Beautifully tragic singers?

[HEyHEY]

I gotta say Townes Van Zandt has such a tragic darkness to both his music and himself. Your picks?

[MrScorpio]

1. Maria Callas

[Callalily]

12. I was introduced to

Maria Callas when I went to see Master Class performed by one of our music professors.

Too bad that Madame Callas met up with old Onassis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co0VCNj68Tw&feature=related

[Mojambo]

2. Marty Anderson

http://www.myspace.com/okaytheband

Given that the guy has Crohn's disease and has to be hooked to an IV for up to 12 hours a day I guess it's understandable.

[PassingFair]

3. Piaf.

And, flame me if you must...

Amy Winehouse.

[Sugar Smack]

4. No flames here.

D'accord. :pals:

[DS1]

21. There's nothing beautiful about heroin until death

[Danger Mouse]

40. Amy Winehouse? Psh.

[tigereye]

5. Piaf, definitely

The guy who did Pink Moon. I'm blanking on his name...

[likesmountains 52]

6. Agree with Townes, and add Nick Drake

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Elliott Smith comes to mind.

[Danger Mouse]

41. Seconded.

[Fran Kubelik]

8. Jeff Buckley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WolmjxD4hn4

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. In the world of opera, Arlene Auger, Tatiana Troyanos, and Jerry Hadley

left way too soon, Jerry Hadley by suicide.

In pop music, Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention,

[RedShoes]

14. Arlene Auger is Amazing

just haunting. She was Renee Flemming's voice teacher, if I recall correctly.

[Taverner]

10. Sandy Denny. Nick Drake. Beck.

[Tikki]

11. Jeffrey Lee Pierce....

If you don't know who he was...just believe me on this one.


Tikki

[Magrittes Pipe]

23. I've always loved this performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGj2AX8JhKI

[Tikki]

25. Yes, yes, amazing.....

thanks for the u2b post...another I love...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agWDREDG3Zs

Tikki

[AllieB]

24. I saw the Gun Club in jr. high school. I was 13.

It was at an all-ages show with Mission of Burma and SS Decontrol. It sticks in my memory because Jeffrey Lee was already completely shitfaced at 2 in the afternoon, and my older sister was supposed to drive us home, but she abandoned us to hang out with Kid Congo Powers. We had to take the subway home and my parents were PISSED.

[fudge stripe cookays]

13. Jim Ellison

of Material Issue.

Such great songwriting, and such a waste.

[davidnc76]

15. Nick Cave

[LostinVA]

16. Karen Carpenter

Tragic, early death -- and her voice always had a haunting sadness through it.

[Rhythm]

17. Ian Curtis

Joy Division still haunts me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0We9d5J3BLQ

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

30. "Closer" goes deeply into places

most musicians don't even know exist. Side two of that album always seemed to me like Ian Curtis' extended suicide note. :scared:

[ghostsofgiants]

42. Good call.

[Bluzmann57]

18. The late John Campbell

A long time ago, about 1985 or so, my then girlfriend and two other couples saw him at a local venue. We were directly in front of the stage and when Campbell came on, he was about halfway through his first song when my gf and another woman in our party ran to the bathroom with freaked out look on their faces. We just chalked it up to having to go but when they didn't come back after a few songs, we sent the other woman in our party after them to see what was happening. She came back and reported that they weren't coming out until Campbell was done or we took them home. Me and the other guy then decided to see what was up. My gf said, "That dude is the devil and he just looked directly at me!" Well, we finally talked them into coming out, but they sat way in back and did not say a thing on the ride home. If you listen to Campbell, you may understand their feelings. He sang about some heavy stuff, such as street violence and witchcraft. And he had a tough life to boot. 1100 stitches in his face from an auto accident, etc. Dark music.

[JVS]

19. Sam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swQVFy5HHac

[MilesColtrane]

20. The archetype:

Billie Holiday

They put her under arrest for possession while she was on her death bed, and she died with seventy cents in the bank.

Dig her reaction to Lester Young's solo. (2nd tenor sax player)
She and Lester were musical soulmates. He was the one who dubbed her, "Lady Day".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqUk1Y-yBk

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

29. She defined the term

I don't recommend listening to her if you are depressed. There's just too much pain in her voice on her later recordings.

[loveable liberal]

22. Beth Gibbons of Portishead or Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins

Those are my nominations and I'm sticking to them.

[hobbit709]

26. Janis and Jimi

[femmocrat]

27. Eva Cassidy nt

[Skittles]

28. I knew Townes, even babysat his son

my pick: Tammi Terrell

[fudge stripe cookays]

31. I met his son too.

He applied at Sound Warehouse years ago (I of course was besotted on the spot)....

But he was not bright enough to lie about the amount of pot he smoked, and therefore did not get the job (and I did not get co-worker eye candy)!

:-(

[Skittles]

32. wow, he was a baby when I, er, knew him

I worked with a gal in Austin who lived with Townes and his wife and kid

[fudge stripe cookays]

33. Oh, he was a cutie, for sure.

Imagine Townes' face with a lot less mileage on it, and surround it with beautiful long blonde hair.

This was about 1987.

[Skittles]

35. I'm wondering if we're talking about the same kid

this one was by a second wife I believe but it would have been early / middle eighties - not sure how many kids Townes had - the man was a drunk and not easy to converse with

[fudge stripe cookays]

36. Hmmmm...I'm blanking on his name

Sorry!

[Skittles]

37. too funny - it's been that long for me too!

gawd, are we that old? :o

[fudge stripe cookays]

39. Sucks,

doesn't it? :D

[Skittles]

44. it ain't for sissies, that's for sure

x(

[Genevieve]

34. Jim Morrison

[Phillycat]

38. Jeff Buckley, Eliot Smith, Janis Joplin, Chris Whitley

[bluesbassman]

43. Danny Gatton. Not a singer, but listen to the emotion in this.

Danny was probably the finest "unkown" guitar player of the past 30 years. He never achieved the critical acclaim he deserved, and ended his own life in 1994. A truly great loss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOuey2_h7oM