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5 most recognizable voices in American music?

While watching CNNs Larry King interview Johnny Cash a few days ago, I commented to my wife that Johnny Cash probably has one of the five most recognizable voices in American music today. My wife agreed and then asked "Well who are the other four?" After some discussion, we came up with our nominations (in no particular order):

Johnny Cash
Elvis Presley
Ray Charles
Barbra Streisand
Louie Armstrong

This question probably assumes that the singer is quite famous and that their music has been around quite awhile-- or they became really famous really fast. We'd be interested in knowing what other A'Gon members think about these five, or others you would nominate instead for this "top five"? Thanks. Craig
garfish
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,349 posts
 
but here goes... in addition to some great ones already listed...

Art Garfunkel
Carly Simon
Little Richard
Lucinda Williams
James Taylor

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

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.

dweller's avatar
dweller
3,781 posts
 
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!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
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.
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,781 posts
 
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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