OT: Rock and Roll lead singers

[Chin Diesel]

That's only because James Brown was not really associated with a band. If he were, it would be no contest about who "invented the frontman". Every frontman in the 60s copied something from JB to some extent.

Somewhat going on a tangent, the top 5 listing of great British frontmen are all lead singers of bands. Bowie is probably on Brit in top 10 to not lead a band.

Stateside?

Most great frontmen are solo artists- JB, Hendrix, Dylan, Springsteen ,MJ, etc. Even the best women vocalists and performers tend to be solo with backing band.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Mick is actually singing better than ever. quite amazing.

Read somewhere it took Mick 70 years to perfect the voice that best suits Stones.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Stretching the idea a bit to lead rock duo as well as at least bringing it in to the 21st century are Chester Bennington (sadly RIP) and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. Saw them for the first time outdoors at the Meadows in Hartford with Korn in support. Chester and Mike had the crowd standing all set. Really dynamic and in fact went back the next year to see them again. Think it was 04-05ish.

Losing Chris Cornell and Chester that close together in the way they went was tragic.

And Scott Weiland.

 

[superjohn]

Terry Kath, most underrated vocalist and guitarist, he was Ray Charles on vocals and Hendrix on guitar. Chicago died when he died, don't play with guns.

 

[Husky25]

Somewhat going on a tangent, the top 5 listing of great British frontmen are all lead singers of bands. Bowie is probably on Brit in top 10 to not lead a band.

Stateside?

Most great frontmen are solo artists- JB, Hendrix, Dylan, Springsteen ,MJ, etc. Even the best women vocalists and performers tend to be solo with backing band.

Somewhat bringing it back , I'd argue that Brown and Dylan were not great singers. and Hendrix (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Springsteen (E Street Band) were not solo artists.

Speaking of Dylan. His touring band in the mid 60s was The Band. How has Levon Helm not been mentioned?

 

[woodchuck68]

I tend to lean towards quirky. So how about David Byrne and Jonathan Richman?

 

[storrsroars]

Terry Kath, most underrated vocalist and guitarist, he was Ray Charles on vocals and Hendrix on guitar. Chicago died when he died, don't play with guns.

Chicago was an interesting band up until "Color My World", which was the kind of pop pablum that would destroy any serious band's street rep.

Kath got his due as a guitarist from his contemporaries. If you want to talk about the most underappeciated guitarist of all time, that conversation begins and ends with Ollie Halsall.

 

[woodchuck68]

While not at the level of any of these dudes, can I shamelessly state that I'm playing a concert in Norwalk this Saturday at 9pm?

Milo Z with Special Guests Chapell & American Nomads, Chapell, American Nomads - Tickets - Wall Street Theater - Norwalk, CT - May 19th, 2018


Used to play in a UConn band called All the Voices back in the day.

 

[woodchuck68]

Yoat

 

[tentoes4rings]

Somewhat bringing it back , I'd argue that Brown and Dylan were not great singers. and Hendrix (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Springsteen (E Street Band) were not solo artists.

Speaking of Dylan, His touring band in the mid 60s was The Band. How has Levon Helm not been mentioned?

Lol, have you even read the thread? Levon was mentioned at least three times.

 

[Husky25]

Lol, have you even read the thread? Levon was mentioned at least three times.

LOL. 10 pages spanning 14 months? I must have missed those 3 out of 236 times.

 

[tentoes4rings]

See I LOVE Maggie May. I think it is a fantastically written song.

The live version from his Unplugged album is fantastic. It features Ronnie Wood and is just beautiful.

 

[tentoes4rings]

LOL. 10 pages spanning 14 months? I must have missed those 3 out of 236 times.

Duuude, Levon was mentioned early, on page 2, ha. I had the same thought with Axl Rose last night, and had to scour through 8 pages until I found a mention of him.

 

[Husky25]

Duuude, Levon was mentioned early, on page 2, ha. I had the same thought with Axl Rose last night, and had to scour through 8 pages until I found a mention of him.

Is that what you did last night? I coached my son's T-ball game, mowed as much of my back lawn before it got too dark, and then came back inside to give the boys their baths. It didn't leave much time to wade through 14 months of posts.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Somewhat bringing it back , I'd argue that Brown and Dylan were not great singers. and Hendrix (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Springsteen (E Street Band) were not solo artists.

Speaking of Dylan. His touring band in the mid 60s was The Band. How has Levon Helm not been mentioned?

