2 posts tagged “norah jones”
90. Norah Jones
Norah Jones came out of nowhere, winning a bunch of Grammys and hitting #1 with her first album. The reason was her brilliant voice. She has a "Phone Book Voice" -- she could sing the phone book and it would still be worth listening to. Not the widest range in the world, but she sings country and jazz ballads beautifully.
Listen: Norah Jones, "Thinking About You"
89. Steve Perry (of Journey)
No one hits a high note like Steve Perry. Just try to sing the first line of "Oh Sherrie". Or pretty much any Journey song. It can't be done, unless you're Steve Perry.
Listen: Journey, "Don't Stop Believin'"
88. Jim Morrison (of The Doors)
Jim Morrison is the ultimate front man: cool, good looking, controversial. He wasn't quite as good a singer as he was a front man, but he didn't try to do things he couldn't do (like sing high notes). What he lacked in vocal range, he gained back in emotional range, whether it was the bombast of "Unknown Soldier", the quiet desperation of "People Are Strange", the raw blues of "Been Down So Long" or the exultation of "L.A. Woman".
Listen: The Doors, "Soul Kitchen"
Still relevant, too. Here's Weird Al's latest video.
87. Peter Garrett (of Midnight Oil)
One ingredient of all great singing is passion, and Peter Garrett sings with incredible passion. Midnight Oil were one of the best live bands ever, due in large part to that passion. Garrett attacked every song. He was not into subtlety. Which worked just fine, since most Midnight Oil songs were about injustice and moral imperatives.
Listen: Midnight Oil, "Progress"
86. Tina Turner
Tina Turner had a lot of solo hits in the 80's, generally consisting of her doing a power ballad in a deep, husky voice over a cheesy synth backup. Although she was huge at the time, that is not what gets her into my Top 100. Instead, it's the work she did with husband Ike (a jerk but an excellent musician), when she was soulful, funky and raw. She had a great voice, but more than that, she tore into the songs she sang, always "nice and rough" as she said in Proud Mary.
Listen: Ike & Tina Turner, "I Want to Take You Higher"
85. Ray Davies (of The Kinks)
I currently rank The Kinks as the most underrated band of all time, and that goes in part to Ray Davies, too. He definitely does not have the technical chops, but he has everything else you need. You want power? Emotion? Musicianship? Try listening to "You Really Got Me", "Celluloid Heroes", and "This Time Tomorrow". Or just about any of the hundreds of amazing Kinks songs.
Listen: The Kinks, "Stormy Sky"
84. David Lee Roth (of Van Halen)
Few voices bring back the 80's for me like Diamond Dave's. Even without the karate kicks, he could elicit an emotional response better than most 1980's pretty boy singers. Eddie had the amazing licks, but Roth brought the attitude that made all teenage boys love Van Halen's music. If you don't believe me, just compare some of Sammy Hagar's songs to David Lee Roth's.
Listen: Van Halen, "Panama"
83. Gerry Rafferty
Don't feel bad if you have no idea who Gerry Rafferty is. He is sadly forgotten by most. He was the lead singer for the band Stealer's Wheel (of "Stuck in the Middle" fame) and he had a couple big hits in the early 80's. This guy has the coolest, smoothest voice ever (short of Sam Cooke, that is). If you think it was the sax solo that made "Baker Street" a hit, listen again to Rafferty's voice.
Since I don't have an MP3 of this, enjoy the video of Gerry Rafferty, "Baker Street":
(Listen also to Gerry Rafferty, "Right Down The Line".)
82. Chris Martin (of Coldplay)
Chris Martin takes a lot of shit for his "sensitive" singing style. Well, you can't say he doesn't emote. Coldplay didn't get to be the biggest band in the world for nothing and I don't think Martin gets enough credit for his singing.
Listen: A Chris Martin, solo piano, live version of "Yellow"
81. Etta James
To be honest, I have a feeling this is way too low for Etta James. Unfortunately, I just don't know her music. From what I've heard, she has a strong voice and embodies the term "soul" (which is about as high praise as I can give a singer).
Seriously, you really need to listen to: Etta James, "I'd Rather Go Blind"
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I apologize to Imperial Teen for disrespecting them by publishing this list before seeing them next week, but since that's the last one I (currently) have planned for the year, here's my Best Of '07 list.
To be honest, the best concert I heard this year, the one that was the most surprising, technically the most expertly played, and the most emotionally connecting, was a San Francisco Symphony concert. They played a spectacular piece for solo piano and orchestra called Totentanz by Liszt, then they did Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, which plays like a combination of a choral work, a piano concerto, and a symphony (all of which Beethoven does better than anyone, so of course it's amazing). And that was just the first half. After intermission they played Prokofiev's music for the movie Alexander Nevsky, which made the Russian parts of my DNA extremely proud. The SF symphony is outstanding and never disappoints, but this was about as good a combination of music to hear at a classical concert as possible.
