Well, as previously mentioned, I don't particularly 'do' Christmas, especially from a musical point of view. So, I thought my festive treat to you all would be to choose some of the great vocal performers that the music world has given us over the last sixty years or so.
So please enjoy this selection of great voices I have picked out for you....
1. Natalie Merchant: Build A Levee
In the spirit of giving, first up I give you a song containing two of the greatest female vocalists there are. I discovered Natalie Merchant, and her rich and resonant voice, when she was still in 10,000 Maniacs - and as soon as that happened, she quit the band and went solo! By the time of Motherland, her third solo album, she had cemented herself as one of the most highly regarded singer-songwriters in the States. On this album track, she engaged the help of no less than Mavis Staples to sing backing vocals - part of the legendary Staples Singers (I'll Take You There) and a collaborator with just about everyone (Prince, Aretha, David Byrne, Bob Dylan).
2. Small Faces (Steve Marriott): All Or Nothing
Just about my favourite 60s singer, Steve Marriott doesn't always get the attention he deserves, but when he wasn't goofing around on songs like Lazy Sunday - boy could he sing! When he let it all out, he could match just about any of the white soulful singers in the 60s - even Steve Winwood. This Small Faces track, along with the classic Tin Soldier, really showcases that ballsy, blues vocal range that he had.
3. Blind Faith (Steve Winwood): Can't Find My Way Home
Talking of Steve Winwood.... He was often been described as the best white male singer of the 60s and for good reason. My first introduction to him would have been hearing Keep On Running, the number one he had as a seventeen year old with The Spencer Davis Group. After that, it would have been his dreary and bland solo offerings from the 80s. But in between that, he was in several other groups - Traffic and then the supergroup Blind Faith, with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. From that era comes this sublime tune, which allowed Winwood to show what he was capable of.
4. The Walker Brothers (Scott Walker): Make It Easy On Yourself
Noel Scott Engel was born in Ohio, but lived much of his life in England. He took his more famous moniker, when he joined with John Maus, who was using the stage name John Walker. When they got together with drummer Gary Leeds in 1964, they decided to all adopt the same surname - and the Walker Brothers were born. Early singles had John Walker on lead vocal, but luckily Scott took over the reins and we ended up with his deep (deep) and lush baritone on songs like The Sun Ain't Gonne Shine Anymore and this one.
5. Jeff Buckley: Lover, You Should've Come Over
If the two Steve's were the great white singers of the 60's, then surely Jeff Buckley was the main man for the 1990s? Estranged son of folk legend Tim, singing and song writing were clearly in his blood - but Jeff's voice was at a whole different level! A range that could take in everything from soulful and bluesy, to hair curling operatic wail! This song ticks most of those boxes in one. The eternal shame will always be that he left us with only one completed album and a bunch of fragments of what would have come next.
6. Otis Redding: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
I could have gone with just about anything - Knock On Wood, Try A Little Tenderness, Hard To Handle - but I went with the obvious one because, well, why not? It's so very good. Recorded with Booker T & The MG's as a backing band, just before his death in a plane crash, it would become a posthumous number one for Redding. He was considered one of the best ever singers in pop music - a voice full of raw emotion, with one writer saying he "could testify like a hell-bent preacher, croon like a tender lover or get down and dirty with a bluesy yawp."
7. Dusty Springfield: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
We've had the great male voices of the 60s - now it's time for some of the females. And none were better, and more versatile than Dusty Springfield (born Mary O'Brien), who could cover pop, soul and jazz with equal ease and grace. This song is just gorgeous.
8. Aretha Franklin: I Say A Little Prayer For You
The Queen of Soul. Not sure if I really need to say much here? Her track record and her voice are clear as anything - Respect, Chain Of Fools, I Say A Little Prayer, Son Of A Preacher Man - in fact 112 singles that charted on the US Billboard charts! She is so good, if you listen, her backing singers are better than most solo artists!
9. Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
From the Queen of Soul to the Prince of Soul. Marvin Gaye was a session drummer for the Tri-Phi label, before signing as a singer with Motown. The rest is soulful history. Gaye had a voice that covered four-octaves, although he primarily used the baritone and light tenor rangers. Eddie Holland, from the famous Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, said that Gaye had "one of the sweetest and prettiest voices you ever wanted to hear." Gaye only managed a measly 67 singles on the Billboard charts (with three number ones), including How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), I Heard It Through The Grapevine, What's Going On, Mercy, Mercy Me, Sexual Healing and famous duets, with Kim Weston (It Takes Two) and Tammi Terell (like Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing).
10. Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant): Kashmir
From a band called Hobbstweedle emerged a singer called Robert Plant, who auditioned and then joined Jimmy Page's new outfit, Led Zeppelin. Known as one of the great charismatic front men, full of swagger - he has proved that he has the song writing chops and voice to back that up. Generally regarded as having one of best and strongest voices in rock, he has influenced the likes of Axl Rose, Freddie Mercury and Jeff Buckley, but also proved with later work, that he could turn his vocal talents to Americana through his work with Band Of Joy and Alison Krauss. The cinematic pomp of Kashmir allows Plant show off that voice in all its glory.