most underated song writer

  • Thread starter Thread starter jimistone
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Well, I'm gonna say Steve Goodman, although there are lots others listed here who, if I were of a more open mind on the subject at the moment, might steal my vote away. But, I'm on a Steve Goodman re-discovery kick right now, so that's who it is for me.

And Besides, he's got the right given name...
 
theres so many great artists! but damn what can one say ELO is the business, Moody Blues, Chris De Burgh need i say more
 
jimistone said:
the music business lost 2 great songwriters....george harrison..waylon jennings.

they got the respect and regognition they deserve.....but who do you think is the most UNDERATED songwriter?
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You know, George Harrison rarely really got the respect he 'deserved' for his songwriting. I've noticed since the 70s that many journalists/critics that write about the music business seem to present a picture of history that often does not mesh with the facts of the matter. For example, the "rock'n'roll was white men stealing black music" line of argument when in actuality rock'n'roll was a hybrid of a number of genres {R&B, C&W, jazz, vaudeville, showtunes, blues, bluegrass} or the the "punk came about because rock had descended into 20 minute solos and bloated complexity", while ignoring the fact that that applied only to a small percentage of what was around in the mid 70s........
I've so often found that when critics write about the Beatles, it's "Lennon and McCartney revolutionized the art of songwriting in the 60s and Harrison only really hit paydirt with his songs on 'Abbey Road'". Now, John Lennon was partly responsible for that, stating that Harrison "never had the material" early on. But a cursory glance at the actual songs and when they were released and recorded show this simply isn't true. Harrison was writing pissed off angry songs {'Don't bother me', 'Think for yourself'} before Lennon, Dylan, Jagger and Richards. 'Think for yourself' is, along with 'The Word', one of the earliest message songs in rock. His three on Revolver all broke new ground ~ "Taxman" predates the Kinks' "Sunny afternoon" in both time and moaning about the super tax bracket they found themselves in, "Love you to" anticipates free love and fuses Indian instruments with rock ones in a way that pointed the way forward for countless groups and "I want to tell you" brings Eastern Hinduistic thought into rock and influenced the other songwriting Beatles and many others. I could go on and on. Throughout the 60s his songs showed both musically and lyrically, new and interesting angles. It wasn't unusual for a group to have two outstanding writers. But the Beatles were the envy of many because they had three.

Having said all that though, for me, in reality most songwriters have been underrated because there's only a relative few that one hears about, but there have been thousands of albums across many genres over the last 60 years that have featured great songs, many of those by hardly heard of writers.
 
When one thinks of 60s hippy chicks in music or associated with the music world, the usual suspects carry quite a range ~ Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Cass Elliott, Michelle Phillips, Yoko Ono, Marianne Faithful, Pattie Boyd, Cher, Sandie Shaw, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, to name but a few. Not many women writers of that era spring to mind, Joni Mitchell being probably the most celebrated (and to a lesser extent, Grace Slick). But one who frequently seems to slip under the radar was perhaps the hippiest of them all, the archtypal flower child, Melanie Safka. She was, for me, a superior songwriter to all of them, but vastly underrated. Her songs were so melodically powerful and accessible and so singable that it actually took years to actually consider that she was singing about something all of those years !
 
Bon Scott from AC/DC. Completely underrated. He wrote some of the funniest lyrics I've ever heard and he had the voice to carry them off. He also wrote some pretty deep ones too, even stuff that gets washed in the heavy rock treatment {"Problem child", "Bad boy boogie", "Ain't no fun waiting round to be a millionaire", "Ride on"}. Brian Johnson his replacement was good, but to me never came close to Scott as a lyricist. For a long time the guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young knocked out some fantastic heavy rock to complement Scott and then Johnson's lyrics.
Another hugely underrated songwriter was Sam Brown. She did alot of collaborations on her first two albums "Stop" and "April moon" so it may not have been entirely down to her. But the great songs on those two albums involved her as a writer. Great sense of melody and lyrical depth.
 
Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish. One of my favorites of all time. Seriously. :D
 
Yo Grimtraveler! +1 on Melanie Safka. I used to play lead-on for her before she became a recording artist, got rich, and married her producer. Her cousin, Edward Safka, used to live a few blocks from me in Endicott, N.Y., and she would come to visit and play the Endicott community center. She was also a looker in the day. I never did get over having the hots for her. One other guy that doesn't get mentioned is Eric Clapton, who, while an *overated* blues guitarist, has always been an *underated* singer-songwriter.-Richie
 
The Rutles Rule because Stig is nasty! I have the OST & a follow up release from the pretend band - FUN & really very good music. Ouch, you're breaking my heart, Ouch don't tear it apart, Ouch, ouch, ouch ouch! Every song just 3 crotchets away from an Apple impaction but what a glorious melange of faux Beatle lyric/puns with musical puns as well.
Melani S - I have to admit that Alexander Beetle was my intro but I did get very into the Candle album
Donovan - being rediscovered of late.
Laughin' Lenny of course - to do sooo much with sooo little - brilliant.
Jesus Rodriguez of Cold Fact fame - 2 albums but oh so good, esp for their time.
David Surkampf & Co.
Flo & Eddie
Lee & Holder
Al Stewart BEFORE YOTCat
The Hunter Bros from Dragon
ALL of Deaf School
Deniz Tek & Rob Younger
Declan McManus in his various guises before 2005.
Nick Cave & Rowlan S Howard
Moe Berg (TPOH)
sorry I'm liable to stray from the mainstream songwriter path so I'll stop.
Basher!
 
Bruce Cockburn. As a Canadian artist, he gets very little airplay in the good ol' US. Very political, yet very poetic and evocative. One of those artists that just paints a picture that you can immerse yourself in, while delivering amazingly delicate and powerful guitar work. Check out 'Pacing The Cage' as well as scores of other great songs.
 
I'll go for Harry Warren.

He was a prolific songwriter in the early twentieth century, but remains very much an unknown, even though people will remember his songs instantly (jeeper creepers, chattanooga choochoo, 42 street, that's amore, and many more).

Harry Warren - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Mason Jennings, listen to Jesus Are You Real
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, listen to Fault Lines
Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, listen to Murder of One.

I mean, a murder is the name for a group of crows. It also means, obviously, killing. The girl in the song is with a guy who doesn't treat her right, so she isolates herself. She's not only murdering herself, but she's alone. Genius.
 
I must say Gary Heffern, started as a singer in a punk band "the Penetrators". After Penetrators he has made solo albums. He lives in now in Finland and I've been lucky to work with him recording and songwriting:rolleyes:
 
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