There can be only one! That one is Johnny Hartman, Listen to Lush Life when he sang with John Coltrane. |
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Joao Gilberto. Miles Davis said: 'he even sounds good when reading the newspaper' |
Ronnie James Dio of Course! |
I have always been impressed with Prince for his incredible vocal range. |
Rudy Valle,Woody Gutrie,Elvis,John Lennon,Robert Plant(meet twice),Mick Jagger,Micheal Jackson,Hank Williams,Bo Didley,BB King,Willie Nelson
All created styles that changed the face of music for their particular decades.There are a few more that escape me at the moment,one is a blues singer that only made a few recordings.Really bugs me that I cannot remember his name at the moment.Made a recording in Angola Prison. |
Lawrence was a fantastic pop singer - for rock, Robert Plant hands down - for blues, Muddy Waters, with Howlin Wolf a close second - for soul, James Brown - for country, Hank Williams - that's quite a wide spectrum, eh? |
What about Aaron Neville? I wouldn't put him at the top, but he can do some impressive things with his voice. |
What about Cat Stevens or Ian Anderson. Both perfect male voices. |
I like Jimmy Hendrix, Dean Martin, Joe Cocker and of course Louis Armstrong. |
robert plant, he got one hell of an instrument in his throat |
Strike the Suzanne Lewis.....obviously not a male..sorry Suzanne! |
Don Van Vliet,Damo Suzuki,Lee Ving,
Kurt Cobain,Suzanne Lewis,Howlin" Wolf,and of course the venerable Yoshida Tatsuya and Sasaki Hisashi |
Best untrained voice by far, Elvis. |
Smoky Robinson: "Tracks Of My Tears", and " My Girl Has Gone". Marvin gay.
Eric Clapton: "Sunshine of Your Love", and Others.
Alot of older artists: Roy Orbison, etc.
Newer ones to me are the singers from Aerosmith, and Metallica.
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I agree with Lbietz2001 about Josh Groban. His voice is nearly unbelieveable, especially for someone so young (20, maybe 21 now)...but he's a figure from the 21st Century. My nominees from the 20th Century would include Jose Cura and Carlo Bergonzi for opera; Dean Martin, Harry Connick, Perry Como for pop: Lionel Ritchie and Smokey Robinson for soft rock. |
Dennis the menace, Thanks for mentioning Stevie Wonder...another favorite of mine |
So many good ones but Gino Vannelli is one of my favorites who is "do" for a brand new album of opera type compositions! |
Coolest guy of all time: (ALWAYS GOT THE HOT CHICKS)
The King
For rock and roll all time: Robert Plant
For soul: Marvin Gaye
For heavy metal current: The guy from Disturbed
(Their new DVD-A is pretty impressive) |
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STEVIE WONDER
(try "Songs in the Key of Life"... AWESOME album) |
Hmmmm....How about some votes for uniqueness of voice with regard to this topic:
Tom Waits
Peter Gabriel
Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs)
CD |
Mr. Sinatra, Mr. Hartman, Ray Charles, Joe Turner and Louie Armstrong.
if your list would not include Satchmo you need to listen to either an original Audio Fidelity pressing of his "St. James Infirmary" (from the 50's) or the Classic Records 45 rpm remastered version. it is an amazing recording of an incredible vocal performance (and of each instrument) and every analog listener owes it to his or her self to get this before dinner tonight! go without dinner if necessary, sell your car, whatever it takes... this is the real deal! |
It's tough to add value to 161 responses, but Mel Torme should receive another vote. "Best" is a tough one, but he clearly stays on the list of the top five. His early "scat" phrasing (and later), his styling, and his actual song-writing were just excellent. In my own collection in this category, two singers dominate; Torme and Sinatra. |
Pbb..yep Chet Baker is truly great but you were right about the trumpet. They probably had to let him play it in order for him to agree to sing. |
Tubegroover,
Good point. Janis sings with as much intensity as anyone I have heard. Aesthetically, I would not put her in the same category with Holiday and Jones, but that is an entirely different conversation. Your point is well taken. Janis was a great one.
Best Regards.
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waltersallas , you're entirely correct about George Jones ,one of the most devastating singers I've ever heard. For those who (rightly) love Johnny Hartmann, also try Arthur Prysock and Ernie Andrews |
Boy George, George Michael, Freddie Murcury, oh wait you said men. Never mind. |
Waltersalas
"His pain is sometimes palpable to the point of being unbearable--in this particular area, he has only one peer, and that is Billie Holiday"
When you speak about pain, unbearable, heartbreaking, gut wrenching you are forgetting Janis Joplin |
Josh Groban, is a new male singer just breaking into the scene. If you watched the closing ceremonies of the winter Olympics, Josh sang the closing song with a female artist. He also sang the star spangled banner at the recent NBC special on 9/11. He has his first CD out and his voice is incredible and with a high quality recording. You can hear is music online at http://www.joshgroban.com |
is getting to be quite skilled. just saw him live at the anson ford theater (seen him at the jazz bakery as well) and he was great. it helps to have the laurence hobgood trio to work with but kurt can stand on his own. he has performed with jon hendricks and his mentor-mark murphy.
