Are there any other singers that make you think the same thing?
I duuno, Reeder. I always thought Lightfoot looked exactly like his voice. Especially back in the seventies when he had the prerequisite shaggy head of curls and heavy beard. Haven’t seen any photos more recent than the mid-80s cover shot of his Greatest Hits II.
Christopher Cross is the one I always think of whose physical appearance (tall, stocky, balding) didn’t fit his higher-pitched singing voice.
“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down…”
Sir
Yes, I know what you mean, Reeder. I liked Gord’s music for years before I ever saw a picture of him. I’d always thought of him as looking more like Jim Croce–maybe because of the similarity in their voices?
“All that remains are the faces and the names / Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.” I try to sing along, but I always choke up at that line.
I mean how he looks today. His voice is the same but he looks like a little old man. Don’t get me wrong…I’m old. Perhaps I’m just living in the past.
Alanis Morisette. When I first heard ‘You Oughta Know’ on the radio, I pictured her as short, shortish hair, maybe a little plump. I was surprised when I finally saw the video.
I always thought that Jim Morrison’s voice didn’t match his looks…
I saw him live Oct. '99; I guess he looked more or less like I’d imagined.
Not to be too rude, but although I’m a big fan I really don’t care for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.
Now “Did She Mention My Name” or “Carefree Highway”, those’ll get me going.
“She’s a hard-lovin’ woman, got me feelin’ mean.”
…
The biggest mis-match I experienced was when k.t. lang first started singing. As you know, she started off in Country music. What a voice! What a beautiful, feminine singing voice! The closest thing to Patsy Cline the world of music has seen since Cline’s death.
The first time I saw lang on a music video (I don’t remember the song, but it was from her Angel with a Lariat albulm, I think), I stammered, “but, but, she’s a man!”
Lightfoot fans of the world, unite! Wow, I’m not totally weird.
Divemaster, I’m with you. First time I saw k.d. lang was on some awards show (Grammy’s, whatever), and the shot of her was from kind of far away. My first thought was, ooh, who’s THAT cute guy? Imagine my horror when I realized…it was a woman! You gotta love the music, though.
Try matching up Cat Stevens with his new incarnation. Lightfoot’ll be easy after that.
I always thought Robin Trower and Van Morrison were black. I think because Trower sounds so much like Jimi Hendrix, but I don’t know what made me think Van the Man is black.
Once I worked with a woman whose husband called every night (I was the switchboard operator). He sounded like Ricardo Mantleban and I was gaa-gaa over his voice. One night he came into the store to pick her up, and he looked like Wally Cox. I was in “interpretation shock” for a long time.
By the way, I think K.D. Lang looks just slightly masculine (in the face, anyway). I find her startlingly pretty. Maybe her voice just comes through in her face? I dunno.
James Taylor (the current incarnation): that guy looks like he ought to be teaching Paleontology somewhere, not singing about Sweet Baby James. sigh
“Is the ice still in the river, are the old folks still the same…” That’s one I HAVE to sing along with.
Aaron Nevile (sp?)–voice like an angel, but he looks like a dock worker (which I believe he actually was).
Also Joe Jackson–the first time I saw him, I thought he looked like a CPA.
I know he doesn’t sing but Casey Kasem doesn’t look a thing like I expected. I had him him do America’s Top 20 for years on the radio and expected someone tall, dark and handsome.
And for NPR fans, Terri Gross doesn’t look like her voice either. She was quoted in the paper as saying something to the effect of, “A fan came up to me once and said, ‘Your voice is so pretty. It doesn’t really match your face.’”
[topic diversion]
Yeah, I noticed that about Terry Gross, too. When I checked the pictures of most of the on-air people at NPR site, few matched up to how I pictured them.
[/topic diversion]
Back to singers:
How about singers whose speaking voices are comPLETEly different from their singing. I’m thinking specifically Johnny Mathis and Neil Diamond. First time I heard them interviewed (separately), I thought someone else was speaking or it was an overdub. The speaking voice certainly didn’t match the body.
Anyone remember Rick Astley from the eighties? He had the biggest, blackest voice ever, and he turned out to be this scrawny, pasty redhead. Maybe he and Aaron Neville swapped voices…
I’m a 22 year old female college student who has to admit that she owns Gordon Lightfoot’s Greatest Hits.
I like Read My Mind.
Egads! You just ruined my infatuation for Terri Gross. I always imagined her with seductive long brunette hair, seductive eyes, seductive smile. The woman I just saw looks like a complete dweeb!
I think she looks very chic.