Stato
Well-known member
- Dec 21, 2011
- 6,584
Aretha was outstanding. However she was formed in the church tradition and she mostly framed her voice in that style. She made heavy use of back up singers that would allow her the freedom to float over melodies and hit those incredible runs. She could do light and shade, but she had the nous to know that her strength lay in the depth and power. She let the Sweet Inspirations do the lighter stuff. I would make a case for Etta James as a singer who could excel at both ends. She had the blues power and the Solomon Burke catch, but could also do sweet smooth and delicate.
I don't rate Janis Joplin at all. She had power, but little control and, like a lot of white singers singing music of black origin, was given too much credit because of the novelty. Her version of 'Piece of my Heart' doesn't hold a candle to Aretha's sister Erma's version which is far more soulful and less showy. She was obviouslly trying to do Bessie Smith, but, without the resonance, to my ear she just ended up screechy.
Amy Winehouse had promise. I liked her voice when first hearing stuff from the Frank album, but she became too mannered; too keen to be the new Billie Holiday, both in her vocal style and her self mythologising. I blame her influence for the annoying nasality which is so prevalent among a lot of the British female singers that came after her. (I'm looking at you particularly Paloma Faith, because you have a great voice when you don't do it).
One I regret leaving out of my list is Bobbie Gentry. I love her sweet husky tinge and the way she ranged from country soul into the sophisticated sound of Bacharach and David without losing her own accent and identity. It's a shame that she decided to opt out of the music business as it would have been great to have heard how she would have progressed, perhaps going deeper into her roots like Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmy-Lou have, perhaps working with some of the generation of women singers who got the opportunity to write and produce themselves because of trailblazers like her.
