Rolling Stone is looking for clicks this morning, issuing their list of the 200 best singers of all time.
It’s ludicrous, don’t waste your time.
Of course, I agree Aretha Franklin is number 1 just as she was in 2010, the last time they pulled this stunt.
But the 200 singers doesn’t include a raft of people who can actually sing. and have been praised for it. It includes a bunch of performers who are talented musicians but screech like hoot owls. I don’t think Rolling Stone understands what singing really means.
They’ve got Frank Sinatra at number 19, and Barbra Streisand at 147. So start there.
The editors have leaned heavily on R&B but have omitted three of the greatest soul singers of all time: Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, Marvin Junior of the Dells and — my god — Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops. It’s just not a list without them. How about Ben E. King? Jerry Butler? Mary Wells?
I think they leave names off just to make people click on the list and write angry emails. Don’t bother. But real singers like Phoebe Snow and Sting aren’t there. Elvis Costello is missing, so are Crosby, Stills, & Nash— aren’t they known for their singing? (But Neil Young is?) Ann or Nancy Wilson from Heart?
How about a great female voice of folk: Judy Collins? (Joan Baez is buried way down at the end!) Did I miss Cher, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor? Let me know if I did. Johnny Mathis? Nat King Cole? Natalie Cole? Harry Nilsson? Dionne Warwick? Roberta Flack?
Tony Fucking Bennett?????? Celine Dion!
OK, so please don’t click there. No link. Nothing, Just ignore!
