The Chris Moeller Archives

My Top 20 Favorite Singers - by Aaron Moeller

Chris used this blogsite a year ago to expound on his own personal Top 50 favorite films. That gave me the idea, back then, to collect my 50 favorite songs. I compiled that list but soon realized that keeping the number down to 50 was impossible. I ended up with exactly 63 "essential" recordings that I simply couldn’t live without.

I wanted to share that list on the blog this week during my guest-hosting gig, but I realized it was too much. Just as Chris spread his movie reviews over a couple months, that was just too much to accomplish here. Simply posting the list, without commentary for each song, wasn’t worth it.

What I’ve decided instead is to post my list of 20 favorite singers. I originally planned on 10, but again found it too restricting. So 20 it is. (Even at 20, I’ve felt the need to name honorable mentions.) Keep in mind I’m not taking other factors, such as songwriting or musicianship into account, just voice and singing. Also, I understand that some people have vocal chords that are so trained and immaculate that they should be stripped out and hung in a museum somewhere, but I’m from the school that that doesn’t necessarily make them great singers. They have to hit the notes, of course, but what more is there to singing, after all, than expression and delivery? It may seem, looking at the list, that I’m not terribly interested in a lot of today’s popular music. That’s a correct assumption. Here is the list, as complete as one can be without Sammy Hagar, and with the understanding that I’ve probably forgotten someone and could completely change my mind by tomorrow. Warning: The order of some of the names on the list may seem sacrilegious, but it’s my damn list. Sorry it's so long.

Honorable mention (in alphabetical order): Louis Armstrong, Anita Baker, Solomon Burke, Iris DeMent, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, PJ Harvey, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Billie Holiday, Richard Manuel of The Band, Gwen McCrae, Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Otis Redding, Tina Turner, and Cassandra Wilson.

#20 – James Brown
JB is everyone’s favorite for raspy-voiced, dance floor soul. He practically invented funk music, I think, not through his band, but through his vocal yelps and hollers. BEST EVIDENCE: Live at the Apollo (1962); "Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag".

#19 – Prince
This guy owes a ton to James Brown, but has an upper register that exceeds the Godfather’s. BEST EVIDENCE: the pining soul of "How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore"; "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

#18 – Bob Dylan
I’ll get letters about this one, but the man’s done as much for phrasing as Sinatra. Do this: seek out a little known song called "Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart" from the Bootleg Series box set, learn it and then sing along with it, feeling first hand how he plays with the melody line. No one else sings rock ‘n roll like this. Granted, his live voice has lost a lot of range in the last few years, but check out "Moonlight" off of Love and Theft, his latest album, and see how sweet his voice can still sound. Seek out his cover of "Delia" from ’93 and the way he sings the line "All the friends I ever had are gone". No one else could sing it with such an effective, sage, world-weary voice. I haven’t even touched on his older ‘60’s stuff, before his voice weakened. Those classic songs aren’t just famous because of how well they’re written. He invented a new voice for satire, cynicism, outrage – emotions that didn’t previously exist in popular music. Also listen to Bob invent rap music in 1965 with "Subterranean Homesick Blues".

#17 – Brian Wilson
Mike Love’s is the distinctive voice on the Chuck Berry-style rockers, but the best of the Beach Boys owes itself to the sweet, childlike vulnerability of Brian Wilson’s singing. BEST EVIDENCE: "Surfer Girl"; "God Only Knows"; "Surf’s Up".

#16 – Sam Cooke
Half of the people on this list would tell you who the originator is. Damn, I probably should have him higher. Known mostly for his silky-smooth croon, but he’s as equally adept at chitlin-circuit soul as he is in the studio, backed with lush horns. EVIDENCE: "A Change is Gonna Come"; Live at the Harlem Square Club.

#15 – Mick Jagger/Van Morrison (tie)
These are the great blues-soaked British Invasion voices. For years, I thought Van’s "Blue Money" was a Rolling Stones song, so I’m going to go ahead and squeeze them together on this list and kill two birds with one Stone and one Irishman. EVIDENCE: Van – "Caravan", the live It’s Too Late to Stop Now album, the hypnotic conclusion to "Ancient Highway" where the Belfast Cowboy, paralyzed with feeling, begins to physically muffle his own vocals. Mick – "Monkey Man"; the strut of "Miss You"; the live version of "Midnight Rambler". I’d throw in "Gimme Shelter", too, if background singer Mary Clayton didn’t sweep down from Heaven and steal the song away.

#14 – Sarah Vaughan
This is the late night voice I listen to most. Billie Holiday’s is maybe the most distinctive in the history of blues and jazz, but I prefer Vaughan’s range and variety. EVIDENCE: Her versions of "Misty" and "Send in the Clowns".

#13 – Howlin’ Wolf/Tom Waits (tie)
There exists some songs that only these two cats can put a stamp on. A couple of Louis Armstrongs from Hell. Ain’t no blues without the devil, and Lucifer's voice probably sounds something like these. If blues is a mixed drink, these guys are booze and most singers are club soda. EVIDENCE: Wolf – "Ain’t Superstitious"; "Killing Floor"; and the greatest blues on record, "Smokestack Lightnin’". Waits – the Iraq War-inspired "Hoist that Rag"; "16 Shells from a 30-ought Six"; but he scores biggest when he goes sweet and sentimental on "Time", "Ruby’s Arms" from Big Time, and "Take It with Me".

#12 – Elvis Presley
This is the voice that escapes the pain of the blues. And he can sing anything – deep blues, rockabilly, gospel, with dashes of Dean Martin and Marty Robbins. EVIDENCE: "Mystery Train"; "Love Me"; "One Night with You" (or its original "One Night of Sin"); "Take My Hand, Precious Lord"; the live "American Trilogy".

