HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:57:02 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.21 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.21 OpenSSL/0.9.7a mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 mod_fcgid/2.3.5 Sun-ONE-ASP/4.0.3
Last-Modified: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:07:15 GMT
ETag: "4c1c003-72a5-4aae06ffb9ec0"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 29349
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html

<html>
<head>
<title>Born To Sing</title>
<meta name="description" content="You try to be authentic as a person, with all the doubt, wonder and mystery of being alive.">
<noindex>
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="rock, rock 'n' roll, oldies but goodies, golden oldies, rock and roll, pop, top 40, velvet underground, white light, white heat, the rolling stones, aftermath, chuck berry, the great twenty-eight, james brown, live at the apollo, aretha franklin, spirit in the dark, the beatles, revolver, bob dylan, john wesley harding, otis redding, the otis redding dictionary of soul, dusty springfield, dusty in memphis, the ronettes, the best of the ronettes, miles davis, in a silent way, howlin wolf, howlin wolf, smokey robinson and the miracles, anthology, ouicksilver messenger service, happy trails, isaac hayes, hot buttered soul, alexander spence, oar, frank sinatra, songs for swingin lovers, history">

<link rel=stylesheet href="../cruis.css" type="text/css">

</head>

<body bgcolor="white" text="#000000" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0">
<center>
<table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border="0">
<tr valign=top><td bgcolor="#99ccff" align=center>
<table border=1 bordercolor="#99cccc" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 width="128">
<tr><td><a href="../homepage.html"><img src="../alimages/cruisin_hd.gif" border="0" hspace="0" width="128" height="78" alt="HOME"></a></td></tr>

<tr><td bgcolor="#000099"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; color: white;">SEARCH:</span></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFAF0">
<!-- Atomz Search HTML for Cruisin' -->
<form method="get" action="http://search.atomz.com/search/">
<input size="12" name="sp-q">&nbsp;<input type="image" name="submit" src="../alimages/gocruis.gif" alt="Submit">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-a" value="sp1002f7ee">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-p" value="all">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-f" value="ISO-8859-1">
</form>
<font size=1><a href="../shots.html">Advanced</a></font></td></tr>
<tr><td>
<h6>WHAT'S HERE</h6>
</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAF0">
<table><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>
<font face="verdana" size=1>
<a href="albums.html">Albums That Changed Music</a><hr>
<a href="born.html">Born To Sing</a><hr>
<a href="music.html">Rock Music Show</a><hr>
<a href="ranking62.html">Billboards Ranking 1962 & 1963</a><hr> 
<a href="ranking64.html">Billboards Ranking 1964 & 1965</a><hr> 
<a href="ranking66.html">Billboards Ranking 1966 & 1967</a><hr> 
<a href="ranking68.html">Billboards Ranking 1968 & 1969</a><hr> 
<a href="ranking70.html">Billboards Ranking 1970 & 1971</a><hr>
<a href="rock1.html">Rock Artists</a><br>
</font></td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor="#000099"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 7pt; color: white;"><a href="http://www.jcs-group.com/bazaar/allposters.html" class=mrkt>SHOP THE<br>ONLINE STORE</a></span></th></tr>
<tr><td>
<h6>HELP CENTER</h6>
</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAF0">
<table><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>
<font face="verdana" size=1>
<a href="http://www.jcs-group.com/help.html" target=_blank>A Little Help Finding Your Way Around</a><hr>
<a href="http://www.jcs-group.com/links.html" target=_blank>Recommended Sites</a><hr>
<a href="../shots.html">Parting Shots</a><br>
</font></td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<h6>INFORMATION</h6>
</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAF0">
<table><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>
<font face="verdana" size=1>
<a href="../stories.html">Oneliners, Stories, etc.</a><hr>
<a href="../aboutus.html">Who We Are</a><br>
</font></td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h6>AFFILIATES</h6>
</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAF0">
<table class=mrkt1><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>
<!-- text_1 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-8m4y"> </SCRIPT><hr>
<!-- text_2 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-8m5a"> </SCRIPT><hr>

