The Next Voice You Hear..
When I started writing this section of my Substack a few months ago, my idea was to give a gentle opinion about different aspect of Rock and Roll and to maybe introduce some bands or songs that readers may have never heard or forgotten about. A lot of readers have come back with suggestions, opinions and ideas and I thank all of you for that. Today, I am going to dig into an instrument that only a very few can truly master, the human voice.
Putting together a list for something like this is again, very subjective , but I have taken a few liberties here since it is my column. One, a great voice has to be like butter to me. Smooth, powerful, reaches notes high and low that most singers can’t or wouldn’t even try to. Two, being distinct, to me, doesn’t qualify as a great voice. Mick Jagger or Steven Tyler have distinct voices. Unique phrasing and that rock and roll growl don’t make you a great voice. However, they are great singers. Adding their uniqueness to almost every song is fine but it doesn’t put you in the category of a great voice. I will write a substack on this at a latter date.
Let the arguments begin.
Again, this is in no particular order.
I’ll start with Steve Perry from the original Journey. I was never a big fan of the group but I don’t think any one out there could deny the fact that Perry’s voice is incredible. The minute you hear the first verse you know right away it’s Steve Perry. His pitch is perfect as they say.
Art Garfunkel is another singer with perfect pitch and his tenor voice never threatened anyone but yet he could reach the highest notes possible while still staying within the framework of the song. His harmonies with Paul Simon are still the holy grail as far as duo’s are concerned and his solo work continued to showcase that amazing voice.
Eric Burden might have had the smoothest voice in rock history. It was like melted butter that could fry up any song. I don’t think he was every given the full credit he deserved as a singer because his songwriting was so powerful but he is a singer that I can honestly listen to for hours.
Even though he might be on another list, Smokey Robinson is another singer with a smooth smooth voice. He also had a very unique ability to switch from tenor to male soprano to that beautiful falsetto all in one song. Vocal range, smooth delivery and a unique phrasing made him the star that almost all of Motown revolved around.
I will put early Robert Plant on this list because for the first six Zeppelin albums he defined a rock and roll voice. His swagger came through on every recording and he could hold extended high notes longer than almost anyone.
Aretha Franklin may have had the best singing voice of all time, period. She sang soul. She sang ballads. She sang rock. There wasn’t a genre she couldn’t master and she did. They say her voice was a voice given to her directly from God and I believe whoever “they” are. Another voice that had no flaws.
Talk about using a voice as a musical instrument, Marvin Gaye would always play with notes while singing. Matching a guitar lick or a horn note with his own voice was an amazing accomplishment and he sang with a softness and beauty that few could ever match. Every song was an intimate look into Marvin Gaye the man.
OK OK! Since he is still the singer du jour, I will put in Freddie Mercury with no fight. Antics and flamboyance aside, Mercury was a great rock and roll singer. He put on quite the show but he never let his stage performance overshadow his singing. He could sing loud and long and yes, it was a very distinct voice but it was also an almost perfect one.
As I mentioned in a previous column, I am going to include my guilty pleasure, Burton Cummings from the Guess Who. I am not sure he had that great rock voice but it was distinctive as it was smooth and he is another singer that I will listen to over and over again. Never really considered great by any means but there is just something in the way he sings that I love. Sue me.
Back in the day, I will be honest with you, I had a crush on Linda Rondstadt. She was so cute and she had such a nice voice but over time I came to realize that she had an amazing voice and she was one of the all time best female vocalists this country has ever produced. Her high notes were weapons that she could bring out at any time and then bring everything back to earth just as easily. The Pride of Tucson, Rondstadt built a Hall of Fame career based on that amazing voice and her intimate songwriting.
Otis Redding was taken from us way before his time and all you have to do is listen to”The Dock of the Bay” or “Try a little Tenderness” and you would know that not only did he have an amazing voice but he preformed every song like it was his last. Having to put so much into a song you would think there would be a falloff but digging deeper into his catalog, you never hear him mailing it in. Giving everything to every song is unheard of nowadays and even back then, there was always filler on every album. Not Otis.
I am going to include James Brown on this list because he was the consummate singer/performer and his vocal range while not superb was still good enough. He could sing, and he could perform and he was “The Godfather of Soul”, “The Hardest Working man in Show business”, ”Soul Brother Number One”. So yeah, he gets included here because this guy could sing his butt off on vinyl and live. He was a perfectionist but yet none of his recordings or performances were perfect. They were just James Brown and after having listened to him for over forty years, I still can’t get enough of that good stuff.
Feel free to comment on this column and while this list is not all inclusive, it is a good start to revisiting some great moment in rock and roll.
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