Most underrated female recording artists..

ibmjunkman

Thank you for the Jane Oliver recommendation.

I attended one of her first concerts, Lincoln Center, around 1975, right after her first album was released. She was magnificent. The album is the same, as is her second and her most recent ones too. She is wonderful.

@rettrussell yeah, sort of like Bjork.  Her albums are sometimes sonic "ordeals" to get through, but one thing they are not, is boring. 

I guess Jen Chapin is underrated here. The recording in her albums "Reckoning", "The Songs of Stevie Wonder", etc., were good too in SS / separation.

Also, not mentioned so far is Halie Loren.  Many good recording albums too.

Toni Tenille (of the Captain &) is a terrific singer. Don't let her popular success fool you.

 

 

 

tkhill

34 posts

10-10-2022 at 01:35pm

Toni Tenille (of the Captain &) is a terrific singer. Don’t let her popular success fool you.

 

I must publicly confess that I was fooled.

Joan Armatrading

Patsy Cline

 

Eilen Jewell

Molly Tuttle

To pick up the original brief:

Cat Power

Sarah Harmer

Valerie June

but mostly this one song of pure audiophile bliss:

Bethany Yarrow’s version of “St. James Infirmary”

Kat Edmonson, her voice is devine. All of her albums are incredible. 
 

Jazz - Stacey Kent, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Francois Hardy, Shelby Lynne

Eddi Reader

+1 for Laura Nyro. A singer/songwriter talent who's influenced many. R.I.P. Laura.

"I swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell"

Joan Jett.

Dominique Fils-Aimé - Nameless. Her voice is beautiful, and the album's recording is a reference quality. 

Emily King

@moonwatcher
I think it may be useful to provide a short list of artists that you have actually heard, not a list pulled from an algorithm that captures every vocalist in the known and parallel universes.

My list:

Karen Dalton
Sandy Denny
Laura Nyro
Eva Cassidy
M’bilia Bel - "The Cleopatra of Congolese music"
Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo, artistically known as Yma Sumac
María Tintaya Rayo, artistically known as "La Calandria del Sur"
Tonia la Negra
Blanca Rosa Gil
Márta Sebestyén
Mirella Freni
Teresa Berganza

That’s a short list of people you may not have heard of.
I see others have already posted some of them.

 

@unreceivedogma I wasn’t. I was providing a consolidated listing of all those mentioned by everyone up until I posted to make it convenient for people to copy and paste into a Word document or an email to save for easy reference. Then I mentioned a few that I liked.

@moonwatcher 
Oh, cool. My bad!

@unreceivedogma no problem. Love Eva Cassidy too....Also whoever recommended Chantal Chamberland get a +1 from me. Note, I think two people mentioned her, but both misspelled it. From Tidal, the above spelling is correct. 

@moonwatcher

Make sure you capture #s 5-10 from me. I am sure hardly anyone here knows who they are, especially the two from Peru. The others are from Mexico (the Billy Holiday of Mexico), Cuba/Miami, Hungary and the Congo.

@unreceivedogma,  impressed you’ve heard Sandy Denney and Karen Dalton.  You get around!

Try Radka Toneff, Fairy Tales.

One of the very few singers who comes close to rivalling the matchless Eva C.

Sharleen Spiteri of Scottish band Texas, First three records: Southside, Mother’s Heaven, Ricks Road then White on Blonde and her solo effort Melody.

Andrea Corr. With the Corrs of course and solo “Lifelines” doing wonderful covers.

Nena (yes the 99 Luftballoons singer) still going very strong at 61, an amazing career.

MoonW,

Thanks for the time spent giving us lazy folk an easy compilation.

Whose on the the late comers?

 

 

Forgot Patsy Cline

KD Lang

Eva Cassidy

One more add I forgot, Big Mama Thornton.  Old blues singer who gets lost in the mist of times.

Lani Hall has got an amazing Ethereal voice.

Listen to Judith Hill. "20 feet from Stardom' documentary features her spectacular talent.

Linda Ronstadt hands down! 

Just listen to her discography. 

Thank you for those who have dug a bit deep and recommended some less famous names. 

I have: 

Maydie Myles: Her version of The Look of Love is worth exploring for that one song alone. 

The Swingle Singers (A cappella) adaptation of Nick Drake's River Man is a female vocal piece of magic.

Gwen McCrae's take on Misty Blue should be taken out and dusted off just for the reminder of what a great pairing of song and singer that recording is. 

I don't care, let the haters hate, but Madonna's recording of Little Star is sweet and passionate and quite real. 

Amanda Bergman from Sweden is less about vocal perfection and instead has a style that is captivating. Subtle but excellent backing band. Try Falcons and Golden for starters. 

Something traditional: Dutch singer Trintje Oosterhuis takes on the Burt Bacharach songbook. Start with Anyone Who Had a Heart and hear her go from a raspy whisper to full on afterburner. 

Now approaching 30 years ago (got that makes me feel old) Everything But the Girl recorded Rollercoaster which is just Tracey Thorn's voice and mostly acoustic guitar and bass. Great stuff.

Back to unknown: Dobet Gnahoré is a singer from the Ivory Coast and her West African songs are a fresh take on modern music.

Canada's Feist had a few hits, then faded, but is well worth rediscovering. Can't go wrong with the entire Let it Die album

Enjoy the journey!

