Tony's Picks - Singers

If you read this blog, you know I like guitar players.  One day a Facebook friend asked me “have you ever written about singers?”  At the time, I had to tell her “no.”  So I had to think of the singers that stood out for me over the years.  Great guitar players are nice to have, but I dare say there are more great guitar players than there are great singers.  Great singers are much harder to find.  There are singers who won’t appear on this list.  Opera singers can sing circles around everyone on this list, but I don’t like opera, so I don’t listen to it.  Guys who sound like they’re taking a crap while they’re singing won’t be on this list [this means you, Bruce Springsteen].  Whiny singers won’t appear on this list [Don Henley, call your office].  Those who sound like they should be in the Vienna Boys Choir don’t belong here either [take a hike, Jon Anderson].

For some of these folks, I have a comment to make.  When words fail me [as they often do], I’ll let the song titles speak for themselves.  So let the free-associating begin!

Gregg Allman – Undoubtedly the finest white blues singer who ever walked the Earth.  If there’s a better one, I haven’t heard him [or her].  I will always be amazed at how world-weary he sounds as a 22-year old [Dreams, Whipping Post].  He’s 65 now and has more than earned the right to sing the blues.  Bob Dylan once wrote “nobody sings the blues quite like Blind Willie McTell.”  I’m here to tell you that nobody sings the blues quite like Gregg Allman.

Paul Rodgers [Free, Bad Company] – Wishing Well.  Heartbreaker.  Bad Company.  Feel Like Makin’ Love.  Rock and Roll Fantasy.  Electricland.  He’s been at this game for over forty years and he sings as well now as when he started.  Not many singers can make that claim.

John Lennon – Twist and Shout.  In My Life.  A Day in the Life.  Nowhere Man.  Strawberry Fields Forever.  I Am the Walrus. Dear Prudence.  Yer Blues.  I Want You [She’s So Heavy].  Across the Universe.  Instant Karma.  Beautiful Boy [Darling Boy].  Watching the Wheels.  Woman.  Case closed.

Levon Helm [The Band] – The Band’s songs say “written by Robbie Robertson.”  Robbie may have written the songs, but Levon Helm owns them.  He inhabited them; he brought them to life. Thyroid cancer robbed him of his voice and eventually his life, but he made The Band sound “earthy.”

Aretha Franklin – Mary J. Blige wrote in Rolling Stone “she is the reason why women want to sing.”  That works for me - I can’t think of a better complement than that.  A voice like Aretha’s almost makes me want to believe there is a God.  Otis Redding wrote Respect, but Aretha owns it – it’s her song.  Name a better female singer…take your time…I don’t mind waiting.

Ray Charles – Have you ever heard Ray Charles sing America the Beautiful?  He wasn’t called “Genius” for nothing…

Steve Winwood – Can a spotty white English teenager sing like Ray Charles?  Listen to the Spencer Davis Group’s I’m a Man and you’ll have your answer.   Can’t Find My Way Home.  The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys.  Dear Mr. Fantasy.

Otis Redding – Otis was the voice of Stax.  That label wasn’t the same after he died.  So many songs, so many emotions.  On one hand, you have These Arms of Mine, on the other you have Shake!

Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On.  I Heard It Through the Grapevine.  Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).  Simply amazing…

Al Green – Let’s Stay Together.  Tired of Being Alone.  Many years ago I asked my friend Sean Godfrey a simple question – Al Green or Marvin Gaye?  His answer – Al Green.

BB King – The Thrill Is Gone.  He absolutely kills When Love Comes to Town – Bono is not worthy.

Roy Orbison – He had one of the most distinctive voices in rock and roll.  Roy could sing circles around mere mortals.  He was at the top of his game until the very end, witness his performance on the Traveling Wilburys’ Not Alone Anymore.  More Roy?  Check out Crying [with and without k.d. lang] or In Dreams.

George Jones – Is he the best singer in country music ever?  Can you name someone better?  People’s Exhibit A:  He Stopped Loving Her Today.

Freddie Mercury – With a four-octave range, he could go “balls out” on stuff like Tie Your Mother Down, tender with Love of My Life, or operatic with Bohemian Rhapsody or Somebody To Love.  He could do it all.  The Show Must Go On [the last song from the last Queen album, Innuendo] is a testament to the power of Freddie’s voice.  He was dying, yet he could still sound like a force of nature.

Ronnie James Dio [Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell] – Small of stature [5’ 4”] with a giant voice, Ronnie is simply the best singer heavy metal has ever seen or ever will see.  Period – end of discussion.

Rob Halford [Judas Priest, Halford] – He communicates with bats.

Ian Gillan [Deep Purple, Gillan] – Not many hard rock singers from the 1970s could top Big Ian.  Child In Time, anyone?

Bruce Dickinson [Iron Maiden, solo] – Hallowed Be Thy Name.  Others have tried singing for Iron Maiden, but they aren’t better than the Human Air Raid Siren.  Scream For Me!!!!!

David Crosby – Of the three singers in Crosby, Stills and Nash, David Crosby gets my vote as the best vocalist.  Crosby will tell you it is Graham Nash, but he sells himself short.  Crosby is a wonderful harmony singer.  Harmony singing is what he likes the most, and what he does best.  But when he has the chance to sing lead, listen up.  Cowboy Movie [the live version from It’s All Coming Back to Me Now…] is my favorite Crosby lead vocal.

k.d. lang – Constant Craving, Hallelujah

Dwight Yoakam – a unique voice.  You know him the instant you hear him.

Johnny Cash – When The Man in Black sang “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” I believed him.  If God has a voice, it sounds like Johnny Cash

Jeff Buckley – this guy was otherworldly.  He was taken from us way too soon.  Hallelujah.  Corpus Christi Carol.

Chrissie Hynde – she doesn’t look sexy, but she sure sounds like it.

Emmylou Harris – From Boulder to Birmingham.  She has the voice of an angel.  She’s one of the best harmony singers on the planet.