Best Male Singers of the 20th Century


There is an interesting current discussion about the best female vocalists on CD. I have my own ideas about the best male singers (any category) of the 20th Century, but would like to hear other opinions.
sdcampbell
Johnny Mathis - I agree w/ R-Burke. You've gotta listen to "Open Fire, Two Guitars". Amazing! Actually beautiful. Hey, and I'm a solid blues and rock 'n roll fan.
Louis Armstrong. He was the first to use modern phrasing and he had perfect pitch. Nobody felt and expresed music the way he did. If no Louis > no Holliday > no Fitzgerald > no Vaugh > no Crosby > no Sinatra > no Cole > no Bennett > etc. EVERY modern singer ows a huge debt to Pops. God rest his beautiful soul.- Jim
To choose 1 male singer as the best across all genres from the whole century is difficult. I really enjoy Joe Williams and Mel Torme for Jazz and Roberto Goyenetche for Tango. Frank Sinatra's album "September Of My Years" (on vinyl) get's me every time; not b/c his singing is so great but because his sentiment is so sincere, his song are choicees so elegant, and the orchestrations are impeccable.
Remember in answering this question that you have stylists which most singers are, or you have technically good singers. A tech superior singer would be Mel Torme, also referred to as "The Velvet Fog" His pitch, tone, diction, and breath control were superior to most. Sinatra had no where near the technical skills possessed by Torme. Also the greatest male voices at jazz/pop have all been baritones. This is the one short fall of Mr. Torme, but at no time has Mr Torme been considered the greatest jazz vocalist on any poll I have encountered. That title has been suggested of people like Joe Williams. Any jazz poll would have to consider Louis Armstrong since he practically invented the jazz solo, and "scat" singing. Let us not forget the tech voices of Johnny Mathis and Billy Eckstine. In closing I distinguish between a technical voice and a stylist. Mel Torme wins hands down for technic, but Louis Armstrong wins hands down as a stylist.