Aretha Franklin on "Jump to It" ---Her vocals on this song just give me chills; the tone, the passion, the control...

Michael and Jermaine Jackson on "I Am Love" ---The opening track from the "Dancing Machine" lp I could listen to this seven minute masterpiece all day long.

Labelle on "You Turn Me On" ---The closing track on their most successful album (yes, the one with "Lady Marmalade") this song actually...well, turns me on!

Prince on "Adore" ---No explanations needed!

Al Green on "I'm Still In Love With You" ---Reverend Grits crooning out some Memphis Soul!


Any others...?

Madonna ~ "Ray Of Light" live performance on Oprah AMAZING!!

Madonna ~ "Something To Rememer" album & song Madonna sounds beautiful when she sings in a lower register. I think this album really showcases what a great vocalist she is. Along with the "Evita" sdtrk as well.

Celine Dion ~ "To Love You More" If you've not heard this song...you're missing out. The violin in this song accompanies her voice perfectly.

Celine Dion ~ "With This Tear" speaks for itself. (whitney & mariah take note)

Prince ~ "Sometimes It Snows In April", "A Case Of U", "I Love U In Me" ya'll know.

George Michael ~ "Calling You" & "I Can't Make You Love Me" best version of these songs ever!

Whitney Houston ~ "I Have Nothing" at her very best!

Christina Aguilera ~ "Contigo En La Distancia" this standard seems as if was written for her!

Tina Turner ~ "River Deep Mountain High" POWERFUL! to say the least.

Nat King Cole ~ "Too Young" Frank Sinatra who? Nat King Cole is the master of that era, hands down!

Anita Baker ~ "No One In The World" if velvet and chocolate were a song..this would probably it.

Placido Domingo ~ "Bajo El Cielo Español" (album)no explanation needed. Untouchable.

just a few that came to mind.

Donny Hathaway - Live

Curtis Mayfield : Live


Both of these albums from beginning to end

I'd be hard pressed to name better vocal performances than the ones by John Lennon on Julia and Mother.

...and as ridiculous as this might seem, I also have to name Papa Was a Rodeo by the Magnetic Fields. I love that song to death...

EDIT - How could I forget Flashback by Ministry? You can practically feel Alain's vocal chords shredding when you listen to that song.
[This message was edited Thu May 27 18:24:57 2004 by flipwilson]

This Womans Work by Kate Bush

"Holding On To You", "You've got to hide your love away" and "A Change is gonna come" by TTD/Sananda

Jennifer Holiday "And I'm telling you I'm not going"
Outstanding!!!

Bilal- Sometimes
Kelis-Smells Like Teen Spirit
Fantasia-Summertime
Parliament-anything they do!

polkadotsuit said:

Gladys Knight, "You're The Best Thing (That Ever Happened To Me)"

Stevie Wonder, "I Ain't Gonna Stand For It"

Patti Labelle, "Lady Marmalade" (or however it's spelled)

Prince, "Still Would Stand All Time"

Freddy Mercury, "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Anne Murray, "Just Fall In Love Again" (don't laugh)

Elton John, "Benny And The Jets"

Cindi Lauper, "Money Changes Everything" (live version, if there's a studio version that is)

Mavis Staples, "I'll Take You There"

Sam Cooke, "Chain Gang"

Micheal Hutchense, "Need You Tonight"

Daryl Hall, "Sarah Smile"

...
[This message was edited Fri May 28 6:50:49 2004 by Byron]

The live video version of The Clark Sister's "Prayers Of The Righteous" and "Jesus Forevermore" (Karen Clark Sheard is no joke. )


Aretha Franklin's "Angel" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long"

Bilal's interlude after Common's "Funky For You" (from Like Water For Chocolate)

D'Angelo ending of "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"

Stevie Wonder's "Where Were You When I Needed You," "Maybe Your Baby" and "Land of LA LA"

Rahsaan Patterson's "It's Alright"

Terence Trent D'Arby's "Seasons"

Prince's "International Lover," "Sometimes It Snows In April" and most recently "Reflection"

The Spinner's "Sadie (extended version)" and "Love Don't Love Nobody"

Syreeta and G.C. Cameron's "I Wanna Be By Your Side"

the spinners: "love don't love nobody" ('specially towards the end of the song)

al green: "there's no way", "the love sermon", "how can you mend a broken heart?"

prince, "it's gonna be lonely" (that little multi-tracked joint towards the end...always makes me wanna testify when i hear it)



...gotta go think of mo'

Also...

Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" and "For The Good Times"

Tweet's live set from her Atlanta show two summers ago

Mary J. Blige's "Love Is All We Need"

Erykah Baud's performance of "Back In The Day (Puff)" from Chappelle's Show

Sly and The Family Stone (w/ Little Sister's) performance of "You're The One" (word to Vet and Tiny who were beatin' the hell outta them tambourines! )

Roberta Flack's "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" and "Just When I Needed You"

Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor" and "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (so much passion in that song)

Jodeci's performance from The Apollo ('95)

o-tay, here's mo':

diana ross & the supremes: "then"

ew & f: "devotion" (gratitude version), "the world's a masquerade", "star", "you and i"

cameo: "feel me", "why have i lost you" (1977 version), "i owe it all to you"

shalamar: "somewhere there's a love"

michael jackson: "girl don't take your love from me"

ltd: "love ballad"

marvin gaye, "distant lover" (studio version)

Don't forget my boys:

"My Girl"

Billie Holiday "Strange Fruit"

I don't think I can even post any other favorites in its presence.

Marva Whitney "It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who To Sock It To) [Live]"

Frank Sinatra "My Way"

Gladys Knight & The Pips "Who Is She (And What Is She to You)"

Björk "Sod Off"

Minnie Riperton "Les Fleurs"

Biz Markie "Just A Friend"

Stevie Wonder--You met Your Match (or any other, for that matter)
John Lennon--Happiness is a Warm Gun
Kurt Cobain--Lounge Act
Marvin Gaye--Let's get it On
Mariah--Emotions (I'm not a fan, but pretty amazing)
Prince--Kiss

okaypimpn said:

That shit freaks me out. In particular:
That Sly Stone DKRC "Youre the One" performance

Serious said:

great choice

psykosoul said:

One of best performances I've seen him do. That one and the one he did on the Dick Cavett (sp?) Show performing "I Want To Take You Higher." Sly was tearin' that tambourine up at the end!

Brian Wilson "Surf's Up" anything by Jeff Buckley

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Wanna get blunted and listen to some records?

A few of mine:

