Thought I was dead, didn't you? Not really. What can I say? Sometimes we all need our Emily Dickinson time, where we shut the door on the rest of the world.
I was listening to some music on Youtube last night and thought I'd post a couple of things. It started when I was listening to an mp3 of Paula Cole singing the standard, "You've Changed." I like the track a lot, but I wanted to compare versions with some other singers. I found a version by Sarah Vaughan, and I have to say that vocally, Paula Cole is completely outclassed. Vaughan has an unusual voice, but it shows more power & technical skill than the Cole version (which I can't find on Youtube for comparison).
Stupid Youtube won't allow embedding, so here is the link to the Vaughan version. Below is Vaughan singing "Misty."
I was also listening to versions of the song "Almost Blue," which I have yet to find a decent version of. The song was written by Elvis Costello, and I've heard versions by Everything But The Girl and Gwen Stefani, neither of which are that good. The Gwen one is pretty terrible, actually:
Chet Baker has a version where the instrumental works (though I'm not crazy about his vocal), and Diana Krall has one that is better than Gwen, though I find her to be dull as a singer.
Too bad, I would like to hear a good vocalist interpret that tune.
A strange end to my little post on singers: I found this clip that I'd never seen before of Alanis singing "You've Got A Friend" from the early 90s. I don't really like this song, and I don't think this is a great interp, but it is interesting just because this is before she had released her mature albums. Her Canadian records didn't really feature good compositions to showcase her singing, and she hadn't really developed her own distinctive singing style at that point. This old clip seems closer to what she is now, in some ways.
6 comments:
I like Carol's version better. Alanis sounds a bit rough there--I suppose she hadn't "trained" her voice yet?
Welcome back, Emily.
I'm not too familiar with Sarah Vaughan but that was a really nice song. Maybe I need to look into more of her stuff.
Alanis would probably sing it better now than she did then. But I would rather she just didn't sing that song at all. I think it's kind of lame.
Which Vaughan song, Misty? I have heard that track before, but I suppose I hadn't really listened.
No, the "You've Changed" was nice. "Misty" has been removed due to some "violation," blah blah blah. the Diana vid had some nice scenery but her vocals...meh. The Alanis version was pretty generic--she prob would have been booted off Idol for that interpretation of that song. When Karen Carpenter released her solo album, all the songs sucked and they didn't showcase her voice. Her bro Richard knew that, and I've always thought that his greatest talent was knowing his sister's voice even better than she did.
The Diana vid looks nice, but she's just not a compelling singer. That version is the best overall vocal performance I can find, though.
As for Alanis, it is just interesting to see old footage; I doubt she would have re-released it herself. It would be like someone putting one of your teenage poems online.
Whatever to AI, that show is glorified karaoke and is hardly a standard of quality. Is there any singer who has gone on to make a good album? A lot of those singers just go on to make dull, conventional music. Having a nice sounding voice does not make you a good musician. And Simon, the 'judge' who affects being so critical on the show, then goes out and is responsible for that piece of shit, Il Divo. Give me a break!
I thought that you thought Karen's brother was just a talentless hack? The 70s Ted Hughes?
Yeah Richard is pretty much a hack, though his best talent IS understanding his sister's talent. Her solo album isn't good, which is why I've never ordered.
As for AI: Daughtry's album is good. And Carrie Underwood: were she not a pretty blonde no one would care, and I agree about Il Divo being shit. I think the show has brought out good singers and talent (Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert, Eliott Yamin, etc.) but most of them are just singers and not really "musicians." Daughtry was in a band and wrote his own stuff, arranged it, etc. So his album is more individualized and mature, more so than Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" crap, even though Clay overall has the more powerful and distinct voice, Daughtry is the better artist.
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