Even though i have a decent collection of vinyl, mainly operatic and easy listening, im embarrassed and baffled to say that i had never heard of John Raitt until this very moment. What an incredible voice!
John Raitt was a heldertenor or a baritenor. He had the tenor high notes and the middle baritone s too. He had offers to sing Wagner heldertenor operatic roles and he recorded the Figaro Il Barbiere de Sevilla famous aria in English in a video performance. He chose to stay on Broadway and sing musicals and operetas. Alfred Drake Robert Goulet John Cullum George Hearn Richard Kiley Howard Keel and Gordon Mc Rae were baritones. John Raitt and Harve Presnell were baritenors and Peter Palmer Bill Hayes William Tabbert Mandy Patinkin Tommy Rall and Mario Lanza were tenors.
Don’t think he was a Heldentenor. Would have to pull the mic away to hear and render an opinion on that. I do think he clearly falls into baritenor and, perhaps, maybe even into tenor classification. The ease and open chest voice dominant approach in passaggio around E and F above middle C signal tenor. The color and richness in the lower mix signal more baritone. A tad tremulous on the lower C then says tenor. At the end of the day, no matter the classification, this is really a magnificent voice with easy relaxed production.
You should check out Anthony Warlow on this piece. Absolutely incredible BariTenor voice out of Australia. At LEAST the equal of John Raitt, as preposterous as that might seem.
It's a cliche, but you have to wonder why this guy didn't have a career in Hollywood. Handsome, good presence, great voice. In general, Hollwyood seemed to lose interest in male singers. By the late 1950s, Gordon MacRae and Howard Keel were tossed in the trash as well.
Both Keel and Raitt were in the Original 1943 Oklahoma production.When,Alfred Drake was on Broadway Raitt was in touring performances using the and Keel played Curly in London. When Raitt played Billy in the 1945 Original Carousel cast Keel played him in the touring performances .Only once Raitt had to.play both Curly and Billy the same day .He played the Oklahoma matinee and the Carousel evening performances.
Why not movies? Quite simply, the camera didn't like him. He was utterly gorgeous, absolute manly perfection in person, and no photograph ever did him justice.