But who cares about boring classical music? If Beethoven were alive today, he'd clearly be an indie rock God. This year, I saw a lot of shows. Everything from Abra Moore at Cafe Du Nord, where they'd set up 4 rows of about 8 folding chairs and filled only half of them, to a sold out Bruce Springsteen show in Oakland's basketball arena. Since I didn't see Los Lobos this year, the #1 spot was wide open for a newbie (or a rather oldie)...
#10. Josh Rouse @ The Independent
Josh Rouse really impressed me. I know he writes incredible pop songs and I like his voice very much. What I didn't expect was such an enthusiastic crowd and such strong charisma and ability to play the rock star persona (but without the ego).
#9. Bright Eyes and Gillian Welch @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley
Gillian Welch played a great opening set, then also came back and sang with Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes was (were?) great. Of course. Bonus points for having a guy creating psychedelic visual effects projected live from the mixing booth.
#8. John Vanderslice and Bishop Allen @ The Independent
I went to hear the openers, Bishop Allen, who I love and who didn't let me down, but the headliner, John Vanderslice also played a great concert with a very informal feel. (Probably because San Francisco is apparently his home and it was their last show on the tour.) Bishop Allen rocked, though their airy album arrangements suffered a little from the ragged live performance. But the drummer was right up front and we were standing right next to the stage and he was awesome to watch. Vanderslice's casual vibe included a performance of an impression of Michael McDonald singing Jimi Hendrix' Little Wing, which was hilarious, and a closing number performed unplugged in the middle of the audience (before the crowd AND the band broke into a dance party to a dance mix from the guitarist.)
#7. The Decemberists @ The Warfield
Any year I see a Decemberists concert will be a year with a Decemberists concert in my Top Ten list. They rock, especially lead singer Colin Meloy, whose voice is strange and wonderful. And they closed their show with epic sea chantee The Mariner's Revenge Song!
#6. Norah Jones and M. Ward @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley
I liked M. Ward's set, though the sound was pretty bad for his acoustic folk (and mumbly singing), but the highlight of his opening set was when Norah Jones walked out unintroduced to do a few songs with Ward. The crowd were stunned. Most didn't cheer until they heard her voice, not believing she would have just come out in the middle of her opener's set. As if that weren't enough, she also invited M. Ward back at the end of her set and let him sing lead on a couple songs. Norah Jones is definitely no diva. Though she certainly has the talent to be one. If possible, her voice even sounded better live than on her recordings and though she didn't play with her arrangements too much, she did change up solos enough to make her set interesting. (And thanks to my nephew Julian for joining me for that one. He liked it even more than I did.)
#5. Alexi Murdoch, Page France, and some other band @ Cafe Du Nord
I am really sorry I've forgotten the name of the first band, because I loved the fact that they had set up a fake ocean in front of themselves and had a puppeteer with various puppets of sea creatures swimming the waves for their entire set. I love concerts with props. Meanwhile, Page France are a very cool indie band and they played a good set. And Alexi Murdoch played solo acoustic and just killed. Even though he played a short set because he had to get in a car and drive down to LA for a radio appearance the next morning, it was a great concert. His voice is amazingly rich and his guitar playing is excellent and Cafe Du Nord was the perfect place for an intimate show like this.
#4. The Bird and The Bee @ The Independent
The music was great and the lovely lead singer Inara George's personality was so winning, you couldn't help but have a good time. Highlights included their excellent cover of Do You Know the Way to San Jose, Inara and her 2 backup singers' matching minidresses and gloves, and the encore cover of The Bee Gees' How Deep Is Your Love. And I guess this means The Independent wins for Best Venue of 2007.
#3. Iron & Wine @ The Paramount in Oakland
Sam Beam playing with a band, instead of just solo acoustic. He maybe jammed out a little too long on a couple songs, but in general, having the band made the live music much more interesting than simply hearing him fingerpick every song would have been. His voice was great and his humility was refreshing. And most importantly, he changed up the arrangements on his songs, playing some songs slower, others faster, and many with different instrumentation than on the album (even on the new songs which had just come out a couple months earlier).
#2. Smashing Pumpkins (2 shows) @ The Fillmore
Welcome back, Pumpkins. Always great live, especially after more than 5 years away. Read my review here.
#1. The Police @ Oakland Coliseum
I don't really care if they didn't exactly play together or sing in tune at all times. And I don't care how conservative their setlist choices were, or that they basically played album versions of every song. It was THE POLICE. LIVE. It was not only my most anticipated concert of the year. It was also my favorite.
(In a related story, I can accurately predict 2008's #1 concert of the year. Led Zeppelin are reuniting and most likely touring America next year and I can't imagine anything beating hearing Stairway To Heaven live.)
