Other Female Singers

As a casual listener from way back, I have learned a lot on this forum about the music of the Carpenters; Karen being it's heart and soul. So I was wondering . . .
Since Karen's passing, are there other female singers whose style you appreciate and tend to listen to? They don't necessarily need to compare to her sound or style (who could, really). I am open to suggestions of different singers to listen to and thought since we all already have a love for Karen's voice in common, we could offer suggestions for further listening.

I am a HUGE Basia fan, from the beginning of her international career in the 80's. I also like other artists who really make you listen to the lyrics, like Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, and Heart's Nancy Wilson.

Who do you listen to? :whistle:
I listened to The Carpenters albums all the time, and went to a lot of their concerts because we had a family connection . I never met them, but was so devastated when Karen passed away, that I literally have just started listening to them again last year. Karen had a very unique voice, and one that made her sound older than her years, plus I think she had an "old soul"...she was quite young , but Rainy Days and Mondays seems sung with a lifetime of experience behind it...my favorite of theirs.

Because of this, I have had to find other voices. I always loved her music, but I actually didn't know she started singing again after a break in the 90s; this year I re-discovered Melissa Manchester, and I just adore her! She is re-recording her hits on a project called Re:View which has been rolling out as singles, but will be a CD when it is done, and the arrangements and vocals are gorgeous. She put out videos with the singles, and Midnight Blue is a musical conversation with her younger self...the other videos are kind of relating the songs to the time we have been going through. Fire in the Morning (wonderful) was included as a gift to fans who loved it. I really prefer the ladies to be a bit older, because as they age their lower register gets richer, sometimes they drop the key of the song as well. But MM is a singer with a lot of different sounds, and a lot of different musical interests. She is the exception to that lower voice thing on her first single that never got put on an album...I just love her version of Never Never Land...I immediately thought Norah Jones , before there was a Norah Jones! But the vocal colors on that song are amazing! So if you haven't listened to her since the 70s, you would be surprised at what she has been up to...more pop albums, writing theatre musical scores, and a choral suite that is almost done, and still performing. In October she will be formally inducted into The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame for New Standards. If you like that kind of music, check out her albums Tribute (the ladies) and The Fellas.

I have also been super-fan of Linda Eder since she blew the competition away on Star Search back in the 80s. Not a household name, but she should own a bucketload of Grammy's for talent. After Star Search she went to Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde, has recorded 18 albums, sings mostly standards and Broadway, but is great at pop and country-pop, and fabulous at swing. Judy Garland was her inspiration to sing, she doesn't mimic sound like Judy, but has a tribute album, and is currently singing that as it is Judy's Centennial year. My favorite album is It's Time...and it is a vocal Master Class! (she does those and teaches Skype lessons). Check out Man of La Mancha for a show stopper, Vienna for one of the most romantic songs, Bring Him Home, As If We Never Said Goodbye...her album If You See Me is one of her latest and one of the very best! The only reason that you have not heard of her, is that she is a "Reluctant Diva" Minnesota farm girl, who got nervous with too much fame, and prefers to live a more simple life riding horses, and driving into NY to perform, she does concerts around the country (which are often BETTER than the recordings...the real deal).

Ann Hampton Callaway is also a Diva who I have come to know this year...primarily known as a jazz singer. But she is a singer /songwriter with a gift for melody and a love of lyrics. She travels around the country singing songs from The Great American Songbook, and Divas that she loves shows. I love her renditions of melissa Manchester's Come In From The Rain...gorgeous! She also performs with her Broadway sister, Liz Callaway.
 
this year I re-discovered Melissa Manchester, and I just adore her! She is re-recording her hits on a project called Re:View which has been rolling out as singles, but will be a CD when it is done, and the arrangements and vocals are gorgeous. She put out videos with the singles, and Midnight Blue is a musical conversation with her younger self...the other videos are kind of relating the songs to the time we have been going through. Fire in the Morning (wonderful) was included as a gift to fans who loved it. I really prefer the ladies to be a bit older, because as they age their lower register gets richer, sometimes they drop the key of the song as well. But MM is a singer with a lot of different sounds, and a lot of different musical interests. She is the exception to that lower voice thing on her first single that never got put on an album...I just love her version of Never Never Land...I immediately thought Norah Jones , before there was a Norah Jones! But the vocal colors on that song are amazing! So if you haven't listened to her since the 70s, you would be surprised at what she has been up to...more pop albums, writing theatre musical scores, and a choral suite that is almost done, and still performing. In October she will be formally inducted into The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame for New Standards. If you like that kind of music, check out her albums Tribute (the ladies) and The Fellas.

