favourite songwriters

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This could be a long list....

Briefly:

Mark Knopfler

John Hiatt

Lennon-McCartney

Pete Townsend

Warren Zevon

L'Angelo Mysterioso

John Prine

Tom Petty

Roy Orbison

That 'other guy' from the Wilbury's.... errr , Bob something or other....

Jeff Lynne

Bunches of others............
 
I'm intrigued by the appearance of Jeff Lynn a couple of times. I suppose I've not listened to him as a songwriter! I'll have to try that. I have an aversion to him that developed from his takeover of ELO & when he was the "in demand" producer because he stamped everything with ELOness then later on with Lynnness due, I think, to his backing vocals.
I'll make a serious attempt to listen to him from the songwriting perspective.
It's a bit like my aversion to McCartney - there I've actually tried but as a non Beatle, to my ears, Paul needed the discipline of a collaborator to keep the worst of the mawkishness at bay.
 
thestuckup said:
Conor Oberst
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Fuck Yes Conor Oberst!!!

If you like Conor, you'd love one of my favorite bands . . . Two Gallants! And speaking of them, their songwriter is amazing .....

Adam Stephens

newbiewriter said:
One writer that hasnt been mentioned yet which I think is remarkable is Jeff Tweedy.
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I love me some Wilco. Jeff Tweedy is amazing!!

louisv said:
Kanye West
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YOu did catch the part about this being "songwriters" right? Not egotistical megelomaniacs.

Sorry. I'm done.


But for real. Elliott Smith is amazing. (or was before his death) Also Jack White, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Ben Folds, and Damien Rice.

When I write a song, I often think about "Would Elliott Smith think this was trash?" If I answer yes, I have to go back and rework it. I rework things a lot.
 
It's funny but when people talk about great 60's songwriters John Fogerty's name seldom comes up. I think he had more radio hits in '69 than the Beatles, and some of the most memorable guitar licks of all time.

Ray Davies (the Kinks) has written some great, very inspired stuff.

If you look at the Bee Gees' body of work it's jaw-dropping.

You know a guy no one seems to credit is Boz Scaggs. His tunes were incredibly well crafted, I know he had a lot of help (!) but there's some songs that he wrote like "Tomorrow Never Knows" that are, to me, incredibly good tunes.

This year my favorite songwriter is Neil Young. And I love his vocals, always did. Very, very powerful songs that really stand the test of time.

I'm not sure if they will be remaking Kanye West's songs 40 years from now, no I'm lying, they won't be, but then you knew that.
 
newbiewriter said:
Hey

I was wondering who you people have been inspired by to write songs or just find as great writers-musicians.

I must admit that my favourite is Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan is a shoe in. Lyrics are great but his voice sucks!
John Lennon & Paul McCartney,(together or seperate).
Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller.
Jerry Fuller.
Sonny Curtis,(formerly of Buddy Holly & The Crickets.(Song writers hall of fame)!
Felice & Beadeleaux Bryant.(hope I spelled it right,they wrote all the Everly bros. big ones)
Doc Pomous & Mort Schumer.
Chuck Berry.
Johnny & Dorsey Burnette.
 
Oh!, I forgot....

Terry Wetzel said:
Bob Dylan is a shoe in. Lyrics are great but his voice sucks!
John Lennon & Paul McCartney,(together or seperate).
Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller.
Jerry Fuller.
Sonny Curtis,(formerly of Buddy Holly & The Crickets.(Song writers hall of fame)!
Felice & Beadeleaux Bryant.(hope I spelled it right,they wrote all the Everly bros. big ones)
Doc Pomous & Mort Schumer.
Chuck Berry.
Johnny & Dorsey Burnette.
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Buddy Holly,(simple but commercial,heart felt and timeless)!
 
Hey Man....

dodgeaspen said:
Ok, I'll only name a few of mine.
Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Rick Nelson, Jim Morrison, and I'll finish with Hank Williams Sr.
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Glad to see someone recognizing Rick Nelson as a song writer. He started late doing it but wrote some great stuff! Very Dylan influenced but he held Dylan in High esteem so it came natural. I hope the day comes when the world recognizes his greatness as a musician and not just a teen idol! thanks
 
Lennon and McCartney for chord progressions

Freddie Mercury for harmonies

Mark Knopfler for guitar breaks

Jimmy Chamberlain (from Smashing Pumpkins) for rhythm and groove

Too many to mention for lyrics
 
Too many to name, here are a few faves:

Tom Waits

They Might be Giants

Robyn Hitchcock

Duke Ellington

and... oh yeah,

FRANK ZAPPA
 
Am I the only person here who think Bob Dylan is the most overblown peice of crap who ever wrote a song. You got knockin on heavans door, and all along the watch tower, and maybe like a rolling stone and everything elese is horrible. and those songs are only good when covered by Jimi Hendrix or Guns and roses respectivally.
 
I would have to agree with your statements about Dylan. Your supposed to think hes the greatest though, right? maybe he had something to offer the world 40 years ago.....
 
BIGSHAQDADDY said:
... those songs are only good when covered by Jimi Hendrix or Guns and roses respectivally.
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A lot of great composers weren't the best performers of their work, including Dylan, Johnny Mercer, and countless others who didn't even bother performing. But they still wrote some great music, and the covers would be crap if the original songs had been crap.
 
My favourite composer is Elvis Costello. He has a great sense of melody and structure, and his lyrics are usually worth the listen.
 
Does the term 'songwriter' imply music and a vocal? If not, Ron Jarzombek would have to be in my top ten, tied with Shostakovitch.
 
You got knockin on heavans door, and all along the watch tower, and maybe like a rolling stone and everything elese is horrible....
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Sheesh, what an ignorant statement which I will safely assume is being made by someone who has never heard everything else. No need to argue the point, Dylan's catalogue speaks for itself. I will however add, take a listen to It's Alright Ma(i'm only bleeding), A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall, Visions of Johanna(live '66), Mr Tambourine Man.

Darkness at the break of noon
shadows even the silver spoon
the hand made blade the child's balloon
eclipses both the sun and moon
to understand you know too soon
there is no sense in trying

some heavy shit...and basically rapped 2 decades or so before rap went mainstream.

Anyway...off the top of my head...

Bob Dylan(surprise!)
Lennon and McCartney
Page and Plant(for versatility and harnessing a relic from a different age)
John Prine( a clever lad, he)
The Toxic Twins(Tyler and Perry...the early days)
Jagger and Richard(if for no other reason than writing a few thousand songs with the same chords & structure, and still making it fun/interesting)

.....
 
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Terry Wetzel said:
Buddy Holly,(simple but commercial,heart felt and timeless)!
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I'll second Buddy Holly. Obviously not one of the greatest songwriters of all time but definitely one of the best for his genre and time period. No one compared. I always go to buddy whether I'm happy, middle of the road or sad.

I recognise all songwriters for what they accomplish though. One of my favourite bands is The High Strung. If you've heard of them, you're lucky, if not, check them out!

James Mercer from The Shins knows how to write a song.

Everyone always says the same old names when asked this question. I don't think I could narrow it down to Lennon/McCartney. I love them but there was so much better, musically, out there. Brian Wilson being in the high end of that list.

The difference between song for music and song for lyrics comes into question. Then there's the recording/performance of songs. Some people write amazing songs but couldn't pull them off for shit. John D Loudermilk as a songwriter. Absolutely brillaint! Too many to go through.

Good question though ;-)
 
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