Vince Gill certainly deserves consideration. |
I think the late Lou Rawls could get a vote. That man is
smooth! Steve |
Jussi Bjoerling, no contest! |
John McCormack up to 1924. You have to be willing to listen to transcriptions of old acoustic recordings. These take some getting used to but can be remarkably rewarding. |
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I don't know about the best, as this is a complicated question, but one name that comes to mind rather quickly is George Michael. Check out his cd "songs from the last century." |
How about great underappreciated male singers of the 20th century?
General Johnson provided the unforgettable stuttered vocal on "Give Me Just A Little More Time" By Chairman of The Board. He also sang lead for The Showmen on "It Will Stand", "39-21-41 Fit", and "This Misery", among others. He also wrote and sang the original version of "Patches" one of the great sappy guilty pleasures of the '70's.
Not a great voice, but from late '50's doo wop, through '70's Motown-esque soul-pop, into straight schlock pop and even now, this guy made good (and often not so good) songs truly memorable by virtue of his interpretation. |
Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. |
Why don't you check out James Mcmurtry Childish Things or Live at Augat Three. Trust me on this one. |
Nat King Cole. Not for nothing that "King" was put there. Louis Armstrong. Ray Charles. Listening to these 3 maestros, I understand one definition of genius: a genius makes doing something complicated seem simple and effortless. Like Leonhard Euler who could compute to 34 decimal precision in his head. |
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Marvin Gaye...hands down. |
I will exclude Opera and Broadway singers. My list would include singers and singer song writers:
Sinatra,Crosby,Armstrong,Mathis,Sammy Davis Jr,Tony Bennett,Bobby Darin, Ray Charles,Bobby Short,Orbison,Elvis,John and Paul, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor and Billy Joel. |
How about Johnny Hartman or Kevin Mahogany? Just listen to "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" or "Monk on Monk" By TS Monk, for a couple of great examples of what these masters could do. |
He may not be the best "Male Singer of the 20th Century' but the latest album by Andy Bey "American Song" sure is good. Give it a listen, see if you agree. |
Frank Sinatra........hands down, IMO. |
personally same thing guides me as i posted my favorite guitarists on another thread...uniquness and style not technical proficiency...who had brought a new voicing, an new style, differnt phrasing etc? who has soul?
in no particular order, the ones who come to mind are
frank sinatra, robert plant, smokey robinson, james brown, john lennon, louis armstrong, muddy waters, marvin gaye, ray charles, ...
many of the sighted in this thread (certainly not all! and just because I have not included my list doesn't mean so...just for sake of a degree of brevity)...I find more iterations of the true pioneers, individualists. for example, i really like what's his name from Incubus: but would I put him as one of the great ones: no, he is really good, but is not someone who has really brought something unique. someone who may be getting there among current artists, I think is seal |
Nusrat is amazing .. but a little nasal.. One of the best male singers i can think of (and largely forgotten) is Tim Buckley -- 5 and a half octave range, totally incredible! Listen to his album 'starsailor' (1970) to see what i mean.. tracks like 'monterey' make your blood run cold - Buckley could go up, down and in 6 other directions at once! robert plant doesn't come close! |
If it is for singing alone we give this honor then I would vote for Elvis. The Man had an incredible voice which he could and did apply to a number of different genres of music, and with which he did broaden the view of what great singing could be- what vocal styles could be acceptable. That is a lot to do in one century! Still, my favorite bests are the likes of Woody Gutherie and Bob dylan. Captains of the best worst male singers of the twentieth Century catagory to show up here, er, eventually. |
Its Ray Charles, of course!
The single most influential singer of all time.
A great blues singer who kick-started Rock'n'Roll went on to invent Soul and is the inspiration behind ALL of the sixties british bands like the Stones,Beatles,Kinks and the Animals who, in turn, influenced countless american bands. Modern music would be unrecognizable without Ray.
Objectively, he'll be hard to beat. |
With no contest, in pop music, the 3 "best" voices are :
Greg Lake, Jon Anderson, Freddy Mercury
Zefox of France |
It's difficult to give a meaningful answer to this question, because it's so hard to make a meaningful comparison between popular singers, jazz singers, blues singers, folk singers, rock singers, and opera singers, to say nothing of the difficulty of comparing tenors, baritones, and basses. But given all that, the majority of those who are truly knowledgeable about the human voice and the art of singing, if pressed for an answer to this question, would say that the greatest male singer of the 20th century was Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (born Naples 1873, died Naples 1921), the man whose name became virtually synonymous with great singing. You won't find many who know what they're talking about who would disagree with this judgment. Fortunately for posterity, Caruso made many recordings, all by the acoustic process, and did more than any other single artist to popularize the phonograph (or gramophone) in its early decades. |
FREDDIE MERCURY!!!!!!!!!!!
