Karen Carpenter - such a clear sweet voice. How she sang so beautifully being so anorexic (at 47kgs), he voice never faltered. So sad she passed too early.
List of artists that have never lost quality throughout entire career
One of the brightest on my list is
1. Depeche Mode. I'm big fan started listening and enjoying them from their very first album "Speak and Spell". I am devoted to their perfection of every song they create in terms of sound, melody, harmony and incredible intelligence. Their music may seem simple, but in reality much more complex than seems. I believe that they're somewhat commercialized, but also believe that they deserve their incredible success. They're indeed Kings of electronic rock!
2. Can (The Can). Every album they released is a journey to their creativity. What are they rock? Jazz? Prog? Their music often can cover all styles of music in one song. It's a blend of jazz-trained drummer Jaki Libezeit, classically trained keyboardist Irmin Schmidt(also conductor and neo-classical composer and film score composer), multi-instrumentalist bassist Holger Czukai and classically trained guitarist and electric violinist Michael Caroli (RIP). It's a unique blend of musicians with extraordinary skills and creativity
3. Dead Can Dance. This artist has plenty of praises and each and every of their album is a unique blend of electronics and earth bound instruments. Lisa Gerrard is known to be a part of Gladiator Motion Picture Soundtrack.
4. Tom Waits. Many would criticize Tom for not singing his own voice, but I'm amused the way he does it with spirit of Louis Armstrong! Yes indeed with spirit instead of just imitating. Embracing the spirit of inspired artist is different and Tom is clear example to that!
1. Depeche Mode. I'm big fan started listening and enjoying them from their very first album "Speak and Spell". I am devoted to their perfection of every song they create in terms of sound, melody, harmony and incredible intelligence. Their music may seem simple, but in reality much more complex than seems. I believe that they're somewhat commercialized, but also believe that they deserve their incredible success. They're indeed Kings of electronic rock!
2. Can (The Can). Every album they released is a journey to their creativity. What are they rock? Jazz? Prog? Their music often can cover all styles of music in one song. It's a blend of jazz-trained drummer Jaki Libezeit, classically trained keyboardist Irmin Schmidt(also conductor and neo-classical composer and film score composer), multi-instrumentalist bassist Holger Czukai and classically trained guitarist and electric violinist Michael Caroli (RIP). It's a unique blend of musicians with extraordinary skills and creativity
3. Dead Can Dance. This artist has plenty of praises and each and every of their album is a unique blend of electronics and earth bound instruments. Lisa Gerrard is known to be a part of Gladiator Motion Picture Soundtrack.
4. Tom Waits. Many would criticize Tom for not singing his own voice, but I'm amused the way he does it with spirit of Louis Armstrong! Yes indeed with spirit instead of just imitating. Embracing the spirit of inspired artist is different and Tom is clear example to that!
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Howlin' Wolf, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Vaughan, Hank Williams, Levon Helm, Ry Cooder, Patsy Cline, Iris Dement, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Dan Hicks, John Hiatt, Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Del McCoury, Loudin Wainwright III, Randy Newman, Nick Lowe. |
i agree with ghosthouse on ec--i personally don't find much since layla to sink my teeth into, and layla came out in 1971. as a guitarist, i'm cognizant of skill, but don't rank him as high as those painting outside the lines. neil young, on the other hand, has great stuff sprinkled throughout his career--to me his 1989/90 records like ragged glory are as worthy as his early 70s classics, and he' s still cranking out good-to-great stuff like psychedelic pill and harvest moon well into this decade. granted, he needs an editor--there's a lot of dross in there, but his muse hasn't flown off. |
Buds - Can only speak for myself. EC wouldn't be on my personal list of such artists but not because of a lack of "esoterica" (Metheny's not exactly esoteric). While I consider myself a fan, I don't find his output at a consistently high level to qualify. Thinking of some of the solo albums he put out as the main "disqualifiers". That's just me though. Is he immensely talented and one heck of a fine blues/rock guitar player? Yes. One of the best, if not THE best, in my O-pinion. Watching the DVD of the Cream Reunion at Royal Albert Hall renewed my esteem for EC. FWIW - Neil Young would not be on my list, either...and with way more prejudice than against EC. |
A very big ditto for John Hiatt and John Prine here... Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams bear mentioning as well. I haven't seen Prine on stage but I have all the others - together and apart they always shine. Paul Simon - can't refute the body of work there even if some records find argument pro and con. He's remained an individual throughout, like the others aforementioned, never dumbing anything down. Even though they ain't producing anything new, I have to ditto R. E. M. Sometimes I forget how freaking good they were, and what a unique vocalist Stype was/is. Besides, just a great name for a band, too. Dr. John. |
