Top Ten Female Vocalists – #7 – Dusty Springfield
Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley represented the old school on my list of favorite male vocalists, and Dusty Springfield has that honor here.
The British Springfield made her most enduring musical contribution with the very American Dusty in Memphis, a seminal album containing wonderful songs written by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Carole King and Randy Newman. That album is my only real exposure to Springfield’s work but, as with Van Morrison’s Moondance, it’s more than enough to make me a huge fan.
No less an authority than Elton John once said of Springfield, “I think she is the greatest white singer that there ever has been.” I love his use of the racial qualifier in that statement. How very Elton.
One thing I love about Dusty Springfield is the wide gap between her voice and her appearance. I had heard several of her songs before I knew a thing about her and for one thing (going back to Elton’s statement), I figured she was black. I also find her voice incredibly sultry and almost naughty, not the sort of sound I’d expect to escape from the throat of a beehived librarian.
And when his daddy would visit he’d come along
When they gathered round and started talkin’
That’s when Billy would take me walkin’
Out through the backyard we’d go walkin’
Then he’d look into my eyes
Lord knows to my suprise
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes, he was he was, yes, he was
Being good isn’t always easy
No matter how hard I tried
When he started sweet talkin’ to me
He’d come and tell me everything is alright
He’d kiss and tell me everything’s alright
Can I get away again tonight
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes, he was he was , lord knows he was
How well I remember
The look that was in his eyes
Stealing kisses from me on the sly
Taking time to make time
Telling me that he’s all mine
Learning from each other’s knowing
Looking to see how much we’re growing
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes, he was he was, oh yes, he was
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the sweet talkin’ son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man….
Meet Me In Montauk 
Very good pick, and not one that immediately came to mind.
And, if I were to think back about first hearing this song as a kid, I probably assumed she was black as well.
Also, not to harp on Elton’s comment too much, but his point particularly resonates when I look at the lack of color on your list. Although I will reveal my list after yours, I can tell you that it will likely contain a minimum of 3, perhaps as many as 5, black female vocalists. I think what draws me into the voices of black women is that general soul and grittiness. I’m really not a big fan of the pure clean classic white voice, whether by a man or woman. I suspect in looking over your picks (male and female) to date, you are not either, and yet, rather than highlighting the genuine article, you feature someone like Springfield who clearly took her cues from black female artists of her day. Now again, I’m not saying that she doesn’t merit placement, but to rank her and not have someone like, say Aretha, just feels wrong.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that there is such thing as a “black” voice… certainly plenty of black singers lack soul and grittiness, and plenty of white singers have it.
I’m curious, though… those 3-5 black women on your list, how many totals albums of theirs do you own? Do you have any Aretha in your collection? And if not, why not?
I’m generally not a big fan of soul and R&B music, so it is underrepresented in my collection. Therefore the pool of singers I’m working from on these lists doesn’t include a lot of the women you’re probably thinking of.
I’m not a fan of soul and gospel music so I don’t go for those big voices. I’m probably the only person who saw Dreamgirls that couldn’t wait for “You’re gonna love me” (not sure if that’s the title) to end. Anyway, I’ve always loved the way Dusty Springfield does this song.
For a minute, I thought I’d stumbled upon Joe Biden commenting here. Dear me, I do hope we can change the direction of this discussion.
I’d have to agree wholeheartedly with Clay that any person – regardless of race or ethnic background – can have a “pure” or “gritty” or “soulful” or any other adjective you choose – sort of voice. It may be that a particular group of people are best known for a specific type of music – black churches where gospel music was and is performed, for instance – which makes us tend to associate that style with that group of people. However, do assume that a white person can’t “go to church” or that a black person must always belt out a song is insulting to everyone.
Having just watched the interview between Eminem and Anderson Cooper, I find this thread all the more intriguing. Would Dana suggest that if you were to have included Eminem on you list of favorite male singers (which, it should be noted, you didn’t) that you should be required to instead feature a black rapper, because rap music “belongs” to that group? Or would he recognize the difference between the subjective appreciation of a voice and the objective recognition of the historical significance black people (of every descent – African, Caribbean, American) have had on the evolution of the music industry?
