HIS SOFTWARE MASTER'S VOICE

 In the mid-1970s, Columbia Pictures re-released 

But did Jolson ever appear in concert like this?

The Jolson Story. In a futile
attempt to attract the kids, the poster's tagline was something like "Before the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elton John, there was Al Jolson!" 

Did studio publicists really think people my age were going to pay to see a guy in blackface honking out "Mammy" and "Swannee" even in a brand-new stereo mix? Well, I did, but that's another story.

And yet the tagline got me thinking -- what if Jolson had come back to life to sing the hits of the day? The idea of Jolson going down on one knee for "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" was fairly irresistible for a "just imagine" guy like me. 

Not even Paul can tell the difference.

It appears that I may imagine no more. Thanks to A.I., software-savvy folks have offered a synthetic Paul McCartney singing other people's songs. The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", Buddy Holly's "Every Day", Badfinger's "Day After Day", and more are on YouTube.

Not that it's always successful. The problem with A.I.-Paul, as far as I can tell, is that the "voice" can only be created by tweaking the original recording. And for it to be successful, it needs to be a kind of simple arrangement where the singer's voice is roughly the same register. So, while the mock-McCartney sounds authentic on Bread's "If", it's unlistenable on Dusty Springfield's "I Only Wanna Be with You". 

Some people might find all of these A.I.-generated song unlistenable, no matter their accuracy. Would you put a maudlin song like "If" on the top of your playlist just because it sounds like Paul? 

Hot dog, the Beatles are back!

But! What about two Beatles singing "New", a song McCartney recorded solo in 2013? An impossible dream? Not with A.I., which not only tweaked Paul's voice to sound younger, but created John's voice to sing the middle. 

As far as hardcore Beatle fans are concerned, this brand new "New" -- and the A.I.-Beatleized John Lennon song "Grow Old with Me" -- are the real deal, even if they're not. The reactions in the comment sections rival Evangelicals witnessing the return of their Lord and Saviour. 

Given that A.I. is in its embryonic stages, it's likely that future counterfeit vocalizations are going to get better, fast, and not stopping with pop songs, either. Conspiracy-minded presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would love to sound like his old man on campaign commercials. And what with convicted sex-offender Donald Trump leading in GOP polls, Ron DeSantis just might want to consider the former president's voice coming out of his own mouth. 

Are you afraid where this technology is going? You won't once you hear Morgan Freeman delivering the state of the union address. As for me, I look forward to Bing Crosby crooning the collected works of Radiohead.

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