Listening to one of my all time favorite singers tonight--Chaka Khan! What a terrific voice and how versatile! Sometimes you forget that she can sing standards, R&B, and Jazz so equally well!

Agreed. Prince didn't say things like "the mother of all voices" for nothing. Her vocal style-wild and free. Bold yet delicate. Got a sensual tone I listen to her singing on a regular basis, be it her own songs or others'.

After listening to Chaka Khan's scope of great songs tonight...and puzzling about her appeal...maybe it's a duh...moment for me...but she really is the epitome of the Earth Mother woman icon... I think more than other female singers...more than Aretha or even Tina, at least for me! It is like you hear Mother Earth sing when Chaka sings, you dig your toes into the earth and they curl...whatever she sings:

Chaka is the real deal One of the greatest female singers of all time.

I love me some Chaka: Tight Fit, Free Yourself, I Feel For You, Disrespectful, Tearin' It Up, Keep Your Head Up, I Know You I Live You, and Stronger Than Before are some of my favs. Her ability to really belt it out is not the same anymore, but she definitely on my top 20 list of female singers that I love.

When she went solo, WB tried to fit her into a VERY limited setting, musically. Which I think why some of her solo stuff stuffered from being dated.

Granted, she did some fabulous work outside of her solo albums that truly showcased the fact that the woman's talent is nothing to sneeze at.

These songs are perfect demonstrations of what I'm talking about...

I like watching "Soul Train" reruns. Chaka was on, and I was amazed at how beautiful she was back in the day. She's still lovely, but I guess I've always seen the 80s and on Chaka. 70s Chaka was a knockout!

I could never find the word to describe what I admired so much of Chaka's performances. "Versatility" is perfect.

SoulAlive said:

Chaka is the real deal One of the greatest female singers of all time.

in the words of MJB "she's the reason why"

Harlepolis said:

When she went solo, WB tried to fit her into a VERY limited setting, musically. Which I think why some of her solo stuff stuffered from being dated.

I think being with Rufus stiffled her versitality. On the first two albums, the band was exploring many different sounds. But, starting with "Rufusized", they kind of found their nitch sound and mostly stuck with the R&B/Funk sound from that point on. When she left the band, she was able to explore more genres, even on her solo albums. I know people love that Rufus stuff and so do I. But, I've always preferred her solo work because it was so much more eclectic than most of the Rufus material. But, one of the things I've always loved about all of her albums is that you can not put any two Rufus or Chaka Khan albums side by side and say that they are similar in sound. She's always taken chances. Unlike many of her peers, she's never played it safe and stuck with what was proven to work. Her sales sufferred because of it but she's always stood her ground in not wanting to be like everyone else.

[Edited 7/31/10 17:12pm]

I just love her....... my favorite female vocalist/artist. She still got it too after all the drugs and alcohol consumption. God really is preserving her voice as the definitive "voice of life". So glad she is finally getting her overdue recognition for her magnificent talent.

I would have love for Stevie to have produced a Rufus album or for Chaka to have done the duet on Ordinary Pain. I can only dream of what magic they would have made.

PlayboyOriginal said:

I just love her....... my favorite female vocalist/artist. She still got it too after all the drugs and alcohol consumption. God really is preserving her voice as the definitive "voice of life". So glad she is finally getting her overdue recognition for her magnificent talent.

I would have love for Stevie to have produced a Rufus album or for Chaka to have done the duet on Ordinary Pain. I can only dream of what magic they would have made.

Don't say "would have made!" Stevie and Chaka are still around and still can! That would be a dream album and concert, wouldn't it!