THE REAL VOICE

My wife is a fan of the television show "The Voice," but I'm not.  Sometimes I watch it with her for a while, but I usually get bored and wander off.  I like the judges; it's the contestants that bug me.  I try to keep in mind that they're usually young and just getting started, but I don't see much talent there.  What really bugs me about the show is the premise, the set-up.  It seems to me that the voice of the contestant isn't their real selling point.  But that's my problem because I'm out of step with the music world these days.  I'm too much old school.

I like Blake Shelton's presence on the show because he seems like a caring guy.  I've never been a fan of his music, but that's no slight against him because I don't like contemporary country music.  I used to be a big fan of country music, but that was back when it was still actually country.  I'm a Merle Haggard guy, or maybe George Jones or Don Gibson, or Don Williams.  Country music lost me a long time ago.  When it gets right down to it, Christina is the real musical talent among the judges.  She can flat out sing.  The others are mostly showmen, and that's what they try to make out of the kids on their teams.  It's smart business, but I'm still left wondering where the real voice is.

My expectations are high when it comes to singers, and it's not often I hear a voice that really grabs me.  I sometimes remember those occasions.  Once while driving late at night and listening to the radio, I heard a voice that got to me in a big way.  This was like the early eighties, and I was listening to the radio, half paying attention, when I'm suddenly aware that I'm listening to something special - a woman with a resonate alto voice that could really soar and capture high notes.  The song was called something like "You Bring Me Joy," and the singer was Anita Baker.  And I was an instant fan.

I figured right off that Anita Baker must look like the voice I'd heard, but not long after that I saw her on television and was amazed at what a beautiful young woman she was.  She seemed too small to have such a big voice, but I've seen few singers who got into their singing like she did.  She took the level of soul singing to a new level.  Not long ago, she crossed my mind and I looked her up on youtube to see what was going on with her.  She's changed, like all of us change as we get older, but she can still sing.  Want to hear a voice, one that you can hold others to a standard with?  She's got the real voice.