Female Singers---Topic for Discussion

I have often thought of posing this question on here and since I have all this "free time" these days, why not today? Hopefully I will be able to explain myself and hopefully the topic will not stray "too far" off track.

My question is this..........If you HAD to name three female singers and it had to be three DIFFERENT ones using the following criteria, who would they be? The criteria would be: 1) Your Overall Favorite Singer Based on Your Personal Musical Tastes; 2) The Woman That You Think Has the Absolute Best Voice...In other words, who has the best pure instrument? and 3) Best Female Singer Considering Longevity, Success, Style, How She Might Be Able to Cross Genres and Seemingly Sing "Anything." In other words the gal that could sing the phone book and make it sound good although for one reason or another, she might not be your personal favorite. Remember try to choose three different ones even though I am sure we all have our favorites who we think would fit all three categories.

To get us started, my three would be:

1) Dionne Warwick: I was late getting on her bandwagon and did not become a true fan until the 1979 Dionne album. But since then she has been a "must buy everything" favorite for me, even though some of her choices have not been to my liking and her smoking has not done her any favors. But for my personal musical tastes, she has had the goods for me all these years.

2) Shirley Bassey: Just like Dionne, Shirley was well into her career before I discovered her but once I did, I was in awe of her pure vocal power. Based on what we have seen and heard of her the last few years, she still has most of that power even at age 83. If you have never listened to her "And I Love You So" album from the 70s, you are in for a treat.

and drum roll please.........

3) Nancy Wilson: Despite my choice here as Best Overall Singer, I have surprisingly little by her in my collection and if I were to rank my favorite singers, she might not even make my top 25 because I am a true soul or blues fan, whereas she was best as a jazz singer or a nightclub performer. But I am still amazed at the career she had, the way she could deliver a song, and yes, she could cross genres and even add some comedy when she wanted, such as Guess Who I Saw Today. So for pure entertainment value and that "could do it all" quality, I would have to go with her.

Thoughts?????

Well you already took one of mine in Dionne Warwick LOL! I will go with that other Wilson girl:

1) Mary Wilson - Her voice, her singing just makes me feel good.
2) Aretha Franklin - Best pure instrument. She could sing anything and there has never been another one like her and never will....EVER!
3) Gladys Knight - She has longevity, class, style and a whole lot of Soul! She is another one that can sing just about anything [[never heard her do too much Jazz though).

Each of these 3 women has sung to ME all through my life and I still love listening to their music today!

I think this list could vary on any given day, I love ALL the divas. But today it looks like this:

1. Shirley Bassey -- She is my most favorite performer of all time.
2. Whitney Houston -- the Voice. My appreciation of her extraordinary vocal gift has only grown with time.
3. Chaka Khan -- regarding longevity, I have loved her longer than anyone else. She has a cross-genre talent. Last July, I was astounded to hear her sounding nearly as good as the first time I saw her -- 40 years ago.

1. Patti LaBelle. Fits all categories to a T! Even made Luther pause in a battle, back inaday! [[award show)
And she can act [['90's sitcom) & cook [[Wal-mart line; including slamming sweet potato pie) "Patti-Patti!" Let's not forget that super- amazing jazz album of a few years ago.
2. Mariah "She's on fire" once gave Whitney a run for her money! Remember "The Prince of Egypt " soundtrack? She too can act, "The Butler".[["Glitter was an aberration) And girlfriend has an octave range Minnie Ripperton would have been proud of!
3. She's one of the most powerhouse female vocalists you never heard of!! Rachel Foxx.[[no relation to Redd or Inezz) Check her out on YT. She had a track, "Unbreakable" [[not a cover of A. Keyes) on I think was 1 album.
That is all.

1. Martha Reeves
2. Dionne Warwick
3. Patti Labelle

Attachment 17355
It's always hard to choose one singer, probably out of maybe 20,000 I've heard, and I'm sure I have recordings by over 2,000 or 3,000 different female singers.
I would have a very difficult time choosing my favourite from among Gloria Lynne, Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Barbara Green, Carmen McRae, Carolyn Crawford, Brenda Holloway, Natalie Cole, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, Lorraine Ellison, Etta Jones, Barbra Streisand, Minnie Ripperton, Jan Bradley..... It will have to be who I think of off the top of my head in my current mood. If you asked tomorrow it might be someone else.

