Greatest Soul Singer of all time?

Seeing the Behind the Music special on the Doobie Brothers brings Michael McDonald's voice to mind...

marcia barrett, liz mitchell and maisie williams

a more challenging question would be: If soul is that style of music that [x] is best at, what is the maximum value of n[x]

(ie how many plausible/acceptable "Best Soul Singers" are there?)

Foots Steps In The Dark... c'mon!

Of all the qualities a suggestion can have, 'daring', 'suprising' and 'outre' have the least value in a discourse of peers (such as ILM)- I find it lamentable that they are still percieved valuable in the monodirectional world of the professional style-writers, though that seems to be the case.

I'm with Smokey - I was listening to 'Hunter gets captured by the game' today and I was seriously wondering if God had started the Rapture.

Thought some of Nina Simone's songs should be counted as well.

Michael is certainly interesting person-wise and you have to give him credit for rocking the X-Men villain from way back.

James Brown.

PS I defy anyone to tut tut @ Michael Macdonald, that man can sang!

1) Aretha Franklin
2) Tina Turner (when she was with Ike)
3) Gladys Knight

Greatest men soul singers:

1) Otis Redding
2) Al Green
3&4) (tied) Wilson Pickett and Smokey Robinson

Note: I consider James Brown, "Godfather of Soul", to be a uniquely great artist, but the funky sound he and Maceo Parker created was just too far from the gospel roots to quite qualify as soul for me. James made his own church of funk and inside it he was god.

Yes. I know there were another dozen great names I could have mentioned. I recognize the talents of singers like Bobby Bland, Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, Sam and Dave, James Carr, the Four Tops, and so on. There's just only so much room at the top. You gotta take a stand.

Otis and the Queen are my picks.

what a lovely little cheapshot.

look to each is own, but to put a whimsical little sarcastic aside because I had a problem with christgau dissing him reflects more on some turgid little hipster critical mantra in your head than it does on myself.

I'm not real hot on soul generally, but no love for Curtis Mayfield?

Nick H, I wouldn't call Curtis Mayfield the finest soul singer, but I would call him possibly the finest soul songwriter.

i like donny hathaway and it makes me sad nobody listens to him anymore. i wasn't being sarcastic, maybe whimsical. i do subscribe to the currently fashionable theory that albums like "extension of a man" kind of killed soul music (as a force in pop, by the grandiosity of their ambition) so i may be a "turgid little hipster" - but that doesn't reduce my esteem for donny hathaway.

i hope this illustrates the danger and futility of snapping at strangers.

but honestly i only threw that up there because he should be mentioned as a contender, not as a diss.

so, um, why did christgau diss donny hathaway? and how did you respond to it, robert? (xpost obviously)

This is the testiest I can remember mark s being. His point is good.

The others would be Howard Tate and James Carr. Howard Tate I love but I recognize he can be a bit mannered.

Solomon Burke is maybe a little underrated--he's very good.

James Brown--I think JB is the major figure in soul music, unquestionably. As bandleader and innovator, he's the greatest. But as singer, as much as I love him, he lacks nuance compared to Al Green.

I like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson just fine, but I do find their music a bit dated myself. They're fantastic, no doubt. Joe Tex is a great comedian. Otis Redding gets by on energy, but again, mannered--it's the backing I like, altho of course he had genius moments of songwriting like "Dock of the Bay." Eddie Floyd made wonderful records and was a great songwriter, but actually a bit second-rate as a singer. Bobby Womack is another great conceptualist--kind of the Alex Chilton of soul singers if you get my drift--and another great songwriter and one of my favorite understated guitarists. As a singer he's more than fine but there is a certain depth missing there at times. Wilson PIckett is another one--great screamer, high energy but without the nuance of Green or Tate, I think. I like Donny Hathaway but he's a strange figure, a bit genteel supper-club soul for my taste.

Marvin Gaye stands outside all this in my opinion. He's the John Lennon of soul (I'm making a lotta dumb comparisons here!), a RECORD-MAKER

Dusty is a great singer, period--I don't always enjoy her arrangements, though. Colin Blunstone is a guy who needs to go to Memphis to record and get the fuck away from Rod Argent, who I hear has screwed up the current Zombies/Love tour with his keyboard interpolations and prog tendencies. As with many statements by Hongo, I disagree with his statement about "Odessey"--yes it's a great album (though, I have to admit, a tad overrated as the Zombies have been rediscovered over the last few years), but is it a better work of art than Green's "Call Me" or Gaye's "Here, My Dear" or Franklin's "Spirit in the Dark" or Tate's Verve sides or Carr's Goldwax? Nope. And, Hongo, Al Green owns "I Want to Hold Your Hand," he took it away from yer goddam Beatles. As far as "make-out singing" and the Rev. Green--Hurting, have you not heard his early, greasy shit like "Right Now Right Now" or his incredibly fine, non-make-out "Love Ritual" or "Love Is Real" or "Up Above My Head," which absolutely kills? The man could do it all.

Geir, the genius of Hi Records is the way they play, what they do with something like "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which is a good song. Al sings it superbly, Grimes and the Hodges brothers play it superbly. You seem to fixated on a few aspects of musical practice at the expense of seein' the big picture, man. (Stating the obvious, I am...)

