Orbison......what a classic BEAUTIFUL voice.
Same with the Everly Brothers. Just pure talent in my view. I saw the Everly Brothers reunion concert when they were at the Riverside back in the late 1980's. They STILL had that beautiful harmony. I could have listened to them for hours.

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How in god's name have we gone three pages without mentioning the king of rock and roll, Elvis? He has by far the coolest voice ever.

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Freddie Mercury.

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Elvis, in his prime, was awesome.
The "Righteous Brothers" were pretty darn good too.

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Whoa. Did we really get this far without mentioning the great late Freddie Mercury? My favorite singers are in this order - Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, Freddie Mercury.

Props too to Wade for mentioning Orbison. I'll never forget the scene in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" when the bad guys lip synch that song. Freaky scene.

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Rock's shout got me thinking of the original House of Rising Sun...


[youtube]mmdPQp6Jcdk[/youtube]

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That guy was what, in his mid teens? With a LOW voice like that. I heard the Animals tore up quite a few hotel rooms.

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One reason I like R&B is that it lends itself to voices that "aint what they used to be" but still have plenty of soul.

Here's Burdon doing a bit of John Lee Hooker, 45 years after the previous video. He's not John Lee, but he's still got soul at, well, at whatever age he is.

[youtube]IYL1jcWsiEA[/youtube]

Aside to Cheesey: Never stop singing, Alan. Fuck the "Idol" people. Y'all got soul, and that's what's important.

I know envy's a sin and all that, but if there is one "category" of people I envy more than any other its the artists and the musicians.

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OMG....another one.

I just found this one, looking for a bit of late John Lee... I never heard it before (not being a big MTV watcher "even when it was good" as one of the comments to the video puts it). But all I can say is ... Wow.

How good is it? When Carlos Santana, who I consider one of the greatest guitarists to ever plug into an amp, is perfect as understated backing guitar, you know the guy in the chair has "it".

Wow.

[youtube]43yvS6bPZDs&feature=related[/youtube]

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Wade......I'm humbled by your words. And i KNOW what you are saying is true. 2 years ago when i tried out for "Ozaukee Idol" and took 4th place, i didn't even think i could sing. I honestly thought anyone that said i have a good voice was just being nice. Not wanting to hurt my feelings. Then last year (2009) I won the whole darn thing. It changed my view of my own voice, and gave me some much needed confidence. So then, losing "Franklin Idol" this month didn't devastate me, like it would have had this happened 2 years ago. I now know i'm good enough to compete, even if i don't win anything.
And hearing from you, and my other "family" here has helped me alot with that.
Words of encouragement really helps.
I have always loved to sing. That comes from my Mom, who had a BEAUTIFUL voice. She was singing all the time.

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