Fifteen Voices

Susan Baldwin has been quite the inspiration lately. First the Anna Karenina project (still working on Part II), and now this. Susan's current blog posting follows up on an apparent Facebook note asking folks to list fifteen memorable vocalists. Susan's list appears on Whilst. I've always admired her taste in music, and I enjoyed reading about the vocalists who resonate with her.

In the car on the way home from the grocery store, I tried to think of my fifteen vocalists, and I decided to alter my list a bit. There are vocalists, and then there are voices, and I choose to focus on the latter. I have one or two people on my list of whom I am not a fan, but I have included the person because of talent. The singers on my list are all female, and they are all memorable for some reason. And here they are, in no particular order:

1. Celine Dion: Yeah, yeah, I know. Her heart will go on. And it's because somebody loved her. As trite as her songs are, you have to admit, this woman's got some vocal chords.

2. Susan Boyle: Another golden larynx, but in addition, she's got that fabulous Britain's Got Talent moment when she dreamed a dream and got her come-uppance against three judges who were made fun of her. Every time I watched that clip, I thought, That must have been a lot of fun.

3. Macy Gray: She sounds like she swallowed a Brillo pad, and still, she's got gold records. And I just have to clap along to her song "Beauty in the World."

4. Alanis Morissette: At the release of her first album, she was dubbed the poster child for Prozac. One listen to her CD had me in total agreement. What's more, her range impressed me, but not as much as the way she can make it sound the way my cat did when I ran over his butt.

5. Emmylou Harris: One of country music's finest. Love her.

6. Reba McEntire: Not as good as Emmylou, but in the late eighties and early nineties, when I commuted between Savannah and Statesboro and kept my radio dial tuned to the country station, I memorized all of her album For My Broken Heart (but I had the good sense to keep my car windows rolled up when I sang along).

7. Alison Moyet: Her voice is so deep and bluesy that for the longest time, when Jennifer Rowell and I sang along to Yaz, I thought I was listening to a man. I now know better. Still love her.

8. Adele: I always enjoyed "Chasing Pavement," but I'm a bigger fan of her cover of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love." She is so young and so talented. Has her latest CD 21 come out yet? I'm ready to get that one.

9. Trisha Yearwood: I haven't listened to her lately, but fifteen years ago, I selected her "Little Hercules" as my theme song. I still have it on my playlist, and I listen to it frequently. So she warrants mention here.

Gee, if I could have thought of just one more female vocalist, I'd have an even ten. Maybe some of my loyal readers (all three of them) can make some suggestions.