"As for the 21st century, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone who deserves to be mentioned or compared to any of the above songwriters."
Totally agree. Most of the best songwriters of the 21st century got started in the 20th century. Try to name a dozen great songwriters of today who are under 30,or even 40. I think most would be hard pressed to do so. I can go back to the 1960's > 1980's and just off the top of my head name dozens of songs that have become classics that people still listen to today.
But I can't think of a truly memorable song that will become a classic that was written in the last 20 years by someone who wasn't around before that. As far as the next Dylan, Cohen, Simon, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson....I could go on and on.....there's no modern songwriter under 40 that's even close to that stature. Do a Google search for best songwriters of the 21st century. You'll get some lists and some forum discussions and 90% of the artists named will be in their 40s or older, many much older.
Does this mean there are no decent modern songwriters? Of course not; but they're few and far between and even fewer of them would arguably deserve being called great.
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But where are the young Rodney Crowells and Iris DeMents and Buddy Millers? They're all still marvelous songwriters but they're from another era. Who's going to carry on when they're gone? Taylor Swift? Olivia Rodriguez? Ed Sheeran? No thanks.
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Maybe people who listen to the radio wouldn't listen to oldies stations if there was anything better on the new music stations.
In your previous comment you mentioned Lucinda, Timmins, and Earle, but as great as the are they're all in their 60s. I don't think they're the ones we're talking about when we discuss modern songwriters.
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@bdp24 - I think we’re talking about two very different things. I’m aware of just about all the artists you mentioned and I do stay fairly up to date on the new young artists entering the scene. Like you, my tastes lean toward the catch-all Americana genres and there are certainly a lot of them who are very talented and who are putting out some excellent music. And yes, there are also plenty of "old-timers" who have been around for a long time and who continue to produce quality stuff.
But of the younger group, many of whom are terrific artists, how many of them are writing consistently great songs with lyrics that are anywhere near as sophisticated and memorable as those by Dylan, Simon, Morrison, et al? For example, I really like Billy Strings a lot and he he’s written some fine songs, but has he come up with a Tom Thumb’s Blues or Rave on John Donne or Me & Julio? Do the young songwriters of today write stuff that you can listen to over and over again and find something new to appreciate every time? Maybe they are, but I haven’t heard them yet.
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Re: "Good Morning, Little School Girl"
While the Grateful Dead was one of many groups and artists who performed and/or recorded it, the song and lyrics are generally credited to Sonny Boy Williamson. Like most blues songs, however, Sonny probably borrowed and adapted it from someone else who borrowed it from another someone else and so on and so forth.
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@ jssmith
It's easy to cherry pick a few lyrics from any era that are unsophisticated and even silly. But I don't think this discussion is about the worst of any era, it's about the best. And, in my opinion at least, the best of the 60s, 70s, and even the 80s is far better lyrically than what we have now.
These were some of the most acclaimed albums from just the 60s:
Revolver, The White Album, Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Beggar's Banquet, Astral Weeks, Music from Big Pink, Tommy, Court of the Crimson King, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, We're Only In It for the Money, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
That's just a small sample, and each of those albums include at least two or three truly great songs. Can anyone reasonably argue that today's young songwriters are putting out music with lyrics comparable to those songs? I doubt it.
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@bdp24
The last time I saw Iris was in late '23 at the Kate Hepburn Theater in CT (tiny place seats a few hundred or so) and she was accompanied by Liz Draper on bass and Myra Burnette on guitar, two youngish musicians from Minnesota. I've seen Iris maybe a half dozen times and, as always, this was a great show. She's become a lot more chatty on stage than she used to be.
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@immatthewj
How much effort have you put into exploring contemporary songwriters?
I would confess not all that much. But in a way that makes my point. During the 60s and 70s you didn't have to search high and low or put a great deal of effort into finding great songs. In fact, it was hard to miss them. All you had to do was turn on your radio (yes, we listened to the radio back then) and you couldn't avoid hearing great songs.
I'm sure that the young artists suggested by many in this thread are fine songwriters, and I don't think (or at least I hope not) that Mr. Beato is suggesting that all modern songwriting is pathetic. I'm certainly not. But great songs are hard to find these days and I highly doubt that in 20 years, or even 5 or 10, very many people will be listening to the ones written by today's contemporary artists.