<!-- text -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=28&js=Y"></script>
</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>
<center>
<!-- 120x60_01 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-65cn"> </SCRIPT>
<hr>
<!-- 120x60_02 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-65d3"> </SCRIPT>
<hr>
<!-- 120x60 -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=14&js=Y"></script>

<hr>
<!-- 120x90_1 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-a11z"> </SCRIPT>
<hr>
<!-- 120x90_2 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-dwpq"> </SCRIPT>
<hr>
<!-- 120x90 -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=16&js=Y"></script>
<hr>
<!-- 120x240_1 -->
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-85cg"> </SCRIPT>
<hr>
<!-- 120x240 -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=15&js=Y"></script>
<hr>
</td></tr>
</noindex>
</table>
</td><td>&nbsp;
</td><td>
<center>
<a name="AWD"><a href="../homepage.html"><img src="../alimages/titlebarcruisin.gif" vspace="10" width="294" height="78" border="0" alt="HOME"></a>

<h2>Born To Sing</h2>
</center>

<p>
You know a force
from heaven. You know something that God made. And Aretha Franklin is a gift
from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there
is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing. Aretha has
everything &mdash; the power, the technique. She is honest with
everything she says. Everything she's thinking or dealing with is
all in the music, from "Chain of Fools" to "Respect" to her live
performances. And she has total confidence; she does not waver at
all. I think her gospel base brings that confidence, because in
gospel they do not play around &mdash; they're all about chops, who
has the vocal runs. This is no game to her.

<p>
Even the way she
pronounces words is amazing: In "Giving Him Something He Can Feel,"
when she sings, "Many say that I'm too young" &mdash; the way she
says "I'm," you can almost see her saying it, like she's all in
your face, but you're still right with her. You can really
visualize her hands when she sings, "You're tying both of my
hands," on "Ain't No Way" &mdash; it's the powerful way she hits
the word "both."

<p>
Ray Charles had
the most unique voice in popular music. He would do these
improvisational things, a little laugh or a "Huh-hey!" It was as if
something struck him as he was singing and he just had to react to
it. He was getting a kick out of what he was doing. And his joy was
infectious.

<p>
Ray started out
wanting to be Nat "King" Cole. When Nat went down low in a song,
like "Mona Lisa," there was a growl in there that was kind of sexy.
Ray took that to a whole other level. He took the growl and turned
it into singing. He took the yelp, the whoop, the grunt, the groan,
and made them music.

<p>
He could be very
sly with a song. His 1972 version of "America the Beautiful" is an
iconic recording. There was so much feeling in his performance. It
was his way of saying, "This is my country too. We gave you your
popular music. This was ours before it was yours."
<p>
But Ray
synthesized the blues into a language everybody could relate to.
You can't listen to Ray Charles and not say, "This is a man who
felt deeply, who has lived this music." He shows you his humanity.
The spontaneity is evident. Another guy might say, "That was a
mistake, we can't leave that in." No, Ray left it in. The mistake
became the hook.
<p>
<table align="left" class="small" width=""><tr><td align="center"><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.dpbolvw.net/placeholder-4034294?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluedolphin-magazines.com%2Fproduct_info.php%3Fproducts_id%3D1487%26imp%3DCJ0001&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluedolphin-magazines.com%2Fimages%2Forderpagecvr%2FCVR-S%2Fstone%2Fstone-cvrop-default.jpg&target=_blank&mouseover=N"></script></td></tr>
</table>

<p>
If a singer is not
singing from the soul, I do not even want to listen to it &mdash;
it's not for me. Sam Cooke reached
down deep with pure soul. He had the rare ability to do gospel the
way it's supposed to be &mdash; he made it real, clean, direct.
Gospel drove Sam Cooke through his greatest songs, the same way it
did for Ray Charles, who came first, and Otis Redding.
<p>
He had an
incomparable voice. Sam Cooke could sing anything and make it work.
But when you're talking about his strength as a singer, range is
not relevant. It was his power to deliver &mdash; it was about his
phrasing, the totality of his singing. Not many people
can play this music anymore, not the way Sam Cooke did it, coming
directly from the church. What can we learn from a singer like him,
from listening to songs like "A Change Is Gonna Come"? It depends
on who the singer is and what they are capable of, where their head
is and how serious they are. But Sam Cooke was born to
sing.

