Who has the best voice in folk?

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 04:02 AM

Virginia, Where is she?

GfS

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:40 AM

Crowsister... I miss her.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Steve Hunt
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:22 AM

The voice of the people :-)

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Bert
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:21 AM

Of course you don't need a good voice to be good. Like Louis Armstrong or Jimmy Durante.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Bert
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:15 AM

If it is voice you want you must listen to Oliver McElhone.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:03 AM

To Michaelr,
Just in case you haven't heard this before....Here's a Karen Matheson piece I thought she kicked ass on!!!:

Karen Matheson, singing with 'Secret Garden'

Enjoy!!!!

GfS

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,Marcus
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 02:56 AM

still singing - Jim Moray & Joanna Newsom

not singing - Louis Armsrong & Shirley Collins

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 02:28 AM

Kind of a subjective question, especially as the best voice in folk probably isn't a recorded one, but some unknown local artist who sings in coffee shops and pubs in some obscure place!!!

For recorded voices, for women at the moment I'd say Eliza Carthy, closely followed by Olivia Chaney and Bella Hardy.

For men - Nic Jones all the way.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: babypix
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 01:09 AM

OMG! It HAS to be Larry Hanks.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:40 AM

... and for that fine dramatic ringing bass Theo Bikel

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:33 AM

Yeah, Ewan McColl was great. I haven't heard the others.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:26 AM

Going back to formative 50s ~~ Robin Hall Ewan MacColl Sandy Paton inhisway:Seamus Ennis likewise:Tommy Makem Isla Cameron ......

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:21 AM

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: PHJim
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:18 AM

Karen Dalton
Geoff Muldaur
Hayes Carll


GUEST999 mentioned Wil Maring. I'm a fan of hers as well.

Once again, if you asked me tomorrow, you might get a different answer.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:15 AM

Jean Ritchie Joan Baez Dick Gaughan[but diction dodgy] Peter Bellamy(IYLTSOT) Ronnie Drew(ditto) Heather Wood Norma Waterson +++++++

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:09 AM

And how can I not mention Denny Doherty? I suppose I would rate him #3 but music is not a contest, and I have not touched the "country" limb of the folk tree. Each is great in their own way!

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: J-boy
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:01 AM

The voice you like the best.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:42 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot about Ian Tyson and Gordon Lightfoot, both wonderful singers in their prime.

Liam Clancy was also a superb singer.

Fine, yeah, it's "Emmylou" Harris.

Mary Chapin Carpenter is not only a wonderfully expressive singer, she's quite possibly the finest songwriter of all time...although it's really impossible to narrow that down to any one person. At any rate, she's as good at it as anyone ever will be, IMO.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:42 PM

Maybe she should be classified as folk rock, but I'd put Sandy Denny at the top of the list.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:33 PM

I will state my favourites but this is very subjective:
       Male: Liam Clancy with Stan Rogers a close second.
       Female: Judith Durham with Catherine Mac Kinnon a close second.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Effsee
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:31 PM

Rod Paterson, closely followed by Norman Stewart!
Not that I'm a biased Scotsman of course!

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: ollaimh
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:11 PM

oh yeah, billy jackson on the ossian cd/album saint kildas wedding. nothing against tony cuffe but jacksons gaelic singing is wonderfull

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,David E.
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:07 PM

In My Opinion...

Male: Bob Fox
Female: Jacqui McShee

David E.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: ollaimh
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 10:54 PM

in the pop folk world no one equals joni mitchell, no one, she's so flexible and has such range and tonal quality.and her lyrics are among the few who soar to real sytand alone poetry. her and leonard cohen. i also love ferron, she has a movie out called "girl on a road" that's so real about the struggles of a metis francophone from a poor and broken family , and it;s transcendant in its insight poetry and performances.

in the trad world i love teressa doyle, anita best and pamela morgan. that's among the maritimers.they are great. if you can get teressa doyle's "prince edward osle adieu" album or pamela morgan's "ancestral songs" they are two of the best folk albums ever made--so good i do a salam bow and a "we are not worthy' we are not worthy"

among the traditional over seas,

dick gaughan, mick hanly, patsy seddon, mary macmasters, are also among the best. mick hanly's two early record"a kiss in the morning early' and "over black water" are not to be missed and seddon and macmaster in sileas and especially in poozies are also fabulous.

and then gord and ian .gordon lightfoot and ian tyson have it all aswell. gord's two cd greatest hit remix is a can't miss and cowboyography is the best western music album of the modern era.

there are my biases clear!

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: pdq
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 10:47 PM

Pleeze...her name is EMMYLOU Harris...and she has an OK voice. Great singer, OK voice.

Jackson Browne is an OK singer and he wrote some great songs, but he ain't a great voice. Neither is Joni Mitchell.

And Paul Robeson...very powerful bass voice, but folksinger? He was in the musical Showboat. Oh, that great folksong hero Jerome Kern...well, Jerry Garcia was named after Kern, so that is almost folk...well, maybe not...

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Beer
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 10:26 PM

Joni Mitchell
Judy Collins
Emmie Lou Harris
Linda Ronstadt

I'm cutting and pasting from L.H. because i completely agree with the top 4 he mentioned.
Ad.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: michaelr
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 10:08 PM

The divine Karen Matheson. Best voice in the world.

Runner-up, Eddi Reader.

Men? I rarely listen to male singers anymore. But Brian Kennedy has a gorgeous set of pipes.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:59 PM

You mean the Biblican Luke? I didn't know he even sang.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:53 PM

Luke.



Thread closed.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:40 PM

Joan Baez
Stan Rogers
Jackson Browne (folk?...well, sort of)
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Joni Mitchell
Judy Collins
Emmie Lou Harris
Linda Ronstadt


...and that's just a start.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: RunrigFan
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:40 PM

The only singers I know are

Julie Fowlis

Kathleen Macinnes

Tannas

Donnie Munro

Dougie Maclean

Maggie Carchrie

Mary Jane Lamond

I'm sure theres more :)

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: pdq
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:27 PM

Glenn Yarbrough, Burl Ives and John Duffey are very different singers, but all great voices.

Linda Ronstadt has a great voice but seldom knows what to do with it.

Jo Stafford did a record of folk music in about 1950. Still sounds great.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:18 PM

Wil Maring


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6uNSR4f4DQ&feature=player_detailpage

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,Morgana
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 09:08 PM

Well, the best voice I've heard is Judy Collins. I heard a recent recording of her at Newport, and she still sings beautifully. But this doesn't necessarily mean I like her songwriting or her music the best. For the best songs, I'd have to say my favorite is Phil Ochs.

Subject: RE: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: saulgoldie
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 08:43 PM

You didn't specify living, so...

Joan Baez
Glen Yarborough
Mary Travers
John Denver
Jacqui McShee
Sean McGhee
Doris Justis
Paul Robeson

Top o my head. I am sure I can think of more.

Saul

Subject: Who has the best voice in folk?
From: GUEST,Azoic
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 08:27 PM

I know that this is an oversimplified question but I'd like to know who your fave singers are?