Dear Singing Students:
When one of you tells me you've never heard Otis Redding, Etta James, or Al Green, my heart breaks a little! So, here is a list of singers who'll help teach you how to sing from the soul. I've listed specific songs and albums that I especially like. The list is by no means complete, but it's a place to start...
[update 09/13/13]
Al Green - SONG: “I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)”, or the ALBUM: Gets Next To You
Anita O’Day - SONG: “Them There Eyes”
Annie Lennox - SONG: “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” [from Red Hot + Blue: Cole Porter Tribute album, various artists]
Aretha Franklin - SONG: “Skylark” or the ALBUM: Live at the Fillmore West
Bessie Smith - SONG: “Weepin' Willow Blues”
Betty Carter - SONG: “I Only Have Eyes For You”
Big Mama Thornton - SONG: “Hard Times”
Big Maybelle - SONG: “I Got It Bad”
Billie Holiday [I prefer the 30’s-early 40’s] - SONG: “I'm Gonna Lock My Heart” or the ALBUM: Lady Day Swings
Bjork - SONG: "Isobel"
Bobby McFerrin - anything
Bonnie Raitt - anything
Carla Thomas - SONG: “Bring It On Home”
Carmen McRae - anything
Cassandra Wilson - SONG: “I've Grown Accustomed To His Face” or the ALBUM: Blue Light Til Dawn
Charles Brown - SONG: “Please Come Home For Christmas” or the ALBUM: All My Life
Dinah Washington - SONG: “You Don't Know What Love Is”
Donny Hathaway - SONG: “For All We Know”
Ella Fitzgerald - SONG: “A Sunday Kind of Love” or the ALBUM: Cole Porter Songbook
Emmylou Harris SONG: “All My Tears” or “Plaisir D'Amour”
Etta James - SONG: "I'd Rather Go Blind", “These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)”
Etta Jones - SONG: “If I Had You”, "The Gal from Joe's"
Eva Cassidy - anything
George Jones - SONG: “She Thinks I Still Care”
Gillian Welch - SONG: “Paper Wings” or the ALBUM: Revival
Gladys Knight & The Pips - SONG: “Nitty Gritty”, "Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Irma Thomas - SONG: “Ruler Of My Heart”, "Time is On My Side"
Jack Sheldon - SONG: “On The Sunny Side Of The Street”
Jackie Wilson - SONG: “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher”
Julie London - SONG: “You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To”
June Christy - SONG: “How High The Moon”
k.d. lang - SONG: “Outside Myself” or the ALBUM: Ingenue, Drag, Hymns Of The 49th Parallel
Kurt Elling - SONG: “You Don't Know What Love Is” or “My Foolish Heart”
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - SONG: “Centerpiece” or the ALBUM: Everybody's Boppin'
LaVern Baker - SONG: “Shake a Hand” or the ALBUM: Sings Bessie Smith
Lena Horne - SONG: “Stormy Weather”
Les Paul & Mary Ford - SONG: “Vaya Con Dios”
Little Willie John - SONG: “My Love Is”, "Grits Ain't Groceries"
Lonnie Johnson - SONG: “Tomorrow Night“
Lou Rawls - SONG: “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)”
Louis Jordan [American sax player] - SONG: “Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby” or “I Want You To Be My Baby”
Louis Prima & Keely Smith - SONG: “That Old Black Magic”
Lucinda Williams - SONG: “Lonely Girls” or “Fruits of My Labor” or the ALBUM: Essence, World Without Tears, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Luther Vandross - SONG: “A House Is Not A Home”
Mahalia Jackson - SONG: “Move On Up a Little Higher”
Mark Murphy - SONG: “More Than You Know”
Marvin Gaye - SONG: “Ain’t That Peculiar”, "Try It Baby", "Got To Give It Up" or the ALBUM: "What's Goin' On"
Maura O'Connell - SONG: “The Water is Wide”
Mel Torme - SONG: “Comin' Home Baby”
The Mills Brothers - SONG: “Tiger Rag”, "Nevertheless (I'm in Love With You")
Najma - SONG: “Neend Koyi” - ALBUM: Qareeb
Nancy Wilson - SONG: “When Did You Leave Heaven?” or the ALBUM: Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley
Nat King Cole - SONG: “Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby”
Nina Simone - SONG: “Feeling Good”, “Come Ye”, “My Baby Just Cares For Me“
Otis Redding - SONG: “Pain In My Heart”, "Trick or Treat"
Patty Griffin - SONG: “Be Careful”
Peggy Lee - SONG: “Fever”
Ray Charles - SONG: “Here We Go Again”, "Lonely Avenue"
Rickie Lee Jones - SONG: “Chuck E.’s in Love” or the ALBUM: Rickie Lee Jones [first album], Pop Pop
Roberta Flack - SONG: “Tryin' Times”, "I Am the Girl" or the ALBUM: First Take
Ruthie Foster - SONG: “Hole in My Pocket” or the ALBUM: Phenomenal Woman
Sam Cooke - SONG: “You Send Me”, "Change is Gonna Come"
Sheila Chandra - SONG: ”Ever So Lonely” or the ALBUM: Weaving My Ancestor's Voices
Shelby Lynne - SONG: “Thought It Would Be Easier” or the ALBUM: I Am Shelby Lynne
Shirley Horn - SONG: “Don’t Be On The Outside” or the ALBUM: Travelin' Light
Solomon Burke - SONG: “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”, "Cry to Me"
Stevie Wonder - SONG: “For Once in My Life” or the ALBUM: Talking Book [or anything before 1983]
Willie Nelson - SONG: “Georgia On My Mind” or the ALBUM: Stardust (produced by Booker T Jones!), Red Headed Stranger
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