Best Female Singer Of All Time?
Recently, I was talking to a co-worker
and the subject of who the best “Female Singer” came up.
Actually, the wording used was “Best Female Vocalist of All Time”!
Given the rather broad time period this would involve, I decided to
limit it to my lifetime, as I do not think I am in a position to
judge thousands of years of Female Singers. (Nor do I have the
experience, or first hand knowledge to do so)
Like any other “who is the best”
discussion/debate, this one would bring with it the comparisons of
awards and dollars earned and the like and it had a generational
element to it as well, as I was about twenty years or more older than this
person! While I understood the “commercial” and “revenue
producing” comparisons...and even the technical “x number of
octaves range” displayed by one singer or another, I could simply
not agree with my co-workers choice in “best” singer. Mostly
because in my opinion money, and technical ability...when it comes to
a pleasing and beautiful voice...simply do not tell the complete
story.
Of course anyone reading this, with any
common sense, will say “it is totally subjective!!” Well, I
certainly agree and I suggested this during the discussion. I mean, music tends to transport many of us to times and
places we personally cherish and for some younger people, it defines
where they are now...how they currently feel etc. I mean, they are
in the middle of creating their “good old days” as we speak.
Music and Songs and Singers...mean something special and different to
each of us, for many different reasons. And for me, as I have gotten
older, I tend towards music from my past rather than staying current
with each new coming music trend and “sound”. That is not true
for everyone, but it is for some. Certainly we “add to” our
collective musical taste rather than “leaving the old behind” for
the new. At least I think so.
I also doubt much of the music and
singing these days would be enjoyed or should I say tolerated...by
many people 60 years ago...just as their music is barely tolerated
now! (Except for the rampant and shameless “Remakes” and
“Remixes” of those classic tunes..funny how they are good enough
to remake huh?) Likewise, I do not expect the current generation of
teens to be enamored with The Beatles, the way my Parents generation
was. It all has it's time and place...and fans.
Whenever I engage in a spirited debate,
I always walk away from the discussion and think about the arguments
on both sides. I over think it (like I do with everything) and
usually I am able to understand the other sides points much more
clearly the next day, or at least recognize the merits, if there are
any.
In this regard I did a little looking
around at Statistical and sales data etc. I will get some of the
“technical” arguments out of the way first.
Now when my co-worker told me who they
thought the best singer was, and gave the “statistical data” to
support it, it coincided with the current Music Industry's criteria.
This concerns “record sales”, and “most number one hits” and
the like. Ok, I understand the weight that carries, but I also
realize that there is an enormous difference between the ability to
generate those statistics now, vs say 20, 30 or 40 plus years ago!
And guess what? There were some awfully good female vocalists back
then too! This methods of arriving at the “Greatest” is similar
to the Movie Industry touting the latest movies surpassing all
previous “Gross Sales” and “Grossing more money the first
weekend” of any Movie before it! Well, at 15.00 a movie ticket...I
would hope so!! Movies were a “buck” when I was growing up!
This “Movie” analogy is simply a way to illustrate how the
measurement of popularity and gross earnings can be determined and
even exploited.
Rather than giving you a long
explanation, here is a rather brief example of what I am talking
about as it relates to movies (From IO9.Com):
For some perspective...there were less
than 133 million people in the United States when “Gone With The
Wind” was released. (1939) There were over 317 million
people in the United States at the end of 2011! Gone With The Wind's
tiny 32 million dollar gross “earnings” pales in comparison to
even the most average movie's earnings today, but it's ticket sales
tell a different story...even prior to the re-releases.
In a similar light, there was some
discussion about “sales” and with this there was talk about the
ability for music singles/albums to be purchased (and downloaded and
streamed) via cd, mp3, I Tunes, tape (until recently) and that leaves
out the multiple purchases of songs to replace those that you
wiped off your hard drive or Ipod...or your Iphone ...or...(it goes
on and on)! Lets just say, its wayyyy easier and cheaper (as a
percentage of income) to purchase a “single”or a “song” than
it has ever been in the history of music! I would also add that 99
percent of the albums I purchased as a kid, I still have!! (because
they were a big deal to buy!) My generation of children did not
“own” near as much music as today's children, as it was simply
too expensive and I think disposable income was significantly lower.
