Best female crooner ever

[Dukkha]

Poll question: Best female crooner ever

and now the flip side

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. No Joni?

:(

[Broken_Hero]

2. other.

Sarah McLachlan...she might not fit that description, but she is my favorite female vocalist.

[blm]

3. Crooner - Julie London.

Rosemary Clooney would be there, too.

I just don't think of most of the others as 'crooners' so much as power singers.

[Ron Green]

4. I wish I could vote for 2:

Ella Fitzgerald was the best musician, but Sarah Vaughan had the best style. Sarah made the song her own, although it could be argued that Ella made the song universal.

[Ron Green]

5. Also, what about Carmen McRae and Anita O'Day? Both better than some on the list.

[devilgrrl]

6. No Peggy Lee? What are you thinking?

:silly:

I'm going with Rosemary Clooney

[madrchsod]

11. peggy lee? just for you devil girl-----

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-C9BqADIWE
YouTube - Peggy Lee - Why Don't You Do Right?

ya momma.. why don`t you do right?

[The empressof all]

7. kd lang

Her voice is like melting butter. She's amazing

[SoyCat]

18. Definitely one of my favorites!

[AlwaysQuestion]

19. Can I second that?

I think she could have gone right to the top and surpassed even the likes of a Celine Dion--or yes, even a Streisand, but it appears to me that she is uncompromising and true to her own values. I think the music executives wanted to package her radically different for the mainstream audiences and she was having nothing of it. I don't think money is a great motivator for her.

But yes, her voice has clarity, smoothness, range and heart--or more to the point, like you said, "smooth as butter." And she's sung with the best. I remember the first time I heard "Crying" as a duet with Ray Oribson. It sent chills up my spine. Wow!

So pleased you nominated her here for best crooner, cuz she's all that and more!!

[Rhythm]

21. Have you heard her cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah"?

I caught it as i was driving one night, and had to pull over to give it my full attention.

I love her...

[u4ic]

22. The most perfect song

I've ever heard.

Any other version can't compare.

[AlwaysQuestion]

24. No.......

but you can be sure I'll check it out. Thanks!

[The empressof all]

38. OMG! My favorite singer with my favorite song writer

How did I miss that! Thanks....... It's going on my "to get" list

[S n o w b a l l]

41. Haven't heard it...

Does she have a new cd out or is it old?

[donheld]

23. kd lang is one of the best and often over looked

:loveya:

[ForrestGump]

31. Yep, kd was the one that jumped immediately to mind

Though some of these other women were and are great.

Of the albums I've heard (all of them, I think, except the ones after "Ingenue") I think "Shadowland" was the masterpiece.

[youthere]

36. Here here...

I read the thread title and immediately said to myself "kd lang!"

[S n o w b a l l]

40. Love her!!

Love the Drag cd, Ingenue is still my favorite, Invincible Summer is the last one I bought and was good but not AS good. I wonder what she's been up to. Haven't heard much from her lately.

[LostinVA]

8. You spelled "Barbra" wrong

I have a friend who would freak if he saw that.

[Dukkha]

9. alright updated by popular demand

:P

i'll admit I'm not as well versed on the female singers

[begin_within]

10. I don't know if she would be considered a "crooner," but

Judy Garland was the "Voice of the Century"

[speedoo]

12. Couple of young 'uns to add:

Diana Krall... just an amazing singer and jazz pianist. And evidently new mom to twins, so congrats to her and Elvis!



And the incredible Sade.

[blitzen]

13. Patsy Cline

[stanwyck]

16. I love her voice.

I'm not a country music fan. But I make an exception for Patsy Cline. Just a beautiful voice. She's on my iPod.

[MissMillie]

33. ABSOLUTELY the best voice named in this thread

perfect tone and soooo much soul.

[Joey Liberal]

14. I like Diana Krall (maybe spelled wrong).

And Joan Jett can croon for me any old time:)............

[Flaxbee]

15. Etta James

At Last.

[stanwyck]

17. Yes. I love her voice and that song.

One of my favorites.

[SeattleGirl]

20. One of my very favorite songs.

:loveya:

[michreject]

25. She gets my vote

That woman had some pipes on her.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

26. I have to choose between Ella, Anita, and Lady Day?

:crazy:

[lizziegrace]

29. Tough isn't it?

I have to admit I'd never hear of Anita O'Day until Ptah posted a youtube of her. Unbelievable. That voice? That attitude? 1950's? Wow. just :wow:

[Guava Jelly]

27. Dusty Springfield

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb3zszPs2gY
She has a golden voice.

[buddhamama]

28. Ella

she is my all time favorite female vocalist.

[xchrom]

30. not that i'm not giving mad props to other singers --

but male or female -- there was no singer like ella.

her vocal range, phrasing and musicality set her apart.

and like another poster mentioned -- i'd probably put sarah vaughn on first -- but i HAVE to recognize the over all importance of ella.

[kwassa]

32. Crooners? These are mostly great jazz singers, not crooners.

and I love the totally opposite styles of Ella and Billie.

Ella has the most perfect phrasing ever.

Striesand is more of a Broadway singer, a different genre altogether.

[speedoo]

39. "crooner" is not really a genre, is it? It's really much more limited.

Genres, IMO are jazz, rock, folk, classical, etc. Jazz singers like Ella and Billie have to be capable of singing in a number of styles, one of which could be called crooning.

Crooner was a term invented in the 40's or 50's to describe mostly male singers like Perry Como, Mel Torme, Dean Martin, etc. They "crooned" almost exclusively.

As it happens, there does not seem to be as large a group of female vocalists who have limited themselves to "crooning", and that's a good thing IMO. I would call Rosemary Clooney a crooner. But to call Ella or Billie or Nina Simone a crooner is much too limiting, just as it would be very limiting to call Sinatra a crooner.

So after thinking it over, I wish to retract my comment about Diana Krall and Sade being crooners... they are both much more than that.

[kwassa]

43. Crooning is a small subset of jazz singing, you are right.

and Mel Torme was an excellent jazz singer, not just a crooner. All Como did was croon, most of Bing Crosby was crooning. I really can't think of a female equivalent.

[speedoo]

45. Agreed.

I'll take Torme over Crosby and Como any day. And Mel's guest appearance on Seinfeld was better than all of Bing's movie stuff, combined. Even though it was only a few minutes, the Velvet Fog was wonderful as Kramer's opposite.

[Katina]

34. they are all great but it's Clooney for me.

.

[kwassa]

42. I didn't know George sang that well.

[Dogmudgeon]

35. k. d. lang

Badly, criminally underrated. In fifty years, they will be comparing singers like Fitzgerald and Holliday to HER. And (barring spiritual nanotechnological machines with artificial larynges) it will take 200 years until another singer of her caliber comes along.

--p!

[Dogmudgeon]

37. Incidentally ... BLOSSOM DEARIE

C'mon, ya philistines, click on the link and discover another criminally overlooked talent, the kind of singer that the singers listen to:

http://www.blossomdearie.com/

And just so you remember the name,

Blossom Dearie

--p!

[Tikki]

44. Miss Nancy Wilson......

...love, love, love her voice.





Tikki

[Hard_Work]

46. Anita Baker

Very soulful, but a real crooner, too. Would absolutely LOVE for her to drop a jazz standards album...