<p>
There's no sound
like Marvin Gaye: the way he sang so softly, almost gently &mdash;
but also with so much power. That came straight from the heart.
Everything in his life &mdash; everything that he thought and felt
&mdash; affected his singing. The live version
of "Distant Lover" has to be one of the most incredible
performances ever captured on tape. You can feel his confidence,
his yearning &mdash; you can imagine his movements. The entire
audience is hanging on his every word; he's teasing them the whole
time. That's what makes Marvin Gaye immortal: the emotion that he
evokes.

<p>
Bob Dylan did what
very, very few singers ever do. He changed popular singing. And we
have been living in a world shaped by Dylan's singing ever since.
Almost no one sings like Elvis Presley anymore. Hundreds try to
sing like Dylan. When Sam Cooke played Dylan for the young Bobby
Womack, Womack said he didn't understand it. Cooke explained that
from now on, it's not going to be about how pretty the voice is.
It's going to be about believing that the voice is telling the
truth.

<p>
Dylan did with
singing what Brando did with acting. He busted through the artifice
to get to the art. Both of them tore down the prissy rules laid
down by the schoolmarms of their craft, broke through the fourth
wall, got in the audience's face and said, "I dare you to think I'm
kidding."

<p>
To me, Stevie
Wonder's voice always sounds like tears of joy &mdash; like he's
right on the verge of crying, but it's out of glee and peace, as
opposed to the pain of someone like a Sly Stone. There's a richness
to his voice, a clarity to all of its inflections. That vibrato is
so impactful and piercing, but he never loses that underlying
straightforward singing voice. His lack of sight must heighten his
other senses, his ability to imagine and feel. It makes his music
very visual, very graphic. His confidence and
his sense of self are just supernatural. Stevie Wonder knows
exactly who he is, what role and responsibility he's been given.
But he revels in being chosen, singled out, and that's what makes
him who he is. He's like a miracle.

<p>
For me, James
Brown was never just the voice. It was the whole package. But the
impact of that voice gave me hope, because it was a simple
presentation and didn't trade on range. And there was that scream.
It was like an inner voice. It sounded like an assertion of rights
of primitive man: "I am alive, and I can do things." He used to
describe his dancing as "African nerve control." He had a
point. Music has a cathartic power, and the guys who do it,
they know that. That's why James Brown could call himself Soul
Brother Number One &mdash; and nobody ever said he was
bragging.

<p>
On songs
from the Beatles' frenzied "I'm Down" to his own "Maybe I'm
Amazed," Paul McCartney revealed himself as one of rock's most agile and
melodic screamers. But McCartney, who learned vocal harmonies from
his musician father, is at least as gifted as a balladeer, drawing
on British music-hall sounds from his childhood as much as Elvis
Presley and the Everly Brothers for songs such as "Yesterday" and
"Michelle." "People chose Lennon or McCartney," says James Taylor. "I was
definitely on the McCartney side. He makes a beautiful
sound."

<p>
Richard Penniman (Little Richard) grew up wailing gospel in church in
Macon, Georgia, and he carried his feverish foundation with him
into rock &amp; roll: On songs like "Lucille" and "Tutti-Frutti,"
he sounded like a preacher wrestling the devil to the ground. When
he belted, "I'm gonna rip it up/I'm gonna shake it up" in 1956,
Richard wasn't just singing about the weekend &mdash; his falsetto
shrieks were demolishing the rules of pop singing. It was a voice
that leapt with a fury out of transistor radios, leaving scorch
marks on an entire generation of singers and musicians. Said Jimi
Hendrix, who played in Richard's backing band, "I want to do with
my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