I have also been super-fan of Linda Eder since she blew the competition away on Star Search back in the 80s. Not a household name, but she should own a bucketload of Grammy's for talent. After Star Search she went to Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde, has recorded 18 albums, sings mostly standards and Broadway, but is great at pop and country-pop, and fabulous at swing. Judy Garland was her inspiration to sing, she doesn't mimic sound like Judy, but has a tribute album, and is currently singing that as it is Judy's Centennial year. My favorite album is It's Time...and it is a vocal Master Class! (she does those and teaches Skype lessons). Check out Man of La Mancha for a show stopper, Vienna for one of the most romantic songs, Bring Him Home, As If We Never Said Goodbye...her album If You See Me is one of her latest and one of the very best! The only reason that you have not heard of her, is that she is a "Reluctant Diva" Minnesota farm girl, who got nervous with too much fame, and prefers to live a more simple life riding horses, and driving into NY to perform, she does concerts around the country (which are often BETTER than the recordings...the real deal).

Ann Hampton Callaway is also a Diva who I have come to know this year...primarily known as a jazz singer. But she is a singer /songwriter with a gift for melody and a love of lyrics. She travels around the country singing songs from The Great American Songbook, and Divas that she loves shows. I love her renditions of melissa Manchester's Come In From The Rain...gorgeous! She also performs with her Broadway sister, Liz Callaway.
I have a number of Melissa Manchester CDs.

Two songs of hers that have always grabbed me are 'Midnight Blue', which you mention, Janna, and 'Just Too Many People'.

Back in 1981, I had Charlie Dore's version of 'You Should Hear How She Talks About You' on single and liked it. It wasn't a hit. I remember that when Melissa Manchester's version came out a while after and quickly became a smash, I was a bit disappointed. By now, I think I've got over Charlie Dore and can't really see why I liked her version so much - but I do still quite like 'Pilot of the Airwaves' and, maybe, a couple of her other songs.

A Melissa Manchester LP that I liked quite a bit a lot of years ago was her album, 'Tribute'.
 
Lisa Kelly's lovely version of Scottish singer songwriter Dougie MacLean's beautful tribute to his homeland ("Caledonia" is the old name for Scotland)...only a man who has spent far too much time on the road in other countries could write a passionate love song like this...


 
Beverley Craven "I Miss You" (from 1999 "Mixed Emotions") (audio only) For those who like Karla Bonoff, Beth Nielsen Chapman or Vonda Shepard.

Funny, I was about to show Beverley as well, so I'm gonna do it anyway :wink:
This one (probably my favorite Beverly Craven song so far) shows that sometimes an electric piano without any other rhythm instruments is enough to make a song funky (well, kind of). The Fender Rhodes gives it a nice 1970s feel, nice background harmonies too...
 
Might as well go for three in a row. I nearly went for Beverley Craven's cover of Abba's The Winner Takes It All (complete with electric guitar solo) but opted for the Challenge Anneka recording instead: 'Hush Little Baby'
 
Might as well go for three in a row. I nearly went for Beverley Craven's cover of Abba's The Winner Takes It All (complete with electric guitar solo) but opted for the Challenge Anneka recording instead: 'Hush Little Baby'

What a sweet and calming version that is, thanks for that, just what I needed right now :righton:
I'm not familiar with Challenge Anneka, but it did remind me of this (near-) namesake (you may have heard of her :wink:)
 
Nicely put together cover - no, the lead singer is not Karen (no one ever is) but she does a good job and is enjoying herself - as is everyone else here...


