Greatest Songwriter of all time

Buddy Holly of course.

Yeah Craig, Chuck Berry is up there too. I almost mentioned him above. VanZandt of course. Dylan, naturally. My living favorite who hasnt been mentioned is John Hiatt. Among the women, Iris Dement is one of a kind, but I would have to give my vote to Barbara Keith. On her eponymous lp ca 1972, she wrote all the songs but one, Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, which was the weakest song on the record.

For those who think we are stuck in the present, how about Stephen Foster, and Henry Clay Work, Civil War era. "Who Shall Rule This American Nation" is one of my all time favorites.

Paul

Oh, you wanted 3? Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Bob Wills.

You guys have a good point, but, while I acknowledge the greatness of the composers listed by Rayhall, still Buddy Holly was the best composer since Bach, and the best songwriter ever.

Obviously, we're just talking about ourselves when we join in these "greatest" lists. For all we know some Calabrian peasant in the pre-electronic age was the "best" songwriter ever. As you said way up there somewhere, most of us are talking about the best (in our opinions) in our lifetimes.

But it is fun to celebrate the genius of those who have impressed or influenced us. We are about the same age, but I really had no appreciation of Buddy Holly until I was an adult. I knew about him primarily from the crash that also took the life of local hero Richie Valens, a minor singer-songwriter not in the same league at all. As a teenager, I heard the Stones doing "Not Fade Away," and that was a revelation, but it was only years later, after a lot of classical music exposure and listening to lots of singers that I really came to a full appreciation of Buddy Holly.

I thought it was a lot of fun when then-VP-candidate Lloyd Bentsen said he liked rock and roll. When the reporter asked him to name a rock and roll artist he liked, Senator Bentsen answered, Buddy Holly.