Best Male Singers of the 20th Century


There is an interesting current discussion about the best female vocalists on CD. I have my own ideas about the best male singers (any category) of the 20th Century, but would like to hear other opinions.
sdcampbell
Thanks Garfish, I do enjoy Connick Jr. and will continue to, even if I was the only one who thinks he can sing. That's what living in the good ole' U. S. of A. is all about. Hey, one of the reasons I love this site are the opinions and responses. I don't take anything personal, all of our different views are what makes us all who we are, no matter how wrong everyone else is... Ha! Garfish, keep on enjoying Fogerty, CCR kicks butt. I also like Fogerty and CCR, and even enjoy his Centerfield album.
OK Craig, CAT SL-1 Ultimate, PASS Aleph 4, Vandersteen 3A Signature. My father, (same name as me) is a fairly well-known retired recording engineer who recorded a few of the people on this thread. A small sample of the artists he personally recorded were Louis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Mario Lanza, Duke Ellington, Perry Como, Sam Cooke, Bill Evans (the pianist), Jascha Heiffetz, Nina Simone, Sonny Rollins, Neil Sedaka, Isley Bros, The Main Ingredient, Harry Nillson, Ricky Nelson, John Denver, the Monkees and Evelyn Champagne King. That covers a lot of years and a lot of musical territory. I only say this to let you know that I have grown up with music all my life. All types: good music as well as bad music. I played the tenor sax for years. I had a well known jazz sax player as a music teacher for a while. I don't think anything I said concerning any of your picks was bordering on personal. Why do you presume to know anything about me? And why is it that you repeatedly attack me only to apologize a couple of days later. Now your doing it even when I respectfully try to register my disagreement with other people's selections. Really, it's beginning to make me wonder about you. I don't mind or care about whomever you think was the greatest singer of all time. If anything I have said previously leads you to feel that I begrudge you your right to choose anyone you want as the greatest singer of all time, I am terribly sorry. But if yours' and everyone else's selections must remain unchallenged, whether they be challenged respectfully, or in jest, simply because these are YOUR rules, I've got a big problem with that.
Everybodys opinons are their own and should be respected as such. Just explain your differences (likes and dislikes)... and move on my little grasshopper. Yours is not the final, nor the definetive, but, ain't it cool!
Hey Jousjane, Never meant to indicate my opinions are any better than anyone else's. They are just mine...
Here's a name to illustrate a point about what it takes to be a great singer: Joe Cocker. No one is ever going to label him technically superior, and many might say they don't like the sound his vocal chords make. But talk about somebody who can get into a song and remake it in his own style! Think of all the remakes he's done that have improved upon the original: "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Feelin' Alright," "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window," "Delta Lady," "The Letter." He's taken his limited range (and even more limited stage posturing) and overcome it with sheer feeling and musicality, filtered through an interpretation that can't be mistaken for anybody else.