By the way, you've brought up singer/songwriters like Ray LaMontagne, Norah Jones and Mia Doi Todd (haven't heard of her), but as you point out, they're all in their 40's and 50's. That's not ancient by any means, but they don't really fall into the category of young contemporary artists.
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@immatthewj
Oops, sorry about mixing up who I was responding to!
As far as not hearing much Dylan in the latter half of the 60s and early 70s, that was likely due to the fact that he got married, had kids and took a hiatus from touring starting in 67 until 74 and only released two or three albums of new music during that period. The fact that you were in a small town in Montana probably had something to do with as well.
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And: Do conglomerates churn out torrents of garbage purely out of the evilness of their cold hearts, or are they merely rational economic actors who produce what the buying public demands?
This certainly raises the question of whether there are fewer and fewer great songwriters because there just isn't a big enough audience for great songs, and if there's no audience you can't make a living writing them. Based on my experience with young people who bother to listen to music at all, young boys and men these days generally listen to rap/hiphop stuff and they're primarily interested in whether the songs have a good beat or a thumping bass. Teenage girls and young women tend to gravitate more towards vacuous pop relationship songs.
Admittedly these are generalizations, but I don't think the generalization is unfair. Many in this thread have noted how there are a lot of great songs being written by Americana artists. How many young people today are listening to that stuff, much less blues or jazz? I'd guess the percentage is miniscule. I know that when I go to see those artists in concert anyone under 30 or even 40 usually sticks out like a sore thumb.
So I agree that the listening audience today is probably getting what they ask for and what they deserve.
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@tyray
That's good stuff and I intend to check out more of it, but....it doesn't really disprove what I said about the listening habits of young people in general. If I wanted to take the time, I'm quite sure I could find videos from dozens of jazz and blues clubs and concerts all over the country and you'll see very few young people in the crowd. My own experiences from attending a fair amount of concerts is consistent with that.
Note that I didn't say that no young people are into those genres; many are, but nowhere near the majority or even a significant minority, imo. It might be a little different in urban areas (this show was in L.A.) where the arts as a whole tend to thrive more than in suburbia. Maybe it's different in other countries around the world but I can't speak to that. I know that audiences in general have received jazz and blues very enthusiastically in places like Europe and Japan, although I have no idea what the demographics are.
I sincerely wish that I'm wrong and you're right about this, but I have to confess that I'm skeptical.
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@tyray
It sound like to me you’re just guessing? And you have no clue? I wondering where you live and what live venues you go to see Jazz? Jazz (and blues) is the one music that is our own. It is played all over the US and the world. I don’t care what city you are in, whether it be suburbia or metropolitan areas, there are Jazz clubs all over the US.
Well, yes I was guessing about the extent to which young people listen to jazz and blues, but it was an educated guess based on what I've seen at concerts I've attended. And just to clarify, I never said that there aren't plenty of jazz clubs and concerts, just that by and large young people aren't going to them.
As far as where I live, I'm in the Hartford/New Haven area in CT, and being close to both NY and Boston jazz is fairly accessible. But not nearly to the degree that it used to be 10 or 20 years ago. There are only a handful of smallish jazz clubs left and jazz concerts aren't nearly as frequent as they used to be. The U. of Hartford has an excellent jazz music program that used to be headed by the late great Jackie McLean. They used to have at least one or two concerts there every month featuring recognizable artists, but those have been few and far between since Jackie passed on in 2006....none that I can remember in the last two or three years. When I do have the opportunity to see a jazz artist locally these days, I'd estimate that at least 90% of the audiences are over 50.
Let's face it, jazz has had it's ups and downs in terms of popularity, and right now I'd have to say it's on a downward arc. That's not to say that jazz music itself isn't in a good place - there are many really good, young jazz artists out there these days. We just need more people to go and see them. I think you mentioned the N.O. Jazz Festival as evidence that people still go to see jazz in large numbers. But I've been there a couple of times and of the huge number of acts that play there, probably no more than half of them are jazz. The rest are a mixture of rock, blues, gospel, world music etc. Which is great, but proof of jazz popularity. And I'd add that a sizeable number of people who attend Jazz Fest are there more for the party than the music. Nothing wrong with that either!
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