[identity profile] freeimprov.livejournal.com 2009-04-24 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
These results are Just. Plain. Wrong.

Sandy Denny was the queen of British folk voices. Alas, all that most Americans have heard is her singing on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore". On top of that, she could party with John Bonham and Keith Moon (which is probably why she's dead now).

I suspect this poll reflects name recognition, not talent. Sandy Denny had more talent in her pinkie than Grace Slick has ever shown.

[identity profile] freeimprov.livejournal.com 2009-04-25 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
There's only one part of what I said that's arguably unreasoning, and that's the relative weight of their talents. And I still believe, based on decades of listening to both, that Sandy Denny was far more talented than Grace Slick. That's not to say Grace Slick was untalented, but, um, Starship? She did an awful lot of dreck.

But my main point is that the poll results reflect name recognition, not talent. Sandy Denny, for all her importance and talent, is little known in the US. The one recording most American music fans have heard, they don't know is her (cf Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore"). But everyone here has heard of Grace Slick.