Greatest Songwriter of all time
Oh ya..Hank of course I mean who hasn't done his songs? Cold cold heart has everybodies name on it. Townsvanzant personal choice. Guy Clark is amazing the words are ...perfect?Three is not enough Gram Parsons ,Leonard Cohen,Proffessor Longhair I mean these guys wrote and could sing?Many more are out there ...these are in my head at the moment |
Duke Ellington Jelly Roll Morton Cole Porter Scott Joplin Irving Berlin George Gershwin Richard Rogers Jerome Kern The following guys were good, but in no way come up to the level of the previous songwriters: Lennon & McCartney Bob Dylan Woody Guthrie You know, we should all try to get out of our own era and geography a little bit. Nearly all of us have only picked from the twentieth century and most, only from a 30-40 year period within the twentieth century. What about foreign songwriters? What about music from other cultures? What about those from other centuries? Where do Bach, Beethoven and Mozart stand in this list? Remember, although we consider their music classical, it was the popular music of their time and 300-400 years later, we still listen to it. The name of the thread is greatest songwriter of all time, not greatest American songwriter from the last 20, 30, 40 or 50 years who wrote a couple of songs that I like a lot. |
Rayhall,.. could not agree more. My post further up had zip impact on people thinking beyond their own time. It is a bit too bad since most of the late 20th century writers that most above are speaking of..were greatly impacted by those that came before them. Seems that most are in the 30 to 50 year old range...I guess this same thread a few years from now will bring answers like: InSync Madonna Boyz To Men Faith Hill etc... |
Paul,..guess I was eight, or so, when Mr. Holly's plane went down..being from Iowa, we all remember it like people in Madison, Wi. remember Otis and his plane going down in Lake Monona. Anyway, Buddy was one of the very few to have his impact great enough to have a group name themselves after him..ie: the Hollies. Wonder if Bobby Vee would have had a career without sounding like Mr. Holly? Seems like Buddy Holly song's are so good that no matter who(m) does their cover....it still sounds good. |
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. |
To be the greatest songwriter of all time, one must be able meet the highest ranking for the following criteria: 1. Write songs with words and melodies that are popular, easily recognizable, and easily sung by masses. 2. Write songs that influence other songwriters or create a whole new trend in music. 3. Write songs that have a strong influence on society. 4. Write songs that become classics (songs that remain popular for decades or centuries). While most of the nominations so far are popular, only a handful have met the above criteria. But the question originally proposed was who was the greatest songwriter of all time. OK, OK, let's narrow it to the past century. The clear cut winner in my opinion is George M. Cohan. What other songwriter has received the U.S. Congressional Medal Of Honor for writing songs that positively influenced so many people during both world wars and the depression? |
Redwood . . . Your criteria points to Paul McCartney as much as anyone, doesn't it? Paul was definitely good, but most of his post-Beatles stuff was a bit too bubble-gumish for me. This brings up another interesting topic. What happens to some songwriters? Do they wake up one day and discover they have lost their creativity? Right now, McCartney (the song writer with more #1 hits than any) couldn't write a good song if his life depended on it and hasn't for the last 20+ years. There are others: Elton John, Dan Fogelberg, etc, etc . On the other side of the coin, Brian Wilson's, Christopher Cross's, last albums were, in my opinion, their best. |
I have looked through this thread and can't find Billy Joel's name...not even once. I find that weird. I know these things are driven as much by personal taste as anything but you'd think once? Well, now it has. I don't know if I would put him in MY top 3 but he is certainly competitive with many of the names in this thread. anywho... Beatles music/lyrics/infulence/melody/classics...who could claim more in our lifetime in popular music? How many top 10 hits and classic memorable tunes...too many to number. Dylan, genius but not popular like Beatles or Elton or Elvis etc. but obviously the musical community thinks he is the beat all to end all Springsteen -energy/emotion/the story/rock/song That isn't enough because the creativity of musicians and their unique personalities can't be captured in a one two three...but it is fun thinking about it. happy listening cd |
This is an impossible question! Who is the most beautiful woman ever? ' depends what day you ask me. But I will put forth a few names that I believe that by any objective evaluation can not be denied. One of the primary factors I consider essential to be on my list is the songwriters influence on other songwriters and their continuing influence on newer, younger generations of songwriters. The Gershwin brothers - A great organic blend of lyric and music. Hank Williams - Heart on his sleeve. Great songs to cry in your beer to. Heartache incarnate. Bob Dylan - The Picasso of songwriters. How many "periods" has he gone through? Songs about everything in the human experience...and beyond. Bob Marley - Voice of the voiceless. Puccini - Soars and pulls the heart strings. Beautiful drama. Cole Porter - Elegant, smart Antonio Carlos Jobin - Smooth, sexy, beautiful Marvin Gaye - What's Going On - An inner-city symphony of 1971 America. Young man back from the war. Strung-out. People,the earth abused. The songwriter of the love song you hear on your car radio Saturday night when your crusing with your girl by your side. And that song is saying everything that is inside you. |
Caveat; I seem to prefer music without lyrics. The names that immediately jumped to mind, and interestingly (maybe not?) in this order: Tom Waits Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen and maybe Jackson Browne oh, John Fogerty could sure lay down a hook Mind you, I don’t listen to much of the above. Well, maybe Waits and CCR. |
@acefactory , it was "Girl In The War" that got me paying attention to him.
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@backwash , unfortunately I am not too familiar with Lyle Lovett's work, but
I am in total agreement with you as related to Steve Earle's song writing--so much so that I previously felt compelled to talk about him on this thread. I have a great deal of respect for Jackson Browne's writing creativity, and I've always thought that Michael Timmins wrote some interesting lyrics. |
