1950-2000: The Top 25 Singer/Songwriters

Garfish, point well taken

John Prine, yes: Joni Mitchell, no

Waltersalas,
Considering that our man George gets the songwriting credit for such classics as "The Window Up Above," "Don't Stop the Music," and "Just One More", I think that he qualifies as a pretty good songwriter.

By the way, I really should have given Al Green his due.

Paul McCartney’s solo career, taken as a whole, has served mostly to severely diminish, not enhance, his overall reputation as a songwriter. Both John Lennon’s and, for that matter, George Harrison’s, solo efforts were, in most cases, much better than Paul’s. In short, Paul McCartney’s solo career has been a terrific waste and misdirection of an unbelievable talent.

The lack of appreciation for Curtis Mayfield in his native country is appalling. Though it is silly to speak of any individual having “invented” any particular genre of music, many credit The Impressions with “inventing“ soul. Yeah, I know, Jellyroll Morton claimed to have invented jazz. Though the claim is patently false, no one is going to argue that Jellyroll wasn’t a critical figure in the early development of the music. To cite an analogous example, though there was plenty of rock and roll in the 1940’s, Ike Turner’s 1951 “Rocket 88” (Ike wrote it, but was denied credit) is, to my ears, the first song that doesn’t sound like a “missing link.” Rather, it is the earliest bang on, fully and 100 % recognizable as such, hard rock song. What Rocket 88 is to rock and roll, The Impressions “For Your Precious Love” (I know, Curtis didn’t get songwriting credit) is to soul.

Not only was Curtis Mayfield one of the originators of soul, he is also acclaimed, in Jamaica and England at least, as The Godfather of Reggae. Listen to a classic “roots” track like Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves.” The sweet falsetto vocals over the urgent staccato guitar chords are straight-up Curtis Mayfield. No lesser man than that great reggae synecdoche Bob Marley frequently cited Curtis as his most important influence. Indeed, you will not find a single Jamaican vocal group from the 1960’s that did not include at least one Curtis Mayfield composition in their repertoire.

So I ask you, what other individual in the last century was a seminal figure in the development of two (somewhat) different important musical genres? Not Bob Dylan: the both the folk and rock idioms were well established before he began to reshape both of them. That Curtis Mayfield would have such a critical influence on the development of both reggae and soul is both astonishing and unprecedented. It is analogous to having one individual who simultaneously embodies the talent and creative energy of both Jimmie Rodgers and James Brown.

Are the defenders of Paul McCartney’s solo career willing to argue that the man who gave us such gems as “Coming Up,” “With a Little Luck,” “Silly Love Songs,” “No More Lonely Nights,” “Ebony and Ivory,” and “Temporary Secretary” is more deserving of a place on a list of great singer/songwriters than the author of “Minstrel and Queen,” “It’s All Right,” “People Get Ready,” Check Out Your Mind,” “Move on Up,” “Superfly,” and “Pusherman”?

Further whinging on behalf of McCartney’s place in the songwriter’s pantheon should take a hiatus pending the forthcoming posting of my list of the greatest songwriting teams.

Mea culpa,
Paul Simon, Serge Gainsbourg, and especially Ray Davies

you all forgot Ian Curtis

I rate Paul McCartney, not solely on the basis of his best work, and not solely on the basis of his worst. Paul McCartney: when he was good, he was really good, when he was bad, we was really, really bad. McCartney is going to need far more than one mulligan for his mostly lamentable solo career.

To further torture your quarterback analogy, with The Beatles, Paul McCartney may well have been the Joe Montana of pop songwriters, but since The Beatles disintegrated, he has become Ryan Leaf.

Why they didn’t make the cut:
Jagger/Richards, Lennon /McCartney, and Elton John /Bernie Taupin are songwriting teams. They do not properly belong on a list of individual singer/songwriters. Moreover, the solo careers of these guys are not up to the standards of my top 25. Or is there some punter out there that is willing to argue that the auteur of “Silly Love Songs” is more deserving than Gram Parsons?

Otis Redding wrote some of his best material, including the remarkable “My Lover’s Prayer”, but he was probably more famous for his outstanding interpretations of the songs of others. It is a tough call, but I have to conclude that Otis Redding wasn’t a pure singer/songwriter in the same sense as say, Townes Van Zandt.

Aretha Franklin wrote some good songs, but most of her best songs were written by other very talented people.

As for the one glaring omission for which I will plead guilty, all I’ve got to say is, I’m sorry Mr. Brown. Tell ya what James; next time we meet in the joint, you can borrow my prag for the night.

What I will not apologize for is the fact that Prince is not on the list. Prince made his career selling dumbed-down funk and ersatz soul to gullible white people. I know. I went to a big 10 University in the 80’s, and got to see white people thinking they were so hip whilst “dancing” to Prince records. Another black man fronting a party band for the rhythmically challenged ofay: Prince and the Revolution were the Hootie and the Blowfish of the 80’s.

So, Ben Campbell; I await your angry, totally wrongheaded, yet typically brilliant and well argued retort.

1.) If, 100 years from now, any 20th Century pop lyricist is to be recognized as a great poet, it will be Ian Curtis.

2.) The jarring contrast between the sterile, unimaginative recordings of New Order, and the profundity of the extant Joy Division recordings, only serves to heighten my esteem for Ian Curtis. Maybe Ian doesn't deserve all the credit for all the the songs attributed to Joy Divison, but the other three sure the hell couldn't write a decent song without him.

3.) No matter how crappy New Order were, they never ever released a song that was half as lame as "Silly Love Songs" or "Coming Up." The fact that these two songs came from someone as undeniably talented as McCartney makes them all the more inexcusable.