Yesterday I suggested that I wanted to talk about male singing voices. It seems to me that in much of popular/rock music there are just not that many “great” male voices. There are some great singers, some great musicians, etc, but when you get down to basics, they just don’t have the best voices.
Good examples are some of my favorite artists. Billy Joel, to me a music god, but not a great voice. Harry Chapin is another of my gods with perhaps one of the worst singing voices of recording artists (I know he is dead and I should not speak ill of the dead, but it is the truth, and if he were alive I don’t think he would disagree!). Even the holiest of holy, The Beatles did not have the greatest of voices (although they are not at all near the bottom of the list).
I have long given thought to what male artists have great voices. I have discussed two here so far. One is Art Garfunkel. Listen to “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and you will not only be blown away by the amazing song, but by his powerful and clear voice. He has a remarkable range and can sing almost anything. The other singer I mentioned is Dennis De Young of Styx. A very different style than Garfunkel, but nonetheless a wonderful voice.
For my song of the day, I am going to add another name to my great male voices list. And please, no snickering! John Denver. I have always liked John Denver, probably because my mom listened to him so much. He had a remarkable way with words, and his voice can only be described as sweet sounding. He skillfully combined country/western music with pop music and he crossed over to the pop charts more than almost any other country singer (in fact, I don’t really consider him a country singer).
He had many great songs, but I think that my favorite is one called “Looking For Space.” Rather than speak about it, here is a link to the lyrics. I would love comments with other candidates of best male voice!
This video contains two songs, and “Looking For Space” is at the 3:30 mark.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6KItEXYtBo&hl=en]