 
Just joined. As my username suggests....I have 3 favorite singers. Very favorite singers. They are Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield and the Carpenters. I have all the records that were officially releases by these artists. Plus some songs that came from their TV appearances.

Here are some other singers that I like that I don't think I saw mentioned in this thread.

Vikki Carr, Debby Boone, Maureen McGovern, Liza Minnelli, Karen Wyman, Gloria Loring, Beverly Bremers, Diane Renay, Bobbi Martin, Julie Budd, Connie Stevens, Andrea Carroll and Lulu

Plus I like many others that I know have been mentioned...like Barbara Streisand, Anne Murray, Melissa Manchester, Susan Jacks and Helen Reddy.

And I'm sure that there are more than a few that I have forgotten about but will remember once I hit send.

It's true. I like the female singers more than the men. But there still are some male singers that I like too!

I've been collecting Lesley and Dusty's records since 1964. And the Carpenters since 1969. I liked Lesley in 1963, but I didn't know you could buy the songs you heard on the radio. But once I found out I sincerely made up for it.

I've been quietly reading the forums for a while, and I finally thought I would join!
 
Nicely put together cover - no, the lead singer is not Karen (no one ever is) but she does a good job and is enjoying herself - as is everyone else here...




My main issue is the mixing; it's pretty bad. It sounds like whoever did it just threw up the faders. There's far too many holes in it sonically. The background vocals might be good if they were properly placed in the mix. Ditto with virtually everything else. I'm also not a fan of the singer "laying back" like she did. The isn't that kind of song and she got behind the beat quite often.

I'd love to hear this with a proper mix. It would likely be a lot better.

Ed
 
Just joined. As my username suggests....I have 3 favorite singers. Very favorite singers. They are Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield and the Carpenters. I have all the records that were officially releases by these artists. Plus some songs that came from their TV appearances.

Here are some other singers that I like that I don't think I saw mentioned in this thread.

Vikki Carr, Debby Boone, Maureen McGovern, Liza Minnelli, Karen Wyman, Gloria Loring, Beverly Bremers, Diane Renay, Bobbi Martin, Julie Budd, Connie Stevens, Andrea Carroll and Lulu

Plus I like many others that I know have been mentioned...like Barbara Streisand, Anne Murray, Melissa Manchester, Susan Jacks and Helen Reddy.

And I'm sure that there are more than a few that I have forgotten about but will remember once I hit send.

It's true. I like the female singers more than the men. But there still are some male singers that I like too!

I've been collecting Lesley and Dusty's records since 1964. And the Carpenters since 1969. I liked Lesley in 1963, but I didn't know you could buy the songs you heard on the radio. But once I found out I sincerely made up for it.

I've been quietly reading the forums for a while, and I finally thought I would join!
I guess you must’ve like Dusty & Richard joining forces in 1987 for Something In Your Eyes from Richard’s Time album?
 
Listening to the above clip--Laura Branigan performing Love Making Love To You---
really brings home to me, and doubly reinforces,
how Karen Carpenter's voice was supremely awesome !
 
Yes, I did like Something In Your Eyes. If Karen has lived, she would have done it and I would have liked it and there would be no further thought than that. But alas, that isn't what happened. When I heard Dusty was going to be a guest on Richard's first solo album, I was beyond excited. You know the song actually got good reviews at the time. I remember reading...in Billboard I think...that Richard had three guest vocalists on his new album. Scott Grimes was a promising new-comer. Dionne Warwicke gave her usual fine reading. But the real standout here was Dusty Springfield. Let me tell you, I was delighted to read that!

And Dusty should have been given credit on the single. I mean, seriously, she sang the entire lead vocal. When she did the guest vocal on the Pet Shop Boys' song "What Have I Done to Deserve this?" she was given credit on the label. And not only that, the picture sleeve for the 45 had a full head shot of Dusty filling most of the page, with a small inset of the Pet Shop Boys on motorcycles in the lower left corner.

But like I said I like all 3 Favorite singers equally well. I wouldn't have missed a single release. And I didn't have to hear it first to know that I wanted to buy it. When I saw something new, I grabbed it up. I went to the record shops every week to check. We had a local store downtown that was truly great. The owner knew who I liked and every time I walked in, if he had heard of something new, he would pull out BillBoard, or the new release catalogue, or the advance release sheets and show them to me and tell me that all he could think about was me. But the store is gone now, you don't find that kind of service anymore.
 