1. Cyndi Lauper - "Money Changes Everything"
-This was the first song that alerted me to her exquisite power and control.
2. Debbie Harry - "Dreaming", "Union City Blue", "Hanging On The Telephone", "One Way Or Another" et. all
-An ice-cream voice with an uncharacteristic warmth; a woman of extremes (tough vs. vulnerable, coy vs. sexually aggressive, detached vs. involved), she really understood how to milk a song for maximum emotional impact.
3. Kate Bush - "Cloudbusting"
-She had finally reined in her voice by this point; she captures the pathos and poignancy of the song perfectly.
4. Lisa Stansfield - "All Around The World", "What Did I Do To You?", "You Can't Deny It", "Those Were The Days" (live w/ George Michael)
-A truly underappreciated talent; projects longing and regret extremely well, but can also sound spontaneous when she wants to. Always sounds alluring.
5. Madonna - "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Oh Father"
-Personal songs means adept performances from Ms. Ciccone; certainly not a huge vocal talent, but it's the way she sings them.
6. Mariah Carey - "Vision Of Love"
-Precise and measured, but also jubilant; this was before she succumbed to melisma and her own ego.
7. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Your Precious Love", "If This World Were Mine"
-The definition of "perfect vocal interplay".
8. Marvin Gaye - anything he's ever done
9. The Temptations - anything they ever did
-I'm sure we can all agree on this.
10. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
-This song best displays the vocal mannerisms he's been employing for 25 years. Beautiful voice, but it got repetitive after a while.
11. Prince - "Purple Rain", "The Beautiful Ones", "Little Red Corvette", so many more
-What a beautiful, emotional voice. Peerless.
12. Teena Marie - "I Need Your Lovin'"
-Lady T. is a living legend.
13. Bryan Ferry - "More Than This"
-Simply gorgeous, almost ethereal.
14. Patsy Cline - "Crazy", "She's Got You", "Sweet Dreams"
-She had exquisite tonality and control. And also one of the biggest voices of her time.
15. Whitney Houston - "I Have Nothing", "I'm Every Woman"
-How the mighty have fallen *sigh*.
16. Annie Lennox - "Here Comes The Rain Again", "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", "Angel", "Why", "Honestly" etc.
17. Barbra Streisand - "Cry Me A River", "Woman In Love", "Guilty"
-Barry Gibb was one of the few producers who stripped her of her artifice. These latter two are great tracks because she sounds loose and spontaneous, not anal and self-satisfied as on much of her other material.
18. Boy George - "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", "Time (Clock Of The Heart)", "Victims" etc.
-Simply an exquisite voice.
19. Carly Simon - "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be"
-Her greatest vocal achievement. Heartbreakingly honest.
20. Carole King - "It's Too Late"
21. Diana Ross/ The Supremes - too many to mention; she was much better with The Supremes, though
22. Donna Summer - "Last Dance", "Heaven Knows", "Dim All The Lights", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "I Feel Love", "On The Radio", "State Of Independence", "I Will Go With You" and so much more
-Whitney Houston's clarity (OK...a little grittier and more ballsy), but superior delivery and an amazing, sustainable power (the 15-second note she holds - twice, in different ways - in "Dim All The Lights" is spine-tinglingly good). If you've seen her live, you know how amazing she can be. Criminally forgotten these days because the best of her work was done in a much-maligned genre - disco.
23. Elton John - a lot of his 70's material
-Before he became a corporate whore for Disney.
24. Elvis Presley - "Suspicious Minds"
25. Stevie Nicks - "Landslide", "Dreams", "Stand Back", "
26. Daryl Hall - "Sara Smile", "Say It Isn't So", "One On One", "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", etc.
27. Tina Turner - most everything she's done
28. Al Green - most everything he's done
29. Michael Hutchence - "Never Tear Us Apart"
-A vocal chameleon
30. James Taylor - "Fire And Rain"
31. David Bowie - "Heroes"
32. Judy Garland - "The Man That Got Away", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (before the voice deepened with drug use)
33. Martha Reeves - "Dancing In The Street", "Heat Wave", "Quicksand", "Jimmy Mack"
34. Aretha Franklin - tons of her stuff
[This message was edited Fri May 28 14:36:20 2004 by VoicesCarry]

Clare Tory's backup vocals on Pink Floyd's "Great Gig In The Sky" from Dark Side Of The Moon. F**KING AMAZING!

CinisterCee said:

but i don't smoke at all...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

shit, me either (not even cigs), but i bet it would be a blast.

The Temptations Reunion "Standing On The Top" featuring Rick James

David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards on the same track...

It's too bad Eddie's voice was struggling and Rick James had to sing, but Dave and Dennis were rippin' it!!

K-ci Hailey "If You Think You're Lonely Now"...he made Bobby Womack proud.

Jill Scott "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E flat (minor))"... such a beautifully sung song

Prince "Forever In My Life" from the Sign... movie concert!

Stevie Wonder "Joy Inside My Tears"...the blueprint for Aaron Hall, Jodeci, R. Kelly, etc.

AREATHA FRANKLIN- UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME
PRINCE - ADORE & DO YOU LIE?
AL GREEN - YOU OUTTA BE WITH ME & HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART
STEVIE WONDER - MY CHERIE ARMOUR
TEENA MARIE - YOUNG LOVE
TEMPTATION - SINCE I LOST MY BABY
MARVIN GAYE - WHAT'S GOING ON
PATTI LABELL - IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME BY NOW (LIVE)
MICHAEL JACKSON - P.Y.T. & IT'S THE FALLINNG IN LOVE
[This message was edited Sat May 29 22:55:16 2004 by debbiedean2]