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No doubt that your list has some recognizable heavy weights, but you left off the man with the voice: Mel Torme 2. Johnny Hartman (espcially with John Coltrane) 3. Kevin Mahogany (and I could go on and on and on and on.....) BTW, absolutely love this genre! Can't wait until we get to the woman.
can't believe I'm the only one to've voted for Bing Crosby.. the man who pretty much crafted and established the style..
Appreciate what you're doing here, but crooner? Can't even imagine... But, I was hoping to find a few more voices in this thread so I'll give your examples an ear.
btw, I love Kevin Mahogany, particularly the first 2 albums (on Enya), but the dude should not be mentioned in the same breath as the great Mr. Hartman, at least when it comes to crooning.
Yeah, I hear you. I had to think twice about putting him on the list, but in the end its sorta my list and I'm a fan of his voice. His rendition of Just My Imagination is what turned me on to him. Again, all in preference.
take a listen to "Love Remains" on Double Rainbow, a great (early) Bobby Watson tune, with lyrics by Bobby's wife. i also like "when i fall in love", an old nat cole song, also made famous by this guy.
I think Sinatra and King Cole are tied for best voice and songs; and have a three-way tie with Crosby for influence, but I love Dino's attitude. I really wish I were old enough to have seen his comedic work: the two-man act and movies with Jerry Lewis, and the variety show.
If anybody wants a local crooner, my girlfriend recorded this guy and did his videos in her studio. He's actually not half bad: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XRUHa7a1d4E&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XRUHa7a1d4E&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-gotfe-v09A&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-gotfe-v09A&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HPt7h4Z4l3o&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HPt7h4Z4l3o&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> As a side, he also does a spot on Willie Nelson: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r4UeveWYQVk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r4UeveWYQVk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I love Frank... in fact I have him plastered throughout my computer room... evidence: but I have a healthy respect for Dino and Bing the one picture doesn't do it justice.. but I have a whole little Frankie memorabilia collection that is on the rest of those shelves you can't see. Bing loses points because he was a real arsehole to his family. Frankie wasn't a saint, but most of what he did was for external reasons rather than him just being a real jerkoff. Dino... well he just doesn't have the same caliber of voice as those other two. Nat King Cole, well I would consider him more jazz. Though he made most of his hits as a "crooner" his roots were in jazz rather than big band. Edit: and Mel Torme, Perry Como and Tony Bennett have no right to even be mentioned in the same company as the ones above.
Otto - My Dad's hero was Sinatra. My father grew up singing with big bands and I learned big band music and jazz from all that. His voice is identical to Sinatra's. So about a year after Sinatra died my father was singing at a wedding reception where Frank Sinatra, Jr. was in attendance. He sang a Sinatra song (can't remember which one) and Frank, Jr. approaches him and says: "Other than my own father, I've never heard anyone sing that song that well." My father called me early early early the next morning to tell me about that...and to tell me that he could happily die now, because he couldn't imagine it getting any better than that.
