Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

We haven't seen any Top 10 lists in a while, and forgive me if this has been covered, but I thought it would be a good time to name some of your favorite vocalists.

Mine:
1. Roy Orbison
2. Paul McCartney
3. Roger Daltrey
4. Steven Tyler (listen to "Janie's Got a Gun")
5. John Lennon
6. Albert King
7. Tom Petty
8. Eric Burdon
9. The Beach Boys (harmonies)
10. Marvin Gaye

Good list Jake. I'd make the following changes.

Mine:
1. Roy Orbison
2. Rauol Malo
3. Paul McCartney
4. Stevie Winwood
5. John Lennon
6. Jack Bruce
7. Eric Clapton
8. George Jones
9. Merle Haggard
10. Marvin Gaye[/quote]

1. Ronnie James Dio
2. Chris Cornell
3. Doug Pinnick
4. Frank Sinatra
5. Marvin Gaye
6. Ian Gillan
7. David Coverdale (before he found it necessary to be Robert Plant )
8. David Gilmour
9. James Dewar
10. Layne Staley

About as hard as picking my top 10 favorite bassists. Lots of names that were hard to leave off the list.

I know I'm forgetting some heavy favorites, but here are my top four at the moment:

1. Freddie Mercury
2. Ian Anderson
3. Bradley Delp
4. John Fogerty


Favorite female vocalists, if that's alright:

1. Maggie Reilly
2. Harriet Wheeler
3. Joni Mitchell

Funny, we were talking about this last night during a lull in our practice session. Musical disclaimer - this is the list for right now, subject to immediate change depending on next thing listened too.

1. John Lennon
2. Paul McCartney
3. Mick Jagger
4. Tom Petty
5. Phil Mogg (of UFO and fantastic vocalist/writer/performer)

we stoppped at five but I'd add:
6. Paul Rodgers
7. Alex Chilton
8. Ryan Adams
9. Freddie Mercury
10. Marvin Gaye

1. Elvis Presley
2. P.D. Heaton
3. Steve Kilbey
4. Lloyd Cole
5. Neil Finn
6. John Lennon
7. Paddy Mcaloon (Prefab Sprout)
8. Chet Baker
9. Jeff Buckley
10. Paul Weller

(honorable mentions to Al Green, Marty Willson-Piper, Paul Simon, Johnny Clegg, Dougie Maclean, Bobby Darin, Gary Brooker, Morrissey, and Ian Brown )

And Frank Reader (Trashcan Sinatras)!!!!!

1. Frank Sinatra
2. Tony Bennett
3. Tom Waits
= 4. Paul McCartney
= 4. John Lennon
= 4. George Harrison
7. Joey Ramone
8. Elton John
=9. Stevie Wonder
=9. Damon Albarn (as himself and as 2D)

No love for Sam Cooke or Nat King Cole so far.

winston wrote:No love for Sam Cooke or Nat King Cole so far.

Nat should have been in my 10... He is one of my favourite keyboard players too...

1. Frank Sinatra
2. Gary Brooker
3. I'll go with Brian..... Nat King Cole
4. Tony Bennett
5. K.D.Lang (awesome!)
6. John Lennon
7. Bon Scott (AC/DC)
8. Aretha Franklin

Then there are the others.........

KD Lang? Aretha Franklin?

Methinks you missed the word "male" in the thread title Aitch!

Old age rears its ugly head!
I can't believe I left off Sinatra and Sam Cooke! Make them #2 & #3 and drop Haggard and Gaye from my top 10 list!
Kudos to bluewhale for including Brad Delp-a tremendous talent and heartbreaking story. Oh, and Paul Rogers should be in there as well.
I will edit my list accordingly.
Just realized I can't edit.

1. Brad Delp.........................probably one of the purest most beautiful voices in Rock and Roll
2. Freddie Mercury.................probably had the widest vocal range on the planet
3. Nat King Cole....................this man had it all
4. Sam Cooke.......................he was a gifted, smooth and silky singer
5. Roy Orbison......................he was so smooth and effortless
6. Steve Marriott...................a voice that was pure energy and full of feeling
7. Robert Plant.....................probably the best of his genre in his prime
8. Colin James......................The only bluesman to make the list but he is so full of soul
9. Garth Brooks.................... an incredible vocal talent
10. Don Henley.......................perfect pitch coupled with very unique phrasing and a great range



The bottom 5 could be change around in any order but they would still make my list. There are many others of course that are deserving of the top 10............Elvis, David Bowie, Wilson Pickett, Sir Paul, John Lennon, Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams are prime examples, but if this was purely a vocal competition using songs that had a broad appeal then most of the people above would probably edge them out. It's really tough for me to leave guys like this out.

Hard to argue with that list, Winston!
I think my favorite is probably Sam Cooke. Robert Cray's voice reminds me of him, and of course Robert plays a mean guitar as well. I think he's more R & B than Blues.
It's hard to leave BB King and Ray Charles off the list. When I saw them live, they sent chills down my spine.
I got to see Sinatra live, and even though he was not at his best, it was plain to see that in his prime he was a monster.