The Greatest Male Singers of All Time Pt. 2

The Greatest Male Singers of All Time Pt. 2

Frank Sinatra

Sinatra had one of the most distinct voices of his generation, and a voice that is still instantly recognizable today. Sinatra had a tough upbringing in New Jersey but managed to break out of the life when he joined an early singing group which got him his big break and opportunity to record a demo song which caught the ear of record contractors. One of the first teen idols, Sinatramania reached its peak in the 40s with teenage girls clamoring for a chance to touch their idol. Sinatra had success both in music and acting, winning a best supporting actor Academy Award for his work in “From Here to Eternity.” With his success in film, Sinatra returned to music to cut a number of concept album for Capitol records, albums that were tied together by a story or sound, giving them a more cohesive depth that many albums of the time lacked. Sinatra had many more ups and downs, lost some poker chip bets and won some (both metaphorically and literally) and he died at the old age of 82 from a heart attack.

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen is not known for having a traditionally beautiful voice, in fact, his vocal style is less about singing, than intoning, but he has made his career on breaking the mold with his poetic lyrics and that deep bass baritone voice. Cohen began his literary career writing poetry and fiction during the 1960s, living as a recluse and rarely giving interviews. In 1967 he moved to the United States from Canada with the desire, no doubt after hearing Bob Dylan, to become a singer/songwriter. His first album, adequately titled “Songs of Leonard Cohen” was a dark, moody and contemplative work of poetry and sound, featuring slow, folk-like instrumentation over Cohen’s singing of his literary songs. Infamous producer Phil Spector stepped in to produce Cohen’s divisive work, “Death of a Ladies’ Man,” where the two reportedly clashed to the point that Spector threatened Cohen with a crossbow and ran away with the final tapes to mix in private, away from Cohen. In the new decade, Cohen released his first album of new material in 2001, nearly 10 years since his previous album. He has recently also been the subject of a documentary, “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” in which a number of different artists came together for one night to perform with and cover Cohen’s songs.