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Featured Replies

There are no wrong answers (maybe) but I'll start. Musicians who you think had unbelievable voices and/or music, changed music in their prime, their music talked to you, etc. Having said that I love all types of music, rock, country, R&B, older hip hop, pop.

 

In no particular order,

 

SRV

Prince

George Michael

Billy Joel

Michael Jackson

In the whole world, of all time and you got George Michael? Heh. Interesting.

37 minutes ago, markstanco said:

 

There are no wrong answers (maybe) but I'll start. Musicians who you think had unbelievable voices and/or music, changed music in their prime, their music talked to you, etc. Having said that I love all types of music, rock, country, R&B, older hip hop, pop.

 

In no particular order,

 

SRV

Prince

George Michael

Billy Joel

Michael Jackson

 

 

There are no wrong answers (maybe) but I'll start. Musicians who you think had unbelievable voices and/or music, changed music in their prime, their music talked to you, etc. Having said that I love all types of music, rock, country, R&B, older hip hop, pop.
 
In no particular order,
 
SRV
Prince
George Michael
Billy Joel
Michael Jackson


That list is so fucked up lol.




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If you open up the discussion to "all time", I'd be shocked if a reasonable case could be made for any pop or rock musician.

Maybe jazz.  It's possible someone could make a legitimate argument that Coltrane or Monk is in the discussion.  I have my doubts.

For starters, even in the time frame that most of us or our parents were alive, you have to consider musicians like Pavarotti and Segovia.  And even so, top 5 all time?  Probably not.

I view Louis Armstrong as sort of the Babe Ruth of jazz.  He's the only modern musician I'll nominate.

Is this one of those threads where we are separating songwriting from “musician”?

not adding me-too answers to music/musicians that i actually dont listen much (e.g. Prince, jazz, dead Austro-Germanic composers) ...... its gotta be Thom Yorke.  For him and his crew to consistently innovate and take risk and perform at high quality for over 2 decades is quite  pimp

Brian Wilson, and I'm no beach Boys fan, but any list would need to have him on it.  Pet Sounds cemented his place in music history, not just rock and roll history. Genius is a word that describes his talent

Mozart

 

2 I can think of right now....

 

 

  • Author
11 hours ago, BoomMF said:

In the whole world, of all time and you got George Michael? Heh. Interesting.

He had an excellent voice awesome songwriting skills. 

49 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

He was a decent father figure too.

As well as a preacher, a teacher, anything you have in mind.

2 minutes ago, crackamacgowski said:

Rebecca Black

Rosanne 

Carl Lewis

ICP for the last two. They're a posse. 

 

5 minutes ago, crackamacgowski said:

Rebecca Black

Rosanne 

Carl Lewis

ICP for the last two. They're a posse. 

Do you take drugs, Danny?

This thread needs the dove that gave Pope Gregory chant, Machaut, Palestrina, Haydn, Wagner, and some historical perspective.

If we're just sticking to 20th/20st Century:

Louis Armstrong

Duke Ellington

Miles

Stravinsky

Ives

 

I might trade Ligeti with Ives, but I love me some Ives. Lennon/McCarthy, Jussi Bjorling, Stevie Wonder, Hanson, and Freddie Hubbard all might have cases.

Ellington and Stravinsky are the only ones that get consideration from me for top 5 all time.

4 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Brian Wilson, and I'm no beach Boys fan, but any list would need to have him on it.

 

Burt Bacharach was a better Brian Wilson than Brian Wilson.

 

I like the Stravinsky angle, he's in the mix.

"Musicians who you think had unbelievable voices and/or music, changed music in their prime, their music talked to you."                    I'll go by this. (Personal reasons)

Chuck Berry/Little Richard - Tie

The Beatles

Jimi Hendrix

Rush

Pearl Jam

 

14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Burt Bacharach was a better Brian Wilson than Brian Wilson.

 

I like the Stravinsky angle, he's in the mix.

It's all personal choice, but Brian did things with musical arrangements no one else has tried or succeeded at.  Pet Sounds is an example of that.  He's a savant.

