Who Is the Best Crooner: Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, or Bing Crosby?

Today, Professor has asked us: "Who is the best crooner, and why?"

The three crooners that I am most familiar with are:

Dean Martin:

Dean Martin

Frank Sinatra:

Frank Sinatra

and Bing Crosby:

Bing Crosby

Before I say anything farther, I must note that there is a difference between saying who is the best, and whom I like the best.

In short, I like Dean Martin's singing the best of the three. They all have very unique voices, and were singing during the same time, sometimes together.

It also must be noted that Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were most likely influenced by Bing Crosby, which means that either Bing Crosby must have been a pretty good singer, very popular, or Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra had strange taste and were the sole fans of Bing Crosby.

Bing Crosby has a quite deep, soft voice that is very calming and beautiful to listen to. His songs usually are quieter, slower, and calmer, with soft background music, like soft guitar strumming/violin bowing and backup singer voices.

Dean Martin has a smooth, rolling voice. His songs often have a faster tempo with a jazzier feel, and big band style background music, though in his country songs he has a normal orchestra for the background.

Frank Sinatra sticks to more jazz and swing and less country than either of the above. His voice is not as deep as either Bing Crosby's or Dean Martin's, and he has a signature way of articulating the lyrics very much. He also has big band style background music in most of his songs.

Now, we get to the question asked: who is the best?

Well, I have to say (perhaps rather reluctantly) that Frank Sinatra is probably the "best" of the three. They are all very good singers, but Frank Sinatra possesses the best vocal ability and has the best control over his voice.

However, Dean Martin still remains my favorite of the three.