Comments on: John Gary - His Voice Dazzled

By: George Lyons

George Lyons — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:28:09 +0000

John Gary was a singer’s singer - his breath control and range was astounding; He is always in the top 5 of the best male vocalists for those who know music.

By: BG

BG — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:02:47 +0000

Appreciate all the comments, folks.

By: Jack Horohoe

Jack Horohoe — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:55:35 +0000

As a disc jockey in Buffalo, NY in the early 60’s, I often played the music of John Gary and I can’t agree more with the earlier writers…this was perhaps one of the most talented singers of the era. His range, phrasing and emotion were breath taking. My listeners concurred by requesting the music of John Gary almost nightly. Among my favorites was a little known composition from an obscure musical..Dora the Red Menace…”A Quiet Thing”. A Quiet Thing …was a wondeful thing.

By: Judith E Felix

Judith E Felix — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:33:42 +0000

Hi everyone!
This is a great tribute to my lifelong friend, John Gary.
I met him when I was 10 years old, we became lifelong friends, he was the Godfather of my son, I’ve sung in his shows and we’ve had many John Gary “All-Night” Parties - with John in attendance - when he was in town for concerts.
Check out http://www.johngary.com - this website was put together by John’s family and MANY of John’s albums have been converted to CD - along with VHS/DVD’s his TV shows and John playing King Arthur in Camelot, just 7 months before he passed.
The website is a loving and accurate legacy of a sweet, funny, talented in SO many ways man…my friend, John Gary!

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:09:26 +0000

I have a sealed album of john gary. It is entitled The Big Voice of John Gary. RCA Victor 1966. Does anyone know the value or where I can sell it? I have tons of albums from a long gone relative and hate to dump them in the trash. What do you do with this music?

By: BG

BG — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:40:44 +0000

Hey Roland - don’t know if you saw it, but the article I did on The Quintessential Italian Crooner included a reference to Al Martino, and his daughter wrote a comment on it.

By: Roland

Roland — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:23:07 +0000

John Gary’s misfortune was just bad timing. He came along when the “crooner” era was ending and he couldn’t compete in popularity with the rock and folk singers of the time. But, boy, could he sing. At the time of the early sixties, I had a running disagreement with a friend over who was the best, Al Martino or John Gary. I noticed that Al Martino isn’t included in the list above, so I guess I win the arguement. I don’t know what brought him to my mind this Christmas season, but he was something special.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:47:29 +0000

I too love the mix of styles. I would only disagree with Bobby Hatfield and possibly Jerry Vale being in the top 10. I also seem to be the only person on earth who thinks the last 30 years of Frank Sinatra’s singing career, he was resting on his earlier work; his voice just did not have the control, pitch and smoothness of John Gary.

My top two singers of the 20th century would have to be John Gary and Andy Williams. Among John’s best selections, I would have to include “Unchained Melody”, “Hawaiian Wedding Song”, “The Nearness of You”, “If You Love Me”, “Danny Boy”, “My Foolish Heart”. We had the good fortune to have seen John perform live in a small club in Pasadena in the early 80’s, and we were in awe of his amazing voice.

By: BG

BG — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:30:16 +0000

I can’t disagree about Sinatra, Greg. Although he sounded smooth and polished in later years, his youthful voice was a marvel.

Your list of singers contains some surprises, but I love the mix of styles.

By: Greg Quinn

Greg Quinn — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:57:07 +0000

When Sinatra passed away, there was a lot of mention as to naming Frank the Male Vocalist of that century. While Sinatra’s voice during his commercially successful years was tremendous, stylistic and pleasing, his voice was better in the 1940’s.
In no particular order, I would place the following singers in my top ten of the 20th Century: Sinatra, John Gary, Sammy Davis Jr, Nat King Cole, Bob Hatfield, Gene Pitney, Jerry Vale, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves and Eddie Fisher. John Gary had the greatest voice of them all and didn’t get the attention that he deserved - - what a great talent.