Soulful Female: Gladys Knight (If I were your woman), Candi Staton (In the ghetto), Betty Wright

Al is right at the top but boy did he have help. I had not heard that many of the Hi artists outside of Green and Peebles until that Hi box set came out. I agree that the playing is fantastic but how about just the sound? What music sounds better (and have you ever seen a picture of the Hi/Royal Studio?) Whether it's Jackson or Grimes how does Willie Mitchell get the drums to sound that way (supposedly the way he mics it)? This is the rare music where I just sit back and say, man, that sounds good. And THAT sounds good. And...you get the idea. It's easy to hear things which is pretty amazing considering the presence of strings and horns. If Al is a genius what is Willie Mitchell?

I talked to Candi Staton recently, for something I wrote, and she told me that she almost made her new record with Mitchell--they did demos. She ended up working with Mark Nevers in Nashville; the resulting record, "His Hands," is pretty fine.

But I'm sticking with Sam Cooke.

He brought the best of both worlds to the table. His voice was absolutely amazing, chilling even. It was more dynamic than anyone else named on this list.

The songs he wrote such as The Ghetto and Someday We Will All Be Free were groundbreaking. It's no wonder that most of the soul singers today mention his name first when they talk about the singers that influenced them the most.

It also takes a great singer to remake many singer's songs and do it better the second time around. Every song he covered that was someone else's he sang better outside of Superwoman and Yesterday (and that one is close too).

Even when the musical arrangement was terrible his songs were still gripping because of his voice and presence. I think it will take someone making a movie about his life for people to really respect and treasure his work which is really sad.

My List.

1. Donny Hathaway
2. Stevie Wonder
3. Lauryn Hill (most people will disagree but hey)
4. Otis Redding
5. Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke would be number two, togehter with Aretha Franklin.

But so many have said Otis R? Ok, great singer, but seriously - the _greatest_? There was just not enough range in his voice to name him the greatest (same goes for Al Green, I'd say).

I dunno, maybe it's exactly BECAUSE of that lack of range that Otis' voice moves me more than, say, Aretha's far more technically accomplished vocals do. The yearning, the hurt, the deep soul in "These Arms Of Mine" or "I've Been Loving You Too Long" can bring tears to my eyes regardless of how many times I've heard them.

I don't think anyone mentioned Mavis Staples upthread, but her voice does that for me too.

I would have to go with Otis Redding. He's always had a profound effect on me, regardless of nuance and emotional content. There are better "singers" for certain, but Otis has always raised the hair on the back of my neck.

Aretha and Al Green are not far behind. I guess when it comes to soul, I have Al Green days or I have Otis Redding days.

Also a big fan of Robert Cray. Virtually every album of his contains a smouldering slice of Stax/Volt soul

O.V Wright and James Carr are favorites of mine too.

or Al Green

Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie are even better songwriters though.

The King of Soul, shurely?

http://redkelly.blogspot.com/
Wed. March 12, 2008 posting

You know how I feel about O.V. Wright. Arguably the greatest soul singer that ever lived, he's been featured on these pages many times.

My good friend in Memphis, Preston Lauterbach, ran a piece on his excellent site Backroads of American Music about how Wright's contemporary (and fellow member of Gospel quartet The Harmony Echoes) James Carr just recently received a headstone at his final resting place in the New Park Cemetery in Memphis. The monument was apparently purchased through the anonymous donations of Soul fans like yourself.

Preston mentioned the story on the Southern Soul Group, and pointed out that O.V. Wright "still lies in an unmarked grave nearly 30 years after his premature death." The ensuing response has been overwhelming, with people far and wide offering to chip in and help purchase a fitting memorial for this incredible talent. Preston spoke with O.V.'s widow, Alberta, this afternoon. She said that after O.V. passed in 1980, Willie Mitchell paid the funeral expenses. The gravestone was supposed to be covered by insurance, but somehow it just never came through. She was gratified to hear that there were people out there who cared enough about her husband to join together and finally make it happen.

This amazing record we have here today shows just how deep O.V.'s Gospel roots were. An adaptation of the traditional hymn Soon I Will Be Done, it was produced by Poppa Willie in 1973.

It gives me chills.

Preston and I (along with fellow Southern Soul Group member Ricky Stevens) have joined forces to try and make this dream a reality by establishing The O.V. Wright Memorial Fund. You can donate to this fund via PayPal (or any credit card) by clicking on the image (or the link) below:

the name that came immediately to mind when i read the thread was Marvin. though i think al, otis, sam, aretha, and donny are all acceptable answers too. i dont know if i would have considered nina a soul singer straight up but if she counts, she should be on that list too.

no love for diana ross? i mean, she killed it on a large number of tracks. and someone i like for his vocals more than anything else about his music is eddie kendricks.

also, i know shes much more recent than most of these other choices but i love sade.

Betty Lavette needs more love!

Lotsa rock critics give her love. I think she should go out and hit the chitlin soul circuit and try to reach that Malaco/Ecko/etc. audience...Chitlin Circuit Double-entendre -filled Soul 2004 (and onward) Theodis Easley's "Stand Up In It" is a song of the year