Let me put it this way, if you take a look at almost any metrics- popular votes, records sold, peer rankings, America's highest ranked front men were solo artists or Singer X and the Blah Blah Blah Band. You know America's top artists by name, in the UK you know them by the band- Zepplin, Stones, Beatles, etc. The name of the band is bigger than the artist. In the US the artist trumps the name of the band.

 

[Husky25]

Let me put it this way, if you take a look at almost any metrics- popular votes, records sold, peer rankings, America's highest ranked front men were solo artists or Singer X and the Blah Blah Blah Band. You know America's top artists by name, in the UK you know them by the band- Zepplin, Stones, Beatles, etc. The name of the band is bigger than the artist. In the US the artist trumps the name of the band.

I got the point, but I was bringing it back to singers. It was tongue in cheek, which is what the emoji was supposed to convey. Apparently it didn't.

It is an interesting phenomenon, but probably an unintentional effect of music industry marketing of the era. I know for a fact that I spent my formative music listening years listening to a lot of American bands. You knew the lead singer, but because of the liner notes.

 

[storrsroars]

Let me put it this way, if you take a look at almost any metrics- popular votes, records sold, peer rankings, America's highest ranked front men were solo artists or Singer X and the Blah Blah Blah Band. You know America's top artists by name, in the UK you know them by the band- Zepplin, Stones, Beatles, etc. The name of the band is bigger than the artist. In the US the artist trumps the name of the band.

Socialism vs. capitalism.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I got the point, but I was bringing it back to singers. It was tongue in cheek, which is what the emoji was supposed to convey. Apparently it didn't.

It is an interesting phenomenon, but probably an unintentional effect of music industry marketing of the era. I know for a fact that I spent my formative music listening years listening to a lot of American bands. You knew the lead singer, but because of the liner notes.

Liner notes? Oh my.

 

[superjohn]

Chicago was an interesting band up until "Color My World", which was the kind of pop pablum that would destroy any serious band's street rep.

Kath got his due as a guitarist from his contemporaries. If you want to talk about the most underappeciated guitarist of all time, that conversation begins and ends with Ollie Halsall.

Sure Kath's contemporaries knew he was better than them but most of the public doesn't even know who he is, hence he's underrated.

Ollie Halsall was also a virtuoso player but he was mostly a session player and doesn't really have any great songs of his own so it's understandable why most people don't know him. Underrated for sure but I get it.

 

[storrsroars]

And let me say this.
I have couple different definitions of "great vocals".
For example. (and Im 1 million percent serious) For me, in my opinion, this right here is the greatest live vocal performance in history.
I wonder if anyone would agree. and why.

My game is slipping. Forgot to post my usual reply whenever Dylan comes up...

 

[Yardigan]

The Only Band that Matters. Awesome stuff. Him and Strummer put out some great stuff. Mix of rough, cigarette voice and high range tenor. I came of age just after the Clash. Saw Big Audio Dynamite at the Augora.
Sad day when Strummer died. Guy was the real deal - sang about stuff that mattered to him. Gotta respect that, like the music or not.

We were living in Tampa and went to see U2 at the old Big Sombrero...didn't know who was opening...got to the parking lot, set to tailgate a bit...
Heard BAD playing and told my wife, that's it....tailgating is over, we're going in now... Loved the music, so many good songs....

 

[uconnfan68]

View attachment 31462

Is that what you did last night? I coached my son's T-ball game, mowed as much of my back lawn before it got too dark, and then came back inside to give the boys their baths. It didn't leave much time to wade through 14 months of posts.

Priorities.

 

[David 76]

My game is slipping. Forgot to post my usual reply whenever Dylan comes up...

Rich Hall lives! Who knew?

 

[storrsroars]

Rich Hall lives! Who knew?

I'm kind of in awe of Hall's life. He spends a ton of time in UK and Australia, then "off season" at his ranch in Montana. Does a lot of offbeat "documentaries" for BBC, doesn't tour much except for large festivals. Has a solid bank account. Just does pretty much whatever the hell he wants. Saw him at Edinburgh Fringe back in 96 and have been a big fan since. I think he's mid-60-ish now and still inventing new stuff. Smart humor in Dennis Miller vein but delivered w/o Miller's smarminess.

 

[Taco]

Lol, have you even read the thread? Levon was mentioned at least three times.

Levon was great, but I wouldn't call him the lead singer or front man of the Band. Levon was a great musician / drummer with a great voice who did some lead vocals. Robbie Robertson was more the face of the Band.