Great songwriters who shouldn't perform their own songs

dogload

Chuffola said:

Elvis Costello.

Voice doesn't do it for me - and I generally like unique voices.  Great songs though.

I agree. He's written some great songs, but I just can't get into him as a performer - and I have tried.

Shipbuilding was much better when performed by Robert Wyatt.

RocknRollDave

Roger Waters

Blueingreen

Most of the ones I'd have thought of have already been mentioned, but I would say that a lot of these guys have the right voice for some of their material.  Dylan's voice is perfect for "Lay Lady Lay" for example.  Costello's adenoidal whine was more bearable when he was happy to be a rock'n'roller, but when he decided he wanted t be the type of singer who could hang with Tony Bennett and K D Lang it all got a bit silly.  He should leave that to his missus.

Samgb

Blueingreen said:

Most of the ones I'd have thought of have already been mentioned, but I would say that a lot of these guys have the right voice for some of their material.  Dylan's voice is perfect for "Lay Lady Lay" for example.  Costello's adenoidal whine was more bearable when he was happy to be a rock'n'roller, but when he decided he wanted t be the type of singer who could hang with Tony Bennett and K D Lang it all got a bit silly.  He should leave that to his missus.

Agree. His 'jazz' voice is horrendous. Offensive 

Samgb

I find it odd that people have a go at Dylan's voice. Ok, its gone now, hes about 75 and he hasnt made an album of note since Slow Train Coming (the odd great song notwithstanding) - in his heyday his voice was perfect for his songs. 

I'd rather a world full of unique voices than the blandola autotuned baloney that is modern mainstream music

Having said that, i also find Tom Wait's voice problematic. Its so obviously a caricature that it gets in the way of his songs   

xSkarloey

I completely fail to get past Dylan's voice. I don't mind too much everything up to 66ish and his bike accident. It's mannered but not too off-putting for me.

But what on earth is going on with that weird singing voice on things like Nashville Skyline?

Even a song I like such as Tangled up in Blue can be a hard listen for me. On that he intones like a cross between a hoover and bee.

Add Richard Thompson to the list as well. He sounds like a middle class North Londoner doing Dylan impressions on the faster stuff. Quite nice on the slower ballads though.

fretmeister

The Beatles.

Love the songs, can't stand the voices.

I have tons of great cover versions of their tunes, some very faithful to the original arrangement just with different voices, some completely different. They are great.

chrispy108

Iron Maiden

*ducks*

richardhomer

Skarloey;638809" said:

Add Richard Thompson to the list as well. He sounds like a middle class North Londoner doing Dylan impressions on the faster stuff. Quite nice on the slower ballads though.

I'm okay if you want to add Elvis Costello to the list - but I'm afraid I will need Ricardo to come off it.

Though he is by no means a 'good' singer in the classic sense, his voice always seems to get inside the lyric in a way that touches me.

EricTheWeary

I'm probably being over generous in describing Nobo et al as great songwriters here but all the live versions I've heard of this by BB have improved on the hit version. 

Samgb

fretmeister said:

The Beatles.

Love the songs, can't stand the voices.

I have tons of great cover versions of their tunes, some very faithful to the original arrangement just with different voices, some completely different. They are great.

?!?!?

rlw

Samgb said:

rlw said:

Sadly now deceased but surely Townes Van Zandt wins this absolutely hands down, making even Tom Waits sound good.

Er...how is TVZ not a good singer? Baffling!

I've only ever saw and heard him when he was pissed or similarly off his head and he could not sing a single note in tune - a feat which even Tom Waits manages on a regular basis.

Kebabkid

James Taylor has a certain charm and I like him but I never thought the quality of his voice matched the quality of the his songwriting and guitar playing.

EricTheWeary

Kebabkid said:

James Taylor has a certain charm and I like him but I never thought the quality of his voice matched the quality of the his songwriting and guitar playing.

I was listening to Art Garfunkel on Radio 2 talking about learning to sing again and he held up JT as his example of a gifted, pitch perfect singer. He's not somebody I normally listen to but that seemed a high recommendation. What don't you like about JT?

ICBM

richardhomer said:

Skarloey said:

Add Richard Thompson to the list as well. He sounds like a middle class North Londoner doing Dylan impressions on the faster stuff. Quite nice on the slower ballads though.

I'm okay if you want to add Elvis Costello to the list - but I'm afraid I will need Ricardo to come off it.

Though he is by no means a 'good' singer in the classic sense, his voice always seems to get inside the lyric in a way that touches me.

I'd keep him on the list for his Strat sound though. It's so irritating it distracts me from listening to the song.

Dave_Vader

Why has nobody mentioned Joni Mitchell yet? She is whinier than Dylan

rlw

Dave_Vader said:

Why has nobody mentioned Joni Mitchell yet? She is whinier than Dylan

Madness. Whiney?  Who the fuck else could sing those songs?

Samgb

rlw said:

Samgb said:

rlw said:

Sadly now deceased but surely Townes Van Zandt wins this absolutely hands down, making even Tom Waits sound good.

Er...how is TVZ not a good singer? Baffling!

I've only ever saw and heard him when he was pissed or similarly off his head and he could not sing a single note in tune - a feat which even Tom Waits manages on a regular basis.

Ok, ive only heard his earlier albums and he had a lovely baritone. Thats what the boozing does.

IanSavage

I absolutely adore Tom Waits, the rest of you can fuck off agree with @fretmeister on The Beatles, though - I can't stand them but there's a few covers (most notably Joe Cocker's 'A Little Help From My Friends') which I really like.

not_the_dj

IanSavage said:

I absolutely adore Tom Waits, the rest of you can fuck off  

Totally with you on that one!