Torch singer quest

[Moe Beers]

Hey folks...I'm from Atlanta and was just listening to some old Marlene Dietrich music awhile ago and really enjoyed her old stuff. Is she in the 'torch singer' category? What is a 'torch singer'? I would like to get some names of other 40's style singers like Marlene or even modern ones...especially some who sing french...I can't speak it but I like the way those gals sound...That sultry smoke filled bar aura really helps my attitude. Any suggestions will be appreciated.....Thanks for the forum....I'll check back..

[clave]

Hmm... the phrase "to carry a torch" (for someone) is now obsolete, but I think the definition below will help you understand more about torch singers, etc. See The Word Detective for the full entry:

Dear Word Detective: I thought you might be able to illuminate the origins of the phrase "To carry a torch," meaning to have a romantic interest in someone. -- Penny, via the internet.

Illuminate? Would you settle for a small glow? Speaking of torches, while researching your question, I came across a nice little bit of doggerel written by William Blake (1757–1827), the British poet, painter and mystic: "Thou Fair-haired Angel of the Evening, Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown put on, and smile upon our evening bed!" Hubba hubba. No wonder the hippies were so hyped on Blake.

The problem with that "bright torch of love" business is that some people, unfortunately, keep emoting right past the point when the torch burns out. Since at least 1927, "to carry the torch" (or "carry a torch" for someone) has meant to continue to love and pine for someone long after the object of affection has left the building and any reasonable hope of amorous success has passed. By 1934, romantic ballads of lost love and broken hearts were known as "torch songs," and female nightclub singers who made them their specialty were known as "torch singers." [see link for the rest...]"

Torch singing per se is something of a lost art, in the US, at least. (There's plenty of torchy material in languages other than English, though -- Spanish-language and Brazilian Portuguese singers probably lead the pack.) Nor have most singers specialized exclusively in torch songs.

My suggestion: take the definition, start looking around for singers from the 30s-40s who might fit the profile, and go from there.

One more thing: "The Man that Got Away" (from the movie A Star is Born - the Judy Garland version!) is one of THE all-time classic torch songs (in English).

[Moe Beers]

Thanks a lot, Clave....maybe I'll start with that Judy Garland song she writes of.
I guess lost loves are what started most songs anyway....or being broke and/or
various sorts of mental anquish.

[clave]

I think the key to this is that you're looking for pop music -- not necessarily jazz.

[PDEE]

Initially a 10" lp, four songs added later to bring it up to a 12".
Was coupled with another album ( Sea Shells) on a British issue.. still available I believe.

Beiing re-issued by verve , late october( I don't know how much will be added to the verve.. if anything)

All the slow songs will fill the bill, the few up tempo songs are killers too.
Definitely her best ever album, even though it was her first.

[Saundra Hummer]

Who did the most famous version of "Cry Me A River?" Julie London? She did some torch songs didnt' she? Tenorman? You're knowledgable about female singers, you should know this question inside and out.

Love for Sale by Ella has the sound of a torch song, but it's not, but it has that torchy sound.

Sarah should have torch songs, as should Peggy Lee. They have the voices for it, the feel for it. Which ones do you think would qualify?

[tkeables]

For a modern touch of torch, I recommend Holly Cole, especially her "Blame It on My Youth" trio CD. Her phrasing and choice of accompanists puts a whole new spin on the burner.

[Tenorman]

Torch singers ahh yes.
Suggesting a particular singer can be fraught. Peggy Lee's repertoire ranged from the American Song Book, through Torch Songs and twee love songs to the Beatles.

The first one I recommend was recorded two years ago - Noiresque (The Lonely Fate of the Femme Fatale) by Sandra Lawrence.

These are a series of songs with some link to the Film Noir Genre - From Man To Man, Trinidad Lady, The Long Goodbye, Laura, Mame etc. For samples go to www.noiresque.co.uk Got a very good write up on AMG, and I have heard her live - Five Stars

Another Brit - Barb Jungr -- Chanson | The Space Between. (Linn Records - www.linnrecords.com )This is mainly French Chansons, which have a very similar background to Torch Songs. A Fabulous version of Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don't Leave Me Now), which in my opinion pumps out far more emotion than Nina Simone's version.

