2. best-of
  3. 139044-80260

BEST FEMALE VOCAL EVER

HELLO TO ALL...

I've started a BEST MALE VOCAL seperately - if you want to contribute to that, please go that discussion...

I personally think the BEST FEMALE is so much harder than the Best Male, and I already have so many names in mind that I thought I'd wait and see others suggestions.

SO PLEASE OFFER YOU HUMBLE OPINION - BUT PLEASE, offer only one.

THANKS to all who cotribute...
justvintagestuff

Showing 3 responses by bdp24

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,457 posts
 
And for those who heed @jsauterr's excellent recommendation, then give Ruth Brown and Lavern Baker a listen. For a modern, white version (but not "white" sounding) of old school R & B singing, try Lou Ann Barton. Her Old Enough album, produced by the great Jerry Wexler (Aretha, Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Dylan, hundreds of others) and Glenn Frey, is fanf*ckingtastic! She tours with Jimmie Vaughan.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,457 posts
 

Lots of great nominees here. This past Christmas I re-established that my no.1 all-time greatest single performance is "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love. But that performance reminds me of the earlier "Maybe" by Arlene Smith (as a member of The Chantels). Both powerhouse vocals in the style of Big Mama Thornton, a female Blues Shouter if you will.

The above are all African Americans. For white singers, I generally gravitate towards those of the Country/Bluegrass persuasion. I've been listening to my sister's Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits in the car lately, and love her phrasing. While many singers (and guitarists, I came to learn in the studio) tend to "rush", Patsy waits for the downbeat (the "1") to pass by before singing the first note/word of a line, leading to a "relaxed" feel that I love. That's something that Southerner singers (and musicians) seem to know instinctively; the rest of us have to learn it. ;-)

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,457 posts
 
Tammy Wynette, runner up Brenda Lee. Newcomer Iris Dement (listen to "Walkin' Home").
More to discover