Songs you can never hear anyone else sing.. except the original performer!- Page 2

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 9:10am

I actually have very few, but one that I just thought of was Betty Buckley and He Plays the Violin. I haven't heard that many other versions, but I doubt anyone would top hers in my mind.

[gavyj]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:04am

Collins' "Losing My Mind" is definitely the definitive recording, but I have heard some amazing performances of the song--e.g. Peters in the last revival, Mazzie at the Sondheim concert was breathtaking, and there is a recording of LuPone giving a good performance.

Like many have posted earlier, Garland's "Rainbow" is untouchable. I actually cringe anytime someone else tries to sing it. No one should ever sing it again. We should all just continuously rewatch footage of Judy pouring her heart out.

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:12pm

Alice Faye singing You'll Never Know.

Robert Preston singing Harold Hill's songs, especially Trouble.

Robert Morse singing Finch's songs.

Lenya singing many of Weill's theater songs, especially Alabama Song and Pirate Jenny.
Updated On: 7/24/13 at 02:12 PM

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:16pm

Patti singing Meadowlark and Where is the Warmth, not to mention all of Evita. There have been others who have sung Evita well but I will forever prefer Patti's version.

[sanda]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:32pm

Tommy Korberg's Anthem

I would say "End Game". No one sing that one better than Tommy so far.

[JRybka1611]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:38pm

I find that Judi Dench's version of Send in the Clowns is the most amazing version I have ever heard. So rich and beautifully acted.

[gavyj]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:48pm

I agree with LuPone's "Meadowlark" and Evita. It is near impossible to beat her high belting.

[dreaming]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:52pm

See, I love Betty Buckley's rendition of "Meadowlark" as well as Liz Callaway's.

[kurt.perry41]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 5:47pm

Any of Vera Charles stuff from Mame.


Bea Arthur was an original.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 6:14pm

I wouldn't say never, but I've yet to hear a Cinderella sound as magnificent as Laura Benanti. I always miss her voice whenever I see or listen to Into the Woods

I'm also very partial to Betty Buckley as Margaret White. I liked Mazzie's "When There's No One", but I don't want legit singing on any of Margaret's other parts. That and the lowered keys from the recent revival left a lot to be desired for me personally.

Posted: 7/24/13 at 6:32pm

Angela Lansbury "The Worst Pies in London" from Sweeney Todd

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 7:29pm

I agree with the strong association of Garland and "Over the Rainbow" (Who can argue?), but both Sam Harris and IZ Kamakawiwo'ole (the Hawaiian singer who paired "Rainbow" with "What a Wonderful World") did very different interpretations of the Arlen song.

Just goes to show there is always room for a new interpretation--even of the most famous song written in the 20th century.

IZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5JicO2bKec

Sam Harris at the Apollo in the 80s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoHDT89FwSA

Updated On: 7/24/13 at 07:29 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 8:31pm

Dorothy Loudon singing Easy Street. There are very few actresses that have ever wrung so much joy out of a song as she did.

And I also want to say that if you don't own her Broadway Baby cd, you are missing one of the best singer-actresses ever recorded.
Link

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:02pm

"Before I Gaze At You Again" - Julie Andrews
"I'm Still Here" - Yvonne De Carlo
"Being Alive" - Dean Jones

[jackieoh]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:58pm

"Back to Before" - Marin Mazzie
"You Have To Be There" - Alice Ripley (during her wonder years, the raw emotion in her voice is unmatched by any of her predecessors/successors.)
"Cabaret" - Liza Minnelli


(This one is not musical theatre related but I CANNOT listen to anyone but Joni Mitchell sing A Case Of You, no matter how much I like them. The romantic naturalism Joni embraces vocally is transcendent and every other version pales in comparison.)

