# Male Pop Vocalists; or, Crosby? Columbo? or Vallee?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 2, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526 "2001-04-02T18:39:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526/21 "2001-04-04T15:40:55Z")

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Wow! Forgot about Johnny Mercer. He sure was a goodie.

Love the mellow Sinatra of the '50s.  
Lou Rawls  
Arthur Prysock  
Nat Cole  
Pre-moviestar Bing

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**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526/22 "2001-04-05T01:12:01Z")

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Oh yeah! He did have a lot of hits in the 60’s and 70’s, but IMHO, he may be the one of the most underated and overlooked male singers ever. The best male voice of his generation, (IMHO).

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**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526/23 "2001-04-05T01:33:02Z")

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I figgered Eve was limiting this to the time and crooner frame of her OP list, but, since this has strayed from that a bit, I hafta mention James Carr. He was (passed away a couple of months ago) the most powerful soul singer of the Otis Redding-shadowed era.

He suffered from stage fright, and so shied away from his potential, but, what a voice! _The Dark End of the Street_ was his shining moment, but a nice collection is _The Essential James Carr_, on Razor & Tie. He defines what soul crooning was meant to be.

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**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-pop-vocalists-or-crosby-columbo-or-vallee/60526/24 "2001-04-05T05:10:57Z")

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Does Spike Jones count? I grew up listening to my grandfather’s old 78-speed records of Spike’s vocal antics. Great fun!!

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