<p>
Tom Petty called
him "probably the greatest singer in the world." Another of his
fellow Traveling Wilburys, Bob Dylan, said he had "the voice of a
professional criminal." Roy Orbison shared rockabilly roots with
Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley &mdash; he recorded the bopping "Ooby
Dooby" at Sun Records in 1956 &mdash; before his soaring, symphonic
vocals brought a new level of majesty and mystery to rock in the
early Sixties. "Songs like 'Leah' and 'In Dreams' start out
challenging, then just climb and climb into the stratosphere," says
prot&eacute;g&eacute; Chris Isaak. Dion, who toured with Orbison,
says that he actually sang very softly: "I'd be two feet away, and
when he hit those high notes, it was quiet and heartfelt. But the
emotion would go through you like a power drill."

<p>Turner started
touring with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue almost half a century
ago; her breakthrough was their blazing 1971 cover of Creedence
Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," which included the declaration
that she never does anything "nice and easy." "She was so direct,
so raw," says John Fogerty, who wrote the song. Age has only
deepened the ache and grit in her powerhouse cries and moans during
her long career as a solo artist. Melissa Etheridge said that
Turner's voice defies classification. "You can't say soul, R&amp;B,
rock &amp; roll," Etheridge said. "She's all of it! She can squeeze
passion from any line."

<p>As a teenager, Robinson wanted to sing
Platters-style doo-wop, but he ended up inventing his own vocal
style, even as he and Berry Gordy Jr. created the Motown sound: His
high, delicate delivery marked him as not so much a tenor as a male
soprano, able to glide into a heartbreaking falsetto that remains
one of the most distinctive sounds of 20th-century pop. On Miracles
hits like "The Tracks of My Tears," "You've Really Got a Hold on
Me" and especially "Ooo Baby Baby" (with its near-wordless but
endlessly affecting chorus), that voice made the thrills and
heartbreaks of romance sound equally seductive. Said Paul
McCartney, "Smokey Robinson was like God in our eyes."

<p>
John Lee Hooker
called Van Morrison "my favorite white blues singer." Morrison has
left his mark on over 40 years' worth of rock, blues, folk, jazz
and soul, as well as several genres that only really exist on his
records. He's the most painterly of vocalists, a master of
unexpected phrasing whose voice can transform lyrics into something
abstract and mystical &mdash; most famously on his repetition of ".
. . and the love that loves the love . . .," on "Madame George,"
from <em>Astral Weeks</em>.

<p>
Jackie Wilson
remains unmatched in the category of loosened-tie, high-energy
rhythm &amp; blues vocalists. The operatic drama in his voice, his
on-the-beat phrasing and his clear, high range on late-Fifties hits
like "Reet Petite" and "Lonely Teardrops" influenced everyone from
Al Green to Elvis Presley. "Oh, God, was he exciting," says Sam
Moore, of soul's dynamic duo Sam and Dave. "One time I was watching
him from the wings at the Apollo, singing, 'You better stop . . .
yeaahh!' &mdash; and he twists, jumps, falls into a split and
slides back up holding the note &mdash; 'your doggin' around!'
James Brown could do that, but he was a shouter. Jackie Leroy
Wilson had a pure voice. He was a complete singer within
himself."

<p>
A conservatively raised English girl, Dusty
Springfield
was a folk singer until she discovered R&amp;B after hearing the
Exciters' "Tell Him" while walking along a New York street. Songs
like "I Only Want to Be With You" combined intelligence and energy.
Her tendency to linger a shade behind the beat on ballads lent her
soul singing a wonderful languor, but when she belted, she could
rattle the windows. "Her voice wasn't black and it wasn't white,"
says Darlene Love, whom Springfield greatly admired. "It was
totally unique. You knew it was Dusty when she came on the
radio."

