Aa realization about lady singers

[mrsl]

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While watching the 2013 Country Music Awards on Sunday night, I discovered something. Country and Western women actually SING. I've complained about singers like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and that Hudson girl (can't recall her first name), and how they don't sing their songs, they just yell as loud as they can, seemingly to see who can yell loudest. I know I'm stepping on some toes, but listening even to the beginning artists last night, they sing on key, pronounce the words distinctly, and carry the tune throughout the whole song. Sometimes they whisper, sometimes they sing loudly, but you never hear ear drum shattering notes that are carried on forever as a deep sea diver would learn how to hold his breath. If you think I don't know what I'm talking about, try to force yourself to tune in to the CMT station on your TV system some time and check out the female voices and their methods of putting across a tune.

Tell me if any of you agree.

[Maricatrin]

I think I'll have to agree. I can't stand the --- what is it called anyway? modern pop? --- style of alternatively screaming through your nose or mumbling through your nose. Very little tonal quality there. And plenty of men do it too. Oh, for the pop singers of yesteryear! (Jo Stafford, Andy Williams, etc.)

A good deal of modern country sounds too pop or rock influenced for my personal taste, but I do notice that of the current "mainstream" songs I enjoy (I like a lot of music from independent and/or lesser known artists) most are country ... perhaps because they can sing a song and actually sound like they're singing a song?

Her music is labeled bluegrass/country, but are you familiar with Alison Krauss? I simply love her voice. Every word comes through crystal clear, every note pitch perfect (at least to my imperfect ears.)

[mrsl]

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Yes, Mary Kate, I am aware of Allison Krauss and do like her a lot. I also agree that a lot of country tends towards rock and or pop, but a lot of the country singers have kept the flavor of country with my favorite sound of the steel guitar. Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood (Brooks), Faith Hill (gets a little too pop now and then but her ballads are delicious), Carrie Underwood and Miranda (I think hubby Blake Shelton would skin her alive if she tried to go pop too much), are all the type of singers I meant. Like you, I enjoy hearing and understanding the lyrics, and a musical break from singing doesn't send you out of the room searching for an ear plug. Even though she goes rock a little, Shania Twain still stays on the country roads with her lyrics, so I forgive her if she gets a little semi-rock.

I wonder if these kids ever heard a recording by Rosemary Clooney, Dinah Shore, Jo Stafford, or Peggy Lee. If they did, they couldn't possibly compare themselves to those singers and still look in the mirror.

You're also right about the men, but really only the young ones. Give me George Strait, or Alan Jackson any time, or send me back in time to Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard or even Conway Twitty. Those were my idols in my younger days, and when they started to retire George and Alan were there to pick up the slack. I may be going back farther than you can, but those were also the days of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, two more ladies who didn't need to yell to attract attention.
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[Maricatrin]

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Yes, Mary Kate, I am aware of Allison Krauss and do like her a lot.

I thought you might be, but I played it safe, because once when I mentioned her to some people at work they looked at me like I was from outer space. It kind of surprised me; I had thought she was fairly well known.

.I also agree that a lot of country tends towards rock and or pop, but a lot of the country singers have kept the flavor of country with my favorite sound of the steel guitar. Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood (Brooks), Faith Hill (gets a little too pop now and then but her ballads are delicious), Carrie Underwood and Miranda (I think hubby Blake Shelton would skin her alive if she tried to go pop too much), are all the type of singers I meant. Like you, I enjoy hearing and understanding the lyrics, and a musical break from singing doesn't send you out of the room searching for an ear plug. Even though she goes rock a little, Shania Twain still stays on the country roads with her lyrics, so I forgive her if she gets a little semi-rock.

And I'm familiar with most all of them! Yay, the thrill of recognition. Yes, I agree, Shania Twain still has songs that are recognizable as songs, so I'll listen to her too.

You're also right about the men, but really only the young ones. Give me George Strait, or Alan Jackson any time, or send me back in time to Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard or even Conway Twitty. Those were my idols in my younger days, and when they started to retire George and Alan were there to pick up the slack.