1) Favourite Female Singer: Between Gloria Lynne and Dee Dee Warwick. Gloria wins by .00000000000000001 today. Tomorrow might be Dee Dee.

2) Best singing voice: Between [[early)Dionne, [[early)Carmen, [[early)Sarah, Brenda and Gloria. Really hard to choose. Their voices were ALL fantastic to me. Blinky Williams had a fantastic voice, too. Again, the difference is really too small to matter. I'd have to add the two Houstons, too. If I choose one over the others its not really because her voice was slightly better, but rather that I probably rate all their voices as 100 out of 100, but that I like my favourite few songs by the one I choose better than my favourite few sung by the others. I'll go with early Dionne Warwick by .0000000001 over Gloria Lynne. I'm probably forgetting a lot of my favourite singers, too.

3) Greatest career and genre crosser: totally depends upon the era. Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, and Dee Dee Warwick all crossed genres well. But Dee Dee wasn't nearly as successful. Whitney was a bigger star, but I'd choose Natalie Cole for highest quality singing in several genres.

Extra: Male best at using the voice as an instrument [[other than opera singers, and at least in the genres of music I've heard or like to hear) - I would pick Ray Pollard [[of The Wanderers and Hector Rivera's band).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robb_k

Attachment 17355
It's always hard to choose one singer, probably out of maybe 20,000 I've heard, and I'm sure I have recordings by over 2,000 or 3,000 different female singers.
I would have a very difficult time choosing my favourite from among Gloria Lynne, Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Barbara Green, Carmen McRae, Carolyn Crawford, Brenda Holloway, Natalie Cole, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, Lorraine Ellison, Etta Jones, Barbra Streisand, Minnie Ripperton, Jan Bradley..... It will have to be who I think of off the top of my head in my current mood. If you asked tomorrow it might be someone else.

1) Favourite Female Singer: Between Gloria Lynne and Dee Dee Warwick. Gloria wins by .00000000000000001 today. Tomorrow might be Dee Dee.

2) Best singing voice: Between [[early)Dionne, [[early)Carmen, [[early)Sarah, Brenda and Gloria. Really hard to choose. Their voices were ALL fantastic to me. Blinky Williams had a fantastic voice, too. Again, the difference is really too small to matter. I'd have to add the two Houstons, too. If I choose one over the others its not really because her voice was slightly better, but rather that I probably rate all their voices as 100 out of 100, but that I like my favourite few songs by the one I choose better than my favourite few sung by the others. I'll go with early Dionne Warwick by .0000000001 over Gloria Lynne. I'm probably forgetting a lot of my favourite singers, too.

3) Greatest career and genre crosser: totally depends upon the era. Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, and Dee Dee Warwick all crossed genres well. But Dee Dee wasn't nearly as successful. Whitney was a bigger star, but I'd choose Natalie Cole for highest quality singing in several genres.

Extra: Male best at using the voice as an instrument [[other than opera singers, and at least in the genres of music I've heard or like to hear) - I would pick Ray Pollard [[of The Wanderers and Hector Rivera's band).

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Natalie had a Grammy winning Spanish language album a few years ago. Check it out.

1. Diana Ross: My favorite singer. My life's soundtrack.
2. Barbra Streisand: The Voice that has awed and impressed me the most.
3. Aretha Franklin: Barbra & Diana have crossed as many genres [[if not more) and have been iconic superstars as long [[if not longer). But Aretha seems to have had the greatest respect in the music industry, among critics and peers. Her passing was a devastating loss.

1) MARY WELLS 2)Dee Dee Sharp 3)Martha Reeves

Here goes:
1)Diana Ross [the ultimate diva/entertainer]
2)[tie] Aretha Franklin/Chaka Khan [sheer powerhouses]
3) Patti Austin [has sung in virtually every genre from country to jazz to disco to rock to gospel; her supple voice graced countless jingles in the '70s and '80s; can sing anything and everything well]

Aretha-ella-patti.

