Those singers you enjoy,....that don't really have a great voice?


There have been successful singers in almost any style that realistically did not have a "golden" voice.  Perhaps guilty pleasures.  Who are yours?

jusam

Leo Kottke. He described his singing as "Like geese farts on a muggy day."

Jorma Kaukonen.

John Prine.

Someone mentioned Leonard Cohen, but I think there was a big difference between his singing early in his career vs. later.

Somebody also mentioned Janis Joplin. Same thing - there was a tremendous difference in her voice between her early days (just a member of "Big Brother...") and when she was the headliner.

Roger Miller had a great voice to me because of the growl.  Listen to Engine, Engine #9, when he says these lines on later verses:

"I'm a little upset, yes"

"Coming down the railroad line..."

Roy Orbison was a superb singer that many couldn't match.

Great list folks!

@gdnrbob 

​​​@tylermunns 

Roy Orbison??

You gotta be joking.  Not just (by far) the best voice in the Wilburys, Orbison had one of the greatest male singing voices ever heard in rock, a pure soaring tenor.  Plus so sad he passed early, but that does mean his voice never aged or deteriorated.  We can love it forever.

Were you listening from the garden?