It was some of the young ones I had in mind... as I suspect you do, I like male singers to sound like men, not teen-aged girls.

I may be going back farther than you can, but those were also the days of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, two more ladies who didn't need to yell to attract attention.
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It was before my time, but I'm a retro geek. I'm more familiar with Loretta Lynn than Tammy Wynette, but I've listened to and enjoyed songs from both of them. And Loretta's little sister has a lovely voice as well.

[mrsl]

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I still have never seen an episode of American Idol but today on The View, they discussed a contestant who the five women seemed to think was definitely going to be someone to be heard from. They played a clip of her 'singing' style and although I agree she does do well when Just singing. Why does it become necessary for her to stop the tuneful and melodious styling and resort to the yelling I mentioned previously? These young girls do fine for a while then become cats sitting on a fence eventually. This is a dumb trend.

[Maricatrin]

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I still have never seen an episode of American Idol but today on The View, they discussed a contestant who the five women seemed to think was definitely going to be someone to be heard from. They played a clip of her 'singing' style and although I agree she does do well when Just singing. Why does it become necessary for her to stop the tuneful and melodious styling and resort to the yelling I mentioned previously? These young girls do fine for a while then become cats sitting on a fence eventually. This is a dumb trend.

As Alfred Jingle might say: "Distressing. Very."

I've never seen a full episode of Idol, but I have seen several Scotty McCreery performances on youtube. He's pretty good; a throwback kind of country voice.

[moira finnie]

Thinking about the current state of "singing" in popular entertainment, this article from Nextavenue on PBS might ring true...God bless Harry Connick, Jr.

I haven't always liked everything he's done, but at least he was trying to help these kids think about what they were bleating wailing warbling attempting to sing....the songs of Rodgers and Hart, Harold Arlen, and the Gershwins and other thoughtful composers...*sigh*

Why Harry Connick Jr. Couldn't Sit Idle During 'Idol'
The star couldn't stand hearing young singers mangle the Great American Songbook
posted by John Stark, May 5, 2013

Those of us who grew up in the 1950s and '60s got to constantly hear — on radio, TV and vinyl — the Great American Songbook sung by the likes of Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Sarah Vaughan. ... The list goes on. These were singers who belonged to our parents more than to us. Still, they set a high bar for crooners, even if we didn’t fully appreciate it when we were kids. Besides having intonation, perfect pitch and beautiful voices, these artists respected a song, its melody and lyrics.

They made singing sound easy, which it isn’t.

My favorite singer as of this week is Harry Connick Jr., but not for his vocal talent. As a guest mentor on Wednesday's American Idol, he did something I’d never seen done on that show — and it was long overdue. He made it clear why, despite the impressive vocal abilities of the four finalists — Candice Glover, Angie Miller, Amber Holcomb and Kree Harrison — they probably will never be truly great singers in the mode of those who came before, like Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, Vic Damone and Billy Eckstine. Again, the list goes on.

Idol's theme on Wednesday was “Then and Now.” Each contestant was asked in the first hour of the show to perform a current hit song. They chose newly released tunes by Pink, Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Carrie Underwood, who won American Idol in 2005. In the second half, they were asked to sing a classic from the Great American Songbook.

During the mentoring sessions, Connick would listen to the singers perform the songs they had chosen and advise them how to do it better. He was a kindly coach throughout the "Now" portion of the show, teasing, praising and hugging the contestants. But when it came to the “Then” segment, the joking stopped. His demeanor changed.

Songs of the past are an essential part of Connick's repertoire. He loves, respects and understands their exquisite craftsmanship. He knows how to make them sound “now” without losing what they were "then."

As Amber started to sing Rodgers & Hart’s “My Funny Valentine,” Connick stopped her. He asked her what the song is about. "What does it mean, 'Your looks are laughable?'" he asked her, or "'Is your figure less than Greek?'" Amber looked blank — she had no idea. She struggled for words. He told her to go do some research on the lyricist, Lorenz Hart, a physically diminutive, closeted homosexual who died of alcoholism at age 48. Before singing the song, Connick sternly told Amber, you need to understand what Hart was writing about.

