2channel8, I love the Girl Group sound and era. The Brill Building songwriters (Doc Pomus, Mann & Weil, Goffin/King, Bacharach/David, Ellie Greenwich, Mort Shuman, Greenfield/Sedaka, and Leiber & Stoller) wrote SO many classic songs in such a short period of time. I hear that influence in Springsteen's writing on the Born To Run album. Carnie & Wendy Wilson tell of waking up every morning to the sound of The Ronettes "Be My Baby" playing over, and over, and over again, for hours. For years that's how Brian Wilson started the day. He was obsessed with the song and Phil Spector, to the point of mental instability. |
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I'm a little surprised that no one cited Bobby Darin. Didn't his "Mack the Knife" hold the record for most played single on American radio for decades?
@bdp24 , He also played "Then He Kissed Me" for one interviewer and proclaimed "That's the sound of universes colliding!" (Not Darlene; but not far removed.) |
Sevs: If you don't know Captain Beefheart, check out his "Spotlight Kid" album. He is the best-of-the-best of "out there" americans (IMO of course). Check out this footage from German TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpHgG4jILa0P.S. I've recently learned of 4-5 previously unheard Silver Apples albums! Overwhelming! |
@dweller Thanks for the tip!! Downloaded Silver Apples onto my Pono, some real crazy stuff! If it was a CD I would have put it next to my Japanese mini-LP boxes of Cluster/Roedelius CDs. Not "droning" by my definition but definitely (like Cluster craziness and Deepchord and Klaus Schulze drones) the kind of music I tend to listen to thru the headphones so that my family won't sign me into the loonies bin! ;-)
once again, thanks for the tip, I did not know that some Americans are as loony as Germans! Until now the Talking Heads/David Byrne were the craziest US tunes in my collection. |
judy garland!
bing
frank
satchmo
billie h
showing my age ...these may not be the best but one word and you know who it is
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Darlene Love, one of my absolute favorite singers! Her vocal on "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is astoundingly great!! She sang for Phil Spector, who kept all the money his label made, sending the artists out on the road to work for peanuts. That's the way the music business worked in those days, is wasn't just Phil. Springsteen said he was trying to make his Born To Run album sound like Roy Orbison as produced by Phil Spector. |
I want to encourage any and all rock and R&B fans to buy INTRODUCING DARLENE LOVE, a 2015 release on Columbia produced by Steve Van Zandt. This album (CD) is truly a labor of love and respect for one of the great ladies of pop music who was basically screwed out of her royalties and recognition. Her first solo single was released as a Crystals song without her knowledge or consent, for example. Her music was an inspiration for the overall sound of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run album. There is original music written for her by Springsteen, Van Zandt, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Webb, Linda Perry, and - get this! - Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil. There are performances by Costello, Van Zandt, Jake Clemons, Paul Schaffer, and Bill Medley among others.
Even if you've bought all of Darlene's oldies and best of collections; the odds are that she never got a dime of your money. This one is different. It is available from Amazon in CD, Vinyl, and MP3 download. There is also a DVD/Blu-ray of the Oscar winning documentary, "20 Feet From Stardom" featuring Ms. Love and some of her peers that I Think I must get.
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sevs: If you like to drone, check out "Program" on the Silver Apples album. Happy Holidays!
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@dweller Thank you for getting my point, I did not mean any disrespect to the posts @ this thread, was rather thinking about those over 2 billion Chinese, Indian, and Russian-speaking dudes perspective on the subject. (Well, and French of course) What do They think??!? Do they even care? I did not (do not) care if Bowie is American or Brit, whether he is a man or a woman, or gay, or lesbian... I just loved him (Michael Jackson not so much) when residing on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. Personally, I do not have any Chinese/Oriental tunes in my x1000+ library (unless you count Debussy and George Harrison) and totally hate Russian pop!! As a test, search for YouTube videos of the album "Po Freidu" by Max Barskih. Cool videos, but my-guess u will get my point of the outsiders-"natives" listening to American rock/pop. Once again, with all due respect etc etc this is the only tune (plus Riverside of course) coming from "beyond" that I can listen to and I still feel sorry that did not buy his CD when it was available on Amazon...
