The Singers Talk: Part Three

2011 turned out to be a banner year for singers on my blog.  I have a total of eighteen entries featuring these musical voices.   I was thrilled to start off the year with a real Musical Icon from The Mama’s and the Papa’s, Miss Michelle Phillips.  Another legend in R&B music is the lovely Miss Maxine Brown who has been making beautiful music since the late 50's.  I had the opportunity to photograph Maria Muldaur’s latest release ‘Steady Love’ this year.  This was my second CD cover for Maria.

Disco music is still around and now called Dance Music.  I was happy to work with Pattie Brooks for her latest release, ‘It’s All About The Music.’  Another dance music star is the former Cowboy from The Village People, Mr. Randy Jones.  The gorgeous Miss Linda Clifford  also released a new dance song that went straight to the top.  

Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch work together a lot of the time and I was able to feature both of them and their amazing cabaret stylings.  Another gentleman who is making quite a name for himself in Los Angeles in Luca Ellis who can sing a standard like no one else except maybe Frank Sinatra.

Charlo Crossley is a real veteran of the stage and quite the powerhouse vocalist.  I loved working with her!  Another dear friend I couldn’t leave out is the sensational Miss Thelma Jones who saw her Columbia album re-released on CD.  

I made a new friend in Monica Lewis when I photographed some publicity photos for her as her new autobiography was published.  Monica has been singing professionally since the 1940‘s.  Don’t miss her book if you want some detailed stories of growing up in Hollywood!

My dear friend Rebekah Del Rio released her new album and is it ever amazing!  I can’t stop listening to it.  The gorgeous Miss Jane Badler is perhaps better known as an actress but her two albums and one EP are so unique and special, she has become a singer first now!  

Nikki Lang is a young singer at the very beginning of her career and I was lucky enough to get to chat with her and take some beautiful shots before she is a BIG star!!  I was also happy to have the chance to talk and photograph Peisha McPhee who is not only a beautiful singer but a winning vocal coach for ‘American Idol’ no less!

I rounded out my year working with great singers like R&B sensation Robert Gee and a real theatrical performer Mr. Scott Snapp.  Both of these men know what they are doing when they open their mouth to sing!




Maria Muldaur has been recording over many years and talked to me about her varied career, “ I'm much more R&B. I'm more Roll than Rock! My hit was a pop song. My whole career can be seen as a long and rambling odyssey through all sorts of American Roots music. I've played old time fiddle and sang bluegrass.”




Music Legend Michelle Phillips talks about being a grandmother, “It's really a beautiful experience. It truly is. Who could have thought that I would one day be a grandmother? I love spending time with my grandchildren. We go shopping and make dinner and we paint! It's all fun time!”





R&B Music Legend Maxine Brown told me about her songwriting abilities, “I found out I'm an inspirational writer, not one of those writers who says, ‘I'm going home to write tonight.’ Even when I write my raps in songs it just comes to me and I go with it.”





Monica Lewis told me abut her whole family being involved in music, “My family's religion was music. We were all about music but I couldn't do the classics. I didn't have my mother's power or range for opera. I couldn't play the piano as good as my sister or play any instruments. My brother could pick up any instrument and in five minutes he could play it. My Dad was a genius. My family was always on such a higher level but I found my own niche.”





Randy Jones let me know how much he enjoys performing, “Not only do I like to sing but I like to talk. For me the reason to sing songs is to use them as a vehicle to get myself out in front of large crowds of people. I like to sing the song and then talk with the audience and when I see their eyes start to glaze over then I know it's time to go to the next number. Half of what I do is talking, joking and entertaining.”





Jim Caruso talked to me about his CD ‘The Swing Set’, “I couldn't believe there had never been a 'Swing Set' album title before. That was a shocker. I thought of it in the shower and went to google it right away to see how many thousands of albums were called 'The Swing Set' and I couldn't find any!”





Billy Stritch talks about one of the secrets to his success, “I think one of the things I'm in tune with is accompanying other singers. Being a singer myself I really know how to intuitively follow and not lead the singer. I'm a good collaborator and a good accompanist, a good friend and confidant, all the things that make a really successful partnership.”





Charlo Crossley told me about her love of touring,  “I realized I liked living on the road. For years I didn't unpack. Working with Bette was an incredible experience to be in the company of so many show business legends and meet everyone of my childhood fantasies. We all worked so hard and struggled the same so we had that in common.”





Thelma Jones remembers the beginning of her music career, “I was being groomed as the next Mahalia Jackson. I did quite a few gospel recordings and was on Gospel Time TV with James Cleveland. I got back into secular music after my sister dared me to get on stage and T-Bone Walker heard me and said I needed to go to the Apollo Theatre for amateur night.”





Robert Gee told me about how he always wanted to be a singer, even as a child, “I always got attention for my voice...because it was a unique voice and my dancing too. When I was a kid I would look at Michael Jackson and go, "Wow! How do you get there? I can do that." I was fascinated with the fact that the Jackson 5 were who they were. They were on TV and they had a cartoon. I wanted to do that too.”





Linda Clifford  told me about covering a Phyllis Hyman song, “I was so excited and happy to do it because Phyllis and I worked together for quite a few years in the clubs. We were regulars at Studio 54. She and I got to be kind of close whenever we'd see each other on the road. I really liked being close to Phyllis and talking with her. When Rick approached me with this idea I thought it would be tremendous to do an homage to Phyllis Hyman.”





Luca Ellis told me about how he changed into being a singer, “Most people sing in the car and in the shower and that's where I did my singing. I never had an interest in being a live performer, I always wanted to be a film actor on a closed set with a couple of dozen people, making the performance intimate for the camera. Then I started singing professionally and I found it was more exciting and exhilarating than acting. Music is such a personal thing to people. It essentially becomes the soundtrack to their lives.”





Rebekah Del Rio tells me about her latest release being a tribute to her late son, “I had such a strong connection with my child. We made a decision that after he passed whenever I saw 11/11, I would know he was thinking about me. That was our sign to each other.”





Peisha McPhee not only sings, she teaches voice, “Everybody is given a different level of God given talent. I never say to anyone that there's no hope. What I do know is if someone doesn't have as much talent but they work harder than someone with more talent, they can be successful. It's all about technique. Seriously how you can build and change a voice is unbelievable.”





Jane Badler has become a very popular singer, especially in Australia and France.  She told me about her early years, “I like to say that I was in jazz obscurity. I was going around town singing jazz but let's be honest I was never going to be Ella Fitzgerald. I wasn't changing the mold here.”





Scott Snapp told me about his musical beginnings, “I've been singing for people since I was thirteen years old singing for my grandmother. She was bed ridden for the last 19 years of her life so I would put on a record and sing along to it for her. That's how I really started.”





Nikki Lang talked to me about her inspiration for singing and writing, “It does come a lot from frustration, sadness and heartbreak but also if my life is changing for the better like when I went to Europe. I came back and wrote so many happy songs. So it comes from sad and happy.”





Pattie Brooks started the disco music movement but told me, “I had no idea what disco was. I was touring with Ann-Margret and had lots of stuff going on. As I came off the road they told me my song had hit the dance charts. I said, "What's a dance chart?"