Other Female Singers

Charlie D said:
Do you have a favorite album of Barbra's?
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Yep, "Stoney End". I have others I really enjoy, but those have varied over the years. "Stoney End" is the only one I consistently enjoy. I also have the Quad version and I enjoy hearing the alternate takes and arrangements on that. The same goes for "ButterFly" which apparently Barbra has stated as being her least favourite of all her albums.
I agree with you again, that she tends to talk about her seventies pop period as almost a temporary glitch in her main output. From her standpoint I can partially understand that, but I absolutely disagree with her. I'm glad more recordings from that time have surfaced recently on the compilation "Release Me". It will be interesting to see how she describes that part of her musical career in her upcoming autobiography.
 
Timmerman said:
Yep, "Stoney End". I have others I really enjoy, but those have varied over the years. "Stoney End" is the only one I consistently enjoy. I also have the Quad version and I enjoy hearing the alternate takes and arrangements on that. The same goes for "ButterFly" which apparently Barbra has stated as being her least favourite of all her albums.
I agree with you again, that she tends to talk about her seventies pop period as almost a temporary glitch in her main output. From her standpoint I can partially understand that, but I absolutely disagree with her. I'm glad more recordings from that time have surfaced recently on the compilation "Release Me". It will be interesting to see how she describes that part of her musical career in her upcoming autobiography.
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I'm so with you on Stoney End and ButterFly, both easily in my top 5 favorites. The latter doesn't deserve the maligned reputation it gets from Barbra and other fans as it's truly a gleaming gem with a varied song list and some of her greatest singing. One of the few albums where I put on vinyl and I literally get lost and taken to an otherworldly state of bliss. And yes, Release Me is one of her best albums, even though its made up of different eras - it plays beautifully as a real, full album.

But it's in the 80s where that magic was lost for me - a part of it was her singing which had become overdone and colder and a part was the horrible datedness of the decade. One of her biggest mistakes was ever allowing the sound of the 80s creep into 'The Broadway Album', a collection that deserved to be 100% classical, old school arrangements and not spiced up with drum machines and all that crap. A classic like 'Somewhere' is butchered by the modern, space arrangement, and people thought it was a good choice. It's known as one of her best, but for me there's only two songs I love that escape all that, and its a shame because I wanted to love all of it. Emotion and Till I Loved You are just embarrassing today and have none of that past spark.

I think a big change in my mind was that her unique phrasing was lost after the early 80s - she began singing in a much more average manner and it came at the cost of the emotion and general feeling of a song. Barbra become bland, musically. That distinctiveness that made her huge and carried her to new heights in the 70s was becoming less vocally special and it's a shame. I understand that her voice does indeed sound different in all decades of her career but the conscious phrasing could have certainly been retained I believe.
 
Rumer
B SIDES & RARITIES (Planet)
★★★½

The online series-which-spawned-a-genre-name, Yacht Rock, was a semi-humorous, semi-savage fictional exploration of writers of the kind of smooth pop that used to be called soft rock, MOR or just pap. It was hilarious but it also reminded us that many of those songs were just too hard to resist, now as much as then. Across three albums, British singer Sarah Joyce, aka Rumer, has continued that re-education, using her languid, velvety and deceptively effortless voice to reanimate the genre with originals, such as the shimmying Dangerous here, frequent covers and an excellent way with Bacharach/David.

Bringing a fair touch of Karen Carpenter's warmth and ease,
she wraps you in a blanket, tucks you into bed and offers the best musical cocoa. She breathes new mellow life into It Might Be You and Christopher Cross' Sailing, aches into Randy Newman's Marie and somehow makes Brian Wilson's The Warmth of the Sun feel it could exist without him.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment...rockmelons-20160108-gm1dpb.html#ixzz3xJt1qDan
 
If you have an appreciation for jazz, I can recommend several female jazz vocalists. In my opinion, Chris Connor was perhaps the best all around jazz singer of all time. Her best stuff was on Atlantic. Anita O'Day is another great jazz singer. Like Sinatra, Anita had excellent phrasing and her lps & cds are on Verve. Blossom Dearie was an outstanding jazz singer who also recorded on Verve. She had this cute little girl voice which somehow worked well with the standards she sang. Lisa Ekdahl was a jazz singer who sings with a slight Sweedish accent, and had several nice cds of standards which were released about 15 years ago. Finally, Stacey Kent is a great jazz singer from the current era. She is really outstanding. Pick out one of her cds which has some classic songs you like and give it a try.
 
