The Greatest Female Vocalist ever?

beed84

Gladys Knight for me.

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

I'll put in a bid for Pauline Black at her peak. Slightly crazy lady , often angry. One of the things that made her angry , back in the day, was being told how great Kate Bush was. So some of The Selecter songs have these high bits where Pauline was showing she had more range than Kate.

I missed this earlier, but - who?



Seriously, if she thought that having a wider vocal range than Kate Bush made her greater, then that probably explains why Kate Bush is a household name and she isn't .

I also read something similar from Patti Smith once, who was very critical of Debbie Harry on the grounds that she was the better singer and that Debbie was only famous because she was good-looking and used it. Miaow. (I'm a fan of both of them, by the way.)


Also on the list of 'not the greatest ever but not mentioned so far and worth a listen' - Annie Lennox, and Kelly Clarkson (yes really).

SteveRobinson

Yes Annie Lennox is/was pretty good. I usually cite her as my favourite female voice.

rlw

fendergibson said:

Eddie Reader was also bloody good, esp live. 

Still is - saw her last night.

breakstuff

rlw said:

fendergibson said:

Eddie Reader was also bloody good, esp live. 

Still is - saw her last night.

Did she look beautiful?














Sorry,couldn't resist.  

Axe_meister

And they say White girls can't sing the blues.


Skip to about the 2nd min to skip the talky bit.

EricTheWeary

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

I'll put in a bid for Pauline Black at her peak. Slightly crazy lady , often angry. One of the things that made her angry , back in the day, was being told how great Kate Bush was. So some of The Selecter songs have these high bits where Pauline was showing she had more range than Kate.

I missed this earlier, but - who?



Seriously, if she thought that having a wider vocal range than Kate Bush made her greater, then that probably explains why Kate Bush is a household name and she isn't .

I also read something similar from Patti Smith once, who was very critical of Debbie Harry on the grounds that she was the better singer and that Debbie was only famous because she was good-looking and used it. Miaow. (I'm a fan of both of them, by the way.)


Also on the list of 'not the greatest ever but not mentioned so far and worth a listen' - Annie Lennox, and Kelly Clarkson (yes really).

Pauline Black of The Selecter, household name in my house anyway. Sometime actress, author, tv presenter and occasionally fronting Jools Holland's Big Band.Mad crap crazy though and angry with most things, her autobiography is a ceaseless exploration of how the world has been against her since day one. 

snakemanStoo

I quite like Tarja Tuurrurieiownjods what was formerly in nightwish.

I may not be able to spell her surname but she's rather good.

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

Pauline Black of The Selecter, household name in my house anyway. Sometime actress, author, tv presenter and occasionally fronting Jools Holland's Big Band.Mad crap crazy though and angry with most things, her autobiography is a ceaseless exploration of how the world has been against her since day one.

I did know (vaguely) who she was, I just thought it was funny that she should be angry that Kate Bush became famous while having a slightly smaller vocal range. Presumably the fact that Kate Bush became famous because of her amazing songwriting ability and creative artistic genius - and that at least in the early days, quite a lot of people were actually put *off* by her voice - escaped her…

scrumhalf

I may cause some giggles, but Lulu had a tremendous voice.

EricTheWeary

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

Pauline Black of The Selecter, household name in my house anyway. Sometime actress, author, tv presenter and occasionally fronting Jools Holland's Big Band.Mad crap crazy though and angry with most things, her autobiography is a ceaseless exploration of how the world has been against her since day one.

I did know (vaguely) who she was, I just thought it was funny that she should be angry that Kate Bush became famous while having a slightly smaller vocal range. Presumably the fact that Kate Bush became famous because of her amazing songwriting ability and creative artistic genius - and that at least in the early days, quite a lot of people were actually put *off* by her voice - escaped her…

I think in part that Kate was white and therefore given more ( or different anyway) media coverage and recognition than a black person fronting a multi racial band could get - I don't think her anger was directed at Kate personally as such - and as we are talking about the 1970s there may be some truth in that.

Teyeplayer

Already stated several times here: Sandy Denny

Worth a bit of researching, checking out and listening to -on the 'unsigned and doesn't realise how good she is' trail is Fran Taylor in Leicestershire -awesome Denny-esque purity to her voice.

My current stop me in my tracks crush is Lisa Hannigan, she is a goddess, I could listen to her voice all day. 

IvisonGuitars

scrumhalf said:

I may cause some giggles, but Lulu had a tremendous voice.

Yes she did/does indeed!

TheBlueWolf

Eva Cassidy, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald get my vote, as does the Nightwish singer. There's a lot of good choices on here

57Deluxe

Shakira

Nitefly

Several mentions now for Eva Cassidy - I just don't get that.  

I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I thought she did some quite dire arrangements of songs I liked.

TheBlueWolf

Nitefly said:

Several mentions now for Eva Cassidy - I just don't get that.  

I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I thought she did some quite dire arrangements of songs I liked.

I recall she suffered from terrible anxiety which may have hampered some of her live performances.

Nitefly

TheBlueWolf said:

Nitefly said:

Several mentions now for Eva Cassidy - I just don't get that.  

I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I thought she did some quite dire arrangements of songs I liked.

I recall she suffered from terrible anxiety which may have hampered some of her live performances.

Yep @TheBlueWolf - I believe she had her demons, but I just never "got" her.  I feel shitty for saying it now!

TheBlueWolf

Nitefly said:

TheBlueWolf said:

Nitefly said:

Several mentions now for Eva Cassidy - I just don't get that.  

I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I thought she did some quite dire arrangements of songs I liked.

I recall she suffered from terrible anxiety which may have hampered some of her live performances.

Yep @TheBlueWolf - I believe she had her demons, but I just never "got" her.  I feel shitty for saying it now!

No worries  

RocknRollDave

I wouldn't call her the greatest but whilst we are celebrating female vocalists I'm going to mention Pink. Saw her live a couple of times, she's a powerhouse.