Favorite Singers

Often when people start talking about how "so and so is such a great singer" it usually sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me. I rarely think about my favorite music in terms of the quality of the singing. Usually I'm paying more attention to so many other things: the production, the lyrics, the overall energy level, the vibe, the intangible whatever it is. However, I will admit that there are certain singers whose voices, whenever I hear them, just sound terrific to me. Some of them may have conventionally appealling voices. Others might be acquired tastes. Often my favorite singer in a band isn't even the lead singer but rather the secondary singer whom almost everyone agrees has the supposedly "worse" voice of the two, but I like the other guy more for reasons I find hard to describe but are immediate to me. My favorite singers are the singers who, when I hear them singing, I instantly warm to the sound of their voices. I can tell right away it's them. They always sound like they're completely "there" in the song while they're singing, like I can feel their personality jump out at me with no bullshit in between. Others might complain that their voices sound weird, or weak, and I would agree, but perhaps those are the qualities that I happen to love. You can't really think about it too hard. I can tell you whose voices I like, but I can't really explain why. It's like sexual attraction; you're either attracted to a person or you're not, but you'll know it.

Below is my off-the-cuff list of favorite singers. Some of these singers are considered to have ideally "great" voices and to say they're great singers is almost a cliche. But I like them anyway. Some of these singers are actively considered to have "weird" or "bad" voices, and I've even seen several people in writing just plain say that these people could not sing, or even should not sing. But I think they're great, for whatever reason. Thinking about my favorite music in terms of the singing, I realized that a lot of my favorite bands or performers have good singing, or even great singing, but I had to ask myself if I really gravitate toward the singing itself in my affection for that artist. To say that someone is a great singer is not to say that they're a favorite singer. I could say that Mick Jagger and Robert Plant are great singers, for example, but I wouldn't say they're favorite singers. I understand what makes them great, and I don't think they should sing any other way, but I don't feel the personal connection to their voices alone. I understand why Aretha Franklin, and Hank Williams, and James Brown, and Thom Yorke are great singers. I understand what makes them distinctive and why they are appealing. In some ways I like their music more than the music of some of the people listed below. But I wouldn't call them my favorite singers. It's just a gut feeling. (I think Yoggoth understands what I'm talking about, and I'd like to see a similar list from him. I'm sure there are all kinds of indie rock singers whom I'm not even thinking about where he would say, "Yeah! Other people can't stand this guy but for whatever reason I just love his voice.")

There are also all kinds of singers in genres that I can't even think of whom I would say have great voices, if pressed. But I didn't include them in the list because I can't really say I know their work. For example, Astrud Gilberto has that great voice on "Girl From Ipanema," but is she really one of my "favorite singers"? Sure, I guess so. I don't know. Lauryn Hill's got a great voice, but I don't even have any of her songs lying around at the moment. Then there are the singers who sang on one-off hit singles and nobody even knows who they are. Who was that guy who sang lead on "Smiling Faces Sometimes"? That guy had a great voice. But is he one of my "favorite singers"? Or how about Brenton Wood ("Gimme Little Sign")? John Lennon once said that "Rosie" of Rosie & The Originals ("Angel Baby") fame was one of his favorite singers. But John Lennon could do whatever he wanted; it's not the same when I do it. My point is, the list below has all sorts of omissions, I'm sure. But here goes:

Colin Blunstone (Zombies)
Karen Carpenter
Johnny Cash
Ray Charles
Sam Cooke
Ian Curtis
Bobby Darin
Donald Fagen
Bryan Ferry
George Harrison
Joe Jackson
George Jones
Mick Jones (Clash)
Janis Joplin
John Lennon
Stuart Murdoch (Belle and Sebastian)
Willie Nelson
Roy Orbison
Ozzy Osbourne
Gram Parsons
Elvis Presley
Leon Russell
Elliott Smith
Cat Stevens
Pete Townsend
Roger Waters
Brian Wilson
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young