By the way, I tried to quote your post, but I guess I don't know how to do it. I clicked on the +quote link, but nothing seemed to happen.
 
The (+quote) is for picking multiple quotes, usually from different posts above so that you can answer them one-by-one in just one post. Be sure to click the "insert qutoes" that appears at the bottom.
The small [<-Reply] next to it will quote that whole post.
 
Yes, I did like Something In Your Eyes. If Karen has lived, she would have done it and I would have liked it and there would be no further thought than that. But alas, that isn't what happened. When I heard Dusty was going to be a guest on Richard's first solo album, I was beyond excited. You know the song actually got good reviews at the time. I remember reading...in Billboard I think...that Richard had three guest vocalists on his new album. Scott Grimes was a promising new-comer. Dionne Warwicke gave her usual fine reading. But the real standout here was Dusty Springfield. Let me tell you, I was delighted to read that!

And Dusty should have been given credit on the single. I mean, seriously, she sang the entire lead vocal. When she did the guest vocal on the Pet Shop Boys' song "What Have I Done to Deserve this?" she was given credit on the label. And not only that, the picture sleeve for the 45 had a full head shot of Dusty filling most of the page, with a small inset of the Pet Shop Boys on motorcycles in the lower left corner.

But like I said I like all 3 Favorite singers equally well. I wouldn't have missed a single release. And I didn't have to hear it first to know that I wanted to buy it. When I saw something new, I grabbed it up. I went to the record shops every week to check. We had a local store downtown that was truly great. The owner knew who I liked and every time I walked in, if he had heard of something new, he would pull out BillBoard, or the new release catalogue, or the advance release sheets and show them to me and tell me that all he could think about was me. But the store is gone now, you don't find that kind of service anymore.
Something In Your Eyes got a tremendous amount of airplay on a couple of local stations back when it was released. I found Richard's album at a store a few years before Dusty's Anthology was released and I was hoping that Eyes would be on that set but it was not. What Have I Done to Deserve This gets airplay here every now and then but I never heard it on its initial release.
 
I heard Something on the radio as well back then. What Have I Done to Deserve This did reach Number 2 on Billboard and in England.
 
We played "Something In Your Eyes" on the Philly radio station I worked for, but not too many times, and not for very long.
 
It's a superior musical conception, just simply a beautiful song - one of Richard's best compositions - along with "I Need To Be In Love" in a category of their own - but that gem had lyrics by John Bettis, and I wonder if he could have improved the already stellar lyrics of "Something..." in any way to any extent? Possible, but doubtful...
 
From the "Live at Daryl's House" series of in-house jam sessions - where at lot of big time players show up - here's Diane Birch...
(yes, Daryl is Daryl Hall of Hall and Oats)




 
First post!
Contrary to the first few responses I read here, I tend to listener to a lot of male artists. Outside of that, the only other female vocalists whose voices that have caught my attention are Amy Lee (Evanescence), Joan Baez, Tatiana from Jinger, and a smattering of musical actresses though I don’t think quite belongs in this thread.

Karen in my opinion, and like a lot of other people have said, sounds like a voice that sings specifically to you. It’s very personal, and in turn the lyrics provoke a more emotional response. Not to mention she has an angelic quality to her that enhances it. To me, Amy Lee is more of the ‘angelic’ quality that i see in Karen. Even in the harder rock songs of Evanescence, she stands out and really makes me appreciate it as more than just a hard rock song yknow? Immediately snaps my attention and I listen intently to every word she sings, kinda like Karen. Joan Baez kind of lacks that angelic quality so instead, she really has the quality from Karen where it sounds personal. Though I think folk songs just tend to have that vibe and make you feel that kind of way. Tatiana is definitely like, a unique voice in the way Karen’s was haha.

Aside from these three and the few musical actresses I like (and Karen ofc), a lot of female vocalists seem to sound the same to me so I tend not to listen to them haha.
 
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