It seems that Dana keeps wanting a subjective list of one person’s preferences to reflect that historical importance, and that’s just silly. If Clay were developing a course in music history, I’m certain he would include Aretha Franklin. He’s NOT. He’s saying which voices most appeal to him. Aretha isn’t on it, and Dana needs to deal with that! 😉
Oh, and nice choice, by the way.
Well, first of all, it’s always nice to be supported by your spouse… NOT!:)
Now, as to Clay’s comment and then Amy’s lambasting of me based on that comment, I didn’t say there was a “black” voice. I did, however, pick up and agree with your comment that Dusty in this song sounded like she might be a black singer. I’m not sure, how it’s :”fair” for Elton to make the distinction, “fair” for you to point out your assumption, and yet I’m blasted when I echo it, but alas…
So, yes, there are certainly black singers who don’t sing in a soulful, bluesy or grittier way and white singers who do. The fact is, however, historically speaking, soul and R&B styles of singing DID emanate from black musicians, just as jazz and blues emanated from black musicians. So, to the extent ANY of us is referring to “black voices” or “black singers,” I would hope and assume that we are generally talking about the vocal and musical styles that proudly originated with black musicians.
Now, as for Clay trying to shine the white hot light (pun intended) on my picks, you are correct that I don’t own either Aretha or Dusty albums. And I may not own Ray Charles or Michael Jackson albums either (save perhaps the Ray soundtrack and Amy may have recently bought Thriller–not sure) I also own only a few Stevie Wonder albums. But what is the point? I readily admit that I don’t have a broad and expansive CD collection. I have a robust collection of a handful of artists, most of whom did NOT make my list of top ten male vocalists. This is because I gravitate to songwriters, not vocalists. So, just as I believe you did, you set out different criteria for this particular list, rather than just naming songwriters who do a nice job vocally with their great songs (Newman, Dylan, Folds, Billy Joel, etc)
But turning the white light back on you, Clay –you DO have a robust musical collection and you DO own an album or two from both Springfield AND Aretha. And if memory serves you like your Aretha album perfectly well, but, like Springfield, haven’t felt the need to expand the collection. So my question, so innocently posed, was simply why name Dusty and not Aretha? Now, as Amy suggests, if it’s just that you don’t like Aretha’s voice as much, that’s cool. However, I think it’s a load of bull to say that you don’t really like soul or R&B music when today’s song of the day is arguably an example of that exact style of music. I Haven’t heard the rest of the album, but I am assuming there was a fair amount of R&B and soul influence on other tracks as well.
As for Amy’s Eminem comment–I’m not saying it would be wrong to list Eminem over black rappers. I think even black artists recognize that Eminem is better than most black rappers out there. By contrast, however, I don’t think you will find many people who would argue that Dusty had a better voice than Aretha.
Also, if one were compiling a list of top 10 rappers, and no black rappers appeared, would you not think that was just wrong or at least odd? Now, with vocalists and musicians generally, black artists account for at least 50% of the music out there (as compared to probably 95% of rap), so, yes, I would expect to see at least ONE black vocalist on a top 20 list of male and female singers, not because it should be done for “historical” reasons, but because (a) there are so many past and present great black singers and (b) black musicians make up such a large segment of the music scene that, statistically speaking, one might expect to see some representation.
To put this in the employment context near and dear to my heart, if 50% of your workforce were black and the manager were selecting the 20 best employees, and not one on the list were black, would that not seem odd? Now, sure, you can argue that the list was subjective and that the manager “subjectively’ believed that all 20 on the list were better than any of the black employees, but would that really sound credible? I don’t think so.
And Clay can dismiss all this by arguing that he really doesn’t listen to soul and R&B, but, come on, he owns everything Rihanna has put out, listens to Beyonce (or at least posts her any chance he gets on this blog), owns Tracy Chapman albums, Lauryn Hill albums, etc….yet not ONE of those crack the top ten? Sure the list is subjective, but I find the omissions conspicuous. Just sayin….
But what exactly are you saying? That I’m a racist for not liking any black artists’ voices better than the ones I’m ranking here? That Rihanna, say, would be here if only she had a different skin color?
I find the whole idea very silly.
Blacks might make up 50% of musicians but they don’t make up 50% of musicians in my CD collection. And the ones you named don’t have particularly good voices. You’ve often called out Rihanna for off-key vocals. Tracy Chapman, really?
As for Aretha vs. Dusty, if that’s the matchup we’re imagining, I like and listen to Dusty’s album far more than Aretha’s. And I think she has a better voice.
He’s just trying to stir controversy, to create a debate. Your inclusion of a country singer today will give him new fuel, so I expect this thread to end now 😉
I’m not suggesting that black singers should make up 50% of your collection or your top 20 any more than I am suggesting, to go back to my workplace example, that the manager’s top 20 best employees in a 50/50 workplace must consist of 50% black employees. I am, however, suggesting that, in both contexts, the failure to include a single black person seems odd to me. I’ll leave it to you to examine why that omission occurs:)
And, okay, so you listen to Dusty more than Aretha,.but you listen to Folds, Costello, Rufus, etc far more than George Michael, Sinatra, etc. Why is the amount of time you listen to the artist suddenly a factor (or excuse)?
When I mentioned Stevie Wonder earlier, you dismissed him saying his voice sometimes annoys you. Really? What annoys you about his voice? In what songs? You own at least one or more of his albums (similar to Van Morrisen) and, with Songs in the Key of Life, arguably own his most compelling work (like Moondance) In what songs on that classic album does Wonder’s voice annoy you? (Not suggesting here that you must love every song, just talking about the voice now).
I’m not suggesting that you are a racist generally, but perhaps just a bit of a musical racist in the sense that you innately favor the white voice over the black voice. There is nothing objective or logical about subjective preferences, nor is there anything objective or logical about inherent biases and prejudices. You may be uncomfortable with my suggestion here, but, if the manager in my workplace example dismissively responded to similar criticisms or observations as being “silly,” would you not find that defense (or lack of defense) rather hollow?
I’m sorry, but your workplace analogy is offensive. There is no connection between music fandom and running a workplace… using such a false comparison to label somebody a racist (“musical racist” or otherwise) is irresponsible.
Are you a musical racist for not owning any black artists in your CD collection? A movie racist for not liking foreign films? You might say so, I guess.
This whole idea of a “black voice” and “white voice” is indeed silly and, in fact, the closest thing to racism in this thread. I told you that Sting’s voice can annoy me as well. And so can Don Henley’s. But that’s ok because they’re white? Putting Stevie in there with them makes me a musical racist?
Oh, and another thing, whitey!
You say that despite black singers making up a high percentage of your favorite singers, you don’t own their music because you gravitate to songwriters. So does that mean black musicians can’t write good songs, they can only sing ’em real good?
If you look at the black artists I do listen to, it tends to be for their writing rather than their singing. M.I.A., Santogold, Stew, and Kanye West to name a few.
Well, clearly I’ve touched a nerve. I apologize.
I think this discussion probably need not be carried out on a song of the day blog. Though, for what it’s worth, even if you find my workplace analogy to not be applicable, I don’t think it is “offensive” or “irresponsible”
Can we not agree that the breeding ground for much of bias and prejudice stems from ignorance or fear of the unknown, the less familiar? So, extending that premise, is it not possible to have prejudice against and less comfortability with a black singer or artist because you grew up on a steady diet of Sinatra, Billy Joel, etc.?
I will readily concede in response to your question, that my musical upbringing probably contributed largely to the music to which I now gravitate. I think when we take this discussion away from the hot button issue of “race,” you would (and have) readily admitted your previous bias against country music because it wasn’t part of your upbringing and you had preconceived biases against the genre based on generalities and stereotypes (many of which I still hold :)) And yet, when we place that type of scrutiny on your bias against soul and R&B, or soul and R&B singers, it is somehow offensive and irresponsible to talk about these biases and prejudice and my arguments become silly, offensive and irresponsible? Again, I’m sorry if I offended you, as I didn’t mean to, but I really don’t get it.
And, for what it’s worth I do, of course, own CDs by black artist though admittedly not nearly as many as white artists and I consider songwriters like Stevie Wonder, Prince, Tracy Chapman and Robert Cray amongst my favorite songwriters,. If I were to analyze the reasons for that racial imbalance in my collection, I would have to consider (and as I said above even concede) that the life I have lived, my social and cultural background largely contributed to the musical taste I presently have.
By the way, I will also concede that I, like most Americans, am very ethnocentric and so, yes, I’m sure my lack of desire to seek out foreign films has something to do with that.
Wow, I’m not sure what to say. I happen to hate many songs sung by both black and white singers, and the opposite is true of loving songs by both black and whites. I don’t see a problem with having the “right” to say that. It’s about the music and your particular taste as I see it. Just saying.
Peg, agreed, but would your list of top 10 male and top 10 females singers include only white artists?
How many of your top ten anything are black? Actors? Novelists? Directors? I’m sure the answer varies depending on what you’re talking about. There shouldn’t be sone quota system on matters of personal taste (and personal taste is all this is… which differentiates it from your workplace analogy, where there is a legal expectation of fairness and non-discrimination).
To be clear, my employment analogy was not about personnel practices. My point was just that, if you had a workplace of say 500 employees, 250 black and 250 white, and the manager posted his top 20 favorite employees and not one black person appeared, eyebrows would be raised and the manager saying, “hey, these are my subjective picks of the employees I really like a whole bunch” wouldn’t satisfy anybody’s concerns or criticisms.Nor would the excuse of “well, I really only hang out with mostly the white employees, so I don’t know the blacks as well” go over so great.
And in response to your question, I would find it a bit surprising if you listed 20 best actors and not one were black, perhaps less so because I don’t think black actors make up as large a percentage of SAG as black musicians do in the music industry, though I could be wrong about that.
Director favorite list would be less surprising because, unfortunately, there are (from what I know) far fewer black directors than there are white ones. So, no, omitting a black director wouldn’t seem so odd to me.
And of course, as I am not a reader, I really couldn’t even put together the novelist list, but as it my understanding that there are a substantial number of very highly regarded black novelists, the failure to include even one in a top 20 would also seem a bit odd to me.
Not to belabor the point (way too late, I know) but again, there is something WRONG about a manager only spending time with white vs. black employees. There is nothing wrong with a music fan listening to primarily white vs. black musicians. That’s why the analogy is a poor one… it attaches malevolence and bigotry to something undeserving of those labels.
You can argue that a music fan is missing out on something by not being more open to certain genres (I’ve made that argument myself) but missing out on something isn’t a crime. It’s kind of a necessity given how many genres there are to like.
Notice that neither of us have any opera singers on our lists. That’s not a problem or a flaw, it’s just a reflection of the fact that opera isn’t really our thing.
And to go back to the foreign film analogy, by your new logic I should be blaming the lack of foreign films on your annual top ten lists on racism. Instead, it seems you point to their presence on my lists as some sort of unwarranted bias in favor of them. Well, which is it??
🙂 So to sum up… you have too much diversity in your best films of the year category but too little in your favorite singers. Glad we cleared that up!
Well, as for the workplace analogy, it becomes less flawed, I believe, if the person making the favorites list is just an employee, not a manager, since a manager making that list has implications of bias that would spill into more important decisions.
However, an employee making that list would not suggest malevolence or bigotry or racism, though it would show biases and possibly prejudices. Similarly, employees choosing to lunch with those like them, whether by color, national origin, cultural similarities or whatever, would not suggest racism, but might reflect biases.
I’m not sure at what point this discussion ran off the rails with suggestions or accusations of racism, musical or otherwise, but that really wasn’t my intent at all. Racism does suggest a knowing and intentional kind of bigotry and discrimination, and I don’t think that you are doing that at all with your list here.
What I am suggesting, however, is that there may be something more than mere subjective preference behind the omission of any black singers on your list. Not that the omissions were in any way intentional or bigoted, but that you may have certain inherent biases that make you favor a white singer over a black singer.
Now, you have suggested that my labeling a white voice vs. a black voice is somehow racist. I wholly reject that premise. Certainly there is a difference in the way one sings when they are singing blues, soul or R&B as compared to standards, hard rock or opera. And since blues, soul and R&B music is mostly made by black artists, I don’t think it is offensive or wrong to label that as a black voice. Now, of course, there are a handful of white artists who have crossed into traditionally black styles of singing (Dusty having been noted by you as but one example) and there are also a handful of black artists who have crossed into traditionally white styles of singing (Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr as a few that come to mind). And perhaps it would be more PC to use labels like “soul” or “R&B” singer rather than “black” singer, but when 99% of soul and R&B singers are black and the style traces directly back to black roots, I really don’t think the suggestion of a black voice is incorrect or offensive.
Now, you have still not answered the question as to why you find Stevie Wonder’s voice annoying at times. But I would suggest that Stevie may stand out as one of the finest R&B singers of the 20th century. As you have conceded that you are really not into soul or R&B, is it not possible that you really don’t favor soul and R&B singers like Stevie? And if that is so, then am I really so off base to suggest that you have a bias against the “black voice?”
What I find interesting about this list is that I am fairly sure that if you were just counting down your 20 favorite musicians, you would likely have at least one black person on there. But, as we have been discussing all along, voice and vocals are different and many of our favorite musicians aren’t making the list because of that distinction.
My theory is that, when it comes to voice and vocals, we innately and inherently gravitate to what is more known and more comfortable. The intonations that are warm, familiar and comfortable, or, as Amy described when listing James Taylor as a favorite, a feeling like a warm blanket. So, my suggestion is that, when picking your favorite singers, you have not placed a black singer on the list because the soul/R&B sounds coming from those singers are inherently less warm, familiar or comfortable to you and are, therefore, less to your liking.
Again, this is just one theory, one explanation, and you are more than welcome to discount it. However, I think one of the things you and I have consistently done on this blog is try go beyond the superficiality of saying that this is just what I like or dislike, and trying to analyze what it is, either about us or the music or both, that leads us to our opinions.
Oh, and as for foreign films, my overarching opinion as to why you have at times ranked them so highly is that there is a part of you that likes to feature the more independent, the more eclectic, the more diverse over more traditional Hollywood fare. I, on the other hand, readily concede that I am largely an ethnocentric Anglophile.
And, as I said above, I think your desire to favor the more independent, eclectic and diverse is absolutely apparent in your overall musical taste, as it is with movies, which is why I find it so fascinating that your vocalist list, at least with regard to race, does not reflect that same diversity. I offered the theory regarding the comfort and familiarity of voices, as compared with the entirety of music, as a possible explanation.
Actually, I’ve been thinking about my top 10 singers male or female, and the truth is I happen to like more male singers then female, and it would be hard to come up with 10 female singers– does that make me sexist??? 🙂
Funny you should say that, Peg, because I think it is rather antiquated that we continue to bifurcate men and women on these lists and on every award show you can think of. It’s really like a form of forced affirmative action or quotas in and of itself that I think should have gone away 30 years ago.
Now, I would assume that if Clay were to just do one list of top 10 (or 20) vocalists, at least one or more women would make it, but, just to carry forward my point, would it not seem odd (and worthy of some examination) if that list didn’t feature a single woman vocalist, particularly since women, like blacks, probably make up at least half of the recorded singers out there (and a good chunk of Clay’s own collection)?