Which female vocalists/singers do you really like

Forgot a couple - too much of the black stuff last night:

Nancy Sinatra - Nancy Sinatra. I might be on my own here but I think this is a great "pop" record. Jarvis Cocker's "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" is great. HDCD too (at least mine is)

Billie Holiday - anything basically

Madeleine Peyroux - in the same vein as Billie Holiday, Careless Love is a decent starter

Diana Washington - if you can find anything. The Compact Jazz album is a good starter or After hours With Miss D

Bessie Smith - Woman's Trouble Blues (awful quality but great voice)

Ella Fitzgerald - you might start with almost anything, Love Songs or Gold are probably good starters

Judy Garland - At Carnegie Hall a fantastic live album with real power

Sarah Vaughan - try After Hours or maybe THe Essential.

Patti Smith - Peace & Noise (difficult!) or Horses or Easter

Janis Joplin - Pearl

Diamanda Galás - go to Amazon listen to her sing you'll soon know if you like her!

Etta James - best of is cheap at the moment or Tell Mama. Outstanding live.

Julie London - only had one hit with Cry Me A River, but a great voice. So Cry Me A River or Julie or Your Number Please

Laurie Anderson - Big Science

Doris Duke - I'm A Loser

Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) back to basics bluegrass

Heather Myles - Highways & Honky Tonks

Lucinda Williams - Essence

Nina Simone - lots being re-issued at the moment

Patty Loveless - Up Against My Heart or Dreamin' My Dreams

June Tabor - An Echo Of Hoves, Against The Streams

Randy Crawford - Secret Combination

Neneh Cherry - Homebrew

Judie Tzuke - Welcome To The Cruise

Esther Phillips - Confessing The Blues

Julia Biel - Not Alone described by Jazzwise as "Norah-meets-Bjork-meets-Thom Yorke" seems about right

Lizz Wright - Dreaming Wide Awake

Beady Belle - Closer

Francoise Hardy - Les Chansons D'Amour

Charlote Gainsborough - 5:55

Yasmin Levy - Romance & Yasmin

Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose

Camille - Le Fil

Slightly longer list than I expected! Guess I do buy a lot of female singer stuff.

Steve

Most of the above, but I must also put in a vote for:

Dinah Shore
Martha Tilden (?spelling)
Joan Baez
Cleo Laine
Maddy Prior

and the classical soprano who for me, sees off all the others,

Natalie Dessay

Cheers,
Ken

Elkie Brooks - Electric Lady
Tina Turner - Private Dancer
Beverley Craven - 1st Album
Barbra Streisand - Guilty
Carly Simon - Best of
Susanne Vega - 1st Album
Chrissie Hynde - The Pretenders
Jody Watley - Jody Watley
Judie Tzuke - I Am The Phoenix
Ellen Foley - Another Breath
Isla St Clair - The Song And The Story
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Kiki Dee - Stay With Me
Toyah Willcox - Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!
Marianne Faithfull - A Childs Adventure
Marti Webb - Tell Me On A Sunday
Joni Mitchell - Wild Things Run Fast
Eva Cassidy - Live At Blues Ally
Karen Matheson - in Capercaillie or Solo

Favourite favourites (to cull a long, long list).

Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays)
Julia Fordham (Try her terrific That's Live)
Kate Bush
Barbara Steisand
Eva Cassidy
Ricky Lee Jones
Carly Simon
Shawn Colvin
Eddi Reader
Christine McVie

Steve

Roft,

I find all three to be exceptional:



Holly Cole / Don't Smoke in Bed



Shirley Horn / A Lazy Afternoon



Sheila Jordan / Songs From Within

Regards,

Haim

Angelina Jolie's a bit of alright....


I know she's not actaully a singer/vocalist - but I'm prepared to forgive that

In addition to those previously mentioned

Martha Tilston - as part of Mouse or solo
Norma Waterson
Anne Briggs

Jenny Lewis - as Rilo Kiley or solo

Lisa Ekdahl
Madeleine Peyroux

Lhasa de Sela
Sheila Chandra
Marie Boine
Asha Bhosle

Netania Devrath - singing Canteloube Chants d'Auvergne

Off the top of my head, these are some of the female vocalists I love, in alpha order:

Susanne Abbuehl
Bjork
Cilla Black
Jonatha Brooke
Eva Cassidy
Tracy Chapman
Patsy Cline
Shawn Colvin
Bobbie Cryner
Mary Fahl
Marianne Faithfull
Ella Fitzgerald
Aretha Franklin
Astrud Gilberto
Bonnie Herman
Chrissie Hynde
Sara Isaksson
Norah Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Chaka Khan
Nancy King
Alison Krauss
kd lang
Annie Lennox
Joni Mitchell
Laura Nyro
Grace Slick
Dusty Springfield
Mavis Staples
Suzanne Vega
Liz Wright
Andrea Zonn

More later, no doubt.

Fred

As an addition, and as a further classification, Ani DiFranco is a terrific songsmith (and her Living in Clip CD is a live performance to die for) she is not a great singer but I have 14 of her albums.

