Another question

[ericcoleman]

IYNSHO who is the greatest blue eyed soul singer?

First of all let's eliminate the The Righteous Brothers from this, cause it's just not fair to everyone else. I mean really.

My current favorite is Peter Riviera from Rare Earth, who is also one of two singing drummers who should not shut up (the other being Levon Helm)

Comments

[blackpaladin.livejournal.com]

Never heard the term "blue-eyed soul" before, but clicked the link and immediately said "Oh! They have a genre name for that!" So there you go.

> IYNSHO who is the greatest blue eyed soul singer?

Eliminating the Righteous Brothers (which, yeah, you're right, this really is a race for second place), I have to put my weight behind either Michael McDonald or someone whose name doesn't actually appear on Wiki's list of blue-eyed soul singers: Michael Bolton. Say what you want about his crappy poppy stuff -- and I could say volumes -- but his covers of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and "When a Man Loves a Woman" are downright moving.

> Peter Riviera from Rare Earth, who is also one of two singing drummers who should not shut up (the other being Levon Helm)

I take it, then, that you'd categorize Phil Collins as a singing drummer who should shut up? :-) (Not necessarily disagreeing, just curious)

[ericcoleman]

Listen to Percy Sledge do When A Man Loves A Woman, then listen to Bolton squeal through it. It's like Ned Beatty trying to be a soul singer.

I have to agree with Micheal McDonald though ... one of the greatest soul voices ever.

And I think that Phil should shut up and play his drums. We had this discussion earlier and really, Phil is not a singing drummer. He is a drummer who also sings, but he really doesn't do both at the same time (cept in one video, I think)

[mike46.livejournal.com]

Phil can't even play his drums now. I read he had neck or back surgery and doesn't have feeling in his hands at the moment. So he's a singer for the foreseeable future.

Blue-eyed soul

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Van Morrison, hands down. (Note, though: The Eagles and the Standells ("Dirty Water") both had excellent singing drummers. I don't flag these as often as I might, but back when my first wife and I had the best hotel lounge trio in town, we tried to get phone numbers for all the local singing drummers, because we needed to have them. (I played guitar and keyboards, and really was just a harmony singer at this point, though I sang a couple.) Since then, I have noted, when bands appear on our TV set, when the drummer is singing lead. It does not happen all that often. (But the Strawberry Alarm Clock -- their hits were "Incense and Peppermint" and "Tomorrow" -- were another band with an excellent singing drummer, so it can happen.)

Nate

Re: Blue-eyed soul

[ericcoleman]

I am a firm believer that it is impossible to be unhappy when listening to Van Morrison.

Yeah, one of the greats, if not the greatest.

Re: Blue-eyed soul

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Van Morrison makes me dance. I have been in love with him since, as a little girl, I stumbled upon "Tupelo Honey" in my Mom's record stack.

"Hobo's Lullaby" was in that same stack, so my love of Arlo Guthrie started at the same time - for very different reasons, of course.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Dusty Springfield.

[erik]

Ohhh. Yes, also a good choice.

[mike46.livejournal.com]

I know they're not one of your favorites, but I always liked Mark Farner from Grand Funk for blue-eyed soul. And yea, I know they're not actually doing soul music ...

[ericcoleman]

I like some GFR and I do like his voice, but definitely not blue eyed soul

[erik]

Rick Astley.

[ericcoleman]

I gotta say, Rick is right up there ...

[erik]

He has a rather unfortunate reputation these days, for reasons I need not mention here (call me if you want more explanation), but he really does have a fantastic voice. Made even more fantastic by the fact that when he's singing he looks like Anthony Michael Hall lipsynching Bobby Hatfield.

[ericcoleman]

He has a really interesting instrument, but no idea how to use it.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

Van, of course. Plus Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals.