Best Male Singers of the 20th Century

Can't argue with Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but they have an advantage over Stewart -- they didn't live long enough to cut anything really atrocious, which seems to happen to even the best of 'em. Look at McCartney. And though I like Eric Burden quite a bit, I'd say his contribution to the 20th Century is not up there with the others we've mentioned. The people who win my nod for honors beyond the Merely Good not only do great work, but do a lot of it. Burden's been around as long as Jagger, but he hasn't recorded much of anything since, what, 1971?

Well I guess most of the well known artists from Caruso to the latest contemporary artists were pretty much covered. But here is a question for one and all. WHO WAS RCA'S FIRST MAJOR POPULAR RECORDING ARTIST? Clue... he was a contemporary of Caruso and in his time was quite well known he was a trained in Bel Canto but no one above mentions him. WHO IS HE?

If no one knows the who this singer is, so noted in his time for the purity of his voice and perfect pitch, my bet is that most of the singers listed above, with the possible exceptions of Sinatra, Caruso and Elvis (as a pop icon, certainly not a singer) will be as obscure at the turn of the 22nd Century as he appears to be now. If it weren't for Mendelsohn, Bach would probably be as obscure a composer as 99% of his contemporaries. I guess everything is relative to the time we live in.

My first pick would be The Chairman, Sinatra, for his style of phrasing - the best. My other vote getters would be Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Paul McCartney, Mel Torme, Gordon Lightfoot and (I'm cheating a little) Simon & Garfunkel, which worked together so well they often sounded as one voice.

Tubegroover, Al Jolson?, Treyhoss, I think you may enjoy Justin Hayward and Gordon Lightfoot, but "Great Singers of the 20th. Century"... I don't think so. Paul Simon would best be described as a great songwriter and Garfunkle had some truly beautiful moments, but is a little light for this list.