Prompted by a piece in today's paper--on a totally unrelated subject--I started thinking about the female singers I enjoy, the ones I wish could sing every song I've ever loved.
Top of the list is Karen Carpenter, who I consider the best female pop singer of the past 50 years. I think there is probably no song she couldn't sing and make it better. She turned a silly ditty from Sesame Street, "Sing," into a Top 40 hit and the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride" into a minor-key lament. Listen to her version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," and you'll wish she had dubbed Madonna in the movie. I think it's a tragedy she died before she could record an album of American standards and Broadway classics.
Second is probably Gloria Estefan. Her vocal range is much the same as Karen's, but she brings a Latin flair to everything she does...and does numbers Karen probably wouldn't have attempted, such "Conga" or "Go Away". But on a ballad, she's on a par with the best--if you can sing along with "The Words Get in the Way" without a catch in your throat, you're not human.
Third is a bit more obscure--Marilyn McCoo, once one of the leads in the Fifth Dimension. Another alto, she puts soul into the ballad mix, as well as a little jazz, with numbers like "Wedding Bell Blues" and "One Less Bell to Answer".
One more who died too young: Laurie Beechman. I first saw and heard this remarkable performer as the narrator in the original cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. After appearing in lead roles in other shows, notably Les Miserables and Cats, and recording some solo albums, she died of cancer at age 44.
You'll note an absence of sopranos. IMO, too many of them let their ability to sing above the melody obscure that melody in vocal tricks. Whitney Houston would have been a much better performer, again IMO, if she stopped trying to show off.
Any thoughts?
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