> I think Judy Collin's rendition of "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is tops for > me. Here you have a woman of incredible talents. She is probably one of the > best interpretive singers in the business. Her voice is stronger than ever. > When she decided to start composing songs we saw that she was great at that > too.
Which album is this on? I've only recently started to collect Judy's stuff. I agree that she is a wonderful interpreter. For a long time I just thought she had a pretty voice and wrote rather precious little songs. I have since learned that I was wrong on both counts. 'Albatross', 'My Father', 'Granddaddy' - these are great songs. And her choice of material to interpret has usually shown impeccable taste. Has anybody really listened to what > Tori is doing on that Piano?!?! What about the harpsichord. This is a very > difficult instrument to play and just because you are a great pianist does > not mean you can play a harpsichord. I do think Tori is talented but her lyrics are often too obtuse for me. Sometimes that's ok. I don't always understand what Rickie Lee is singing about in some of her later stuff (thinking about 'Traffic From Paradise' here) but I usually get some kind of impression from it. What little I know of Tori's songs (a tape a friend gave me some time ago) usually leaves me scratching my head and going 'huh?' People usually seem to lump Tori in with Joni's artistic decendants but I think she owes as much or more to Laura Nyro as far as her roots go. > Whitney's version is good but Linda's is better. I do hate the fact that > Whitney made it into such a BIG hit. It almost takes the sincerity out of it > when something is soooo commercialized. Whitney's interpretations in general have never struck me as being particularly sincere. To me her singing mainly serves the purpose of showing off her voice and how she can use it. I can't stand her cover of 'I Will Always Love You'. Makes me cringe. > Silk Purse and Home Grown have good song and poor songs on them. I do think > both are available on CD but don't expect to see them stocked at the local > record store. The song "Long, Long Time" is on Silk Purse and this one is > CLASSIC Linda. 'Long, Long Time' is one of the reasons why I want that album. > > If you ever want to talk about Billie, I'M THERE. She is the prime example > for demonstrating that a great voice means little and a voice with character > is everything!!!! I think that Billie Holiday and Patsy Cline are the two > most important vocalist of our time PERIOD! > I suppose that point could be argued but I'm not going to quibble about it. I love both of those singers. I think Linda (along with most every singer in C&W) owes a lot to Patsy. That voice was one of a kind and Patsy could break your heart or make you laugh or make you feel any emotion in between with it. And people on this list who have been around for awhile know that I can go on & on & on about Billie. Her voice has become ingrained in my soul. She speaks to me in a way that almost no other singers do. > > I think you used a great word for Diana on Billie. IMPRESSION! She gives the > impression of Billie without singing like Billie. That is what makes her > renditions of these songs VALID. Her acting on this film (unlike others > films that followed), was GOOD. I'm not saying that her acting wasn't good. I'm saying that the slim, doe-eyed, Cinderella-ensnared-by-drugs character that she played wasn't much like the real Billie Holiday. By all accounts, Billie may have been a vulnerable person but she had a tough exterior. While it's true that she was involved with several abusive men (Billy Dee Williams' portrayal of Louis McKay as the handsome prince who did his best to save her is a total farce), there are stories that she sometimes gave as good as she got. Also, photos of Billie show a rather Rubinesque woman who only became thin and finally painfully emaciated in the last few years of her life. Most of what I've read indicates that Billie was a party girl from as far back as her teen days when she was Eleanora Fagan in Baltimore and nobody pushed her around. If anyone tried they would probably come out of the encounter with a black eye. Maybe two black eyes. With the exception of Cher(good singer but > not a great), most singers turned actresses suck. Cher held her own with Meryl Streep in 'Silkwood' and lit up the screen in 'Moonstruck'. She showed 'em all. I wish she would get another decent part. She really is a talented, natural actress. > > I bet you guys are sorry you let me be a part of this forum(Ha Ha). In > person, it is difficult to get a word out of me. I guess I'm not really > speaking while typing... > Workingwilly Hey, I'm enjoying talking with you. It's nice to get responses to what I write once in awhile. Mark E in Seattle
