaulted at a young age and drinking too much but does that make a person sound old unless thats how people talked back then.

Probably because when in their 20's didn't speak like brain dead bimbos like they do today.

**franjoy56** · 02-03-2012, 12:08 AM

I think Flo had a very distinct speaking voice far from being the quiet one. Flo's voice had more depth and passion, which made it seem older but i didn't notice her voice being oldler. Listen to the Supremes interview fro 1965,

uptight · 02-03-2012, 09:26 AM

Spoken and sung, her voice often sounded like she had phlegm or congestion in her chest. You almost wanted her to cough it up before continuing to speak or sing. It may have been her body's reaction to cigarette smoking. And I'm going by the recordings made throughout her life, including the Supremes 1965 interview and the one with Peter Benjaminson.

On the other hand, from the pictures I remember, I don't think she looked older in the 1970s. She looked like a more natural woman in her 30s.

**Kamasu_Jr** · 02-03-2012, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by carlo

I never really noticed her speaking voice. To me, Flo's voice was Flo's voice, period. I never questioned it as being lower due to her past history or anything like that. Some people just have distinct speaking voices. She sounds the same to me in 1965 as she did in 1975...and in 1965, I don't think she had REALLY started drinking yet. Tina Turner has also always had a lower raspy speaking voice, but that's just the distinct voice that God gave her. I don't think it has anything to do with her past history. But then again, they say real blues and soul singers usually have voices with "depth" because of the pain they have experience during their lives. It gives them something "real" to sing about. So maybe you do have a point...

In terms of maturity, I think Flo was at a completely different level than Diana and Mary.

I do agree that Flo did look tired and older than her years in the mid-70's before her untimely passing.

I agree with Carlo here. It was probably Florence's environment and background, her family, especially her parents, brothers and sisters and playmates that influenced the way she spoke.

**franjoy56** · 02-12-2012, 11:19 PM

i think that is stupid question. an attempt to create negativity.

ladonna · 02-12-2012, 11:50 PM

No, my darling franjoy, this is a stupid thread.

**franjoy56** · 02-13-2012, 12:01 AM

i agree. Flo was much more than an older sounding woman.

**BigAl** · 02-13-2012, 09:22 AM

Florence's timbre and cadence were simply the way she talked naturally. Many people's singing voices sound quite different from their speaking voices. A different set of muscles are involved. I first met The Supremes in person in 1966 and Flo sounded very natural, a bit soft-spoken, unlike the way she could really belt the high notes when she sang. Mary's speaking and singing voices, however, were quite similar, rather breathy. Diane seemed to have two speaking voices. When addressing the fans who had gathered around her, she spoke in a way that sounded quite similar to her singing style and is how we have become used to hearing her speak, but when she addressed Florence in the car she spoke in a voice I'd not have recognized as hers — much more throaty and lower-pitched.