For all-time, I'd go:

Palestrina

Bach

Beethoven

One or both of Haydn/Mozart; I'm not sure who I'd pick

Stravinsky/Ellington

 

For popular 20th/21st Century:

One of Cole Porter/Gershwin/Irving Berlin - if these guys were one person, they might have a case for all-time top 5

Prince

McCartney

Stevie Wonder

Maybe Willie Nelson?

If you're going Porter/Gershwin/Berlin you gotta throw Bernstein in that mix.

14 hours ago, markstanco said:

 

There are no wrong answers (maybe) but I'll start. Musicians who you think had unbelievable voices and/or music, changed music in their prime, their music talked to you, etc. Having said that I love all types of music, rock, country, R&B, older hip hop, pop.

 

In no particular order,

 

SRV

Prince

George Michael

Billy Joel

Michael Jackson

 

of all time, meaning they were born between 1949 and 1963? 

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

If you're going Porter/Gershwin/Berlin you gotta throw Bernstein in that mix.

I just saw the LA Phil do a Bernstein 100th anniversary show at the Hollywood Bowl last week and it was fantastic.  Gustavo Dudamel conducting.

Edited by Sbbruin

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Burt Bacharach was a better Brian Wilson than Brian Wilson.

 

I like the Stravinsky angle, he's in the mix.

Yeah. I'd throw Bacharach on my list easily. 

  • Author
1 hour ago, Dennis Taylor said:

of all time, meaning they were born between 1949 and 1963? 

Wild coincidence right? 

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

If you're going Porter/Gershwin/Berlin you gotta throw Bernstein in that mix.

He's a good addition. He was music's Carl Sagan. Important conductor and fantastic composer, but his strongest attribute was his ability to communicate complex musical ideas in a generally relatable way. His Young People's Concerts are great. If you haven't watched his Norton Lectures, you owe it to yourself to spend the time. Some of what he says is nonsense, but a least it's thought-provoking nonsense. All of it is fantastic. His piano overtone demonstration ended up in someone else's Ted Talk almost verbatim. 

Part 1:

 

4 hours ago, markstanco said:

He had an excellent voice awesome songwriting skills. 

I think ANY pop musician is going to be at a significant disadvantage in a comparison like this against masters from other genres less constrained by commercial concerns.  Genius needs breathing room.  You don't get that with pop.

I doubt anyone from pop would really make this list.

Edited by BoomMF

Thirty-three posts and not one mention of Pablo Cruise.  You all should be ashamed of yourself.

3 hours ago, Mole said:

This thread needs the dove that gave Pope Gregory chant, Machaut, Palestrina, Haydn, Wagner, and some historical perspective.

If we're just sticking to 20th/20st Century:

Louis Armstrong

Duke Ellington

Miles

Stravinsky

Ives

 

I might trade Ligeti with Ives, but I love me some Ives. Lennon/McCarthy, Jussi Bjorling, Stevie Wonder, Hanson, and Freddie Hubbard all might have cases.

Ellington and Stravinsky are the only ones that get consideration from me for top 5 all time.

I like how you stuck Hanson in there. Respect.

The key word is might have a case. Also with the Freudian Lennon/McCarthy.

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Thirty-three posts and not one mention of Pablo Cruise.  You all should be ashamed of yourself.

Whatcha gonna do?

Just now, Cheeseweasel said:

Whatcha gonna do?

Ignore him ?  Or stake him out in that place in the sun.

No particular order

Mozart 

Hank Williams

Elvis

Armstrong

Robert Johnson  

 

 

9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Elvis?

The young one.  Not the fat one. 

i was going to say whistling closely followed by banging my hand on my desk, but then i read the thread.

lots of great talents listed i always appreciated Steve Miller as a great talent especially compared to what we have today. 

SRV

Mozart/Beethoven

MJ

Hank Sr.

Tupac

 

1. George Michael

2. Yanni

3. Madonna / Marty Friedman

4. Michael Anthony

5. Beethoven / The other guy from Wham! who isn’t George Michael (see #1, above)

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