Julie London

Julie Is Her Name -- contains Cry Me A River (but then so does every compilation)

Sophisticated Lady -- Absent Minded Me, Make It Another Old Fashioned Please

Julie At Home -- Everything Happens To Me (Makes a change from Chet Baker!) Lonesome Road, You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

My favourite is "Around Midnight" In The Wee Small Hours, Lush Life, Black Coffee

In Person At The Americana - A mix of Show tunes Torch Songs and Jazz

Peggy Lee tends to do a mix on her albums, so if you don't mind going to the poppy end of the spectrum, try

If You Go and Mink Jazz

I can't recommend "Sea Shells" which was a concept album by her of mainly folk songs backed by a harp

[clave]

I more or less refused to commit myself here because almost every jazz singer has done some ballads that qualify, and lots of people who aren't jazz singers have done more -- cf. Ketty Lester's "Love Letters," a lot of Dinah Washington's material, some of Edith Piaf's songs, ditto for Judy Garland, etc.

I think torch songs are more the province of cabaret singers these days.

Either way, it's a huge topic, kind of difficult to pin down, though a good bolero singer (Cuban, from the US, wherever) is the epitome of "torch," to my way of thinking, at least.

[Saundra Hummer]

My favorites are Billie Holliday, there's a torch burning within her that's for sure, and Peggy Lee, a little more studied, a little more sure of herself, and then Diana Washington for sure, but it just depends on how deep you want to go, what you're looking for, something more heartfelt or more melodic, more breathy, just a matter of personal outlook. Each of these and there are so many others that qualify as torch songs, by the ladies you would consider torch singers, not all jazz, but all darned good. Just a matter of personal tastes, and what mood it is you're in.

[Saundra Hummer]

Isn't there a famous French torch singer, one who was pretty popular from WWII on?

[Saundra Hummer]

Tenorman, got to hear a tiny bit of her song, the first one of the sample tunes, and she certainly has a pure voice, a beautiful voice. I need to figure out how to hear it all as the player I'm having to use with it is just stoping after a few seconds, I thought I already had those players but will download them again if necessary, but online downloads have been a disaster for me. Makes me leery! Waiting for my ship to come in, then I'll just buy some of her cd's, the band sounds good too.

[Tenorman]

Saundra,
Edith Piaff - "The Little Sparrow" (Technically a Chansonnier rather than a Torch Singer, but I don't know the difference either, except for the language of the words) Sang a lot of Jacques Brel numbers. She, I think, was the first to do "Je Ne Regrette Rien". I never liked her voice though, but she (and Jacques Brel) had enormous followings in France.

Barb Jungr does some of that type of music, but her voice is far more pleasant - well worth a listen on the Linn Records site

[clave]

Saundra, Edith Piaff - "The Little Sparrow" (Technically a Chansonnier rather than a Torch Singer, but I don't know the difference either, except for the language of the words) Sang a lot of Jacques Brel numbers. She, I think, was the first to do "Je Ne Regrette Rien". I never liked her voice though, but she (and Jacques Brel) had enormous followings in France.

Relatively few of Piaf's songs are what we'd think of as torch songs per se. I know very little about French chansons (and their performers), but would think that Piaf and many others are more what we'd consider cabaret singers. That's also true, I think, of Brel, who was highly theatrical.

I really can't see any of the jazz singers you guys are citing as being torch singers only. They did ballads - sometimes devastatingly well -- but that doesn't make someone a torch singer (exclusively, that is). Again, the whole idea of a "torch singer" is fairly dated - we really don't have them anymore, with the exception of some cabaret performers. That has much to do with the direction that popular music has taken since the 1950s-60s, and is too large a topic for anyone to be able to tackle on this board -- or even in an exhaustively researched book. In Latin American countries (also Latin American pop music), romantic singers have never gone out of style, and there are some highly gifted people who specialize in boleros and similar genres, which are fairly analogous to our "torch songs." (Though not quite the same thing...)

As far as recordings, there's a little known (but terrific) album by Sarah Vaughan, "The Lonely Hours" (recorded in the early-mid 60s); Sinatra's "For Only the Lonely," etc. My guess is that most of the ballads we'd call torch songs were written for musicals (Broadway and Hollywood), and American cabaret singers tend to stick to that repertoire, for the most part. KD Lang is one of the few contemporary pop singers who covers torch songs and/or is associated with them, albeit in a somewhat campy way. (No expllcation needed, I think.)

[Moe Beers]

Thanks for your input, yall!....I'm not even sure it's a torch sound I want....I just picked that term out of my head cause it sounded right to me. I just liked the Marlene Dietrich sound and would like to find some work by any actual foreign female singer, older or newer with a jazz touch...preferably French..I don't necessarily want to be able to understand the lyrics.....just the aura and music while I work in my shop. I'll look up those suggestions, though. I wasn't sure where to start looking is how I happened on this board. There's no jazz places near me here in Atlanta...It's too bad.....but thanks again!