Best Male Soul Vocalist

[alandaly]

Got to be honest - I can't stand Marvin Gaye but a lot of people love the Guy. I'd have stuck Little Milton at No 8 if I was the only person who counted!

[ashley]

Nice new poll BUT where's my main man???

Jackie Wilson

Now there's a voice and a half !

[jimslassie]

soulmanash said:

Nice new poll BUT where's my main man???

Jackie Wilson

Now there's a voice and a half !

& I couldn't agree more,

[afcgotsoul]

Always had a soft spot for Garnett Mimms - but Levi Subbs has to be there too.
Of the nominees I'll go for Sam Cooke.

[alandaly]

Sorry troops - there was only room for 8 names. Garnett Mimms was a good shout.

[ashley]

Revisited and off the list I'd go with "The Ice Man" Jerry Butler

[playsforplaytime]

mmmmm no darrell banks? ooops, like leaving st. ives out of the venues! must be in the wrong space-time continuum !!

[Nick®]

playsforplaytime said:

mmmmm no darrell banks? ooops, like leaving st. ives out of the venues! must be in the wrong space-time continuum !!

St Ives was in my favourite venue poll ;D ;D ;D ;D

[billybutler]

did you put billy stewart in just for me

[s0ul45]

As alandaly rightly points out there was only room for eight nominees and I wouldn’t have liked to be responsible for drawing up the short list. Maybe it would have been a better idea to have posted this up on the general board and see who was thrown up as candidates.

You can’t go too far wrong with those suggested but immediately we peruse the list and find our favourites omitted. I suspect billybutlers right in the inclusion of Billy Stewart. One consideration of the nominations should be the extent of their repertoire and although Billy Stewart and for that matter Darrell Banks have made some impressive recordings their careers were comparatively short lived.

Looking through the list I began to consider which of these artists could you buy blind and invariably be satisfied. Most of them at some time or other made some pretty indifferent stuff as has Jackie Wilson and Garnett Mimms. Of course if you haven’t recorded such a great volume of material chances are your disappointments will be fewer. So I suppose it’s a case of when they are at there best whom to go for. Many of them are gentler voices rather than aggressive ones aka Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Teddy Pendergrass or General Johnson. It’s also difficult to detach yourself from their qualities as a writer, with Robinson and Mayfield being phenomenal, Cooke outstanding and both Gaye and Redding commendable. Butler and Kendricks are not renowned for their songwriting but Billy Stewart did write both ‘I Do Love You’ and ‘Sitting In The Park’.

I find it difficult to decide but I’m sure that there is one candidate I wouldn’t hesitate to vote for and that’s Marvin Junior of The Dells. Here’s my case for inclusion.

Since 1956, i.e. before Sam Cooke had come out, Marvin’s voice has made its mark. For me it took another decade to register via the frenetic ‘Wear It On Our Face’.
Just take a listen to his

‘True love like ours must have a special place, love is bubbling over baby’ etc and you’ll know what I mean.

In the U.K. we were deprived of his masterful vocals on both ‘Run For Cover’ and ‘Thinking Of You’ and contemptibly not privileged to the release of the album ‘There Is’.
With just a bongo as support take a listen to the break in, ‘There is’.
‘With every ounce of my love, I have at my command. I’d do the very best I could to make you understand’.
Within a couple years things get even better via the ‘Freedom Means’ album and later on 45. I’ll come to the strongest suit in my hand, ‘The Love We Had Stays On My Mind’ and ‘It’s All Up To You’. The former is a frightening ballad that begins with a most benign and reassuring introduction. Suddenly the whole atmosphere is transformed with Marvin’s opening lines,

‘Early this morning when I opened my eyes, this whole lonesome feeling took me by surprise. I guess you meant more than I realised’.

The latter, another Terry Callier jewel, changes the tempo but again illustrates, in a supporting role, the sheer power of Marvin Junior’s voice. The important thing about The Dells is their longevity. Throughout the ‘70’s they continued to churn out recordings with Marvin at the helm. From ‘The Dells Versus The Dramatics’ we are mesmerised by the poignancy of ‘I Wish It Was Me you Loved’,

‘You’re sitting there all alone while he’s out having fun’,

And from ‘Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation’,

‘And you can rest assured, feel secured, she’ll make you her only man.’

By the eighties Marvin’s magnificence is perfectly illustrated via ‘All About The Paper’ and ‘Your Song’ and their reworking of the Ashford & Simpson ‘I Am Your Man’ even rivals the Tops. On that album from 1984 there’s a track called ‘Don’t Want Nobody’ in which Marvin holds the same note for over 12 seconds. Stunning.

The 1988 album ‘The Second Time’, although becoming too electronic, once again highlights Marvin’s brilliance as he rounds up the final part of ‘Can We Skip That Part’. With ‘I Salute You’ in 1992 my collection ends. Eighteen albums over 40 years and the mind-blowing experience of their live performance at Trentham Gardens in 1999 brings my case to an end.
I’d nominate Marvin Junior as the greatest soul voice of all.

[snakepitlj]

Quite like Chuck Jackson

[MG]

I think Martin Fry (ABC) summed it up best.......

"When Smokey Sings"....

[stompi]

not an argument for really just more apersonel fav would be philip baily,not his disco ey stuff but songs like, reasons,ill write a song,etc,ok i know its not northern but brilliant hit the notes live as on disc,just thought he worth a mention

[manc99]

Always loved Smokey & maybe David Ruffin but the 'king' for me will always be Otis Redding. That guy can make you cry, laugh & want to dance, sometimes all at the same time.

[ashley]

I've Got My Dreams To Remember Gr8 track too

[Jimjc]

IMHO from the list provided it has to be Otis ... no-one else comes close ... just listen to the emotion in "These Arms Of Mine" or "Try A Little Tenderness" ... 'nuff said

[malcylakey]

I have to put Otis at the top . But where is our own soul man the great Geno Washington.

[billysbag]

of the listed singers it would be curtis mayfield.Levi stubbs would rank higher,however,both for the sheer quantity of material and more so for the power and smoothnes of a voice instantly recognised.I recently heard an accapello version of ask the lonely and it would make strong men weep with the emotive power and clarity that his voice gives to superb lyrics.
not a eloquent an argument as soul45 but you get my drift

[drifter619]

Had to go with my favourite man, Sam Cooke