Problems with obscured diction as part of a singer's idiosyncratic approach to performance..???

Back in the early 1970s, a large part of the ritual experience of serious apreciation of the artistry of a new LP,
was studiously analysing & interpreting the sleeve artwork;
and reading the lyric sheet whilst listening to the record playing...

No problem.....

But then, I was a grammar school kid, that's the sort of precocious clever clogs thing we did back then......