Other MALE Singers

[JohnFB]

We have the "Other Female Singers" thread, most of which is unrelated to Carpenters (although inspired indirectly by Karen), so why not an "Other Male Singers" thread (inspired indirectly by Richard)?

As the first entry I offer David Gates with Bread...

 

[Shalom Bresticker]

After Carpenters, Bread was my favorite group, though they were a far second to Carpenters.
That was considering everything together, i.e.., not just the singing, but also the lyrics, the arrangements, etc.

 

[Mark-T]

Love their sound- and Gates has a beautiful voice.

 

[JohnFB]

After Carpenters, Bread was my favorite group, though they were a far second to Carpenters.
That was considering everything together, i.e.., not just the singing, but also the lyrics, the arrangements, etc.

Love their sound- and Gates has a beautiful voice.

If I recall correctly Karen mentioned liking his voice, maybe on more than one occasion...

 

[JohnFB]

I recently saw an old interview with David Gates in which he said that the lyrics of the song "Everything I Own" have a deliberate double meaning: 1st, and most obviously, serving as a sad love song by a man who has lost the woman he loves and would do anything to have her back again; and 2nd, serving as a testimonial to the father he loved dearly, but lost...few know this 2nd meaning which to David was the most important by far...

 

[Chris]

David Gates and Bread was a big favorite of mine as well. Such a calming, and touching voice. Great topic, John.
Another male singer that has meant a lot to me is Engelbert Humperdinck. It was nice to read in an interview from recent years that his favorite female singer is Karen Carpenter. So besides having a smooth, phenomenal voice, he's got great taste as well.

 

[newvillefan]

Can’t think of a single male artist inspired - directly or indirectly - by Richard as a singer (which is the title of the thread) given that he was mainly a backing singer. But in terms of overall sound, yeah a few. I’ve always loved ‘I’m Not In Love’ by 10CC. Nice harmony wall of sound. This live version is a beauty.

 

[JohnFB]

...
Another male singer that has meant a lot to me is Engelbert Humperdinck. It was nice to read in an interview from recent years that his favorite female singer is Karen Carpenter. So besides having a smooth, phenomenal voice, he's got great taste as well...

Good choice Chris - haven't heard that in a long time...and here's another great Englebert tune...

 

[Jack A.]

I’ve always thought Brad Delp from Boston was a criminally underrated singer. His pitch was spot on, and he had an interesting tone. If you see his isolated vocals, you’ll see that they are all double tracked, meaning he was able to sing both tracks so closely that they sound like one track - and how high he’s able to go - good heavens…

Take “More Than a Feeling” for instance.

 

[Mark-T]

Such an iconic song!

 

[ullalume]

Harry Nilsson was great.

 

[JohnFB]

Can’t think of a single male artist inspired - directly or indirectly - by Richard as a singer (which is the title of the thread) given that he was mainly a backing singer.

I can't either, but there has to be someone somewhere, doesn't there?

Actually, I just used the Richard analogy to the Karen-related thread to get a tenuous connection to the Carpenters for this thread so Harry wouldn't bump it over to the general Music Forum...

Here's another Karen & Richard favorite...

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I’ve always thought Brad Delp from Boston was a criminally underrated singer. His pitch was spot on, and he had an interesting tone. If you see his isolated vocals, you’ll see that they are all double tracked, meaning he was able to sing both tracks so closely that they sound like one track - and how high he’s able to go - good heavens…

Take “More Than a Feeling” for instance.

The humor of seeing John like a song with an entirely-doubled vocal...LOL!!!!

Ed

 

[JohnFB]

The humor of seeing John like a song with an entirely-doubled vocal...LOL!!!!

Ed

Nice try Ed, but (as they say) no cigar - as you surely know there are several reasons to like a song/recording other than the technique used to record the vocal - for instance, the arrangement, the instrumentation, the lyrics, the memories one has associated with the song, the emotions conjured up by the melody/lyrics combination, etc. - and there are many songs over the years that I've generally liked where the vocal was unfortunately (and often unnecessarily) double-tracked - would I have liked them more without that technique? Probably, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying them to one extent or another. It's only with Karen's incomparable voice where this becomes a serious issue with me because it results in an artificial, distorted sound that is not that beautiful natural voice. Why this isn't an issue for others who claim to love her voice is an ongoing mystery to me.

The other reason for giving Jack A. a "Like" was to encourage him to participate more in this thread - which I also offer to you.

 

[Jack A.]

The other reason for giving Jack A. a "Like" was to encourage him to participate more in this thread - which I also offer to you.

And thank you for that.

 

[newvillefan]

It's only with Karen's incomparable voice where this becomes a serious issue with me because it results in an artificial, distorted sound that is not that beautiful natural voice. Why this isn't an issue for others who claim to love her voice is an ongoing mystery to me.

I have to say, I’m on your side when it comes to the double tracking thing, and it’s always the songs where she’s singing softly where it comes off worst. Tracks like ‘Love Me For What I Am’ and ‘There’s A Kind Of Hush’ are cases in point. I never got the point of double tracking a softly sung vocal and it really doesn’t suit Karen’s voice. I would love to hear ‘Love Me For What I Am’ without the second vocal in the choruses. That said, Karen is also double tracked on ‘Postman’ and ‘I Won’t Last A Day Without You’ but they sound ok because she’s “singing out” with her chest voice, so the overall sound is stronger.

 

[JohnFB]

... I never got the point of double tracking a softly sung vocal and it really doesn’t suit Karen’s voice. I would love to hear ‘Love Me For What I Am’ without the second vocal in the choruses. That said, Karen is also double tracked on ‘Postman’ and ‘I Won’t Last A Day Without You’ but they sound ok because she’s “singing out” with her chest voice, so the overall sound is stronger.

Not to belabor this point much further, let me say that I agree with you on LMFWIA but disagree on IWLADWY. This song - IWLADWY - could have been one of their best if she hadn't double-tracked the choruses - even stranger is that she does this on the first 3 lines but not the 4th - this song is right at the top of my list of ones I'd love to hear without double-tracking.

Now, here's another great song/singer in a live performance (check out the hot interaction between Boz and one of his backup singers at the end)...

 

[Harry]

Sorry, Boz Scaggs always sounded like Kermit T. Frog to me. But that's just me.

 

[newvillefan]

That’s so funny - never heard him sing before but with a name like Boz Scaggs I always imagined he’d have a voice more like Joe Cocker.

 

[JohnFB]

Richard Marx did a really nice job with this - I can't even imagine how beautiful it would have been in the hands of R & K...

 

[KNP1701C!]

Roch Voisine... French/Canadian singer that brought us the song "I'll Always Be There" is one of my favorite male vocalists.. One of those songs that I think that Karen could have worked her magic with...

 

[AM Matt]

The Raspberries (Featuring Eric Carmen) "Waiting" (from their 1972 debut album)

 

[Chris]

The great Al Jarreau. I always thought this song would have suited the Carpenters as well.

 

[JohnFB]

The great Al Jarreau. I always thought this song would have suited the Carpenters...

Yes, exactly! Great song - always liked Al...

 

[Mark-T]

His version of Teach Me Tonight is wonderful.