Duh! Fixed...
Ron, I can see what you mean about singing the song instead of 'speaking' the song. The reason I do Neil Young songs is because they're relatively easy and I'm still not a confident singer. I'd love to be able to sing more challenging songs, BUT... I still think I should be much better than this by now.
Listening to it briefly again (it's painful for me to listen to them) I thought my voice was very 'tight', or 'constricted. My talking voice is lower.
I don't understand the 'dipthong' comment. Could you point out an example? (If you can stand to watch it again...)
MDEW, I've been told the 'owning the song' thing before, but I liked your explanation better.
ElWin - what can I say. I WAS trying to sing them note for note. Oh dear...
I've been fighting a chest cold for the last 2 weeks and yesterday it turned into bronchitis, so it may be a while before I get to record myself again.
Thanks very much for the honest feedback. You're all too kind. These comments are much more constructive that friends and family just saying 'it was good'.
So, is there hope for me then? (I'm 53, btw)
Maybe time for a different singing coach?