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