Kree also got stopped shortly after she launched into Harold Arlen’s “Stormy Weather.” She was singing in a loose, bluesy manner, like she said she'd heard Etta James do the song. But for Kree to do those fancy runs, Connick said, were diluting the meaning of the lyrics. The woman in this song, he explained, is sad and depressed; she's lost her man. “You don’t sound depressed,” Connick observed. He wanted Kree to do it more like Lena Horne, who introduced the song in 1940. No frills needed.

Not one of the contestants took Connick's "Then" advice when they got on stage. Substance was thrown out the window for pyrotechnic vocal tricks. Angie sang Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me,” an ode to vulnerability, in full-power voice. She hardly came off as “a little lamb who’s lost in the wood,” as the lyric says. More like a John Deere tree cutter.

The judges loved Candice’s version of Billie Holiday’s “You’ve Changed,” giving her a standing O. Not Connick, whose tip to "Keep it simple" went completely over her head. “One of the worst things that can happen in a relationship is when the other person starts to drift away from you,” Connick told Candice. She needed to express that feeling. Her blaring version had no poignancy.

Connick squirmed in his front-row seat during the “Then” performances. I haven’t seen such facial contortions since Linda Blair got anointed with holy water in The Exorcist.

His breaking point came when Randy Jackson implied that Connick's advice had hindered Kree’s vacuous rendition of "Stormy Weather," which none of the judges liked. He thought she should have sung it more like Etta James, as she had wanted to do. As it turned out, her rendition was neither Etta nor Lena, nor even Kree. It lacked any personality or feeling. You could see Connick about to pop his cork. That's when Keith Urban went into the audience, took Connick by the hand and brought him to the judge’s table. Taking a seat, Connick proceeded to school a very defensive Jackson in the art of singing standards. The point Connick tried to make, which Jackson didn't want to hear, was that the show’s contestants didn't know these classic songs well enough to take liberties with their melodies and lyrics. In doing so, they were murdering the music.

To me this made an even bigger point. Since its debut in 2002, Idol has always put value on over-the-top vocal performances. Subtlety and intimacy gets you the boot. If minimalists like Peggy Lee or Billie Holiday were to compete on Idol today the judges would eat them alive.

I was friends with Hal Schaefer, a famous vocal coach who died last October. He’s credited with teaching Marilyn Monroe to sing. I once asked him what he thought of Barbra Streisand. “When she was a teenager she came to my apartment on Riverside Drive to see if I would give her vocal lessons,” said Schaefer, who was then living in New York. “I was blown away not just by her voice, but her knowledge. She knew who every composer and lyricist was. She knew the entire American songbook. I told her after she sang for me that I would not work with her. She didn’t need me. But I told her she had to promise me never to take vocal lessons from anyone, because what she did was completely right. Once in a while that kind of talent comes along.”

On a recent NPR interview Streisand talked about how, when interpreting a song, she never violates its melody or lyrics, even when putting her own distinct spin on it. That’s why she's so great. And that's why Connick got so frustrated with the Idol contestants.

He listened to them, but they wouldn't listen to him.

[mrsl]

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Great article, Moira. The line that intrigued me was that the judges gave the one person a standing O, which kind of proved they also, are not aware of the many nuances necessary to know when singing a song. One part of Mr. Holland's Opus actually used some of the advice Connick was giving. As a matter of fact, the song 'Someone to Watch Over Me' was the song being discussed. The girl started singing it with little intonation or meaning, and Mr. Holland took her aside and explained the meaning of the lyrics to her, and later when she sang it on stage, the difference was wholly apparent.

I don't have to see the show to understand Harry's concern as I've seen lots of clips that show the goings on. Harry, being the purist he is, must have been in agony to hear some of the songs he loves being slaughtered. I imagine the other fellow Bublee would react similarly as he also sings a lot of the oldies. I don't know what Randy Jackson does, but I do know that Mariah Carey and Keith Urban are both singers, and I wonder if either of them listened to Harry's advice..