And the septer goes to...?

[arrr&bee]

Ma rainey..bessie smith..billie holiday..dinah washington..aretha..whitney houston...you all know where i'm going with this and it's been discussed before these ladies are the queens down through the years and yes aretha is still ruling but one day the crown will have to be passed but to whom??

[Kamasu_Jr]

What scepter?

[arrr&bee]

The scepter that's passed to the next queen of soul music,or will the throne sit vacant after aretha?

[Soul Sister]

The septer & crown stays with Dinah for the blues, and Aretha for soul music. There is no one around today that deserves that title.
6967


S.S.
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[JIVE FIVE Mary G.]

I know others will disagree, but I prefer Gladys Kinght and Linda Jones to Aretha.

I also love Etta James and she would never be left off my list of top female vocalists.

I agree there is no one out there currently to pass the scepter to. There are some who are contenders, but don't meet the mark: Joan Osborne, Mary J. Blige [[I couldn't stand her singing off key in the beginning, but I think she's come a long way and is better now.), Mariah Carey, Joss Stone & Leela James are good singers, but great like those listed above in this thread?? No, not IMHO.

~~Mary~~

[Kamasu_Jr]

I agree with Soul Sister. Hopefully, we will be done with that "queen" stuff.

[Soul Sister]

Yep, Kamasu.

Mary, this was not about who "we like" to have as past queens... those I mentioned were crowned those queen titles in their era's and still hold them [[Dinah & Aretha in said catagories).
This was about who to pass them onto but "no one" can hold a candle today, so there is no one to pass them onto among today's artists.

S.S.
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[daddyacey]

"Ma Rainey..Bessie Smith..Billie Holiday..Dinah Washington"

Those ladies sang everyday. No big tours to promote albums ,they worked to live, at clubs and shows almost daily ,yet recorded classic performances, no tracks to fall back on and lip sync in case the weather or your voice was tired. No multi track fix in the mix technology, just straight up "sangin" ,and yet 60 years later they still are the measure of excellence to artfully acheive.

Aretha ,has the voice and the genius of her piano playing. Her voice is much like Dinah's in intensity and the clear diction that Dinah has.
Patrice Rushen ,Valerie Simpson have the same musical superior level but Aretha has that voice.
I don't think of it as the "Passing a Scepter" but more like one earning the distinction of mastering ones instrument and unique style ,to be where you could truly be mentioned in "a class" with the above named women.
That's truly , not no press release or promo talk. When they hear you people should say,"Oh that's so &so".
For example, a few days ago the porter in my building was playing a small radio. As soon as I heard it I realised it was Billie and before I realised it ,I had said "that's Billie" ,and we wound up talking about music. Point is Billie's voice and delivery is so unique to her ,that just to hear it ,you know it's her.
Queens are the ones that others are compared to.
Toni Braxton's and Anita Baker's deep voice is compared to Sarah.
Erica Badu to Billies
Mariah to Minnie
Today ,first of all the material and recording process are major elements in the way artists are presented today. In a large field of ladies today to choose from ,very few would be as good live as in the studio. Even less are the women that play and write.
There are and have been so many artists out there that are truly talented yet don't get the exposure because of the market. It's hard to tell the BS from the good stuff. As a result some really good singers are relying on word of mouth promotion and independent projects. Crowns and sceptre's don't mean the same thing today.

[Soul Sister]

I just don't think today's artist's can hold a candle to yesterday's artists.

Maybe Whitney in the 1980's perticularly her first album, plus the Bodyguard album about ten years later. That's it in the female catagory.

Sorry, no one today can compare with the greats from the 40's, 50's, & 60's. Not on record, and certainly NOT live!!!

S.S.
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[daddyacey]

"I just don't think today's artist's can hold a candle to yesterday's artists.

Maybe Whitney in the 1980's perticularly her first album, plus the Bodyguard album about ten years later. That's it in the female catagory."

That's why most older people tend to think that way. With the history of true unique styles and voices over the last 50 years , you have to come correct.

The past 30 years or so we have had Stephanie ,Phyllis ,Neicey, Whitney ,Chaka ,Minnie ,Patti ,Flack, Bofill and a few others. I only mentioned one name cause ...you know who they are just by one name , what they sound like ,the quality of mastery of their instrument , the voice. That's what makes them worthy to be thought of as Queen's or in the class of a Queen.
The subject of this thread was who should be the next Queen Of Soul Music.
Where the hell is Soul Music today? "The market" has changed the perception of "Soul" to mean older recordings from 1969 back. 1970 forward you have Funk and R&B. After the so called Disco Era ,the emergence of Hip-Hop and New Jack Swing , you never heard of new true Soul or Funk music again. They lumped it all into what they now call "R&B" , but it's really designed to "cross over"......also known as Pop--- [[as in popular ,sales ,downloads.) There is really not a Soul Queendom left.

[Soul Sister]

Exactly, daddyacey! :p Your last paragraph that is.


S.S.
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[arrr&bee]

Maybe i don't listen to enough of today's music,but from what i do hear maybe[jennifer hudson]has the power of voice to be the next queen,but will she be consistant with good material and a strong record company behind her,yes i know that in today's musical world many opportunities are open for a successful diva..movies,tv..ect..and that's cool but i'm just old school about the music[as many here are]so my question remains...!

[Soul Sister]

I agree with you, R&B. Also Jennifer Hudson has a great voice amongst today's crop, probably the best voice.

S.S.
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