Great suggestions, I agree with many already mentioned. A few of more:

Robinella
Neko Case
Kelly Willis
Gillian Welch
Roseanne Cash
Cassandra Wilson

Neko Case

Just forgave her today after a crap concert in San Francisco in July. Bored us with going on about eating out of firemen's helmets. Listening to tigers with the hiline installed fixed my disillusionment.

Jeremy

With a Folk vibe - Rachel Unthank (damn i've just missed her in Durham)

Listen here

and the loverley Kate Rusby whose 'Underneath the Stars' can bring me to tears.

Listen here

Enjoy

diccus

One which I haven't spotted above and I also missed out unintentionally is Stevie Nicks - Fleetwood Mac's stuff is all too easily glossed over but I reckon it deserves to be right up there. I'm assuming her solo performances with FM do not preclude her. There are of course solo albums but I don't think they quite reach as high a level.

Peter

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:
With a Folk vibe - Rachel Unthank (damn i've just missed her in Durham)

Listen here

and the loverley Kate Rusby whose 'Underneath the Stars' can bring me to tears.

Listen here

Enjoy

diccus

Superb links - I like Kate Rusby and have the excellent Undernath the Stars. However, Rachel Unthank is new to me and if the sample you led me to is anything to go by then I'm really going to like Rachel Unthank & The Winterset Cruel Sister, which I've just ordered. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:
With a Folk vibe - Rachel Unthank (damn i've just missed her in Durham)

Listen here

and the loverley Kate Rusby whose 'Underneath the Stars' can bring me to tears.

Listen here

Enjoy

diccus

Superb links - I like Kate Rusby and have the excellent Underneath the Stars. However, Rachel Unthank is new to me and if the sample you led me to is anything to go by then I'm really going to like Rachel Unthank & The Winterset Cruel Sister, which I've just ordered. Thanks.

Me too

and includes a gorgeous simple cover of Nick Drake's 'River Man'

I prefer male vocals but...

Liz Frazer - mentioned before but I'd recommend any or all of the Cocteau Twins albums. She's also on the first 'This Mortal Coil' LP (in particular 'Song to the Siren') and appeared on at least one Massive Attack album (Mezzanine).

Christine Collister - surprised she's not been mentioned yet. She has recorded with Richard Thompson and Clive Gregson and others. Saw her play solo last Friday, exceptional voice, no mug on acoustic guitar either.

Alison Statton - of Young Marble Giants, their only lp was Colossal Youth. Buy it

Forgot to mention:

Cat Power......fantastic stuff.

Maria McKee - "You Gotta Sin To Get Saved", checkout the track "I Forgive You" absolutely amazing. Actually any of her solo stuff plus she did a couple of Lone Justice albums in the mid 80s. Doesn't seem to attract much media attention which I can respect but it's a shame that she's not appreciated more.

Beth Orton - new to me as of this year's Byron Bay Blues & Roots festival but I'm catching up. "Trailer Park" and "Comfort of Strangers" are good enough for me to go and get the other albums she has released.

Ann McCue - "Roll". Again "discovered" her at Byron a couple of years ago, good songs and a not at all bad guitar player.

Mia Dyson - "Parking Lots" is her second album and she looks like she'll be around for a long time. Great husky voice for someone so young. Another good guitarist as well. Her father, Jim makes her guitars. Another Byron discovery.

Kathleen Edwards - "Back to Me" Canadian country rock.

Natalie Merchant - in addition to those previously mentioned "Live in Concert" is a very well recorded live album. We used it as one of our demo CDs in buying our system.

Bonnie Raitt - "Nick of Time".

Also I'm still a bit of a sucker for Stevie Nicks circa 75-86 but that's probably only partially related to the actual music

'Whatever' by Aimee Mann; 'So That Tonight I Might See' by Mazzy Star with the inimitable vocals of Hope Sandoval.

Nina Simone's excellent too. 'Nina Simone Sings the Blues' is as good a place as any to start.

Lesley Woods

The Au Pairs

Three of my favorites;
Tori Amos
Ani DiFranco
Natalie Merchant

Ingrid Kertesi, Coffee Cantata BWV 211 (Naxos 8.550641)
Suzie Leblanc, Haendel's aria (Atma ACD2 2387)
Anna Moffo, La Bohème (RCA Victor 60189-2RG)
Vesselina Kasarova, A portrait (RCA Victor 09026-68522-2)
Ana María Martínez, Soprano songs (Naxos 8.557827)
Agnès Mellon & Guillemette Laurens,Actéon (Harmonia Mundi,1901095)
Julianne Baird,Hasse's cantatas (CRD 3488)

Best regards

Michelle Shocked
Tori Amos
Annie Lennox
Denise Van Outen

Stevie nicks
Natalie merchant
Rickie lee jones
Tracy capman
Joan armatrading
Lauryn hill
Shelby lynne
Randy crawford
Gillian welch
Emmylou harris
Chrissie hynde
Joss stone
Norah jones