I mean, none of my friends had a library of 1000 songs at age
14....it is completely common to see that now. Heck most adults
didn't have more than 50-75 albums. I mean, I played the records we
had at the house. It's not like I bought The Beatles, or Ricky
Nelson or Johnny Cash or Frankie Lane, or Black Sabbath (really
Debbie!?)...or whatever my older siblings and/or Parents had
purchased. Most of us picked the “records” we liked the best
from our parents or older siblings meager collections and played
them, heard them and grew to like some of them. I mean that WAS the
collection!! It took a trip to a store and cash to hear a song, other
than over the radio. I would have killed to have Pandora!!!??
I wont even try to estimate the number
of us kids that would wait by the radio...with tape recorder
ready...to record songs that were on the air! Speaking of “air
time” it was not that long ago that there was no “Satellite
Radio”, Internet Radio”, YouTube, and the like and there were
half as many FM Stations to listen to music! Years earlier than
that, there might have been only one AM radio station to tune into!
In my youth we didn't have Parents that would buy us a “single”
after “single”, the way parents buy mp3's, and “I Tunes” for
their kid's Ipods and cell phones...these days. That is not meant to
characterize it as “bad”, it simply was not an option financially
years ago...due to the media (mostly vinyl) used for music. Lets
just say that “music sales” in this ever expanding
Television/Internet/4G/Cable/Satellite/Wireless market etc...is
simply not a fair measure when determining the “Best Female Singer”
etc...especially if one uses “sales” and “downloads” and
“views” etc as Billboard clearly uses now to determine a Singer's
popularity. The sheer exposure possible for artist these days is
staggering! It bears mentioning again, that with literally more than
317 million people in the U.S. now compared to 200 million in say,
even the early 1970's, (my biggest music years I think) the advantage
in “record sales” and “exposure” is huge! That is over 100
Million more people!!
Don't believe me? Here's How Billboard
Charts it's songs: (Yes..the way one gets “Number One Hits” etc)
“
On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine
published its first music hit
parade. The first Music Popularity
Chart was calculated in July 1940. A variety of song charts
followed, which were eventually consolidated into the Hot 100 by
mid-1958. The Hot 100 currently combines single
sales, radio airplay,
digital
downloads, and streaming
activity (including data from YouTube
and other video sites). All of Billboard's charts use this basic
formula. What separates the charts is which stations and stores
are used; each musical genre has a core audience or retail group.
Each genre's department at Billboard is headed up by a chart
manager, who makes these determinations.
For many years, a song had to be
commercially available as a single to be considered for any of
Billboard's charts. At the time, instead of using SoundScan or
BDS, Billboard obtained its data from manual reports filled out by
radio stations and stores. According to the 50th Anniversary issue
of Billboard, prior to the official implementation of Nielsen
SoundScan tracking in November 1991,
many radio stations and retail stores removed songs from their
manual reports after the associated record labels stopped
promoting a particular single. Thus songs fell quickly after
peaking and had shorter chart lives. In 1990, the country
singles chart was the first chart to use SoundScan and BDS. They
were followed by the Hot 100 and the R&B
chart in 1991. Today, all of Billboard's charts use this
technology.
Originally, Billboard had separate charts
for different measures of popularity, including disk jockey
playings, juke
box song selection, and best selling
records in retail stores. A composite standing chart that combined
these gradually grew to become a top 100, the predecessor to the
current Hot 100 chart. The juke box chart ceased publication after
the June 17, 1957 issue, the disk jockey chart, after the July 28,
1958 issue, and the best seller chart, after the October 13, 1958
issue. The July 28, 1958 issue was also the last issue that called
the composite chart the Top 100; the following week began the Hot
100. Billboard publishes many different charts, with the Hot 100
and Billboard 200 being the most famous. Billboard also has charts
for the following music styles: rock,
country,
dance,
bluegrass,
jazz,
classical,
R&B,
rap,
electronic,
pop, Latin,
Christian
music, comedy albums, catalog
albums, and even ringtones
for mobile (cell) phones. In 2009 Billboard partnered with
MetroLyrics
to offer top 10 lyrics for each of the charts.
