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Post by MartinT on Jul 12, 2020 18:50:24 GMT
I'm starting a new thread series called Your Greatest... with an occasional new theme. The first one is:
Your Greatest... Male Singer
Please give just ONE offering and state your reasons why you like this performer. No lists! Whittling it down to just one is part of the challenge. Lists and possibles may attract deletion - you have been warned!!
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Post by John on Jul 12, 2020 18:56:09 GMT
Narrowing it down to one is hard. But if push comes to shove mine is Jeff Buckley. There is something quite fragile and beautiful about his voice
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Post by MartinT on Jul 12, 2020 18:57:57 GMT
Leonard Cohen
He doesn't sing very well, with a delivery somewhere between Dylan and Knopfler, but his voice matured, towards the end of his life, into a growly emotional weapon of some power. The reasons I like Cohen so much are 1) the sheer poetry of his songwriting, 2) the number of truly memorable songs (so many earworms), 3) the quality of his usually sparse productions, 4) the collaborations with female singers of note, such as Jennifer Warnes and Sharon Robinson, 5) the emotional power of his delivery, 6) his choice of backing singers. What Cohen does, more than any other male singer I can think of, is impart a goodly slice of raw emotional assault directly into you.
It's rare that I don't feel strong emotions when listening to his songs, such is their power and repeatability. For me, the man stood on the highest peak of them all.
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Post by Slinger on Jul 12, 2020 20:15:52 GMT
Ouch, that's going to take some thought. I'm not even convinced I can do it. How does one choose (for instance) between Jussi Bjorling, Nat King Cole, and Freddie Mercury? That's not a list, that's a problem by the way., and I haven'r actually started yet. I'll try to give it some thought, because I'll just be choosing my favourite - not actually the best - singer.
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Post by Barrington on Jul 12, 2020 20:53:41 GMT
I would never have been able to answer this last year but having watched many videos of performances from several years and with umpteen line ups this guy gets it right every time and has got better as the years have passed , the cosmic child with the angels voice .
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Post by MartinT on Jul 12, 2020 21:34:52 GMT
Ouch, that's going to take some thought. I'm not even convinced I can do it. How does one choose (for instance) between Jussi Bjorling, Nat King Cole, and Freddie Mercury? That's not a list, that's a problem by the way., and I haven'r actually started yet. I'll try to give it some thought, because I'll just be choosing my favourite - not actually the best - singer. Tsk, very close to a list! It's a good challenge and demands some thought. I, too, chose my favourite but not the best singer.
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Post by rfan8312 on Jul 13, 2020 7:45:09 GMT
Phil Collins... Though I'm not too happy about it because there's a very small handful of others that I love. But Phil Collins' best moments for me are pure gold and some of them remind of my family when I was a child.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 13, 2020 9:13:27 GMT
I would never have been able to answer this last year but having watched many videos of performances from several years and with umpteen line ups this guy gets it right every time and has got better as the years have passed , the cosmic child with the angels voice . Jon Anderson has such a perfect voice for Yes' music that I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it, even though I did see a Yes gig with Benoit singing (and twirling). I like Anderson's work with Vangelis, too.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 13, 2020 9:15:05 GMT
Phil Collins... Though I'm not too happy about it because there's a very small handful of others that I love. But Phil Collins' best moments for me are pure gold and some of them remind of my family when I was a child. The thing about Collins which saves him from the haters is that he took over from Gabriel and made the lead vocals his own. Listen to Seconds Out and you cannot really fault his performance. His early solo albums are good, too.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 13, 2020 9:33:07 GMT
Difficult to choose when I get different things from favourite vocalists
How do you choose between Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart, Mark E.Smith, Rick Springfield, Robert Palmer, Joe Walsh to name a few ....
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Post by MartinT on Jul 13, 2020 10:08:25 GMT
Difficult to choose when I get different things from favourite vocalists How do you choose between Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart, Mark E.Smith, Rick Springfield, Robert Palmer, Joe Walsh to name a few .... List alert! Just choose one - that's the challenge.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 13, 2020 10:21:57 GMT
Difficult to choose when I get different things from favourite vocalists How do you choose between Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart, Mark E.Smith, Rick Springfield, Robert Palmer, Joe Walsh to name a few .... I'd make pretty short work of choosing from that particular list!
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Post by Slinger on Jul 13, 2020 11:07:20 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jul 13, 2020 11:18:58 GMT
I'd make pretty short work of choosing from that particular list! So would I, but I suspect mine would be a different choice from yours!
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Post by julesd68 on Jul 13, 2020 13:10:06 GMT
Prince.
Just a unique talent. It will always be a source of great regret for me that I never saw him in concert.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 13, 2020 13:31:31 GMT
I am a lister. Currently 15 degrees
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Post by MartinT on Jul 13, 2020 13:34:54 GMT
Is that air temperature or your brain temp increase after thinking hard?
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 13, 2020 13:35:50 GMT
Is that air temperature or your brain temp increase after thinking hard? Angle of dangle
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Post by canetoad on Jul 14, 2020 6:55:52 GMT
Jimmy Barnes. Started as lead singer with Cold Chisel. Later went solo. Has done rock, soul. Awesome voice and could do screaming rock and soulful ballad equally as well. Have a listen to Cold Chisel - East and Circus Animals.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 14, 2020 7:13:53 GMT
I approached this by asking myself who I would want to be the last singer working in a totalitarian state where only the Government approved band is allowed!
Paul Rodgers is the man. (Though I hope he'd refuse to work for the Emperor!)
He still has the expression, power and range in his voice that he had in 1969, which is pretty remarkable. His ability to convey the emotion of a soul ballad is superb and he can roar like a lion when things get a bit more rock orientated.
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