Huh? Are you serious or are we being whooshed here?
If he’s not R&R what do you consider him to be?
#61 Today, 08:01 PM
Cubsfan
Guest Join Date: Jul 2002
Quote:
Originally Posted by denquixote
I don’t think of Freddy as a R & R singer
Huh? Are you serious or are we being whooshed here?
If he’s not R&R what do you consider him to be?"
I would call him rock or hard rock, neither of which I care too much about. There may be a finer distinction.
What would you call Steve Goodman?
Freed tells the audience that “rock and roll is a river of music that has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat.” Alan Freed in Rock, Rock, Rock
“Rock ‘n’ roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm. It’s the rhythm that gets to the kids — they’re starved of music they can dance to, after all those years of crooners.”
Alan Freed—NME - February 1956
I am not trying to lay down specific criteria for what is and what is not R & R. It is just like the Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, I know it when I hear it. I thought the guidelines laid down early on gave plenty of leeway but I am starting to think that it is simply a generational thing. To me, R & R is an amalgam of R & B (don’t get me started on that one), Blues, Country, Western Swing, traditional Jazz, work songs, string bands, jug bands and probably a host of others that I have forgotten, but I don’t hear one single thing in Freddie Mercury and/or Queen which reminds me in any way of any of those types of music. Frankly, I probably should have just limited the category to those singers who had success between 1956 and 1964, but I did not want to eliminate some truly great performers who were strongly influenced by someone who did perform in an influential way during that period. Thus, I say yes to Roert Plant, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Bruce Springsteen and a whole host of others. I said no to Steve Winwood, who to me is mostly Jazz but these are all just my opinions. Who do you say is R & R? And why?
In short, what makes Freddy Mercury a R & R singer?
Their Induction to Rock AND ROLL Hall of Fame?
And yeah, that’s a less-than-stellar institution, and other inductees include Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, Simon and Garfunkel, Al Green, Bee Gees, Leonard Cohen, et al who do not fit your ultra-prescriptivist definition, but so what? What’s wrong with being a little broad in our terms? This thread has been a giant bummer and is totally antithetical to the spirit of rock n roll.
I’m off to start a “greatest shoestring” thread and tut and moan that people don’t recognize the difference between laces and cords. In conclusion, Freddie Mercury was the best because of aglets.
His purpose was sinister?
If Roger Daltry is a candidate, then Eddie Vedder should be on the list, since he sings Daltry better than Daltry
I’m thinking Broadway musicals. He would have done well in opera too.
Best I’ve seen, whatever the hell this criteria is, has to be Bruce.
Female, best I never saw, might be Patty Smythe from Scandal.
If we’re talking about ‘best singing voices’, Brian Wilson’s gotta be in there somewhere…
Really. I’m an old fart, too. But I don’t care for exclusionary categories. I save my energy for still going out to see live music–local & regional stuff more than pricey acts. (Joe King Carrasco at Miller Outdoor Theater this Saturday! As a Texas musician, he’s no respecter of borders.)
I didn’t name Freddie Mercury because I never saw him live…
I listened to his album version of the song. I like his song writing skills but he doesn’t hold a candle to pretty much everybody else listed in this thread. He’s off key a great deal of the time.
If we take 1970 as a cutoff date for the start of a singer’s career to count, then I’d throw in Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (as well as King Crimson, but only for a couple of albums).
Here’s a song I quite like: Take a Pebble.
I’d also consider Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues. Here’s Question.
If we’re allowed to be flexible about what is R&R I’d say
1)Mercury 2) Axl Rose 3)Bono 4)Elvis 5)Robert Plant 6)Ozzy Osbourne
Elvis has him beat in both. I think Freddie said the same thing.
Guy could do gospel, opera, rOck, blues. His live albums are awesome even with all the schmaltz.
Never saw Plant. I saw Paul Rodgers with Neal Schon. First time I ever saw a Hendrix cover where the guitar part did the original proud, but a vocal that did not. You would think that Jimi’s vocals would be the easier thing to match. I like Rodger’s recorded work, but I think he lacks range.
If Meat Loaf qualifies, I guess he’s my choice. I’ve seen many I’ve loved, but that I wouldn’t necessary rank them as top Rock ‘n’ Roll singers. Ronnie Spector was very good, as was Mary Wilson, but I can’t rate them as the best. Flo & Eddie were pretty good, but not THAT good. Crosby Stills and Nash were, well CSN. Awesome, but Rock ‘n’ Roll? The best female vocalist I ever saw live would probably be kd lang, but again, not Rock ‘n’ Roll. Joe Cocker was great, and might rate near the top. Roger Daltrey, in his prime, might have been my choice, but I never saw him live. 
I really miss going to concerts. Thank Og for Youtube. The Prince’s Trust concerts & Rockpalast are a treasure-trove of live music.
It all depends on what your criteria is for a good singer. Many of the singers mentioned in this thread are atrocious live. Presley and Mercury (and Orbison) were excellent live. I go with Presley due to his range. He could sing anything.
Meatloaf is a lot of fun but he is hit or miss live and actually fairly limited. I’ve seen him in concert many times and I always enjoy it.
If we’re going to differentiate finely between “rock” and “rock & roll,” then my vote goes to Elvis. Otherwise, Freddy Mercury.
Make a list of eligible singers and put it up as a poll.
I think I’d call everything prior to the British Invasion as Rock & Roll, and everything after as Rock. The British Invasion itself was neither one nor the other - or perhaps a bit of both.
:rolleyes: