For the weekend ....

George sings Joni / Jimmy revisits "Smalltown Boy" in 2014 / Joan's "Back To The Night" in 1975. I have just bought a vinyl album of that, one of her essentials with those great early songs, but somehow it is not on cd, unless for very silly money ...

Top 60 female singer/songwriters ....

Our "Daily Telegraph" compiled a list of the top 60 (that many?) female singer/songwriters and I was pleased to see Joni Mitchell came out on top ....

1: Joni Mitchell. Canadian Roberta Joan Anderson (aka Joni Mitchell) began her career busking in Toronto but went on to become one of the leading figures in folk music in the Sixties and Seventies. For her pure vocals and thoughtful lyrics, which range from socially conscious to deeply confessional, Mitchell is seen as one of the voices of her generation. Her 1971 album BLUE often ranks well on lists of the greatest albums of all time.

The others? In order from Nr 2 onwards:

Kate Bush / Patti Smith / Dolly Parton / Carole King / Kirsty MacColl / Chrissie Hynde / Nina Simone / Adele / Amy Winehouse / Bjork / Janis Joplin / Madonna / 

14: Peggy Lee. Arguably America's first female singer-songwriter, Peggy Lee entered the public consciousness at a time when it was highly unusual for commercial singers to write their own material. Born into a poor North Dakota family in 1920, Lee began her career at a local radio station, where she sang in exchange for food. She would collaborate on original songs with Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones, but is best known for her equally inventive cover-versions. Lee heavily rewrote Little Willie John's hit song, Fever; her lyrics are now more famous than those of the original. Lee later wrote the co-songs for Disney's The Lady and the Tramp. With her blonde hair and outspoken manner, "Miss Peggy" was reportedly the inspiration for The Muppet Show's Miss Piggy.

Stevie Nicks / Taylor Swift / Sandy Denny / Lady Gaga / Barbra Streisand / P J Harvey / Edith Piaf /

22: Joan Armatrading. Born in Saint Kitts in the Caribbean, 64-year-old guitarist and singer Joan Armatrading moved to Birmingham with her family when she was three. She left school at 15 and was sacked from her first job at a tool manufacture for playing her guitar during tea breaks. Armatrading released her first album in 1972, and went on to have hits in the Seventies by blending jazz and folk, and in the Eighties with a more commercial pop sound. She won an Ivor Novello Award for her songwriting in 1996.

Joan Baez / Billie Holliday / Rickie Lee Jones / Loretta Lynn / Debbie Harry / Sinead O'Connor / Kate and Anna McGarrigle / Cyndi Lauper / Carly Simon / Lauryn Hill / 

33: Aretha Franklin. Soul legend Aretha Franklin began her musical career as a gospel singer in church, and was later taken on tour by her preacher father. The Tennessee native became a star in the Sixties singing jazz and Motown standards. Her 1967 re-working of Otis Redding's Respect - which was adopted as an anthem for change by the civil rights movement - gave her a number one in the US in 1967, and she followed this with further hit singles Chain of Fools and Say A Little Prayer. In the Seventies, Franklin began to write more of her own songs, including Call Me and Rock Steady. The 70-year-old became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Patty Griffin / Lucinda Williams / Tori Amos / Siouxsie Sioux / Tracy Chapman / Regina Spektor / Erykah Badu / Bonnie Raitt / K D Lang /Gillian Welch / Emmylou Harris /  

45: Sade. British-Nigerian singer Helen Folasade Adu is better known as Sade, the lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award-winning soul, jazz and R&B band of the same name. As the group's chief songwriter, Adu was the driving force behind hit singles Your Love is King and Smooth Operator. The band have sold over 110 million albums worldwide, making Adu one of the most successful British female musicians ever. In 2002, she received an OBE for services to music and dedicated it to "all black women in England".

Roberta Flack / Gretchen Peters / Alicia Keys / Aimee Mann / Dar Williams / Laura Marling / Shania Twain / Ani Difranco / Odetta / Cat Power / Norah Jones / Judee Sill / Beth Orton / KD Tunstall / Sarah McLachlan.

Phew! I know and like most of these of course - ok, there are a few I am not familiar with - but it almost seems a list of 60 female singers, but of course Peggy Lee wrote a lot of songs, and singers like Barbra and Aretha have song-writing credits too.  The only omissions I can think of are Laura Nyro, Janis Ian and Francoise Hardy. Has Annie Lennox written songs? 

The full list can be explored here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/the-60-greatest-female-singer-songwriters-of-all-time/joni-mitchell/

Joan Armatrading and those '70s albums

Forty years of Joan Armatrading! For a singer-songwriter-musician who began in the 1970s she seems to improve like good wine. She is now touring as a solo, with just her guitar. I loved her with those bands during her other concerts which I saw in places like Hammersmith, Brighton, Croydon over the years since I discovered her in 1975 with that great album BACK TO THE NIGHT. Then her solo album in 1976, the one with "Love and Affection", "Down to Zero", "Join The Boys" was almost played out, I had to give it to friends to get it out of the house. This of course, as I said before (music label) was the heyday of the vinyl album, and the singer-songwriters ruled for me: Joni Mitchell, Carole King (TAPESTRY and Joni's BLUE defined 1971), Carly Simon, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Tom Rush and of course Laura Nyro and Janis Ian. As well as Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Cleo Laine and more. Joni and Joan though were the tops. We liked some Dylan too of course: JOHN WESLEY HARDIN, NASHVILLE SKYLINE, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS and that very influential second album of his back in the 60s - the era of The Byrds, The Doors, Cream, Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Small Faces, The Band, Blood Sweat & Tears, The Moody Blues, even The Incredible String Band  etc..

Joan had that fire and ice voice, wrote great lyrics, and those albums just kept coming, with songs we loved like "Show Some Emotion", "Willow", "Ma-me-o Beach", "Tall in the Saddle", "Me, myself and I".. I kept returning to BACK TO THE NIGHT though with "Stepping Out", "Cool Blue", "Travelled so Far" and that great title track. 

Paul Simon's STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS was probably the best of his solo albums, with not a duff track on it.... In the early 70s we liked Rod Stewart's EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY, Jeff Beck's albums, Eric Clapton's, and Elton's first three - particularly TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION. Then of course Pink Floyd came along with DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and WISH YOU WERE HERE, while Roxy Music (MANIFESTO, FLESH & BLOOD) and Police were also making music one had to have. Joni Mitchell continued with her fascinating series of albums too .... what an era. Tim Buckley's elastic voice kept me listening to GREETINGS FROM L.A and SEFRONIA..and his terrific songs like "Because of You" and "Dolphins".

  

The 12" single arrived for the disco of the late 70s - one had to have Grace Jones' "La Vie En Rose" with "I Need A Man", and Blondie's "Atomic" and "Heart of Glass". Oh, those 70s!.The 80s then belonged to those New Romantics (Human League, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, Frankie ...) Erasure, Bronski Beat and the Pet Shop Boys (who are also still going now, I have to have all their stuff) as house and club dance music took over, with speed garage and deep house. We loved those 'Global Underground' cds by the likes of Danny Tenaglia, and the Murk/Funky Green Dogs guys from Miami, as well as the spaced out chill-out of A Man Called Adam ... 

Nice to see Joan is still making music and touring and still selling out concert halls.  I've now got a recent CD of hers, STARLIGHT, to enjoy.

Tim, Tim, Tom, Janis, Joan ...

I was sitting in one of my favourite cafes downtown yesterday with my double latte and danish when a familiar voice and lyric drifted into my brain from the muted music system: 

 

"Sometimes I think about Saturday's child

And all about the times when we were running wild
I've been out searching for the dolphins in the sea
Ah, but sometimes I wonder, do you ever think of me"

Yes, Tim Buckley and "Dolphins" from his SEFRONIA album. I did not discover Buckey (who died aged 28 in 1975) until later when that fantastic elastic voice of his got to me, with those other songs like "Because of you" (I face the world with pride) and "Well, I wish I was your sweet little honey man" and those tracks like "Buzzing Fly" and "Strange Feeling" and that whole sexy album GREETINGS FROM L.A. with those tracks like "Sweet Surrender", "Nighthawking" and "Hong Kong Bar". 

That recent UNCUT magazine I mentioned recently (the Joni at 70 issue) had an interesting rundown on the Top 50 Singer/Songwriter albums, with Tim Hardin at number one. Back in the late 60s I had his "TIM HARDIN 3 live album" on vinyl, which fetches silly money now on Amazon. That track listing brings it all back: "Lady Came From Baltimore", "If I Were A Carpenter", "Reason to Believe" (which Rod Stewart had a hit with), "Misty Roses", "Black Sheep Boy" etc. Both Tims (Hardin and Buckey) died of heroin overdoses. Then there was the odd death of Tim's son Jeff Buckley ...

In 1968, when 22, I loved that Tom Rush album THE CIRCLE GAME, he must have been one of the first to record Joni Mitchell and James Taylor songs: "Tin Angel", "Urge for Going", his own "No Regrets" etc. Rush at least is still going, as is Janis Ian that singer-songerwriter we liked a lot too in the '70s, with "At Seventeen", "Bright Lights and Promises", "The Come On" etc. I have just got a new compilation of hers with a concert video. She was certainly more fun than the downbeat Dory Previn ! I now see a silver-haired Janis is back touring here next year, with Tom Paxton.

Then I discovered British Joan Armatrading, I had to give her 1975 JOAN ARMATRADING album to friends to get it out of the house, I played it so much: "Join The Boys", "Down to Zero", "Love and Affection", "Tall in the Saddle" etc. and those subsequent albums of hers. This of course was that great era we have discussed before of the vinyl album - before CDs and downloads.
Saw Joan live several times, including a few years ago where she still sells out concert halls and tours a lot, always with a rocking band. Her 1974 album BACK TO THE NIGHT is cherishable too: "Cool Blue", "Travelled So Far", "Stepping Out" and that great title track.  Just a few then of the singer/songwriters we have liked, nice that some are still going. Joni and James and Carly and Carole too of course .... one imagines though Joni is retired now, she admits herself the voice is gone, but she has her painting ... we like that recent 10-disc boxset with those mini-gatefold album covers (see Joni label).
I see there is a Bob Dylan collection too - I only really liked his mid-60s stuff and those late '60s JOHN WESLEY HARDIN and NASHVILLE SKYLINE albums, plus the '70s classic BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. More on disco and blues soon ...

Top female singers of the last 50 years ...

My 1969 BBC ticket for "The Dusty Show"

There is a lively debate going on at the Datalounge.com gossip site, which I have been contributing to, on the Top 5 female singers of the last 50 years, so those established before then (such as Peggy Lee, Ella, Judy, Lena, Sarah, Billie, Doris etc) are excluded ....

Leading the pack, with my assistance, are these ten: 

Barbra (if only for those first early albums in the early '60s showing how different and stunning she was) and then the stage and screen FUNNY GIRL / Aretha (if only for those great Atlantic years) / Joni (that classic sequence of '70s albums) / Dusty Springfield / Annie Lennox (those great Eurythmics tracks and videos, that solo album DIVA which I practically wore out / Whitney / Dionne / Karen Carpenter / Nina Simone / Donna Summer - and I have been trying to big up Joan Armatrading, but the Americans don't seem to know her ...

Honorable mention: Etta James / Janis Joplin / Laura Nyro / Sade / Carole King (if only for TAPESTRY, another album that became part of one's life) / Carly Simon / Petula Clark / Cleo Laine / Nancy Wilson / Shirley Bassey / Diana Ross / Tina Turner / Roberta Flack / Mary J Blige / Tracy Chapman / Amy Winehouse / Janis Ian / Patsy Cline / Bobbie Gentry, and I would have to add: German diva Billie Ray Martin, Regina Belle, and disco gals like Kelis,  Ultra Nate, Adeva, Rosie Gaines, Joyce Sims, Erikah Badu, Angie Stone, Shara Nelson and Janet Jackson (again if only for THE VELVET ROPE, and those terrific remixes, all the way back to "What have you done for me lately").  Some like Janis or Amy Winehouse only lasted a few years, but their legacy is huge. Sade is an interesting case - not much output, an album and tour once every decade, but we still like and play her a lot, and again, what a style icon. I love how she performs PARADISE slinking around the stage in that electrifying tour dvd.

Funny how today's girls like Beyonce, J-Lo, even Madonna are not seen as great singers - despite some great songs and video moments. I personally don't care for Tina Turner, Whitney. Bassey or Diana Ross much myself, but they have to be included in the mix.  There just does not seem to be a comparable list of male singers ... 

Oops, a few more I like and used to play a lot: K D Lang, Linda Ronstadt, Kiri Te Kanawa, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight ..... and of course recently there was no getting away from Adele or the reclusive Emile Sande (is there any programme she has not been on?) - this could go on and on.

Showpeople: Girls with guitars ...

Girls with guitars ...

Bardot

Francoise Hardy

Marie Laforet

Joni Mitchell - still playing after all those years.

Joan Armatrading

and stars and their disks:  Romy and Alain, 1959 - and Rock, sometime in the fifties.

 

Coming soon: Rock (another, like Dirk, who knew/met everyone) and his pals at play.

Diva time

I am always pleased to discover a new hip hop diva, and my new favourite is Kelis. OK - Kelis has been around for a decade or so, I liked her "Caught Out There" (the one that goes "I really hate you right now ...") and "Milkshake" was a hit too and Kelis seemed another kooky diva like Macy Gray whom we all went nuts over - but I never really got into Kelis until this week when I saw on MTV a concert of hers from Ibiza, and suddenly I am bananas about Kelis.
This concert brought back all that euphoria about clubbing and having a great time and Kelis is dynamite on stage - like Grace Jones, Adeva, Ultra Nate, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, Rosie Gaines ("Closer Than Close") and all the others I liked like Joyce Sims ("Come Into My Life", "All in All") or Donna Allen ("Joy and Pain") or Alison Limerick ("Where Love Lives"), Eve Gallagher ("Love Come Down"), Ce Ce Peniston ("Finally"), Gwen Guthrie, Jennifer Holiday ("Hard Time for Lovers") or German diva Billie Ray Martin - all those hits like "Running Around Town", "Your Loving Arms" etc., and listening to and watching Sade or Janet Jackson remains a timeless pleasure, particularly Janet's "Velvet Rope" album and her Joni Mitchell tribute "Got till its gone" ....

Sade's rendering of "Paradise" on her concert dvd is something I can watch over and over too, then there is Angie Stone and D'Angelo ... yes, we are in a neo-soul groove ... old soul too of course, having seen Aretha (twice), and Roberta Flack (I still love "Compared to What" and "Trying Times" on her first album "First Take"),  Nancy Wilson and Otis Redding in their 60s prime.  

Alicia Keys is my other current diva of choice, ever since "Falling" and we also like Jody Watley, Shara Nelson (initially with Massive Attack - that great video for "Unfinished Sympathy", left), Angela Bofill ("Too Tough"), Regina Belle, and now Emile Sande is everywhere ...

I now have Kelis's "Greatest Hits" and most recent album "Flesh Tone" to listen to and put on repeat on the iPod! Groovy ... and now there's Aimee Mann to finally discover ...  Then we have all the club anthems by Groove Armada and A Man Called Adam ("Barefoot in the head", "Duende" album, and their groovy collection from Space, Ibiza), I loved their club nights at Heaven; the deep house Global Underground compilations by disk jockeys like Danny Tenaglia ("Music is the answer"), Ibiza anthems ("Brighter Days" by Dajae, "Sun Rising Up" by Deux) and chillout compilations, and more soul sounds with Soul II Soul and Inner City, 

Dusty & Neil Tennant 1988

and getting "Fired Up" with the Miami Murk/Funky Green Dogs - what a night that was, also at Heaven. Clubland in all its diversity - well from 10 years ago anyway ... Heaven nights in the early '80s is a whole other chapter ...  We don't of course like all divas, some (not naming Mariah, Rihanna, Beyonce and others) leave us cold. Dusty Springfield of course was a diva, and then there is Madonna, well her early to mid-period anyway ... pleased now I got to see Dusty taping one of her 1969 BBC specials at the old Golders Green Theatre, I remember she had to re-do the first song so she was stomping around the stage in a bad mood .... thats a diva!. Her Dusty In Memphis album is essential, as well as her collection of A-sides and B-sides, and her work with the Pet Shop Boys, and I also like that Donna Summer-Quincy Jones album with Donna's dynamic version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life", a diva anthem indeed. 

Then there is Debbie Harry of Blondie and of course Eurythmics' Annie Lennox, I practically wore out her first solo album, titled - what else? - "Diva". I have not even mentioned Barbra Streisand ... well I saw her on stage in FUNNY GIRL from the front row, when I was all of 20 in 1966. We liked the early Barbra albums and movies - until her A STAR IS BORN when a diva was suddenly A Star Is Boring. 
The '70s of course was a good time for seeing various divas: Peggy Lee at the Royal Albert Hall in 1971, also Dionne Warwick, Petula Clarke, Cleo Laine several times, Sarah Vaughan, Eartha Kitt, Joan Armatrading and a very bizarre concert by 
Nina Simone. ...whom I always liked, particularly that "Nina At Town Hall" album; Nancy Wilson's live album is enjoyable too, like Nina she also does a killer version of "You Can Have Him" and a hilarious "Ten More Good Years" - as Nina put it: "Give me more and more and then some" ...

Next musical extravaganza: the reissued Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" - the '70s in aspic.

Etta James, R.I.P.

Etta James (1938 - 2012) one of the great blues voices, and one of the most individual talents - up there with Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone - has died after battling long illnesses. What a talent. One of the early singles I bought was her "Losers Weepers" and her great "I'd Rather Go Blind" which has been covered by so many (like Chicken Shack). Then of course there was "Tell Mama", "I Just Want to Make Love To You" (which had a new life when part of a television commercial) and of course "At Last".

Etta's story is a key strand in the story of American music in the 20th century. She was singing in a group aged 14, then marketed as an R&B and doo wop singer, after being discovered by Johnny Otis the "godfather of rhythm & blues", who coincidentally died a few days before her. After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards. James's voice deepened over the years, as she battled various demons, moving her musical style into the genres of soul and jazz. She went on to win 6 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Legendary producer Jerry Wexler once called her "the greatest of all modern blues singers". Her music defied category, her legend can only grow, so when next having a drink let's toast Etta James.

Joan Armatrading - still rocking

How terrific (and nostalgic too) to have seen Joan Armatrading on tour last night. The British singer/songwriter - 60 this year and as reclusive as ever - has a new album and tour and it was just as good as seeing her back in the 70s or 80s. A more mature figure now but with her guitars (and that infectious grin) plus a tight 3 piece band and her glorious voice - that mixture of fire and ice - it seemed an effortless 2 hour show packing in new songs and those favourites like "Love and Affection", "Willow", "Show Some Emotion", "Tall in the Saddle" etc. My partner who did not know her absolutely loved it and is now downloading and copying those cds to ipod. The venue was packed with a mixed audience who certainly had a good time too.

It is so good to see an artist with longevity - like Joni Mitchell or Annie Lennox - still out there and doing it. I absolutely loved Joan's 1976 album when I first heard it with those songs like "Down to Zero" and "Join The Boys" and her following ones were just as good - and we saw 2 great concerts of hers over the years, as well as last night's. Pity though she does not feature material from her earlier 1975 album (its not even available now to buy or download - and I lost my vinyl version) "Back To The Night" with that great title track, "Stepping Out", "Travelled So Far", "Cool Blue" etc.

It makes one think how many of today's young artists (who have to sell themselves via those raunchy videos) write their own material or will still be packing them in in 35 years time like Joan Armatrading! Today's music biz is just not geared to promoting artists for the long haul but drops these kids after a few hits... its just the privileged few like Beyonce and of course Madonna and Grace Jones who can control every aspect of their brand. Joan is certainly in that group and on her terms (and without having to sell her personal life) and can still tour (she is all over Europe next) without having to top the charts, but still sell well regularly. The dvd on her 'Into The Blues' is a terrific recent concert of hers from San Francisco - how terrific that whether its San Francisco or Croydon one can still get a great response from a packed house.