A crooner is a singer of popular ballads who is typical male. In modern terms, a ballad is a slow tempo with romantic or sentimental lyrics. Here is my list of the top 10 great crooners.
Bing Crosby
He is on the top of the list of great crooners. He is known for singing most of the Christmas songs we love such as White Christmas, Silver Bells, and Silent Night. His singing style was influenced by the great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Hollywood recognized his potential and he starred in many musicals and did the “Road” movies with Bob Hope. Won best actor award in 1945 for “Going My Way”.
“Old Blues Eyes”, Frank Sinatra
He is another great crooner who singing made women fainted during his earlier concerts. He almost became an engineer but he decided to try music instead, what would the world be like without Sinatra singing “My Way”? He sang in musicals but got an academy award for supporting actor for “Here to eternity” and best actor for “The Man with the Golden Arm”. Sinatra with Dean Martin was part of the Rat Pack in Vegas during the 1960’s.
Dean Martin
He was known as the straight man to Jerry Lewis. Dean Martin was a crooner that had the king of cool persona. He started as a jack of trades with a stint working in a speakeasy which helps his career in knowing the club owners. “That’s Amore” was number 2 in 1953 and “You belong to me” number 12 in 1952; he was part of the Rat Pack with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
Tony Bennet
Known for his famous song, “I left my heart in San Francisco, has had a long career with this generation recognize him as the one who sang with Bono. He was discovered by Bob Hope who changed his name from Bennedetto to Bennett. Some other great crooner songs of his are “The Good Life”, “Smile”, and “If I ruled the world” which are classic. He doesn’t have the ballad singer look but his voice is simple heaven.
Nat King Cole
He had the smooth vocals of the crooners, known for his L-O-V-E song which I used to sing to my babies to get them to sleep. His King Cole Trio album (Volume 1) becomes number 1 on the Billboard charts. His “Unforgettable” song was remixed with the added vocals with his daughter, Natalie Cole. Nat King Cole had many number 1 hits including “Mona Lisa”, “Love is the Thing”, and was the first African-American to host a variety show on T.V.
Johnny Mathis
A crooner from the mid 1050’s was a young singer who gave up a chance at the Olympics to sign for Columbia records. His smooth, vibrato vocals sets him as a crooner who hits includes “Chances are” which became Johnny Mathis’s first number 1 hit. With the tutelage of Mitch Miller, Mathis produced many hits over a short period and became the first to release a “Greatest Hits” album which became a standard for many other artists, the album was on the Billboard charts for over 10 years.
Bobby Darin
He is an extraordinary crooner in that he wrote many of his hit songs, “Splish Splash” and “Dream Lover”. His career expanded from singer songwriter to movie star. He starred in thirteen films and was nominated for an Oscar for outstanding performance he even married one of his co-stars, Sandra Dee. Another great song, “Mack the Knife” was Record of the Year in 1959.
Modern Crooners
Harry Connick, Jr
He is a modern day crooner with his renditions of old standards. He started singing and performing at the age of 5. Connick appeared on his first jazz album at 10 and had a record label by 20 years old. In 1989 scored his first movie, “When Sally met Harry”, which became a huge hit. He also is an accomplished actor, starring in many movies. 1989 hit, “It had to be you” and 2009 hit, “All the Way”.
Michael Buble
One of the newest crooners with his smooth vocals labels him as a crooner and his big band renditions of old standards. His albums have sold over 11 million copies and he has 2 Grammy nominations to his credit.
Steve Terrell
This crooner is a singer of pop standards who has won Grammy for his incredible style. I love his old standard renditions and for his Christmas album. At the age of 19 he began working for the record label, Scepter Records and worked with songwriting producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. He supervised hit songs for films such the James Bond spoof “Casino Royale” with the song “The Look of Love. He also got B. J. Thomas to sing “Raindrops are falling on My Head” for the award winning film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It wasn’t until he sang for a movie “Father of the Bride” and its sequel that he got the singing bug and recorded his first CD in 2001, “Standard Time”. Terrell has released 8 since then.
Crooners are here to stay!
Sources
www.stevetyrell.com
www.michaelbuble.com
www.harryconnickjr.net
www.bobbydarin.com
www.natkingcole.com
www.sinatra.com
www.bingcrosby.com
www.tonybennett.net
www.johnnymathis.com
www.deanmartin.com