#11 – Bruce Springsteen
The reputation of Springsteen and his band is largely based on thunderous four-guitar, two-keyboard, high energy live shows that make cavernous stadiums feel like intimate theatres. Lost somewhere in the E Street shuffle is what’s developed into the most powerful voice in rock ‘n roll. His range and expressiveness have grown through the years and is now one of the most versatile, distinctly masculine voices in history. EVIDENCE: his newly discovered falsetto in "All I’m Thinkin’ About" and "Lift Me Up"; the entire Live in New York City album.

#10 – Stevie Wonder
Such a distinctive, high voice that’s somehow not a typical rhythm and blues voice. I don’t know who to compare it to. Best when wrapped around love songs. EVIDENCE: "My Cherie Amour"; "Ribbon in the Sky"; "Overjoyed". For the full 10 minute version of "Do I Do", it’s best to wear a seat belt.

#9 – Aretha Franklin
The operatic rhythm and blues singer by whom all others are measured. No one is in her class, but of contemporary singers, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige are both definitely the real deal. EVIDENCE: "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Loved You)", but especially "Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Going to Do)" – I’m a sucker for the "knock on your, knock on your, knock on your windowpane" part at the end.

#8 – Ray Charles
Like Cooke, the soul originator, the link between Nat King Cole crooning, blues singers like Lowell Fulson, and old time religion. EVIDENCE: "I Believe to My Soul"; "Mess Around"; the way Brother Ray delivers the line "I got tears all in my eyes" in "That Lucky Old Sun".

#7 – Ronald Isley
The definitive soul-funk singer if only because the Isley Brothers have a way with a ballad that James Brown doesn’t. EVIDENCE: "This Ol’ Heart of Mine"; "It’s Your Thing" is unsurpassed. For some reason, "Shout (Parts 1 & 2)" makes me want to buy laundry detergent, but there’s no denying the vocal is like a ride on the Space Shuttle.

#6 – Sam Moore
Credit has to go his late singing partner, Dave Prater, too, but Sam Moore is soul music dynamite. Soul Men Sam and Dave had the perfect blend of high and low, with grace in the middle. They were the biggest of the STAX records acts, the Dirty South counterpart to Motown polish and style. No one in rock ‘n roll who sings this high, sings this powerfully. EVIDENCE: "I Take What I Want"; "Wrap It Up"; the sneaky, rollicking tenderness of "Soothe Me"; but the best, without a doubt, is "Hold On, I’m Comin’". Do three things – 1. Seek out Sam’s soaring backing vocals on the ’92 Springsteen album Human Touch. 2. Watch Moore’s version of "When Something is Wrong with My Baby" (at the age of sixty-plus) from the ’03 concert film Only the Strong Survive. 3. Thank me.

#5 – Frank Sinatra
Even though his pipes are ten times better, Sinatra's the reason performers like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits can be great singers. He made singing a form of acting. No matter where the song is coming from or who the songwriter is, you instinctively know each recording is from the same Character. In this case, a tough but vulnerable guy subtly making you question if maybe it really is the singer and not the song. EVIDENCE: "One for My Baby"; "It Was a Very Good Year"; "Fly Me to the Moon"; Live at the Sands with Count Basie.

#4 – Al Green
Even now, he has the best falsetto in the business and he’s always got the funk of some Memphis bass, organ and horns to bounce his vocals off of. Delivers the goods however you need ‘em – down and dirty or clean and sacred, and all of it holy. I'm ready to testify. EVIDENCE: "Tired of Being Alone", "Jesus is Waiting", the whoops and hollers and the "love will make you do right, love will make you do wrong"’s in "Love and Happiness".

#3 – Mavis Staples
The sexiest song ever recorded is "Let’s Do It Again" by the Staple Singers with Curtis Mayfield. (2nd place is Gwen McCrae’s "Rockin’ Chair".) Maybe it’s the borderline profanity of sacred sounds from that deep, rich, breathy, Earth Mother voice, but this girl starts any stalled engine. As with Rev. Al, there’s got to be something to why those who keep a foot in the gospel world, also turn out the best secular music. EVIDENCE: "If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)"; "I’ll Take You There"; her latest album Have a Little Faith.

#2 – Ronnie Spector
Little Veronica’s sexy voice is somehow the yin to Mavis’ cosmic yang. Equal parts little girl innocence and street-tough worldliness. Her signature "whoa oh, WHOA oh oh oh" rings the pop music bell, it’s the rock ‘n roll call to worship. My job in retail entails listening to Christmas music all day long every December. I get through the month waiting impatiently for the 3 minutes every day when I get to hear "Sleigh Ride" by the Ronettes. Gwen Stefani owes her part of her career. EVIDENCE: "Be My Baby" is so good – it’s the "Be My Baby" of Rock ‘n Roll. "Baby, I Love You"; "Walking in the Rain".

#1 – Marvin Gaye
The best of the best. Like Elvis, he could sing anything. As with Al Green, you might just find your soul saved. There are recordings of standards that suggest he could have just as easily have been a Sinatra-style jazz singer if that’s where his muse had taken him. The most dynamic soul voice with range, shades of expression, a soulful rasp and as much sugar sweetness as you need, but more than any other popular singer, there’s a troubled darkness here, too. Sin, beauty, love and only a prayer for salvation. EVIDENCE: "Can I Get a Witness"; the Tammi Tyrell duets; "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"; "What's Going On"; the high strains and lyrical somersaults of "Trouble Man".

posted by Anonymous @ 4:14 PM