His incredible voice, his terriffic range!!!!!!!
Yes, in my opinion he was the best male singer of the 20th Century!!!!!!!!
And he also was a great show-man and composer! |
Andrea Bocelli hands down!!!!
My favorite of all time, as a matter of fact he has a new album coming out on Nov.4th through Universal you can get a free preview by clicking this link...
http://exodus.interoutemediaservices.com/deliverMedia.asp?id=06378103-1E31-400A-BF69-77E56E828709 |
JACKIE WILSON, BEST SINGER OF ANY CENTURY, NO CONTEST. If you have ears then it is SO obvious. Jackie had every emotion, every range, every tone, could sing anything. |
What was the song that Keith Mechalle sang please.
It was something to do with a story about all the creatures in a wood. |
No question. William Shattner! |
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Even as a "Gen X'er" myself, my vote for best male and female "singer" goes to Barbara Streisand and Elvis repectively!
I don't even own any of their music per se. Yet, in terms of heart, depth, emotion, substance, talent, skill, vocals, and ability to "move a crowd", I pic those two.
yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of "pretty voices" out there to pic from in all genre's of music. And you might even argue there's better "voices' out there to put in that "pretty sounding" or "greatest voice" category. But as "artists of their craft", I chose Bab's and the King!...even if I don't Barb's political outspokeness.
If I pic "voice" alone, there's simply too many to list!
In fact, we could make a very very long list for both men and women in that category, and still not have a winner |
Jackie Wilson was one of a kind. |
Johnny Mathis - Listen to Open fire, Two Guitars |
elton john blows everyone away...seriously....early jon through yellow brick road.... |
The Walrus of Love, Mr. Barry White
Tony Bennett
Jesse Belvin
Felix Cavaliere (of the Young Rascals)
Smokey Robinson
Sammy Davis Jr.
Dean Martin
Steve Lawrence
Andy Williams
Eddie Kendricks
David Ruffin
Arthur Prysock |
Milton Nascimento, Freddie Mercury, Al Green, Fred Astaire, Jackie Wilson, Vince Gill, Snoop Dogg, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Chris Cornell, Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, George Harrison...those are some of the many that I love. |
I nominate Marc Anthony .His Salsa in Spanish will bring tears to your eyes.It doesnt even matter what the lyrics mean. Try "Contra La Corriente" |
This is the description of a CD available from acousticsounds.com
It was Irving Berlin, perhaps the greatest American composer, who observed, "It's nothing new to say that Fred Astaire is a great dancer... what is even more important to those of us who ever wrote songs for him was that he was also a great singer. Fred introduced and was responsible for more hit songs than many of the top singers. He knew the value of a song and his heart was in it before his feet took over."
A sample...
1. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
2. The Way You Look Tonight
3. Fascinating Rhythm
4. They Can't Take That Away From Me
5. Funny Face
6. Top Hat, White Time and Tails
7. Night And Day
8. Let Yourself Go
9. Easter Parade
10. Cheek To Cheek
11. Puttin' on the Ritz
12. Let's Face the Music and Dance
13. Foggy Day
14. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket
15. Nice Work If You can Get It
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John Lennon. Freddie Mercury ain't too shabby, either. When he goes into that scat duirng "Another One Bites The Dust," it's one of the best moments in R&R, to me, anyway. |
Gino Vannelli ranks with the best ever. His early jazz-fusion(1969-1978)will really suprise you |
WHAT?? Bob Dylan best singer? You MUST be joking! That spoiled, middle-class, New York city boy (old man, now)over-the-hill hippie (life is tough - the butler treats me mean and the cook won't make me no lunch)doesn't even have the least little bit of a singing voice. |
Some favorites:
Frank Sinatra
Placido Domingo
Jimmy Scott
Little Willie John
Greg Allman
Joe Williams
Mel Torme
Roger Daltrey
Tony Bennett
Magic Sam
Big Bill Broonzy
Marvin Gaye
Sam Cooke
Elvis Presley
Johnny Hartman
Enrico Caruso
Stevie Wonder
Oscar Brown Jr. |
I'm with Dcktr; Martin Sexton! |
Some others:
Philip Bailey of Earth Wind, and Fire
Aaron Neville |
Don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but here goes.
