Even when I was listening to his singing on a small transistor radio or an AM car radio, he sounded to me like he was singing live.
Excellent description. Yes, I can remember listening to "True Love Never Runs Smooth" in the summer of 1963 on a Silvertone Six transistor. Around the same time as "Be My Baby" and "Little Deuce Coupe" and "And Then He Kissed Me."