Now, a tip for those who dig Lustmord, Reich, Brian Eno: "Cows don’t dream at night" by Electric Orange! The best 60+min drone tune I have in my collection,... the only bummer is that I still understand Russian and cannot help listening to the background "news" he used as a "human touch" to electronic droning... Let me know if I am wrong!!!
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French: Edith Piaf, Charles Boyer, Pepe LePew.
Russian Aida Nikolaychuk (YouTube sensation).
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@bdp24 I could not have said better! Exactly my point (re. this thread for >90% of the folks out there)
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Surprisingly (to me, at least) dweller, playing guitar on Beefheart's first album (Safe As Milk) was a young....Ry Cooder! |
Bowie wasn't American, of course. French or Russian? Who cares! |
The last time I checked the responces, they all come from the US 'goners. Would be interesting to see what the outsiders (like myself) think. Going back 30 years, living in Ukraine, I would have named Ella, Louie, Elvis, Jim Morrison, David Bowie.
My point is (but this would be another thread): can any 'goner name someone "recognizable" in French or Russian (Brits, thats too easy!) rock/pop? |
The average person, seeing a Captain Beefhart show, would think he and his mates were a big spoof -a put on. No! This was who they were. Their music was utterly flawless. Their music WAS their reality. Like Hendrix, they were not their true selves unless they were playing.
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There was so much mythology surrounding Beefheart, wasn’t there? Remember the 1971 Rolling Stone interview in which Don said "The phone’s gonna ring"? And it did! Perhaps he set it up. That five octave range claim was part of his press packet (Warner Brothers excelled at that), and untrue. Interesting guy, he got out of the music business, moved to the desert, and made some real money at painting (artistic, not houses ;-). He asserted Frank Zappa ripped him off, financially. |
John Lee Hooker, Dolly Parton, John Denver, Todd Rundgren, Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefhart - 5 octave range?).
Heard Bing Crosby today on the car radio singing "White Christmas".
Comfort food for your ears. Merry Christmas!
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Yeah, good ones slaw---Little Richard!---(and everyone else). Ray Charles has to be the most influential of them all---Steve Winwood, Richard Manuel, Van Morrison, so many others citing Ray as their model. Big Joe Turner is a favorite of mine, as well as Howlin’ Wolf, THE blues singer. Tom Waits is about as unique a voice as I know of, and let’s not forget Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. For Rock 'n' Roll, Chuck Berry's lyrical/vocal rhythms are one of the very pillars of the music. From the gals, Aretha Franklin is at the top of the list. So are Big Mama Thornton (Elvis copied her recording of "Hound Dog"), Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, and a favorite of mine, Tammy Wynette. In the modern era, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is immediately recognizable. |
but here goes... in addition to some great ones already listed...
Art Garfunkel
Carly Simon
Little Richard
Lucinda Williams
James Taylor
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Elvis
Johnny Cash
Nat King Cole
Dylan
Roy Orbison
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Nobody mentioned Tony Bennett!
Also, the late great Leon Russell, a very recognizable voice.
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I love it when a thread from 10 years ago pops up again!
For pure recognition Adele has got to be near the top if we poll the random public. Short memories rule. Most under 30 could not identify Willie, Johnny Cash, even Sinatra or Ella.
If we are adding iconic voices for this crowd, let's mention Bowie, Freddy Mercury, Tom Waits, Donald Fagen, Van Morrison, Rickie Lee Jones, Chrissie Hynde & Joni Mitchell to the list. Cheers,
Spencer |
I assume this combines popularity and distinctive tone (maybe phrasing, too) - If you play a less well known Louis Armstrong song for 100 random people, you'll probably have a pretty high hit rate. Using those criteria, I'd add Stevie Nicks and Barry White
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Except for one_shot, you guys are showing your (our) age. Do you really think Americans under 30 know what some of these folks sound like? They probably do recognize Willie Nelson but not many of the others. Kurt Cobain is about as far back as some of them go. And they are the majority.