At the end of each year, Billboard tallies
the results of all of its charts, and the results are published in
a year-end issue and heard on year-end editions of its American
Top 40 and American
Country Countdown radio broadcasts. Between 1991 and 2006, the
top single/album/artist(s) in each of those charts was/were
awarded in the form of the annual Billboard
Music Awards, which were held in
December until the awards went dormant in 2007. The awards
returned in May 2011.
Before September 1995, singles were allowed to
chart in the week they first went on sale based on airplay points
alone. The policy was changed in September 1995 to only allow a
single to debut after a full week of sales on combined sales and
airplay points. This allowed several tracks to debut at number
one.
In December 1998, the policy was further
modified to allow tracks to chart on the basis of airplay alone
without a commercial release. This change was made to reflect the
changing realities of the music business. Previous to this,
several substantial radio and MTV hits had not appeared on the
Billboard chart at all, because many major
labels chose not to release them as
standalone singles, hoping their unavailability would spur greater
album sales. Not offering a popular song to the public as a single
was unheard of before the 1970s. The genres that suffered most at
the time were those that increasingly impacted pop
culture, including new genres such as
trip
hop and grunge.
Among the many pre-1999 songs that had ended up in this Hot 100
limbo were The
Cardigans' "Lovefool",
Natalie
Imbruglia's "Torn",
Goo
Goo Dolls' "Iris",
OMC's
"How
Bizarre", Sugar
Ray's "Fly"
and No
Doubt's "Don't
Speak".
Think there might be an advantage these
days!!?? :)
OK, let us talk about Grammy Awards, as
they represent the pinnacle of achievement for Singers and are
recognized/voted on via experts in each musical category. (And spoken
word) Let's be honest, these are the Singer's “Oscars”!
A little background about the Grammy's:
(Wonder how many young folks even know what a “Grammy”...ie
“Gramaphone” even looks like!?)
“The Grammy Awards were first awarded in 1958 and were
then known as the Gramophone Awards. However, the first time that
the live awards show was televised was in 1971. Prior to this,
there was not actually a Grammy Awards show. The show was
multiple, different music specials, which showcased the nominated
artists and was called The Best on Record. Prior to the 1971
awards show, artists had the option to either travel to Los
Angeles or New York, which were the two locations where the
ceremonies were held. Winners would receive their awards at one
of the two ceremonies. Since 1973, the Grammy Awards have aired
on CBS. The process of nominating and winning is another question
that many people have.
The nomination process is not done by the general public.
Record companies are the first step in the process. The recording
companies are allowed to nominate the recording artists that the
company feels is deserving of such a nomination. There are then a
group of about 150 music experts that have the responsibility of
reviewing the recordings of the nominated artists to determine if
the recordings are suitable for nomination and if they have been
nominated in the appropriate categories which include 31
different recording fields.
Not just anyone is allowed to vote for the winners. Of the
experts voting in the Grammy Award's nomination process, experts
only have the ability to vote in the categories for which they
have expertise. They are also allowed to nominate in the four
general categories which are Record of the Year, Album of the
Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. These four
categories can contain artists from any genre. They also nominate
in a maximum of nine of 31 categories. Once the music experts
have done their nominating of the recording artists, the final
step is for those who are members of the Academy to vote on those
artists who have been nominated. The members of the Academy vote
in the same four general categories as the music experts and in
no more than eight of the 31 categories. Once the members have
voted, the winners are tallied by an accounting firm that has the
responsibility of keeping the winners identities a secret until
the live telecast in which the Grammy Awards are presented.
