I grew up all those years ago in a music-loving family, especially "popular" music. Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, Meade "Lux" Lewis (the boogie-woogie great) and Duke Ellington played from our cabinet stereo. They were my nourishment. A baby grand in the living room; piano lessons for each of us 6 kids who wanted them. A kid brother who grew up to be an extraordinary guitarist, and a sister whose compositions I hope to hear Clay sing someday. It was Detroit—the home of Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Aretha, the super Supremes, and all the other spectacular talent that inhabited Motown in the '50s and '60s. It truly WAS the soundtrack of my life, and I loved it.
Through every decade since, I've continued to listen to the music of this or that generation. The '70s escaped some of my attention because it was on two babies, but those two babies eventually brought me back in a big way to Friday Night Videos and the sounds of the '80s ... who can forget Talking Heads, The Cars, Devo, U2, Huey Lewis? Eclectic, huh!?! And I've been privileged to see many of the best ... Janis Joplin, Johnny Mathis, the Kingston Trio, the Doors and Police, Bob Dylan and Tina Turner in my lifetime.
I never paid much attention to lyrics. It was the melodies, but more than that the quality of the voices that got my attention. That most basic & very human instrument of communication, the VOICE. No matter how good so many of these artists were, Ella Fitzgerald had always been at the top of my list. Her voice was superb, and it was her own—rich, nuanced, imperceptibly controlled, and with an unmatched girlish sweetness.
Fast forward to January 2003. Clay Aiken. "Take time ... ." He hit me with it, then continued the battery, like the proverbial ton of bricks. He's all that the others who preceded him—with the exception of Ella—ever were, or tried to be. But with a difference, because he has it ALL: Tenderness and subtlety. Power and range. (And Ella? ... just give Clay a few more years ... )
Who else has ever taught me to truly listen to the nuances of a song? Who else's voice brings such utter joy? And peace, or healing ... and with genuine transformative power? Who else's voice creates a space that makes me feel like I could crawl inside it and be happy there forever?
Whose voice seems like Love itself?
And who else's voice ever moved me to find other fans—even fans on the gasp Internet? Moved me out of my comfort zone to meet them & make them my best friends? And who else moved me to change my life so radically from the inside out just to accommodate him? (Not even my DH has managed that feat!)
Nope ... there's not a question in my mind that Clay Aiken has a once-in-my-lifetime voice. Is a once-in-my-lifetime talent.
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