Beautiful voices

For some reason I can't figure out, I got into singing late in life. I started in my 20's and, 30 years later, it's my favorite musical thing to do. I'm fascinated by how people can interpret songs and the technique of singing. I wasn't born with a great voice, but there are songs I just "get", particularly those that have a blues element. I like to think the feeling makes up, at least in part, for technical shortcomings.
But this isn't about me. It's about the voices that mesmerize me.

I don't evangelize about politics or religion. Or anything else...except Eva Cassidy. People who know me are sick of me hearing me talk about her. So maybe I'll get it out of my system by posting it on a blog. Eva was, in short, the greatest female singer of all time. No disrespect to Aretha, Sarah, Patsy or Billie, but when Eva sang, it was on a universal level. A level that said, "I'm singing about our lives. Not just mine, but yours too." At 33, she left us way too soon, in 1996. Melanoma took her.
Please go to YouTube at some point and type in her name followed by Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Make sure you pull up the clip of her at Blues Alley in her home metro area of Washington, DC. You'll see a live recording of her, a few months before she died. It is as close to musical perfection as anything you'll ever see. It's not easy to make a classic song a signature song. But she does it.

To make a baker's dozen, here are 12 more, in no particular order:

1: Bobby "Blue" Bland. He's retired but still with us. Pure Memphis soul.  He takes the technique of melisma to a new level. Half church, half secular, all grit and soul. Don't miss him. Honorable mention to Little Milton too, who is similar to Bland. Recommended listening, his definitive version of "Stormy Monday."
2: Gregg Allman: I don't understand why he's not more appreciated. He is, to be sure. But when you think of great blues singers, his name doesn't generally come to mind. Perhaps still in brother Duane's shadow. But the term "world weary" was meant for him. Recommended: Just about anything but I'm going to go with an obscure blues cover from the ABB Brothers and Sisters album called "Jelly Jelly."
3: Annie Haslam: Retired too. Former lead singer of the band Renaissance. First time I heard her, I could not believe anyone could sing like that. Remarkable technical skill. Give her the right song, something in a classical or folk genre, and there's none better, this side of Eva. Recommended song; Mother Russia.
4: Richard Manuel: One of three lead singers from The Band. Could sing in his natural baritone but also went effortlessly to tenor and just as easily to his falsetto. Never heard a singer glide between tenor and falsetto as easily as he could. He left us in 1986...suicide. I'm still pissed off. Recommended: Whispering Pines.
5: Otis Redding: Like Bland, pure Memphis. Probably nothing I could add that hasn't been written by rock historians. Recommended: His version of a song he co-wrote, "Respect."
6: Sinatra: Again, probably not a thing I can add. But when I hear him, I hear an attitude that I can completely relate to and internalize. Reinvented how to phrase a pop song. Recommended: Where to begin? "But I'll pick Fly Me To The Moon."
7: Marvin Junior: Lead singer of The Dells, the best R&B group you've never heard of. From Junior comes Teddy Pendergrass and every other great R&B baritone. Many rock baritones as well. Still active, as far as I know. Recommended : "Oh, What a Nite."
8: Dion (DiMucci): Another well known voice. Still active. Like Sinatra, an attitude I totally get. There are at least 4 Dions. There's early doo-wop Dion. There's mid, introspective, Dion. There's later, Christian contemporary Dion. And there's latter day, straight rock/blues Dion, with elements of the earlier periods still there. So much to pick from, but for vocal prowess, I'll go with perhaps his best known song "Runaround Sue." A template for what a rock and roll attitude should be. 
9: Bob Seger: Yet another superstar. And well deserved. The best purest rock voice ever. I've never met anyone who didn't admire Seger. After a long hiatus, back on the circuit. Recommended: Live version of "Katmandu."
10: Roy Orbison: Like Sinatra, nothing I can add. What a musical soul. Best known for ballads, but he could rock with the best of them. Like Seger, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about the big "O". Recommended: "Love Hurts." After hearing it, you'll appreciate the more popular Nazareth cover even more for their reinvention of it.
11: Wilson Pickett: The Wicked one did almost everything uptempo. Occasional ballad, but that was just a pause. Just pure grit and soul. I guess I keep coming back to best known songs by these artists, but I'll go with another one, "Midnight Hour." He co-wrote it but, interestingly, his version was a cover of the original by the Young Rascals. Rascals version is pretty damn good too.
12: Tom Waits: Odd choice to some, but as a sort of "anti-singer", he's as much a singer as anyone on the list. Like Dion, a singer with multiple personalities, too many to list. A growl, a croon, a yelp, Waits does them all, honestly. And a tabula rosa for interpretation. Recommended: "Tom Traubert's Blues."

Highly honorable mention: Solomon Burke, John Fogerty, Steve Forbert, Lyle Lovett, Bryan Adams, Axl Rose, Carl Wilson (always wished Brian would have let him sing more), Rick Danko, Matthew Bellamy (lead singer of the band Muse), Patsy Cline, Janis Joplin, Luther Vandross

Happy listening, y'all.