There are so many different Grammy Awards presented during
the awards show that many of them are presented prior to the live
telecast and are not seen by the viewing public. To a recording
artist, a Grammy Award is the ultimate honor to receive as a
result of their hard work in the recording world.”
I wanted to include the Grammy's as a
“measure” of a Singer's talent and success, as it certainly bears mentioning.
OK, Enough of the technical side of
things!
My personal opinion of
what constitutes a great singer, is quite simple really.
Since I was using movies as a
comparison earlier, I will use Actors as an example here. When I was
younger, there were a few Actors that I just didn't ...well...at
first, just didn't really “like” when I first saw them. My best
example is Jodie Foster. It is not that I dislike her in any way, it
was just some “judging a book by it's cover” thing for me. I
would pop in a VHS Tape (yeah) of a “great movie” recommended to
me thinking “I am just not a fan of”Jodie Foster! And every time
I watched her in a movie...she literally drew me into the movie and
her character...every damn time!! I mean...“Nell”???!!! Can you
imagine me sitting down watching that movie??! I loved it. “Silence
of The Lambs”??...yep she nailed it again!! And one of my all time
favorite movies ever...”Contact”...I forgot she was even acting!!
Jodie Foster is an incredible Actor...she is able to leave
“herself” out of the role...and becomes the person ..the
character...and pulls you into the person she is portraying. This is
a selfless thing and, in my opinion, is a hallmark of all great
Actors. They make you believe that they are the thing they are
portraying!
Now let's talk about Singers. For me,
this “selflessness” and “drawing one into the song..the
words..the story..the meaning...the emotion”...is what makes a
truly great singer. Do many singers possess excellent technical
abilities? Absolutely. Some though, and not many...have the right
timbre, the right mood, the right emotional expression...and the
innate ability to make you believe that they are singing the
song...from their heart, their own soul... via their voices. They
can make you feel as though the song is literally one of their
personal experiences.
These singers do not make it about
their “technique” or “range” or abilities. Do they perhaps
use these techniques, ranges and abilities to better convey a
song? You bet! Do some singers pick songs to better show
their technique, their range
and their abilities? Again, you bet! I
simply prefer the former!
I find it unnatural that every song
have a climactic pinnacle...of holding a long and difficult to reach
note...just because “they can”. Josh Groban is my favorite
example of this. He has a wonderful and technically fantastic voice.
But does he reallllly have to hit the above mentioned note in every
song??! It reminds me of a piano teacher I once had that said,
“being able to play a lot of notes quickly to fill in parts of
songs can be a great asset...doing it all the time can make a good
song sound bad”. In essence, sometimes less is more. “Play the
song” vs play as many notes as you can fit into the measure.
I mean..here is an example for
you...how much “range” do you think Louis Armstrong had as a
singer? Half an octave?!! Ok, I am kidding but really, range was
not his thing. (He made his trumpet exude SERIOUS Range though!)
Next question...can ANYBODY sing “A Wonderful World” like he
can???!! I think not. But when you hear him sing it...you can
almost see him smiling... he makes you feel and believe the song, not
due to his technical ability, but because he “sings”(with his
soul)...the SONG!
“Range was not Burl Ives thing either
and to be honest....wasn't even Frank Sinatra's thing. But I doubt
many will question their ability to “sing”.
And it is here that I had my misgiving
about my co-workers “Best Singer” choice, Mariah Carey. I have
heard some of her songs, and she is good. Not my style of music and
she get's carried away I think with “showing what she can do” vs
singing a song. I had occasion to hear her sing the National Anthem.
Now the National Anthem means a lot to me. I learned much about it
as a child, when singing it was much more popular. (And the Pledge Of
Allegiance was not so “controversial”?!) In my Army years, I
learned much about the care and meaning of our Flag. (The Star
Spangled Banner) Morning “Reveille” and evening's “Retreat/To
the Colors” found me and all soldiers stopping, facing the Flag and
Saluting in respect. I served in places where it was an emotional
reminder of home...and I had the duty and the honor, of placing that
Flag in the hands of more than a few grieving widows at Memorial
Services where I was charged with handling the Military Honors.
