Bearded Balladeers

[Charlie]

One YouTube posting of Howard Male and we already have two spin-off lists.

I'm looking for more singers with beards, a fairly rare species.

Willie Nelson
Charlie Daniels
whichever member of Z Z Top was the vocalist
Kris Kristofferson
James Hetfield, Metallica (I confess, I looked this up)

[AndyM]

Sting seems to be sporting one as a sign of his recent ''''''folk'''''' direction.

Susan Boyle. (Sorry.)

[Rob Hall]

Frederik, of Nina and Frederik
Robin Hall (no relation) of Robin Hall & Jimmy McGregor
Levon Helm of The Band

[AndyM]

Him out of Bon Iver.

Them out of Fleet Foxes.

[Charlie]

Him out of Bon Iver.

Them out of Fleet Foxes.

and Devandra Banhart.

Oh, and that man who calls himself Iron Wine, I think, and who made a pretty good album with the clean-shaven Calexico

[AndyM]

There's evidently a generic thread starting to emerge. Beards are welcomed in some sonic zones & not others. Never saw a punk rocker with a beard. (Cue flurry of corrections from others......)

[Hugh Weldon]

Seasick Steve

Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens

I'm sure Marvin Gaye had a beard on the cover of the Midnight Love and What's Going On albums.

Beards were not a punk thing though I remember Richard Hell's guitarist having a beard. Don't recall his name but I think he came from a jazz background - which probably explains it.

[kas]

Several of them in roots reggae:

Justin Hinds/Hines
Duckie Simpson (of Black Uhuru)
Don Carlos
2/3 of Abyssinians
Joseph Hill (of Culture)...

Him of Ashford and Simpson

[AndyM]

I'm sure Marvin Gaye had a beard on the cover of the Midnight Love and What's Going On albums.

He did, and Stevie Wonder has dabbled in hirsuteness too.

[Charlie]

I'm sure Marvin Gaye had a beard on the cover of the Midnight Love and What's Going On albums.

Maybe Isaac Hayes too?

Seasick Steve should have been in my first list.

[kevin]

Him from the Magic Numbers

John and Paul have both had chin furniture at one time or another.

Ian Anderson (the other one).

Demis Roussos.

Elvis Costello

[Ian M]

Howard appears to have hit the zeitgeist before his time. According to Simon Reynolds the beard is "the crucial signifier of non-mainstream rock", with Bonny Prince Billie as the leader of a pack of American alt rock acts:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicbl ... ies-beards

Howard, you must be an outlier.

[howard male]

Ian M wrote -

Howard, you must be an outlier

I'd rather be an outlier that an outright liar. So, to tell you the truth, the beard was all part of my naive master plan to be different. I say naive because when you're younger you don't realise that what record companies are looking for is something that's the same, not something that's different. So when we were searching for a deal they were looking for something that was the same as Duran Duran. So that was us buggered.

As for other beardies, how about Roy Wood?

[Nigel w]

Howard reckoned: ''when you're younger you don't realise that what record companies are looking for is something that's the same, not something that's different.''

Yes, but sometimes they like to sign something that's different. Then they spend lots of money turning it into the same!

Dylan had a beard in the mid-70s.

Tom Waits has almost always had something trying to be a beard.

I reckon both qualify as balladeers.

Loudon Wainwright? Pavarotti? Charles Manson?

[AndyM]

Ian M wrote -

As for other beardies, how about Roy Wood?

And he used to dye his, too. Glam rock encapsulated on the chin.