Female Singer/Songwriter Thread

[Stagger_Lee]

I think if we are considering only true singer/songwriters then quite a few get ditched. I take your point - but it really narrows the field. In the earlier eras particularly.

[MrWookie]

Dom,

Now we're getting somewhere. Call me uncultured (I prefer the more PC "differently cultured," thank you [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ), but I hadn't heard those songs before, and I like them. Nice picks.

Origami,

Personally, if I was going to sing a very well-known song on national television, and I knew that I didn't have the vocal range to sing it as well as the original recording, I would choose a different song to sing. Not having the range to jump the fifth is an excuse in a karaoke bar, but it doesn't fly for a professional musician on national TV imo. Pick a song that showcases your strengths, not that will leave people thinking that you butchered a classic.

Also, turns out I know Brass in Pocket, too. I never knew who sang either it or "I'll Stand By You," but now I do. Again, differently cultured. I don't care for Brass in Pocket as much, though. I wasn't quite as hot on Message of Love, either.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
Dom,

Now we're getting somewhere. Call me uncultured (I prefer the more PC "differently cultured," thank you [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ), but I hadn't heard those songs before, and I like them. Nice picks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd love to hear what you think of the whole 1st Pretenders album...it's one of those touchstone works for me, and I can never put just one song from it on - I have to track it from beginning to end.

Easily in my top ten albums of all-time.

[MrWookie]

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately there is not much Michelle Shocked on youtube.

There is this gospel track though
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xJq11taAJgY

[/ QUOTE ]

This is solid. A great, soulful track, Stagger.

[MrWookie]

Crap. I was dumb and lost a post. Anyway, I have a couple more reviews

Patty Griffin - Again, not my style, but in spite of that, I really enjoyed Heavenly Day. Much of her stuff is too country for me, but I definitely had to hear that one again.

Gillian Welch - Didn't have a song that gripped me like Heavenly Day. Still, I respect her singing and her music, even though she's not so much my style.

Lucinda Williams - Not really my style of music once again, and she loves singing her Rs more than the average pirate. Outside of the Rs, though, I have to respect her singing and songwriting, even if it doesn't grab me personally.

Joni Mitchell - I'm sounding like a broken record, but while I respect her musicianship, the song just doesn't do it for me. Oh well.

Anna Nalik - Breathe is a cool song. I like how she worked with 3/4 time, putting accents and emphases in the words at points that were both natural and unexpected at the same time. Another nice pick, Dom.

[Dominic]

Aimee Mann




Aimee Mann is an American signer/songwriter who I'm sure a lot of you already know.

She started out as the lead singer in the 80's band til tuesday, whose song Voices Carry became an MTV staple.

As til tuesday put out more albums they became more Aimee Mann and less a group. Their last album, Everything's Different Now can really be considered her first solo work - and it's an excellent place to start.

(Wished You Were) Lucky - bad music video alert! great song, though.

During her solo career Mann has had constant battles with her labels, as they constantly rejected her work as uncommercial. This led to her abandoning labels in general and releasing a number of her own albums independently.

Mann is also known for her soundtrack work for the movie Magnolia. Her song Wise Up is famously used as a music montage that the characters in the film all sing along to:

Magnolia - Wise Up

Another song from the album, Save Me, was nominated for Best Original Song at that years' Oscars.

She and her husband, Michael Penn - another great singer/songwriter - often perform at a little bar in L.A. called Largo. It's small and intimate and like watching a coffee house performer who happens to have sold millions of CDs!

She also has a great sense of humor and often employs professional comedians to do the "between song banter" during her sets, as she hates to do any talking.

Other songs:

Stupid Thing

Pavlov's Bell

She Really Wants You (live)

Shed a Little Light (performing on The West Wing)

You Big Liebowski fans might also recognize her as the Nihilist Girlfriend who willingly gives up her green-painted toe!

She's also one of those inexplicably beautiful women who just just gets better looking the older she gets. I'm crazy about her.

[Stagger_Lee]

Another Patsy Cline post.

Both Fiona Apple and Loretta Lynne cover Walkin' After Midnight. Compare it to the Patsy Cline version I posted earlier.

Apple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhVuirHObjg


Lynn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mXQF4yP4Go

[Stagger_Lee]

And if it must be singer & songwriter

Janis Ian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHOIT1ROk8

Great stuff - but is the painter of this picture insane? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1u1GN2uO6I

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One absolute vocal monster who hasn't been mentioned yet is Eva Cassidy. It's a real shame she died young and before she really got the acclaim she deserves. She just kills on some of her recordings:

Wade in the Water -- this is pretty easily the best recording of this song that I've ever heard.

Honeysuckle Rose -- when it was written back in the early days of jazz, this was a fairly quick hot jazz number. I love her down-tempo change of pace.

Stormy Monday -- I can't honestly say that this is the best recording I've heard of this particular song. It's been done so many times by so many legends. However, she still hangs with them.

Time After Time

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm also going to add another that wasn't in my EDF post. Her recording of Songbird is a deeply moving track from her pop side. This track is a must-listen.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi MrWookie,

Ok I've listened to all your songs and have to say that you have very nice taste. This is the kind of music that I could listen to while at work. I might go buy one of her CDs. Of the songs you gave us my least favorite was Stormy Monday. Not that it was bad, I think I just don't like that song is all.

Honeysuckle Rose is very upbeat and and her voice is totally in command. I liked it a lot.

My favorites were Wade in the Water and Songbird. She has sort of a sultry voice, perfect for the blues, which I like very much. I immediately recognized Songbird from a Fleetwood Mac album. Isn't that a Christie McVie song? Very beautiful and her version of it might even be better than McVie's [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Thanks for sharing the links and introducing me to a great female artist.

[DUCYAlphaQ]

Colbie Caillat is the best ever imo.
1
2
3
4 5
6