<p>
Chuck Berry approached the great
rock &amp; roll divide from the opposite side of Elvis Presley,
synthesizing the singing styles of blues and country musicians.
"When I played hillbilly songs, I stressed my diction so that it
was harder and whiter," said Berry. The result was that every rock
singer of the Sixties &mdash; from Liverpool, London, L.A. or Long
Island &mdash; sang with a mid-American accent, trying to sound
like St. Louis' own Chuck Berry. His mischievous, lilting voice,
slaloming through his tricky banks of syllables, erased the
distinction between white and black and made it simply rock. "If
you tried to give rock &amp; roll another name," said John Lennon,
"you might call it 'Chuck Berry.' "

<p>
Singer-songwriter Joe Ely grew up in
Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock, Texas, which made him especially
susceptible to Holly's signature vocal hiccup and other down-home
touches. "It seemed like everybody in the whole town had a garage
band and was playing 'That'll Be the Day' and 'Peggy Sue,' " Ely
says. The future Beatles and Rolling Stones were doing the same
thing across the Atlantic, trying to capture that quintessentially
American vocal sound. "I saw Buddy Holly two or three nights before
he died," Bob Dylan told <em>Rolling Stone</em>. "He was great. He
was incredible."

<p>
In the
mid-sixties, Brian Wilson was the ultimate singer's songwriter,
composing the California-dream hits sung by the Beach Boys' main
lead vocalists, Mike Love and Brian's brother Carl. But Brian's own
high, bright tenor was often the top voice in the group's intricate
surf-angel harmonies, and when he stepped out front, the vulnerable
tremor that came with his plaintive falsetto made songs like "Don't
Worry Baby" and the <em>Pet Sounds</em> jewel "Caroline, No" sound
like profound melancholy. Brian's singing was "adult and childlike
at the same time," said John Cale. "It was difficult for me not to
believe everything he said." Art Garfunkel describes that voice as
"this unique, crazy creation, a mix of rock &amp; roll and
heartfelt prayer" &mdash; a magic still heard in Brian's solo shows
and on his latest album, <em>That Lucky Old Sun</em>.

<p>
Of all the British
Invasion singers, Eric Burdon had the most physically imposing
voice. When he burst onto the scene in 1964, his voice was "big and
dark," says Steve Van Zandt. "He invented the genre of the white
guy singing low." After his run of hits with the Animals ("It's My Life," "Don't Let
Me Be Misunderstood") ended, Burdon showed he could handle
Seventies funk during his stint in War, recording the torrid "Spill
the Wine" and a souled-out version of "Tobacco Road."

<p>
The gravelly
crooner who brought so much soul to Seventies rock &amp; roll left
school at 15 to go to work as a silk-screener. "I had this little
handheld transistor radio that I used to sleep next to," Stewart
remembers. "I would listen to all the black singers that came over
from America &mdash; Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, blues singers like
Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. This was a new world for me. I
wanted to be able to sing like these people." His attempts would
produce aching ballads like "Maggie May" and "Tonight's the Night
(Gonna Be Alright)," as well as Stones-like rockers such as "Stay
With Me" (with the Faces) and "Hot Legs." Before long, singers such
as Paul Westerberg and then Chris Robinson would bring the Stewart
rasp into Eighties punk and Nineties mainstream rock.

<p>
Art Garfunkel
describes Dion as "a bold extrovert of a singer," and Steve Van
Zandt hears "the sneer of punk" in his late-Fifties and
early-Sixties hits such as "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue." A
key figure in doo-wop's transition to rock &amp; roll, the
Bronx-born singer defined an attitude of white-boy rebellion
&mdash; and delivered his lyrics with a casual, swinging phrasing
that rivals Sinatra. Heavyweights such as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan,
Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon were all on record as fans of his
rowdy vocals. But Dion's favorite compliment came from an even more
unimpeachable source. Once, at a television taping, Little
Richard's mother, Leva Mae, took Dion aside and asked him, "You the
boy that sings 'Ruby Baby'? Son, you got soul."

<p>
Few artists have
attacked singing with the ferocity of Jerry Lee Lewis, a key
combustible element in the rock &amp; roll Big Bang of the Fifties.
Just as he percussively hammered the keyboard of his piano, the
Killer could transform his voice exclusively into a rhythm
instrument, often tearing at his lyrics until the words become
staccato nonsense syllables and he sounds like one of the faithful
speaking in tongues. "It was evangelical," Steve Van Zandt says of
Lewis' singing. Lewis moved effortlessly from shouting rockabilly
to pure, classic country, scoring eight Number One hits on the
country-singles chart. "He mystifies me, he's so good," says Art
Garfunkel. "He's having a great time. He's rhythmically united with
the piano, and the groove is sublime. He leaves you
speechless."

<p>
The backwoods yowl
that put the fire into Creedence Clearwater Revival's gritty
late-Sixties hits like "Green River" and "Proud Mary" actually was
not, as the man says, born on the bayou. John Fogerty's abrasive
baritone didn't even come naturally at first. "In '64, I got a job
playing in a club, and I had a tape recorder with me," he recalls.
"I would record the whole night and then listen to myself back, and
every day I would try to force myself to get that sound that was in
my head." He was trying to channel the voices of blues singers like
Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley that he heard on the radio in his
hometown of El Cerrito, California. "As a kid, there was that point
I realized the stuff I liked was more dangerous than the stuff my
parents liked," he says. "It was that threatening
sound."

<p>
James Taylor boasts a classic
American voice &mdash; a clear, vibrato-less instrument as
reassuring as a warm fireplace. "Don't get fooled by James'
understatement," says David Crosby. "As beautiful as his voice is,
there's nothing mellow about a performance like 'Fire and Rain'
&mdash; it's about a man who's experienced highs and lows."
Taylor's steadiness as a singer has allowed him to handle
coffeehouse folk, rock &amp; roll, country music and R&amp;B with
equal ease. "Ultimately, I think James' voice reflects the man,"
says Crosby. "He's kind, lovely and very much a gentleman. He
doesn't walk off the path too far, but what a path he's walked. It
also doesn't hurt that, for me, he's up there as a songwriter
alongside Lennon and McCartney, Dylan and Joni Mitchell &mdash; the
best of the best."

<p>
In 1962, a song
called "Sherry" blasted from AM radios with a facile falsetto vocal
so impossibly precise, many thought it had "one-hit wonder" written
all over it. Forty-eight Hot 100 singles later, Frankie Valli (born
Francis Castelluccio) is still a giant of the male vocal pop of his
era. He's a complete singer, with a multi-octave range and the
ability to handle a variety of styles: "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk
Like a Man" and "Rag Doll" showed off his doo-wop dexterity, with
support from the Four Seasons. Valli's solo hits, like "Can't Take
My Eyes Off You," revealed his taste for more mainstream material,
with a rich R&amp;B influence. "Frankie Valli has become one of the
hallmark voices of our generation," said the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb.
"He created a style that we all still strive to
emulate."

<p>
Art Garfunkel's singing blends lyricism
with a remarkable ease of delivery. He brought sweetness and wonder
to his classic harmonies with Paul Simon, a delicacy that defined
those songs, and some of the hopes of the late Sixties. "I'm
looking for controlled beauty," he says, a standard he learned as a
child from the likes of Italian opera star Enrico Caruso. "Those
arias &mdash; I love a song with a high, pole-vault peak." That
describes solo hits such as 1973's "All I Know" and 1975's "I Only
Have Eyes for You." "I like to sing heartfelt, where you address
the mike with your honesty," says Garfunkel. "You try to be
authentic as a person, with all the doubt, wonder and mystery of
being alive."

