Greatest musical artist ever
- Thread starter Ghost of OM
- Start date
Stevie Wonder made two of my favorite albums. Innervisions and "Songs in the key of life". I believe he played on all the albums.
Shalom
Shalom
Dolly Parton: “Glen Campbell was special because he was so gifted. Glen is one of the greatest voices that ever was in the business and he was one of the greatest musicians."
Ehhh, what do those 3 pikers know about music anyway.
Swift has an extremely strong case as a contemporary pop musician. Has won the most Album of the Year Grammys, youngest woman (maybe person?) inducted into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame by a large margin, international megastar, and has been doing it for two decades.
I define this as to which artist you are drawn to most often.
Stevie Ray.
Stevie Ray.
Like they would say anything else. I don’t need to have others tell me what I hear….his voice is good, not great. Luther Vandross he ain’t.
I've never championed GC as a singer or vocalist, but he did have a habit of covering songs and out-singing the original - and really, really good originals. Like Roy Clark on Yesterday When I Was Young, Linda Ronstadt on Still Within the Sound of my Voice, Richard Harris on MacArthur Park (debatable, I guess, but live performances GC all day long) even Green Day on Time of Your Life (Glen actually made it a likable song).
Carol Kaye used to joke when he would "two time" in the studio. He'd play guitar then add background vocals and get paid twice. Then she saw him in the studio one day singing his own recording and knew what was to come.
G.F. Handel. The Messiah is the greatest masterpiece of all time.
AC DC is a close second
AC DC is a close second
Last 60 years I would put Neil young up there.
For the previous 250 years before that I would say Amadeus
For the previous 250 years before that I would say Amadeus
I think this is right. Multiple forms and instruments, the rare bridge between the two (classical and romantic) periods personified.
If I were going down the jazz route, it’d probably be Armstrong or coletrane.
He was a good singer, I just don’t think his voice was great. There have been many better singers over the years.
If I was to focus soley on artists from the last 50-100 years, I'd have to say Prince. He was a singer, songwriter, performer and musician at the highest level. Whatever he put his mind to, he became the best at it.
Certainly. There's Karen Carpenter and a whole list of others of which GC would probably find himself around #265 or so. Combined with his top ten guitar playing, that's pretty formidable though. People say he didn't write. He couldn't read, but he did write. He wrote solos - in his mind. All those breaks in his live performances weren't written by Webb or anyone else. Just GC. And he'd have a few in his head for each song, so the break would always be different for each show.
So someone like Prince who’s also in the top 10 as a guitarist/instrumentalist and probably in the top 25 or so for vocals would be well ahead of him. That’s my point. If we’re looking for best overall musician, he’s not in the running.
Ok so we will put her over Beethoven. Got it. We all have high school and college daughters you know. We have lived swift for years!!
Prince was obviously a massive talent, but I still think we tend to be a bit myopic to modern popular music.
if I were looking back 50-100 years, big picture, I’d lean to Aaron Copland.
Exactly. Which is why the best guitarist is of course Django reinhardt
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You’re right, Prince sang, wrote, played every instrument, mixed, and produced his songs. Bobby just sang.
Arguing over music is useless…everyone has their own tastes. I think Prince is a phenomenal singer. And the topic was best musical artist, not best singer. If the topic was best singer, I wouldn’t have Prince as my pick…I would have Luther Vandross.
I thought it was musicianship. You brought up GC's vocals, not me. You're correct. There is enough great music out there for all of us to enjoy and even favor. A lot of it is getting old - with us.
The good stuff will always stand the test of time though - even the mediocre stuff will as well - as compared to today's music, truth be told. Even if it crosses our comfortable genre lines, most of us know it when we hear it.
You can hate Bread, but can't not appreciate David Gate's voice. You can hate the Stones but can't not appreciate Mick Taylor's early 70's guitar work.
American Idol and social media have ruined music. Artists don’t have to grind their way into a career any more, just get approved by judges or get enough likes. The 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s won’t be beat for music which is why, as you say, will stand the test of time.
The reason I chimed in on GC - as I always will here - is because he was known as a musician's musician - meaning he had the respect and sometimes awe of his peers, going back to the Wall of Sound days. I think that shows in videos like the KK one above, as well as the other Ralph Emery video of him playing Gentle on my Mind.
Old country had a lot of good musicians, they just were never my cup of tea. The first country musician I liked was Garth Brooks.
Maybe stop listening to the stations that promote it. There is a lot of good music being done today.
I don’t listen to any stations other than 80’s on 8 or 70’s on 7. I listen to my own playlists on Spotify.
Then how do you know there isn't any good music being done? I mean I have no issue with those stations. I listen to Underground 80's on Soma FM a lot but I also have other stations that play new music I listen to and like. A lot of good stuff being done today.
Because if it’s good, it will come out. I’m sure people would have heard of the Beatles eventually.
This one is in left field. What about..
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jesus Christ superstar
Joseph and the technocolor dreamcoats.
Evita
Cats
Phantom of the opera
Sunset blvd
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jesus Christ superstar
Joseph and the technocolor dreamcoats.
Evita
Cats
Phantom of the opera
Sunset blvd