 

 

Great thread! I've got some listening to do. One that I'll mention is Diane Schuur. I did a quick search here on Audiogon and found discussion so I'm not really confident in my complaint that she's underrated. I do find her voice to be exquisite and I don't see a whole lot about her, so I get the impression that I'm more positively impressed than most. 

Linda Ronstadt "Underrated"?! Doesn’t everyone appreciate her? Well, except for Elvis Costello ;-) . Am I taking the question too literally?

Those who like Iris DeMent LOVE her. How about Lou Ann Barton? Tammy Wynette? Mavis Staples? Ruth Brown? Arlene Smith (of The Chantels. Listen to her sing "Maybe" to have your mind blown)? Darlene Love? Emmylou Harris? Sure, appreciated, but not enough so. Kasey Chambers? Julie Miller? Sam Phillips? Maryann Price? Listen to her sing "I’m An Old Cowhand" on Striking It Rich by Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks. So salacious!

Going off the straight and narrow here with

Sade Adu

Try some Holly Cole, female jazz singer Canada. Best album to start Don't Smoke in Bed or Dark Dear Heart.

Very good band and excellent vocalist. Also known as The Holly Cole Trio.

Ruth Moody (sang with Mark Knopller on "Tracker")

plus:

 

Teena Marie — incredible soul singer who happened to be White. “Fire and Desire”

Jill Scott

Ledisi at the Kennedy Center

Minnie Ripperton — from girl group in the 1960’s to psychedelic rock to Soul/pop. Maya Rudolph’s mother. 

Minnie Ripperton, Girl Group in ‘60s, Psychedelic Rock, Pop/Soul.

Teena Marie

Jill Scott

Ledisi

Florence Welch (Florence and The Machine)

 

I'll venture here. My take on female vocalists is a bit different because it is about the music they write and sing and not necessarily if they are considered great vocal talents. Molly Rankin (Alvvays) The Raincoats Deborah Iyall (Romeo Void) PJ Harvey Aimee Mann Cherry Glazerr Sad13 (solo and Speedy Ortiz) Courtney Barnett Elizabeth Frasier (Cocteau Twins) Kerry Alexander (Bad Bad Hats) Victoria Legrand (Beach House) Lyn Byrd (Comateens) Patti Smith Sonya Madan (Echobelly) Marijne van der Vlugt (Salad) Justine Frischmann (Elastica) Mary Timony (solo and several bands, currently Ex Hex) Corin Tucker (Sleater Kinney) Shirley Manson (Garbage) Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females) Phoebe Bridgers Julien Baker Lucy Dacus Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) Julia Jacklin Juliana Hatfield Kate Bush Joni Mitchell Alison Mosshart (The Kills) Lene Lovich Nina Hagen Jill Cunniff (Luscious Jackson) Miki Berenyi (Lush) MIYNT (don't know the singer/songwriter's name) Pip Blom Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo) Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) Ambrosia Parsley (Shivaree) Siouxsie Sioux Annie Clark (St. Vincent) Suzanne Vega Tori Amos Tristen (Tristen Gaspadarek) Kristin Hersh (Solo and Throwing Muses) Tonya Donnelly (Throwing Muses and Belly) Ellie Rowsell (Wolf Alice) Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak) Alison Moyet (Yazoo) Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) Exene Cervenka (X) Bjork Fiona Apple Liz Phair Annie Lennox Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) Margaret Glaspy I guess that's enough even though there are a ton more.

Neko Case and Dar Williams

@jeffrey75 There are many more.including the ones you mentioned. I could add Beth Ditto, Dominique Durand (Ivy), Jenny Lewis, Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Bat for Lashes, Ani Defranco, Debbie Harry, Ari Up (Slits), Grace Jones, Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Tracy Tracy (The Primitives), Cindy Williams and Kate Pierson (B52s) . . . But I won't. :)

Well, I think you forgot to not mention Hannah Joy of Middle Kids she is a talented singer songwriter and a novice composer from what I gleaned from a interview a few years back. Complex and nuanced Indie rock, especially with latest LP, that will take a couple listening sessions before it sounds right but it is definitely worth the effort.

 

 

Christina Rosenvinge

Joanie Sommers - the biggest range and the most beautiful voice for sure, I have ever heard

Frazey Ford - the indie queen

Sally Carr - no words, her voice will do it

I saw some Hungarian names: Zsuzsa Cserhati was a super-talent, and Zalatnay a distant 2nd, and a whirlwind, nevertheless, 

Tiana Lemnitz and for those of you who’ve never ever heard of her;

 

Because I mentioned Tiana Lemnitz who was a prominent Nazi, I feel compelled to add that I know she associated herself with the Nazi view early on. Whether or not she did this to find work or whether she honestly believed in the demagoguery, I make it a rule to generally give artists some extra latitude in this regard. Herbert von Karajan joined the party twice and was not an anti semite. Alfred Cortot assisted the Nazi’s during the invasion of France but he was just considered a coward. Given the nature of the music profession, I believe artists were extremely vulnerable a afraid and rightly so. It was a deceptive time with some horrible things that were either kept hidden or ignored. It is difficult for me to recommend a former Nazi but her artistry is so impressive that I mention her for that reason alone.

Not sure I am onboard with your selection @goofyfoot in fact I am behind the boat on water skis wondering how this thread just " jumped the shark" to a prominent fascist. Fascism by definition is a forcible suppression of opposition so I am not going out on a limb here that Tiana Lemnitz did not face much of it until after May 1945.

@jerryg123 'I am not going out on a limb here that Tiana Lemnitz did not face much of it until after May 1945.'

Not sure whether this could be proven either way.