The singer Paul Simon claimed had “the best voice” in history
Paul Simon is undoubtedly among the most legendary names in the history of American music; even if you are not intimately familiar with his extensive discography both as a solo artist and with Simon and Garfunkel, his music and reputation as a songwriter are utterly unavoidable. Despite his career and incredible legacy, though, there are still a few performers that the folk-pop singer could never hope to live up to.
When Simon made his first real steps into the musical mainstream, as one half of Simon and Garfunkel during the 1960s, he quickly became one of the defining voices and songwriters of the decade. At such a revolutionary moment for music and culture, the scene in America was incredibly oversaturated at this time, with countless groundbreaking artists, performers, and songwriters making their way up the ranks. Ultimately, though, few had the same staying power as Simon, even if they were more technically skilled as performers.
Aside from the blossoming folk and singer-songwriter movement of the 1960s, one of the most important genres to rise to the forefront at the time was soul music. Derived from old-school gospel and capitalised on by record labels like Stax and, of course, Motown, soul music provided a voice for Black artists during a time of widespread discrimination and racism in the United States. In addition to that, though, soul was a vehicle for many of the world’s greatest vocalists to establish themselves on a mainstream stage.
Inevitably, Simon found a natural appreciation for soul music, as he did for a wide variety of genres that he would later draw upon for his solo material. Throughout it all, Sam Cooke’s timeless toes remained a personal favourite of Simon’s. Cooke began his music career as a gospel vocalist before pioneering the sweet sounds of soul music during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was also among the first vocalists to write and record music based around the civil rights movement and political struggle of America’s Black population.
Cooke’s career in music is important for a symphony of reasons, but even if you stripped all of that away, it was his incredible vocal proficiency at the heart of his success. Simon was all too aware of Cooke’s unparalleled singing ability. In fact, while talking to Spin in 1987, he went as far as to call Cooke a “big influence”, explaining: “First, I think Sam Cooke was the best voice. I don’t think anybody was in Sam Cooke’s league.”
Seemingly, Simon used Cooke’s career to influence his own, given apparent similarities in their vocal range. “He also tended to be more of a soft singer and phraser,” he shared, “so there was more for me to learn because that’s what my voice is naturally.” Although it would be egregious to suggest that Simon’s vocal ability – while clearly talented – could compare in any way to that of Sam Cooke, this does speak to the all-encompassing influence of the soul star.
“Although,” Simon debated, “He could belt too, essentially for me it was the smoothness of his voice. I was a big Sam Cooke fan, still am, even more for his work with the Soul Stirrers than for his pop stuff.” The Soul Stirrers was the gospel outfit that Cooke first established himself with, before moving into his solo work which would last until his tragic death in 1964.
The adaptability of Cooke’s voice could, theoretically, draw parallels with the career of Simon, who has explored an incredibly wide range of genres and styles over the course of his decades-long career in the music industry.