......regards......tr |
The King ! The King ! The King ! The King ! The King !
I can't believe no one said Elvis.
Maybe not the best voice of all time (but damn good for the genre) and certainly not the best material, but no one, I mean no one, could sing like Elvis.
When I say "sing", I mean - convey passion and emotion. He had this wonderful, painful, soulful quality that was both unique and mesmerizing. IMHO, Sinatra was not even close in communicating feeling like Elvis. To me, Sinatra "articulated" the songs, Elvis breathed life into them.
I know some will scoff, but had he not been so flawed and had he had better management, no one would have ever approached his genius, even today. God truly did break the mold on that one! |
Thanks, Tweakgeek. For me, the number of votes on the board for Sinatra compared to "no-show" Jones is more a testament to a general bias against country music than anything. Sinatra is/was great, but no male singer I have ever heard sings with more emotion than Jones. His pain is sometimes palpable to the point of being unbearable--in this particular area, he has only one peer, and that is Billie Holiday. Jones is to Sinatra as Holiday is to Ella Fitzgerald. All are great, but for very different reasons.
BTW, I love Otis, too, but I'll stick with Green.
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Waltersalas,
Good post! I see that you are a righteous and noble defender of the George Jones faith. However, my list of male soul singers has both Otis Redding and Curtis Mayfield occupying a higher position than the aforementioned Mr. Green. I must say though, his "I'm Still in Love with You" LP is as fine a Soul disc as any ever recorded. |
George Jones, Al Green, and Frank Sinatra, in no particular order. I couldn't rank one ahead of another, and can't think of another male singer I would put in the same class as these three. There are many contenders, but these three have all earned their place in Mt Rushmore.
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1. Captain Beefheart (twice the range and twice the emotion of Tom Waits)
2. Dean Martin (twice the cool and twice the honesty of Frankie)
3. Jackie Gleeson (can make statues cry, that fat guy could sing)
Sinatra forever? I suppose so, but so is death. |
1. Bing Crosby (most influential)
2. Johnny Hartman (my personal fave)
3. Tom Waits (he can't write a song to save his life, but boy can he sing!) |
If you are asking about the best male vocals....no doubt and hands down it is Roy Orbison (many very good singers gave him that distinction when he was alive), Elvis next, and Nat king Cole last... People who aren't into rock I'm sure won't agree but I listen to everything except rap and those three certainly have to be the best....If you should think otherwise, try putting your singers best vocal on and then listen to Roy Orbison's "End Dreams". If you think your singer's vocal is better please E-mail me the song title and I'll buy it....(yes I'm a big opera fan also) |
As well as Beny More, Pio Leyva and Miguel Matamoros.
KP |
Phil Ochs needs to be mentioned. |
Ah, what a travesty to have such a superb list grow without the inclusion of the sublime Luther Vandross. I know many of the contributors regard soul/rb as hardly worthy of mention but the cannon of work by this artist demands inclusion. I defy anyone to listen to "Here and Now" and not feel the tingle of emotion that occurs when a song is delivered just right. I also humbly offer for inclusion in this diverse list Mighty Sam McClain, Johnny Hartman, Kevin Mahogany, Mr. Five by Five (Jimmy Rushing) and of course the version of Al Jarreau who delivered the exquisite live set "Look to the Rainbow". |
Robert Halford, there I said it! |
Maynard james Keenan, Peter Steele, Robert plant. |
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Tom Waits.
Chet Baker.
David Bowie - the best all round singer, performer and innovator
Nick Drake - do yourself a favor and listen to him
Leonard Cohen - spooky spooky spooky
Elvis Costello - his voice is just amazing, and his lyrics ain't bad |
I wasn't around for a lot of these guys.
OF the music I listen to - ( obviously limited as I am lost with some of the suggestions )
Kenny Loggins
Steve Winwood
Freddie Mercury |
~~~~The late great Mr. Belchen A. Hicupburper was one of my favorite mail singers! He sang while he delivered letters in my old neighborhood. |
HE IS MY NUMBER ONE CHOICE |
Its difficult to go against frank Sinatra for diction and use of a lyric but the orchestrations often beat the life out him, another good shot is Vic Damone who Sinatra always rated highly. |
Just looked up Kenny Rankin in the All Music Guide to Jazz. Thanks, I had never heard of him. A short quote from that book: "Kenny Rankin sings like Chet Baker would have if Baker had a voice." So I killed two birds with one stone: (1) found out the existence of Rankin ("Professional Dreamer" on Private Music as five diamonds, could be one man's opinion, but now I have two favourable ones , so I'll probably buy the album and check him out myself), and (2) somebody else agrees with me that Baker had no voice. Rather strange since someone up there in the thread chose him as the "Best". Conclusion, degustibus non disputandem and you can be the best singer and yet have no singing voice. |