<table align="center" class="fn"><tr><td>
The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. <i><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.tkqlhce.com/placeholder-4034293?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluedolphin-magazines.com%2Fproduct_info.php%3Fproducts_id%3D1487%26imp%3DCJ0001&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluedolphin-magazines.com%2Fimages%2Forderpagecvr%2FCVR-S%2Fstone%2Fstone-cvrop-default.jpg&target=_blank&mouseover=N"></script></i>.</td></tr>
</table>

<noindex>
<hr class=800>


<center>
<br clear=all>
<!-- BEGIN BOTTOM -->

<!-- site banners 468_60  -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=1&js=Y"></script>
<img src="../almedia/eyeline.gif" border=0 vspace="2">
<table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><th style="padding-top: 1px;">
<!-- 234x60 -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=18&js=Y"></script>
</th><th>
<!-- 234x60mil -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=32&js=Y"></script>
</th></tr>
</table>
<!-- 468x60 -->
<script language=javascript src="http://www.jcs-group.com/cgiscript/csBanner/csBanner.cgi?g=19&js=Y"></script>

<h5><a href="#AWD">top of page</a></h5>
<h5><a href="javascript:history.back(1)">back a page</a></h5>

</td><td>&nbsp;
</td></tr>

<tr><td bgcolor="#99ccff">
</td><td colspan=4>

<table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFAF0" cellspacing=0 border=1 bordercolor="#99cccc" frame="above" rules="rows" class=small>
<tr valign=middle>

<td bgcolor="#99cccc"></td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>

<td style="padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 8px;"><b>More:</b><br>
<a href="albums.html">Albums That Changed Music</a> | 
<a href="born.html">Born To Sing</a> | 
<a href="music.html">Rock Music Show</a> | 
<a href="ranking62.html">Billboards Ranking 1962 & 1963</a> |  
<a href="ranking64.html">Billboards Ranking 1964 & 1965</a> |  
<a href="ranking66.html">Billboards Ranking 1966 & 1967</a> |  
<a href="ranking68.html">Billboards Ranking 1968 & 1969</a> |  
<a href="ranking70.html">Billboards Ranking 1970 & 1971</a> | 
<a href="rock1.html">Rock Artists: ABBA - Gladys Knight and the Pip's</a> | 
<a href="rock2.html">Rock Artists: Cheryl Ladd - The Zombies</a>
</td></tr>

<tr valign=middle>

<td bgcolor="#99cccc"></td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>

<td style="padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 8px;"><b>Take Me To:</b><br>
<a href="../homepage.html">Cruisin" [Home]</a><br>
<a href="../dancing.html">Dancing And Listening To Swing</a> | 
<a href="../drag.html">Drag Racing</a> | 
<a href="../drive-in.html">Drive-in Movies & Restaurants</a> | 
<a href="../hits.html">Top Hits And Artists</a> | 
<a href="../lived.html">Having Lived A Little While</a> | 
<a href="../love.html">Love Affair With The Car</a> | 
<a href="../market.html">The American Car Market</a> | 
<a href="../motoring.html">Motoring Enthusiasts</a> | 
<a href="../muscle.html">Muscle Cars</a> | 
<a href="../operate.html">Operate A Motor Vehicle</a> | 
<a href="../remember.html">Remember That?</a> | 
<a href="../roaring.html">Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression</a> | 
<a href="../rock.html">Rock "n" Roll</a> | 
<a href="../sixties.html">The Sixties</a> | 
<a href="../wild.html">Roads Gone Wild</a>
</td></tr>

</table>

</td></tr>
</table>

<table width="100%" cellspacing=0 border=1 bordercolor="#000000" frame="hsides" rules="rows" class=mrkt>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><td align=center>
<a href="http://www.jcs-group.com/links.html" target=_blank>Links & Recommended Sites</a> | 
<a href="../stories.html">Oneliners, Stories, etc.</a>
</td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#999999"><td align=center>
<a href="../aboutus.html">Questions</a>? Anything Not Work? Not Look Right? My Policy Is To Blame The Computer.</td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#666666"><td align=center><font color="white">
<a href="../aboutus.html" class=mrkt>About Cruisin' | 
Link To Us</a> | <a href="http://www.jcs-group.com/help.html" target=_blank class=mrkt>Site Navigation</a> | <a href="../shots.html" class=mrkt>Parting Shots</a></font></td></tr>
</table>


</noindex>
<!-- END BOTTOM -->

</body>
</html>