The Smithsonian Institution commissioned a study to address this very question. They first made up a set of criteria, and then began ranking all the singers they could find. Of course, they expected Frank Sinastra to come out on top, but surprise! Fred Astair: someone known as a dancer, not a singer. I can't recall at this moment all the songs he popularized, but if you dig into it you will be astonished.
As the Holywood studio said at the time of his screen test:
"Can't act, can't sing, dances a little". Some "little". |
It has got to be Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, miles ahead of any other singer (if I am allowed to be opinioned once in my life time, I use my only card only now). Frank Sinatra and Nate King Cole and some other contemporary tenors are honorable mentions. But nobody, and I mean nobody, can compare with the awe, power, control, and majesty of the maestro.
Nusrat is the biggest reason for my entire system (http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1066703453). And I measure the rest of my music collection (about 1500 CDs of classical, jazz, rock, soul, male and female vocalists, world music) to see how close it gets to Nusrat's music.
Obsession? No. Highest admiration? yes.
And I am not alone in my opinion. Those unfamiliar with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, see below or send me email for additional recommendations.
Woww, what a voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Following is part of what I posted somewhere else:
Nusrat was blessed with a unique voice that had unprecedented pitch, variation and tones. He was capable of generating tremendous variations in his voice with hugely dynamic range. He could sound like an angel (track no. 13 on Peter Gabriel's "Passion", music for the "last Temptation of Christ") or like a demon (track no. 9 on Peter Gabriel's "UP")
It is hard to pick some recommendations out of my more than 60 CDs by him but off the top of my head, here are a few:
"Shahbaz," Real World;
"Mustt Mustt," Real World;
Sound track of "Bandit Queen"
"Traditional Sufi Qawwalis, Live in London" vol.II, Vavras Record.
"Greatest Hist," vol. II, shannachi.
Time magazine: "Khan brings to Qawwali an unrivaled ability to convey its Spiritual intensity -- to believers and non-believers alike"
NEW YORK NEWSDAY: "Blissful, ecstatic, musically fascinating and totally transporting"
NEWSWEEK: "He is hollering for real, and a cross between Bhudda and Elvis Presley"
Several rock stars are big admirers.
Too bad he died just when Hollywood had recognized his worth and he was planning an album with Pavarotti.
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Aureliano Pertile is the best for italian opera (almost perfect) and Max Lorenz for german (Wagner) opera. I'm sorry. |
The greatest male singer of the twentieth century was tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). |
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let me start by eliminating jimmy scott. he is one of the best female voices maybe. were he genderly female, i might be able to get into his singing. ENOUGH of that.
sinatra is surely one after he stopped using vibrato in his singing, and especially with swinging ensembles like basie and nelson riddle.
elvis, the KING. he never should have doubted himself to death.
nat cole of course, anyone remember his tune-haji baba?
mark murphy-whom i categorize as an academic singer-you can understand the lyrics and their meanings. he guides you right where he intends you to follow him. theres a program of him on BET Jazz channel where he looks awful-his toupee was a self conscious artifact but he still swings hard and gives a great performance.
kurt elling MUST follow. criticized for trying to come off as TOO HIP. fact is, he IS that hip. his vocal athletics is matched by few alive today. that he is a protege of mark murphy should be obvious.
bobby darin, jazz singer extrordinaire; we lost a real treasure at the age of 38. it makes you wonder what he MIGHT have done.
willie nelson-singer. not country singer (although he is that as well) but SINGER. his 'stardust' album is a must have.
and johnny cash along with burt bacharach are non singers who you REALLY want to hear sing.
i always resisted louis armstrong as a singer (great trumpeter of course) in my earlier years, but maturity made me actually listen-a great expressionist.
ray charles, what a talent jazz, blues, country, pop, and big band leader (check out 'baby, i got news for you'!).
i wasnt a fan of elvis costello until i heard his vocal on the mingus big band -tonight at noon: three or four. i couldnt identify the singer who was going to the limits, taking chances, and truly swinging until the dj back-announced the tune i completely fell out to know it was the once nasally punk rocker!
michael franks-early on, before the genre of 'smooth jazz' had been coined, he captivated me with his slick lyrics (sort of like a jazz dan hicks) and smooth delivery. the smooth jazz moniker denigrates his early work. he always had great personnel lists, dave sanborn did some of his best work then.
roy orbison-vastly underrated. he was considered to be an equal to elvis in the uk. one of his last-mystery girl-is as good as his best
i could go on of course, but someone has to stop me and i guess it will be me.
...regards...tr |
Jimmie Spheeris........had such a way with his voice.....soothing.......soft.....or could belt it out too. Always sounded good singing any kind of music. |
