SunnySkies said:

I think she's OVERrated. She sings in the same drab tone, inserts that same whispery yelp at the end of each syllable, has no range, doesn't use vibratto and is a "legend?" I don't get it. I've tried to like her (boring) music to no avail, but nuthin'.

[Edited 11/21/11 14:26pm]

[Edited 11/21/11 14:26pm]

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

[img:$uid]http://www.cannonball-adderley.com/leadpic/617.jpg[/img:$uid]

One of my fave albums.

She came out of the cabaret scene, and it wasn't a blessing, at leats for awhile because she broke out of that mold and made some fantastic albums. Looking at her versatile discography, its quite understandable why so many vocalists cite her as an influence.

She's an incredible song stylist! I didn't really discover her until 1989 when she released "A Lady With A Song", which has become one of my all-time favorite albums. Although I love her as a Jazz singer, I prefer her more in an R&B setting.

Harlepolis said:

[img:$uid]http://www.cannonball-adderley.com/leadpic/617.jpg[/img:$uid]

One of my fave albums.

She came out of the cabaret scene, and it wasn't a blessing, at leats for awhile because she broke out of that mold and made some fantastic albums. Looking at her versatile discography, its quite understandable why so many vocalists cite her as an influence.

Y'know...I can agree with loving THIS album. It's bangin' and it's from when she first broke out, but as she got older, her catalog got sooooo heavily weighed down by the most drab material on the face of the planet. I mean, I'm talkin' the early 80's after she left Capitol (which is when the drab stuff started presenting) and she got picked up by Columbia/CBS. I just think all that 80's stuff sucked. They called it "R&B," but it was more like bland and lifeless supperclub shit. I DO LOVE "With My Lover Beside Me" which was produced by Barry Manilow. That was 1992 or '93, maybe '95. It's a nice, torchy, autumnal CD, but the rest...??? I saw her in concert in 1998 at a Jazz club in Boston. She was amazing! But for some inexplicable reason, they never let her do on albums what she did LIVE. It's perlexing to me.

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

She DOES resemble Dionne kind of, huh? I'd rather tape Warwick's mouth shut though. Nancy really cuts loose on (You can only find it on vinyl, maybe download?) "Echoes of An Era 2: The Concert." But like I said earlier, when she cuts loose, it's not for long. She just goes back to that same sleepy, drab, yelpy whatcha'macallit. She also credits Jimmy Scott and says that "There would be no Nancy Wilson had it not been for Jimmy Scott." I just think she thinks she sounds good when she yelps. He doesn't yelp tho. That's just his voice. And that whole "Song Stylist" thing is hella fuckin' DUMB! What the hell is a "song stylist?" Come ON!

Harlepolis said:

Looking at her versatile discography, its quite understandable why so many vocalists cite her as an influence.

I know Phyllis Hyman was a HUGE fan of hers...

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

wooooow, Dionne has made some GOOD music over the years, the Bacharach/David songs are timeless. Alfie, i say a little prayer, a house is not a home, walk on by.

SunnySkies said:

Harlepolis said:

Looking at her versatile discography, its quite understandable why so many vocalists cite her as an influence.

I know Phyllis Hyman was a HUGE fan of hers...

So is Regina Belle. When Regina sings, you can hear Nancy's heavy influence. Nancy originally recorded Regina's hit "If I Could". A lof people don't know that Nancy also orginally recorded Anita Baker's hit "Fairytales" for the Japanese version of "Lady With A Song". Anita wrote it especially for Nancy and even made a guest vocal appearance on the song.

whitechocolatebrotha said:

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

She DOES resemble Dionne kind of, huh? I'd rather tape Warwick's mouth shut though. Nancy really cuts loose on (You can only find it on vinyl, maybe download?) "Echoes of An Era 2: The Concert." But like I said earlier, when she cuts loose, it's not for long. She just goes back to that same sleepy, drab, yelpy whatcha'macallit. She also credits Jimmy Scott and says that "There would be no Nancy Wilson had it not been for Jimmy Scott." I just think she thinks she sounds good when she yelps. He doesn't yelp tho. That's just his voice. And that whole "Song Stylist" thing is hella fuckin' DUMB! What the hell is a "song stylist?" Come ON!

I don't think there is a definative definition, but, according to wiki, a song stylist is basically a person who writes really good songs. Or who makes songs sound fantastic. Lady Ga Ga and Rhianna would not be considered Song Stylists.

Marlena Shaw is also an admirer, and she paid her a big tribute by reviving "Go Away Little Boy".

whitechocolatebrotha said:

Harlepolis said:

[img:$uid]http://www.cannonball-adderley.com/leadpic/617.jpg[/img:$uid]

One of my fave albums.

She came out of the cabaret scene, and it wasn't a blessing, at leats for awhile because she broke out of that mold and made some fantastic albums. Looking at her versatile discography, its quite understandable why so many vocalists cite her as an influence.

Y'know...I can agree with loving THIS album. It's bangin' and it's from when she first broke out, but as she got older, her catalog got sooooo heavily weighed down by the most drab material on the face of the planet. I mean, I'm talkin' the early 80's after she left Capitol (which is when the drab stuff started presenting) and she got picked up by Columbia/CBS. I just think all that 80's stuff sucked. They called it "R&B," but it was more like bland and lifeless supperclub shit. I DO LOVE "With My Lover Beside Me" which was produced by Barry Manilow. That was 1992 or '93, maybe '95. It's a nice, torchy, autumnal CD, but the rest...??? I saw her in concert in 1998 at a Jazz club in Boston. She was amazing! But for some inexplicable reason, they never let her do on albums what she did LIVE. It's perlexing to me.

The 80s wasn't so kind for people who came out of the 60s cabaret scene though. There was a musical shift and they struggled whether to fit in or continue doing what they're doing.