"4. Tom Waits. Many would criticize Tom for not singing his own voice, but I'm amused the way he does it with spirit of Louis Armstrong! Yes indeed with spirit instead of just imitating. Embracing the spirit of inspired artist is different and Tom is clear example to that!" @czarivey I agree with putting Tom Waits on your list. I also think the above is an apt statement about TW's singing, even if much (not all) of his subject matter would be foreign to Armstrong's spirit. Case in point: Happened to listen to "All The World Is Green" yesterday and that led to the entirety of TW's "Blood Money" album. Last track, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" definitely had me thinking about Louis Armstrong. |
Excellent instance and example of nothing but first-rate work in Los Lobos, tostadosunidos! By the way, I learned of them in a great manner: I went to see The Plimsouls at a little dive on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City named The Garage (it was literally a garage---like a car repair place, converted into a "club") in the mid-80’s, and there was an opening act whose name I had not before seen or heard. They started their set, and my girlfriend and I looked in disbelief at each other---they were grrreat! Yup, it was Los Lobos, who had not yet gotten a record deal. I was an instant fan, and still love them to death. That girlfriend had great taste in music---her favorite band beside The Plimsouls was The Lyres, her favorite rocker Dave Edmunds. Unfortunately, she turned into a pothead, one thing I cannot abide! |
Right you are oregonpapa, I was just thinking about composers . Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms never did either for that matter . The string quartets Beethoven wrote as he was stone deaf and at deaths door have never been surpassed . Schubert died at 31 and wrote over 1500 pieces and the best were done in his last 2 years when he was very sick. His String Quintet in C is the Holy Grail for string players, I heard no less a musician than Arthur Rubinstein say, with my own ears, he thought it the greatest piece of music ever written . |
I hear you oregonpapa. Here's another Gershwin studio recording with Hal Mooney, a young Sarah and also a cd of the rehearsal cuts to give some insight into how talented and gifted that lady really was, just incomparable. Her voice got a bit smokier and richer as she aged but her interpretative skills just kept growing. https://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Vaughan-Sings-George-Gershwin/dp/B00000AFEZ/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1 |
Top of the heap ... Sarah Vaughan. She never lost it. Not one iota. In fact, her instrument continued to grow right to the end. Perfect pitch and a voice that emulated a wonderfully lush tenor saxophone that tenor saxophone players only wished they could duplicate. Try the last two cuts of this album, "A Foggy Day in London Town" and I’ve Got a Crush on You" to see what I’m talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gershwin-Live-by-Michael-Tilson-Thomas-Sarah-Vaughan-CD-CBS-Masterworks-/391... |
Mozart studied with the best teachers available , Haydn for starters who, if not his musical equal, was very close to it . Classical musicians improvise more than you think, Ivan Fisher the leader of the Budapest Festival Orch ., which is one the very best in the world, seeks players who do. Every player has their own sound , two play a concerto you hear the difference, not better just different .Conductors use different tempos and stress different things . Billy Joel now plays classical , he said he was ashamed of playing what he did when he knew better . |
@schubert , it is quite CLEAR that above is optional ! What about Mozart who revealed his talent at the age of 7? It looks like training was indeed optional for him and his music isn't so simple as well. Later on he learned how to place his own music on our traditional western 5-line staff, but before that he was just like Art Tatum not knowing single note and he learned to sing prior he started talking perhaps in his mother's womb. Today we have similar talents that play various types of music and sing, but not too much classical. The classical music performances are substantially more structured and strict today. The classical musician is expected to provide clean and precise performance rather than personal interpretation often used by self-taught and trained musicians. Once Joey Di Francesco started learning classical piano somewhere in his early 30s, he quit not too far from his start, because it's not his bowl of soup, however he mastered to learn solfegio. One thing I can agree on is when there's no talent or training -- there's no music whether it's rnr or classical. The result is not interesting and boring. As to commercial media, it's looking for talent that can bring profits to the industry so there must be some of both above mentioned to at least certain magnitude. |