Other Female Singers

Good to know...thanks Harry.

So, do you know if Judith and the Carpenters knew each other?
I just went into Judith Durham’s official website and, strangely enough, when I clicked ‘About’, the first comment, a quote from Elton John, mentioned Karen Carpenter.

“Judith Durham, like Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, possesses the purest voice in popular music. When she recorded one of my songs I was so flattered and love her version. She made the song her own – a very enviable talent.” Sir Elton John, CBE.

 
“Judith Durham, like Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, possesses the purest voice in popular music. When she recorded one of my songs I was so flattered and love her version. She made the song her own – a very enviable talent.” Sir Elton John, CBE.


Part of that quote is used on the cover of her authorised biography. Great read!

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Turns out Judith Durham did record at A&M in Los Angeles. This, from her official website:-

Judith recorded her first solo album “For Christmas With Love” in Hollywood, headlined her own concert tours in New Zealand and Australia, and was in big demand as a star in concert tours and nightclubs back in the UK. She signed with A&M Records and recorded two beautiful orchestral albums in L.A. and London – “Gift Of Song” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” – becoming Mrs. Ron Edgeworth in 1969.
 
I just went into Judith Durham’s official website and, strangely enough, when I clicked ‘About’, the first comment, a quote from Elton John, mentioned Karen Carpenter.

“Judith Durham, like Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, possesses the purest voice in popular music. When she recorded one of my songs I was so flattered and love her version. She made the song her own – a very enviable talent.” Sir Elton John, CBE.

My bolding in the quote...

I have the intention here of really getting to know Eva Cassidy - I am very late to this forum, this thread, and this marvelously talented singer - all I can say is that Elton knows his songs and his singers - what a incredible joy listening to her! And the comments by Mick Fleetwood are loving and highly respectful...thanks much Another Son!








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td5mG_4xp14&t=4s
 
Yvonne got a lot of airplay for her two songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, in which she also starred, and then with the song Love Me, my personal favorite of hers. The latter was followed by Hello Stranger and then If I Can't Have You from Saturday Night Fever. This was a Number 1 single. A few more singles followed but did not get much airplay in this market.

I meant to post this earlier for those of you who like/love Yvonne’s voice as much as I do. I only found out about this around six months ago when I went searching to find out what she’s doing now. What a sad, sad way for her to end up, she could have had a marvellous career beyond the early hits.

 
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My bolding in the quote...

I have the intention here of really getting to know Eva Cassidy - I am very late to this forum, this thread, and this marvelously talented singer - all I can say is that Elton knows his songs and his singers - what a incredible joy listening to her! And the comments by Mick Fleetwood are loving and highly respectful...thanks much Another Son!
Eva Cassidy's version of Autumn Leaves is really beautiful too:

 
My favorite cut by her is the Joe Simon remake of “Drowning In The Sea of Love”A very sexy and bluesy version of the song.
 
I do have a cd of The Seekers and Judith Durham is the forefront. A couple of other women in groups of that time period are Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang and Kerrilee Male of a group called Eclection. Both had great voices but Kerrilee disappeared after Eclection's one album on Elektra. Spanky had a good career as a singles artist with her group. One additional is Patti Santos of "It's A Beautiful Day" who should have had a good career.
 
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My favorite cut by her is the Joe Simon remake of “Drowning In The Sea of Love”A very sexy and bluesy version of the song.
Checked this out - another great tune & rendition...

Note: there's an hour long documentary about her on YT called "Eva Cassidy - Timeless Voice"...
 
Some of us here are also ONJ fans. This is a nice surprise. Wish Karen was (still) here; maybe she could be doing a duet with her daughter.......or niece!

 
Nice song and video...

There are so many "what might have beens" for the Carpenters, especially with Karen - singing with her daughter(s) and/or son(s) is a fascinating prospect to contemplate - I'm having visions of The Von Trapp Family Singers from "The Sound of Music" - but singing with a mom with the golden "voice of an angel" might have been a daunting experience for the offsprings - I'm sure she would have found a way to lovingly accommodate their fears of being "overshadowed"...great thought though!
 
Here’s another woman who, like Karen Carpenter, uses a lower vocal register - Tanita Tikaram - although her voice is very different from Karen’s.

This was produced by the great Rod Argent, from the brilliant British band, The Zombies.

For me, the video seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with what I imagine the song to be about.

Tanita Tikaram, in my opinion, is a bit patchy as a vocalist and songwriter. Some of her compositions are really good and some not as impressive. Some of her performances are great and some not as good. Generally, though, I like her stuff.

 
It may have been interesting if Karen had been able to, or felt able to, express herself through writing her own songs. I guess she didn’t need to, because she had the work of top songwriters to choose from and was seen as an interpreter of other people’s work.

A problem would have been having the work of a beginning songwriter, as she would have been, alongside the work of arguably some of the world’s leading songwriters.

Maire Brennan recorded for twenty years with her family band before feeling able to release her own compositions. Below is the first single that she co-wrote, followed by a song she wrote by herself.

Although she sometimes falls to cliche in her lyrics, you can hear that some of her songs express who she is - from memory, she also co-produced and co-arranged the first one and would have had a hand in arranging the second one - as well as expressing what she wants to say about the world.




 
I don't know anything about Jacqui Hamilton, except she's awfully good to look at - and listen to - a lovely alto in the tradition of someone we all know and love so well - here's her version of a great old Boz Scaggs' hit, and another beautiful song most of you will be very familiar with - enjoy!



 
Funny - I was thinking the same thing...
I think Karen would have done a good job but I do not think it would have topped Rita Coolidge. it still amazes me that the album Satisfied feel so far short of the sales of Anytime,Anywhere and Love Me Again. What happened to the buyers of those two when Satisfied was released? That was a spectacular album.
 
Here’s another woman who, like Karen Carpenter, uses a lower vocal register - Tanita Tikaram - although her voice is very different from Karen’s.

Absolutely love Tanita Tikaram! Although her vocal range is limited, she’s got a very entrancing voice which perfectly complements the dark, moody arrangements of her songs.

 
I think Karen would have done a good job but I do not think it would have topped Rita Coolidge. it still amazes me that the album Satisfied feel so far short of the sales of Anytime,Anywhere and Love Me Again. What happened to the buyers of those two when Satisfied was released? That was a spectacular album.
Here's Rita's version - nicely sung but with too much reverb (or something) for my taste...




and here's Boz himself in concert - it's been a while & I almost forgot how entertaining he was and what a great band he had...





What a great song - if only Karen had recorded this - it would have been amazing!
 
Female singers I listen a lot to are Diana Ross, Anita O'Day, Cindy Lauper, Tina Turner, ONJ, Liza Minnelli, Mina, Carly Simon, Maria Bethania, Astrud Gilberto and Annie Lennox.
 
A mention of British jazz artist Clare Teal. Beautiful voice, very much her own sound and sometimes reminiscent of Karen ...
 
While watching the videos from a Boz Scaggs concert in 2004 (I think in San Francisco) I came across this song called MISS SUN that features a red hot, back & forth duet between Boz and one of his girl backup singers (so it is sort of an "Other Female Singer" thing) - don't know her name but I thought everyone here would greatly enjoy this - in fact, the entire concert is great - the Bozman and his band of pros & lovely, talented ladies really rock! The duet part starts around the 3:35 mark.

 
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