I personally think the 70s brought alot of great stuff out of her, espechially her albums with Ramsey Lewis. It took me a considerable amount of years to get into her music and find out how much of a bad ass she is.

kitbradley said:

whitechocolatebrotha said:

She DOES resemble Dionne kind of, huh? I'd rather tape Warwick's mouth shut though. Nancy really cuts loose on (You can only find it on vinyl, maybe download?) "Echoes of An Era 2: The Concert." But like I said earlier, when she cuts loose, it's not for long. She just goes back to that same sleepy, drab, yelpy whatcha'macallit. She also credits Jimmy Scott and says that "There would be no Nancy Wilson had it not been for Jimmy Scott." I just think she thinks she sounds good when she yelps. He doesn't yelp tho. That's just his voice. And that whole "Song Stylist" thing is hella fuckin' DUMB! What the hell is a "song stylist?" Come ON!

I don't think there is a definative definition, but, according to wiki, a song stylist is basically a person who writes really good songs. Or who makes songs sound fantastic. Lady Ga Ga and Rhianna would not be considered Song Stylists.

^ LOL! Fo' SHO'! LOL! There is one song by Nancy Wilson that always blew my mind...okay TWO (LOL!) "Guess Who I Saw Today" and "The Sadness in My Eyes" from her 1980 Capitol swansong album, "Take My Love." It comes in really soft, but it is a torch song that EASILY should have been included on her boxed set and never was. It's AMAZING!!!! Check it out!!!

whitechocolatebrotha said:

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

She DOES resemble Dionne kind of, huh? I'd rather tape Warwick's mouth shut though. Nancy really cuts loose on (You can only find it on vinyl, maybe download?) "Echoes of An Era 2: The Concert." But like I said earlier, when she cuts loose, it's not for long. She just goes back to that same sleepy, drab, yelpy whatcha'macallit. She also credits Jimmy Scott and says that "There would be no Nancy Wilson had it not been for Jimmy Scott." I just think she thinks she sounds good when she yelps. He doesn't yelp tho. That's just his voice. And that whole "Song Stylist" thing is hella fuckin' DUMB! What the hell is a "song stylist?" Come ON!

Good question. Unfortunately, I could only give my own definition based on my understanding pretaining the artists it was applied to for the most part; Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Ella, Sarah, Louis Armestrong, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Jimmy Scott, Ray Charles. I don't know who else but there a quite few.

Basically, artists who developed a musical/vocal identity all of their own, even if they cite other influences.

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

Reflexive dismissal is just as bad as reflexive acceptance. I sense you haven't listened to much of her work. Why not start with her album with Cannonball Adderley, and begin preparing a retraction.

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

Everybody's entitled, but I don't think those who like Nancy Wilson's music do it because they think the "ought to RESPECT .... her because she's old...." Perhaps her work isn't liked by everyone, but those of us who do (and it is different from decade to decade) simply like her voice and the way she interprets some of her songs. As for Dionne, I liked her early work, but she's lost a lot of her voice, probably from smoking all these years and can't hit her notes anymore. Most people that don't like these women probably just don't like the KIND of music they make.

Nancy got better over time. I think her best material is when she's paired with legitimate Jazz artists and arrangers (Cannonball, Oliver Nelson, Billy Mays, etc).

Dionne's voice was perfect for the Bacharach/David material who simply needed someone to sing the exact written melodies with pitch-perfect accuracy.

Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

namepeace said:

HotGritz said:

I don't see the appeal. I think she is just one of those artists from yesteryear that everyone thinks they ought to RESPECT and pay HOMAGE to just because she's old and can quote what went down back in the day.

Her and Dionne Warwick need their mouths taped shut. Sorry but I can't stand their voices.

Reflexive dismissal is just as bad as reflexive acceptance. I sense you haven't listened to much of her work. Why not start with her album with Cannonball Adderley, and begin preparing a retraction.

I don't think I will. Would rather spend my money on some old Retha, Betty Swan and Etta James.

HotGritz said:

namepeace said:

Reflexive dismissal is just as bad as reflexive acceptance. I sense you haven't listened to much of her work. Why not start with her album with Cannonball Adderley, and begin preparing a retraction.

I don't think I will. Would rather spend my money on some old Retha, Betty Swan and Etta James.

Okay, but I just don't think you should knock it before you try it.

I've only heard about 20 of her songs and her vocal delivery is always the same to me. Whispering, random belting, yelping. I am still curious enough to check out some of her other stuff though because I love The Sadness In My Eyes.

And how stunning does she look in the first picture in this thread??!

kevinpnb said:

I so wish I could find this on the Internet to link to... Seek out "The Right to Love" on the album "Lush Life" and you will see how gifted she is as an artist. Her vocal just tears right through you. She's got incredible technique on top of this beautiful tone. I've not dug into the entire catalog -- mainly 60s stuff -- so maybe her choice of material got boring... Indeed, I'm pretty bored by the "Hollywood My Way" from the earlier era -- but you can't deny that she has earned the legend status. Most definitely not overrated!

I think the showtunes she did early in her career stuck with her as far as her image is concerned and she couldn't break away from it like say - Abbey Lincoln, which is why I said earlier that it wasn't a blessing.

You Erykah fans might recognise this....

I could hear both of Jimmy Scott and Dinah Washington in her singing, but even so, you could tell that she developed her own style as well.

[Edited 11/22/11 16:05pm]

Miss Nancy Wilson has been recording for 50 years and has over 70 albums to her name. If I were a betting man, I'd be willing to bet the entire jackpot that Beyonce, Lady Ga Ga, Rhiana and Britney Spears won't have that kind of a career. She is style and elegance at it's finest. The above mentioned girls have never fallen into those categories.

[Edited 11/22/11 16:11pm]