[jnb9872]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 11:47pm

Kamakawiwo'ole's voice was heavenly... also, if no one's heard her version, Eva Cassidy did a stunning and gorgeous Over the Rainbow before she (tragically) passed away that's more than worthy of being considered one of a definitive few takes on that classic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDmXsGeiF8

To the OP's question, to me the ones that are definitive and difficult to re-interpret are ones where the singer in question has too deep a personal connection to the material. I'm a believer that any song (or work) can potentially be re-interpreted in illuminating and perhaps even improved ways by future artists and would never claim something as "impossible to top", but the closest to me might be Stew's take on "Work the Wound" from PASSING STRANGE - a song as brilliantly crafted as it is painfully semi-autobiographical.

Updated On: 7/24/13 at 11:47 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 7:38am

Completely agree regarding Eva Cassidy.

[aagaard99]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 7:50am

In my opinion "Memory" belongs to Elaine Paige.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 8:11am

There are definitely "signature songs" that, for me, define the song and the singer.

Like Garland and Over the Rainbow.

That doesn't mean I "can't ever hear anyone else sing" that song. It does mean that no matter who sings it, I will think of that "signature" performance, and it will never be erased from my mind and heart.

I do love Eva Cassidy's rendition of Over the Rainbow. Also Ella Fitzgerald's. To date, those are the only two I can listen to all the way through without longing for Judy to step in and finish the song. Nobody else comes close to doing that. And I've heard hundreds of people try to sing that song.

Other classic signature recordings:
Ethel Merman - Everything's Coming Up Roses
Ella Fitzgerald - A Tisket, A Tasket
Frank Sinatra - New York, New York (sorry, Liza)
Barbra Streisand - Don't Rain On My Parade, The Way We Were
Dione Warwick - Promises, Promises, Alfie
Marlene Dietrich - Falling In Love Again
Stritch - The Ladies Who Lunch
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World

A list of recent "signature songs" for me, that I have trouble hearing anybody else sing (but I'm still open to it):

Patti LuPone and Don't Cry For Me, Argentina
Jennifer Holliday and And I'm Telling You ...
Betty Buckley and Memory

(even though Elaine Paige recorded Memory and Argentina before them, I don't consider her renditions to be "signature")

And I think Shani Wallis's version of As Long As He Needs Me is a thousand times better than Georgia Brown's recording. I always have. And while I wouldn't call it a "signature" performance of that song, I compare everyone else to her, and they always (including Garland) finish behind Wallis.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 8:41am

I understand the adoration for Garland's "Over the Rainbow," But, apart from Garland, (yes, even from Garland) it is a song I love to hear done well, the verse (which Garland did not do in the film but others have recorded) is beautiful, and there are many wonderful versions of it which I listen to frequently, including Jane Monheit's, Eva Cassidy's, Patti LaBelle's and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's.

Another "Over the Rainbow" which knocks me out is Susan Boyle's. The first time I heard it I had no idea who was singing it and was floored by how good it was. The arrangement is exquisite and Boyle's phrasing is superb. It even got me to listen to the rest of that c.d. (Standing Ovation) but nothing else she does on it is memorable.






Susan Over the Rainbow Updated On: 7/25/13 at 08:41 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 8:46am

Just a side note:

All of the verses to the Arlen/Harburg "Oz" songs were written after the songs had been recorded for the movie. They were added for the sheet music publications and the "pop" recordings of the songs.

They weren't "cut" from the film, though, since they were never intended to be in it.

That said, the intro/verse to Over the Rainbow is as wonderful as the rest of the song.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 8:58am

thanks, best12, did Garland ever record or perform the verse?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 9:05am

There have been few versions of the song, Betty Buckley, Kristin Chenoweth, Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick have all recorded it but in my opinion no one has come close to matching the sheer vulnerability and angst Jill O'Hara displays when singing "Knowing When To Leave".

Updated On: 7/25/13 at 09:05 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 9:14am

I love Jill O"Hara (Promises was my first Broadway show), but I also love Kerry O'Malley's "Knowing When to Leave" from Encores.
give a look and listen

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 9:26am

Shani Wallis went to the Julie Andrews school of singing where every. word. must. be. enunciated. And that throws her phrasing off. Shani was way too delicate for the role of Nancy. The only way she would have survived in Dickens London was if she were living in an upper class house.