For the longest time I always said my 4 favourite male singers were Sam, Otis, Marvin and Jackie.  Singers so good, so powerful and influential, that a first name is all that's needed for you to know who I'm talking about.  Sadly, they are all now have long gone.  Add Curtis to that list along with James, Donny, Bobby, Teddy and Luther.  The first name thing actually isn't the point.  And you'll have your own list, I'm sure.  The real point is this:  

Of the truly great male superstar soul singers, who is still living?  You might say Al Green, maybe Stevie Wonder, but I'm struggling to think of anyone else on that level, and to be frank, much as I love Stevie, his latter output has been - let's put it kindly - patchy.  And the last time I saw Al Green he was more interested in throwing roses to the "ladies in the house" than really singing.  

So many of the true male greats died relatively young didn't they? Is there anyone really left? 

Debbie Taylor should have been up there in lights... 

Bill Withers

Darrow fletcher

Bunny Sigler

19 hours ago, Mike Lofthouse said:

and an even greater pity she is dead!

Remember several kind words regarding her passing , just simply forgot, so I do apologize. Difficult to keep up with the regular passing of great soul singers!

 

Completely slipped my mind, but got a reminder today when email arrived to advise that George Benson is touring the UK in June 2016.

 

 

On 19 November 2015 11:23:56, garethx said:

I think that the point about 'crossing over' is a bit of a red herring. That says more about the cultural climate of the times than it says about the qualities of an artist's work. There are still guys from Soul's heyday who wrote, produced and sang their material to a really high standard and who can still do it: Phillip Mitchell and Benny Latimore are mentioned above and I would add Bobby Patterson and Richard Caiton to that list.

Caiton in particular never anywhere came close to crossing over—in fact the majority of his releases are excruciatingly rare—yet his relatively small body of work is completely satisfying from an aesthetic viewpoint. We should be proud of the fact that as Soul fans our devotion has led to these artists being discovered/rediscovered and appreciated, even by generations of fans who were not around when the records were first made.

And they are top blokes as well, I would add Jimmy Conwell, Alexander Patton, Archie Bell and Sam Dees to the list....

Ron Isley.  Surprise no one has mentioned him.  Had one of the longest careers in music. 

Yes Archie Bell still doing it for sure.

As Mike mentioned, Willie Hightower was absolutely incredible live last month, his voice seemed totally unaffected by the ravages of time, stunning.

 

Aaron Neville would be except for the fact that his shows these days include more melisma than a high school talent show.  Just sing the note dude.

 

15 hours ago, Kris Holmes said:

Yes Archie Bell still doing it for sure.

As Mike mentioned, Willie Hightower was absolutely incredible live last month, his voice seemed totally unaffected by the ravages of time, stunning.

 

Where did you see Willie Hightower perform at?  That's a name that doesn't get enough recognition.

8 hours ago, Soultaker said:

Where did you see Willie Hightower perform at?  That's a name that doesn't get enough recognition.

ponderosa stomp festival in new orleans

3 hours ago, Kris Holmes said:

ponderosa stomp festival in new orleans

That's awesome.  I'm happy to hear that he still performs.

How about Gene Chandler, J.J. Barnes and Little Richard , Mr. Penniman of course has done everything Gospel, Pop,  R&B, Rock & Roll, Northern Soul, Funk and what a showman!

 

What about Ivy Jo Hunter? Because he is such a great writer and producer he often gets overlooked as a singer. His version of "Ask The Lonely" is just brilliant!

Just saw Mike James Kirkland last night perform his Mike & the Censations material, definitely still got it, sounded incredible.

Just thought of another male great Oscar Toney Jr! Still going strong at 76. His work with Papa Don Schroeder in the 60s was fantastic, but for me the sides he cut for contempo with Gerry Shury were even better. very underrated and I'm pretty sure will be re-evaluated in the near future.

58 minutes ago, tobytyke said:

Just thought of another male great Oscar Toney Jr! Still going strong at 76. His work with Papa Don Schroeder in the 60s was fantastic, but for me the sides he cut for contempo with Gerry Shury were even better. very underrated and I'm pretty sure will be re-evaluated in the near future.

He also cut some fantastic sides with Jerry Williams/Swamp Dogg in the 70's on Capricorn....

How about Syl Johnson, Billy Prince and Carl Carlton. All still performing I believe.

Otis Clay.......brilliant!!!

Wish they came here Ronnie, Syl Johnson did a few years ago now and he was firkin ace!!

The wonderful Chuck Jackson

al green