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Levon Helm, John Hiatt, Emmylou Harris, Iris Dement, plenty of others. |
Mapman, that is absolutely ridiculous, and I share your outrage. Not only is Sting not American, neither is his musical style or influences. Whores! |
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"American Music awards" happened yesterday. English musician Sting won award of merit at AMAs. What's up with that?
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How about Roy Orbison? Has anyone mentioned him yet? He's gotta be up there. |
Frank Sinatra
Elvis
Willie Nelson
Michael Jackson
Aretha Franklin
Sorry Johnny you may be 6th |
B.B.King
Doctor John
Bonnie Raitt
Nat King Cole
Billy Joel
If you recognize Barbara Streisand's voice, you're spending too much time on the elevator or at Democratic fundraisers.
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Neil Young has an instantly recognizable voice. But then, he's a Canadian. So does he count?
Billy Corgan's a good one though. Still, I was a huge pumpkins fan and even then his voice was a bit grating.
You want grating? Isaak Brock of Modest Mouse. That's some good stuff though. His voice works perfectly with their sound. Too bad about their drummer. He was an integral part of that band.
Well, did I get off topic enough? |
Ok then but Billy Corgan sounds British!
He does a bit, like that Zwan album though. |
True!......but American born wasn't specified :P
I still think they could be categorized as American music, though. But...hey!....whatever!...I'll take the hit like a man :) |
Dragon 1952-Robert Plant and Rod Stewart are British. |
Bob Dylan
Michael McDonald
Linda Ronstadt
Kenny Loggins
Billy Corgan
Eddie Vedder
Robert Plant
Rod Stewart
John Fogerty
Axel Rose
Dianna Ross
Dionne Warwick
Bing Crosby
Jimi Hendrix
Jim Morrison
Janis Joplin
Louis Armstrong
Oh....5???? I thought you said 25! I better stop here then.
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Billie Joe (Green Day), the guy from the Smashing Pumpkins, Les Claypool, Trent Reznor, and James Hetfield maybe. |
forgot about Hank Williams another very recognized voice. |
Bing Crosby
Nat King Cole
Louis Armstrong
Ray Charles
Elvis Presley
BTW, this list is very "era" dependent. Ask a 20 y/o today about Bing, Louis, or Nat and all you"ll get is a huh?. |
Per all the above excellent suggestions, I would delete "Babs" and Ray Charles from my top 5 list list and add Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson. To expand the list to top 10, I'd still include B. Streisand and Ray Charles and add Sinatra, Willie Nelson, and Nat King Cole. Thanks. Craig |
Think your original "5" are great Garfish, although might swap Sinatra for Cash or Babs, awful close.
Oh, as for the generation thing, beat you to the big 60 (and wish I hadn't won!)
Grandpa Doug |
This is definitely "generational". My list of distinctive, instantly recognizable voices would be (not necessarily in order of talent or ability):
Elvis
Sinatra
Billie Holiday
Muddy Waters
and, to a lesser extent, because his voice has changed so much over the years,
Bob Dylan |
Elvis
Johnny Cash
Frank Sinatra
Willie Nelson
Ray Charles |
1. Elvis Presley
2. Johnny Cash
3. James Brown
4. Tom Petty
5. Bruce Springsteed
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Hey, let's not forget those who started it all like Bill Monroe. He was the king of bluegrass. Just like Louis was of Jazz and Elvis Rock and Roll. You guys always want to forget bluegrass, but that is music that comes from the heart and soul of America. Country rocks but bluegrass aways rules in my house. |
1. Neil Young
2. John Foggerty
3. Al Jarreau
4. Vince Gill
5. Allison Kraus |
I think it's probably too wide a demographic to imagine what the American public would recognise today-I actually don't think coast to coast,age group to age group you would get much concensus certainly I don't think Johnny Cash would get into a top 5.
If you took the American public today,straw poll age to age I think a guess at the 5 might be (in no order)-
Michael Jackson
Eminem
Frank Sinatra
Elvis Presley
Madonna
I think if you looked at it from a historical and music fans view as the five voices easiest to recognise I would say
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Bob Dylan
Barabra Streisland.
I'm working from the point that these are the five unlikely to be confused with anybody else. |