I listened and watched Mariah Carey
sing the national Anthem and I could not help but think that it was
about her, not the Flag..not our Country. I could certainly be
wrong, but it seemed that her focus was on showing off her voice..her
“technical ability” and not on simply singing a very, very
important song with reverence and grace. She sang it like a damn
“Pop Song”!! It turned me off..big time.
Am I being a bit hard on her? Am I
making too much of today's popular singers..I mean many feel the need
to “polish up” the old Star Spangled banner right? I suppose.
But the other thing that has always been a big part of my liking or
disliking a Singer..Actor...or any person of “Great Talent”...is
Humility. The ability to be gracious and humble and put your ego
aside for things that deserve it.
In her 24 plus years of singing, Mariah
Carey has had 18 Number One Singles and has sold over 200 million
albums, singles and videos. She has also won 5 Grammy's. She is
reported to have a “five octave range” and is seen commercially
as the best Female Vocalist. She certainly has a huge following and
is a current musical powerhouse. Mariah is a philanthropist and has
given tons of money to a variety of Charities. I am sure she is a
good lady and she is certainly a great vocalist by any standard.
Most “successful”? (and these days that translates into
“Money”..lets not mince words) Sure.
The best?? No. Not in this guy's
opinion.
As a side note, there are two Female
Singers that top Mariah Carey's “Best Selling”
numbers....Madonna, and Barbara Streisand! Ummm how is that for
contrast!! I doubt my co-worker would give either of those two a
second glance! Ha! Just goes to show you....
I am being tough on Mariah Carey, and
in truth, I have never really given much of her music a chance, but I
have heard enough of the “hitting the high notes because I can”
stuff, (Mariah, Celine ..every American Idol contestant...etc) that
it just doesn't interest me. She was certainly not the first, and
will not be the last.
Admittedly, I am much more a “Song”guy
than a “Singer” or a “Band” guy. I like individual
songs..some by the same group, or vocalist etc..but usually not. The
vast majority, are ballads. That's just me...it is very subjective.
We have come full circle to the
subjective....who do I like most as a “Female Singer”?
Well, let's talk about the profession
related accolades etc, as we did with Mariah Carey. This will give
some comparison of their respective successes.
This singer was part of a group, but in
all honesty her singing WAS the reason for the groups successes. She
sang for a mere 14 years (10 years less than Mariah Carey) and in
that time had 15 Number One Hits, sold over 100 Million Albums and
Singles...and over the span of only 7 years, was nominated for
18 Grammy Awards, and won 3 Grammy's. She also had 2 Songs inducted
into the Grammy Hall of Fame, something Mariah has yet to achieve.
Lastly, she did not have to show legs, cleavage and wear the tightest clothing possible...as most female vocalists these days seem to do?! She actually let her singing be what she was about.
Oh, and she played drums while singing
like an angel!! Try doing that Mariah!
I figured I would mention these
achievements for those who find that stuff more
“qualifying” than I do.
My pick, which is completely subjective
and would be my pick regardless of how many “Number Ones” or
“Millions of Records Sold” is the humble and incomparable...Karen
Carpenter.
Not as “cool” as picking
Mariah...in fact rather “uncool” to admit these days, but in the world of
music and vocalists, and in the eyes of her peers both past and present, she
is certainly considered “One of the best”!
As for the “Best of All Time”...I
am sure in another twenty years, my co-worker will be faced with
defending Mariah against another persons passionate pointing out
of the ........latest and greatest and the newest..."Best Female
Vocalist of All Time”! I wish them luck in their defense!:)
Below are a few You Tube Videos of Karen doing some of my favorites...three of them as she is drumming! Take a listen/enjoy.
This is back when you had to "get it right"! Karen was 20 years old here, playing drums and singing.
Another classic with Karen playing drums again while singing.
And this one?..Well I just really like the song!