Diana Ross
Barbra Streisand
Cher

Putting my toe back in the water, folks. To add what's already been said about Aretha & Chaka; Re - Re once filled in for Luciano Pavoritti with about 10 minutes notice!!! She. Tore. The. House. Down. And if memory serves, I believe she was ill too!! Whaaaaaa??!! Lucky 2012 is right, she was a "devastating loss." Now to Ms. Khan, remember her years with the band Rufus. She made THEM sound like HER backing band! And you all covered the rest. And thirdly,
I pick the great & underrated Alicia Meyers. Relisten to her cut, "Say Say Say [[extended intro)!" 'nuff said.

1. Diana Ross - Favorite singer and performer
2. Barbra Streisand - Best vocalist
3. Dionne Warwick - Love all her music.

But I could also include Gladys Knight, Donna Summer, and Natalie Cole. I also love Cher! Lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daviddesper

I have often thought of posing this question on here and since I have all this "free time" these days, why not today? Hopefully I will be able to explain myself and hopefully the topic will not stray "too far" off track.

My question is this..........If you HAD to name three female singers and it had to be three DIFFERENT ones using the following criteria, who would they be? The criteria would be: 1) Your Overall Favorite Singer Based on Your Personal Musical Tastes; 2) The Woman That You Think Has the Absolute Best Voice...In other words, who has the best pure instrument? and 3) Best Female Singer Considering Longevity, Success, Style, How She Might Be Able to Cross Genres and Seemingly Sing "Anything." In other words the gal that could sing the phone book and make it sound good although for one reason or another, she might not be your personal favorite. Remember try to choose three different ones even though I am sure we all have our favorites who we think would fit all three categories.

To get us started, my three would be:

1) Dionne Warwick: I was late getting on her bandwagon and did not become a true fan until the 1979 Dionne album. But since then she has been a "must buy everything" favorite for me, even though some of her choices have not been to my liking and her smoking has not done her any favors. But for my personal musical tastes, she has had the goods for me all these years.

2) Shirley Bassey: Just like Dionne, Shirley was well into her career before I discovered her but once I did, I was in awe of her pure vocal power. Based on what we have seen and heard of her the last few years, she still has most of that power even at age 83. If you have never listened to her "And I Love You So" album from the 70s, you are in for a treat.

and drum roll please.........

3) Nancy Wilson: Despite my choice here as Best Overall Singer, I have surprisingly little by her in my collection and if I were to rank my favorite singers, she might not even make my top 25 because I am a true soul or blues fan, whereas she was best as a jazz singer or a nightclub performer. But I am still amazed at the career she had, the way she could deliver a song, and yes, she could cross genres and even add some comedy when she wanted, such as Guess Who I Saw Today. So for pure entertainment value and that "could do it all" quality, I would have to go with her.

Thoughts?????

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1) Ella Fitzgerald
2) Ella Fitzgerald
3) Ella Fitzgerald.
Just my honest answers to the questions as posed.

If it HAS to be DIFFERENT women, then
1) Ella Fitzgerald
2) Judy Garland
3) Diana Ross

Patti. Aretha. Gladys

If I only listened to 5 or 10 singers I could easily do this but I listen to and enjoy far too many to narrow down to three and go on binges of certain ones even when they are not
my personal favorites. The best I can do here is say:
1: Ella Fitzgerald
2 & 3: Everybody else...

1) Donna Summer
2) Diana Ross
3) Gladys Knight

Patti Labelle..her live Over The Rainbow beats all
for pure RnB soul Inez Foxx
for soul from the Church Aretha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhillyKen

Patti Labelle..her live Over The Rainbow beats all
for pure RnB soul Inez Foxx
for soul from the Church Aretha

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Patti-Patti turned OTR into a whole 'nother beast! Totally unrecognizable from Judy Garland's.