It seems everyone wants to sing with Chrissie Hynde. IN THE MIX Chrissie Hynde Edition Vol. 1 is packed with The Pretenders’ leader lending vocals to her friend’s songs (Chris Spedding, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, INXS, Ringo Starr) joining legends onstage (Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart) & supporting relative newcomers (Hybrid, Incubus, Rufus Wainwright, Tube & Berger). She adds some credibility to Russell Crowe’s band (one of my favorites of the tracks included here) & I included a couple tracks from her new duets album—songs with k.d. lang, & Julian Lennon. Maybe my favorite track is Hynde's live pairing with another go-to duet partner to the stars; Sheryl Crow.
Hynde is a tough as leather rock chick who’s too kind to eat meat. She's skippered a pirate ship on rock & roll's testosterone sea for 45 years without ever losing her femininity. And to me, Chrissie sings like no one else. The only influence I pick up from her singular vocal style is maybe a tiny bit of Cher—who I also find to be unique & unusual in a different way.
And despite all Hynde’s gone through—including the death of two of her original Pretenders bandmates in the space of ten months—she’s always written & recorded great music. And I've always liked that she tends to keep original Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers close. I feel like she's true to her friends, and her fans.
Even when I thought some material was weak, Hynde has proven my assessment to be inaccurate. The songs that failed to grab me on 1990’s Packed (recorded without Chambers) like Sense Of Purpose, & Criminal, and on 1986’s Get Close’s Chill Factor, & Hymn To Her took became some of my favorites when recorded with an orchestra for 1995’s The Isle Of View. The same is true of Revolution from 1994’s Last Of The Independents. I stand corrected, Ms. Hynde.
Downloaders are requested to share their a unique female vocalist, who's also a great duet partner. A link to an example is always appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI'll get the most obvious one out of the way: EMMYLOU HARRIS. I thought she'd never match her earliest duets with GRAM PARSONS, but she routinely does.
IN THE MIX Chrissie Hynde Edition Volume 1:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/aV7ESuZr
WoW THANKS STINKY! They came on fast on the radio in school and I hooked up on the chain gang at the get go--not having to buy the records with my grade school moneys as I could just flip on the radio! She hipped me steady at the BAH (bowling alley with video games we all hung out at next to a theater that kids snuck into) where I could hear it AGAIN! and gave me an attitude to succeed! Will always like their stuff and this comp is a Golden Mecca! ! ! ! Cheers and thanks for giving me sales-type writing practice like one of our field guys who writes his own positive style emails..CHEERS BUD!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Viacom! Once again, we're in agreement.
DeleteEven in the backwater I grew up in, THE PRETENDERS, & THE CARS slipped past radio's gatekeepers and hinted change was on the horizon. Then MTV kidked the door in and lots of other bands charged through. As you shared, VCMD, you could hear them on jukeboxes where you hung out--it was always a thrill to find some "new wave" among the more conventional stuff.
Nancy Sinatra & Kristy MacCall come to mind. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful way to start us off, Anonymous! Thank you.
DeletePlease check back--there's a KRISTY MacCOLL IN THE MIX "in the works!" Nancy has been a favorite of mine since childhood. You've spurred me to start collecting tracks for her own installment. :)
I have send Jon a bundle of Kirsty MacColl stuff some time ago.
DeleteDionne is also great look here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTNdU1K5DvE&list=RDXTNdU1K5DvE&start_radio=1
Thanks for those. Richard! I'll leave it to Jon to cover Kirsty--unless he wants to hand what you sent him over. I still make comps just for myself that I don't share here--so there's never any effort wasted!
DeleteHere's an interesting factoid that I learned listening to an interview with KIRSTY MacCOLL. She was in demand not only for arranging vocal parts, but for adding her own layers of (unique) vocals to a track. She did so on U2's masterwork THE JOSHUA TREE. The band (along with her husband, who was producing) were finished, but were having a hard time deciding on the track order of the songs.
DeleteKirsty asked to take a crack, & what she came up with is what they went with. When they asked how she came up with the order, she said it was easy. Her favorite track, followed by her second favorite track, and her third favorite track...