Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Random Thought
I typically listen to Pandora at night while I work. Just listened to a Judy Collins tune, That Song About the Midway, and it struck me that, whenever I've heard her sing, it's always seemed rather cold and soulless, as if she's an alien species that learned the notes and sings them perfectly, without any understanding of their import. Usually her producers add lots of echo, too, so it sounds as if Judy is singing from the bottom of a well.
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5 comments:
I know what you mean, and I generally agree with you, but every once in a while her voice is a good fit with the song. And she never goes over the top like Joni Mitchell.
@wally: Joni did a TV special a dozen years or so ago, singing in some sort of artsy-fartsy venue with comfortable couches for the public to sit on, and Graham Nash on hand to introduce her: Joni will be out momentarily, she's just finishing up a couple of projects, he said, then the cameras cut to Mitchell, painting little dibdabs of paint on some canvases. Very, very pretentious.
I think that of the Big Three female vocalists from the 60's (Collins, Mitchell, and Joan Baez) that Baez has kept the most integrity. These latter days I love the voices of Connie Dover and Loreena McKennitt.
I'll have to check them out. Emmylou Harris is a favorite of mine.
@wally: I'd have to agree on Emmylou. She's been the definition of integrity during her career. She seems to still carry a torch for Gram Parsons, and made her relationship with him into the magnificent quasi-biographical album The Ballad of Sally Rose.
@wally: Try La Fontaine by Connie Dover. It's available on YouTube.
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