Who is your favorite "forgotten singer"?

[Macheath]

Bobby Darin

Sinatra was around first, and for a longer time, but I'm convinced Bobby made more women (and certainly scores of men) swoon.

 

[Fletch]

Anybody familiar with Carl Ravazza, from the early 30s Tom Coakley band? Wonderful voice and a very natural delivery.

Just noticed Coakley has a CD out (at long last).

Also notable was Tom's tenor singer, Armand Camgros - a man with a unique voice and sort of a "subtone" timbre (like Harold Arlen's if you've ever heard him sing). Also an amazing jazz violinist and saxophonist, Camgros never got his due.

 

[Elizabeth.F]

Cliff Edwards, Harry McDonough, Billy Murray, Al Bowlly, Patachou, Ada Jones, and Jack Teagarden are my favorite "forgotten singers".

 

[skyvue]

I mentioned her earlier in the thread, but the widely forgotten name of Jeri Southern bears repeating.

This is one of my favorite of her recordings, Cole Porter's Everytime We Say Goodbye:

http://songza.com/~pg13vc

 

[skyvue]

Just noticed Coakley has a CD out (at long last).

Ravazza had his own orchestra, too, and there's a CD of their stuff out there, too. I'm not sure it's still in print, but you can download it from Amazon, eMusic.com and other sources.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Sinatra was around first, and for a longer time, but I'm convinced Bobby made more women (and certainly scores of men) swoon.

Plus, Bobby Darin had a much better head of hair than Ol' Blue Eyes, but Frankie always had a fine looking lid.

 

[stephen1965]

I saw Big Mama Thornton on TV some years before she died. I understand she is the person who wrote "Hounddog," which Elvis sang. I hear she never got a dime for it.

I know it was way back in the thread but just remembered it was Lieber and Stoller who wrote 'Hound Dog' specifically for BMT. They later wrote a lot of Elvis hits in the 50's, writing specifically for him too. (Her version of HD is great though).

Fairly obscure Sun recording artiste Sonny Burgess recorded a couple of IMO life affirming tracks around this time('We Wanna Boogie,' 'Red Headed Woman' - mid 50's)

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Plus, Bobby Darin had a much better head of hair than Ol' Blue Eyes, but Frankie always had a fine looking lid.

Bobby Darin also wore a toupee.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Jossi Bjorling.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Even way back when? Wow, I thought only toward the end. But heck, I would too were I bald.

Bobby Darin also wore a toupee.

 

[Mario]

The one and only, the angelic Rina Ketty!

'J'attendrai' is a classic (Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club Du France did a great rendition - the only known complete live film footage!).
'Nuits sans toi' is so unbelievably beautiful and haunting with its Tango influence.

She deserves a lot more attention that she gets these days and her complete recordings are pretty hard to find, with the exception of some compilations here and there.

Here she is, with her pretty angel face...

+


And now have a listen:


J'attendrai

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Nuits sans toi

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[Lady Day]

Mark Lanegan. I love his voice. He has a distinct modern feel to American roots music, which Ive been all about lately.

LD

 

[Chas]

I like Marie Bryant. As plain as a mud fence, but a beautiful voice.

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