Harry said:
As for Adele - I'm afraid I'm the only human being on the planet who really cannot stand her. I hear her songs on the radio and it's an instant turn-off. But there's no denying her popularity, that's for sure.
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Harry, when I originally read your comments on Adele, I didn't quite understand. Now, I do...
I appreciated her song "Someone Like You" and never delved any deeper into her music until today. Recently, I bought her CD 25. Today I started playing some of the music --- I couldn't even get through 3 songs --- and I realize I just don't like her voice. To me, her voice is often tinny, harsh, and straining to hit the high notes. Of course, she is in the news today given the apparent technical malfunctions during her performance last night on the Grammys. I certainly don't mean to offend any of her fans here, but I wanted to let you know (however belatedly), Harry, that there are now at least 2 humans "on the planet who really cannot stand her. "
 
She's o.k. Even though this is off topic....Bruno Mars Uptown Funk reminds me of a James Brown wannabee...the song is well produced, but there's something inauthentic in the voice...almost like someone signing something they haven't lived...
 
What I'm comparing my above comment to is like when Karen Carpenter sang songs such as Goodbye to Love, or I Believe you, there is an emotional connectiveness that can be felt... I'm not feeling it with Adele, or Bruno Mars for that matter...
 
theninjarabbit said:
...The vocal feels empty to me; a presence with nothing behind it. Just my opinion. Then again, I'm incredibly partial to Ms. Carpenter.
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Hi Ninja Rabbit! I agree with your further points, with the last one nailing it! Maybe I expect more warmth and comfort in the voice of a female balladeer. And, of course, we sure have (had) that with Karen...

Nancy J. Limauro said:
...Karen Carpenter sang songs such as Goodbye to Love, or I Believe you, there is an emotional connectiveness that can be felt...
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Hi Nancy! You are absolutely right about the "emotional connectiveness." That is also what I expect and enjoy in singers. But I'm an AC guy from waaaaaaaay back!
 
I've never been one to force my opinions on anyone, but it just galls me that Adele gets such "heroic" media coverage, and that her albums sell in such incredible numbers that she'll likely have the number one album slot for the next whole year!

She surely cannot be THAT good, and I surely cannot be THAT out-of-sync with the rest of humanity, can I?

Harry
 
Harriet has become a favorite of mine. I haven't yet heard another female singer who can deliver a polished ballad ala the 70's, like she can. If you'd like to see and hear her live, there are new videos on YouTube of her singing at The St James Theatre. Search Harrietsmusic St James Theatre.
 
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why everyone thinks Adele is so great. Sure, she can hit some pretty good notes and keep them, but that's not true singing. Not like Karen's, anyway..her voice was the song, not within it.
 
Something else I loved about Karen....she had the courage to share her vulnerableness....I don't think she ever tried to be a star...she expressed her true self, and became a star because of it....sort of cleared the space for others to do the same....
 
Nancy J. Limauro said:
Something else I loved about Karen....she had the courage to share her vulnerableness....I don't think she ever tried to be a star...she expressed her true self, and became a star because of it....sort of cleared the space for others to do the same....
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Nice to see you here. I hope you're doing well.
 
:b-boogie::bud::coke::b-guitar2::b-bass::b-drums: Thanks Joe P. and everyone.....to me the A&M Era had some of the best singers and musicians.really...who could sing like Lani and Karen, who could play like Herb and Richard Carpenter...those recordings were so ahead of their time, but the work and talent clearly were showcased in those record grooves. I don't think today's technology does justice....it molds and polishes as opposed to enhancing.....
 
Harry said:
...She surely cannot be THAT good, and I surely cannot be THAT out-of-sync with the rest of humanity, can I?
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Hi Harry! We are again on the same page! But, for me, being "out-of-sync with the rest of humanity" is a sometime hobby of mine; or at the very least, I'm no stranger to being in the minority on many issues and tastes...


song4u said:
Harriet has become a favorite of mine. I haven't yet heard another female singer who can deliver a polished ballad ala the 70's, like she can...
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Hi song4u! I am also a huge fan of Harriet's! And I am so grateful I found out about her --- via this website! I am wishing only good things for her, and I hope further success awaits her. In the meantime, I am relishing her vocal stylings. Her voice is sometimes so reminiscent of Karen's, it's hard to ignore...
 
Rita Coolidge has a soothing, "effortless" voice. She is still singing and performing, and I think that is just great. Love her singing "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love". Also (going back a few decades!), Doris Day. Oh my...a beautiful, pure voice. I also think Nancy Sinatra is underrated as a vocalist. She has recorded a number of styles of music, but, of course, is most noted for "Boots"...
 
I agree...in the late 80's I had the good fortune of meeting Laura Nyro...wow...her concert at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT was probably the best 20 bucks I ever spent...
 
Hopefully not too off topic, but,
Why....oh Why,
did
Donna Summer and Richard Carpenter not record together?
She obviously was a Carpenters fan and they made NEWS when
performing Superstar together at The Hollywood Bowl Induction Ceremony.
(Subsequently, she also sang Superstar in Concert.)
 
Basia "It's That Girl Again" isn't bad either. Too bad that Borders store also had 1 or 2 bonus tracks as exclusives but Borders store is no more. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
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