Best Songwriters Thread

[DudeAsInCool]

The "song covers" post inspired this thread. Who are your favorites? I'll start with the obvious:

John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles)

Bob Dylan

Jagger-Richards

Van Morrison

Here is Paste's Top 100 Living Songwriters

PASTE'S 100 BEST LIVING SONGWRITERS: THE LIST

Features, Issue 22, Published online on 08 Jun 2006

(Above: Neil Young)

100. T Bone Burnett

99. Andre Benjamin & Antwan Patton (Outkast)

98. Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo)

97. Josh Ritter

96. Jimmy Cliff

95. Patti Smith

94. Sam Phillips

93. Joseph Arthur

92. Alejandro Escovedo

91. Drive By Truckers (Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, Jason Isbell)

Read 91-100

90. Nick Cave

89. Victoria Williams

88. Parliament (George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell)

87. Lyle Lovett

86. Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)

85. David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones)

84. John Linnel & John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants)

83. Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie)

82. John Darnielle (Mountain Goats)

81. Wayne Coyne & Steven Drozd (Flaming Lips)

80. Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Nick Mason)

79. Stephen Malkmus (Pavement, Silver Jews)

78. Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)

77. Bruce Cockburn

76. Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace Music, etc.)

75. Ron Sexsmith

74. Linford Detweiler & Karin Bergquist (Over the Rhine)

73. Julie Miller

72. Michael Jackson

71. Vic Chesnutt

70. Alex Chilton (Big Star, The Box Tops)

69. Merle Haggard

68. Allen Tousaint

67. Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)

66. Charles Thompson (aka Frank Black, Black Francis) (Pixies)

65. Bill Mallonee (Vigilantes of Love)

64. Andy Partridge (XTC, Dukes of Stratosphear)

63. Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention)

62. Sting (The Police)

61. John Hiatt

60. Jimmy Webb

59. Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs)

58. Sly Stone (Sly & the Family Stone)

57. Morrissey (The Smiths)

56. James Brown

55. Dolly Parton

54. Aimee Mann

53. James Taylor

52. Paul Westerberg (The Replacements)

51. Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham

50. Public Enemy (Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler, et al)

49. Cat Stevens

48. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

47. Sufjan Stevens

46. David Byrne (Talking Heads)

45. Jackson Browne

44. Al Green

43. Ryan Adams (Whiskeytown)

42. Loretta Lynn

41. Ray Davies (The Kinks)

40. Burt Bacharach & Hal David 39. Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham)

38. Kris Kristofferson

37. Smokey Robinson

36. Beck Hansen

35. Steve Earle

34. John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

33. Pete Townshend (The Who)

32. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

31. Carole King

30. John Prine

29. Tom Petty

28. Robbie Robertson (The Band)

27. Radiohead (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway)

26. R.E.M. (Peter Buck, Bill Berry, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe)

25. Chuck Berry

24. Jeff Tweedy (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Golden Smog, Loose Fur, etc.)

23. Elton John & Bernie Taupin

22. Lucinda Williams

21. Lou Reed (Velvet Underground)

20. Van Morrison

19. Patty Griffin

18. U2 (Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton)

17. Holland-Dozier-Holland

16. David Bowie

15. Willie Nelson

14. Stevie Wonder

13. Paul Simon

12. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

11. Randy Newman

The Top 10

10. Prince

9. Joni Mitchell

8. Elvis Costello

7. Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)

6. Leonard Cohen

5. Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)

4. Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan

3. Bruce Springsteen

2. Neil Young (Buffalo Sprinfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

1. Bob Dylan

Source: Paste Magazine

[Shawn]

Michael Stipe

Adam Duritz

Max D. Barnes

Neil Diamond (bite me) :P

Gordon Downie

Leonard Cohen

Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor

That's a few. I'm a lyric person, it's equally or more important than the music to me.

[Umma]

Roger Waters

Leonard Cohen

James Taylor

Joni Mitchell

Peter Gabriel

Ian Anderson

Jimmy McCarthy

Mike Oldfield

etc. etc.

Edited April 19, 2004 by Umma

[meeeeep]

Rose Rossi is one artist that does it for me. I love the song "Stars". She is one talented songwriter.

Check out her song on her myspace page.

Edited March 7, 2008 by DudeAsInCool

[Redneck4sure]

Joan Baez

Joe South

...and lets not omit Julie Brown. Who can forget such classics as:

'Cause I'm a Blond

Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun

Earth Girls Are Easy

I Like 'em Big And Stupid

Trapped In The Body Of A White Girl

Will I Make It Through The Eighties

I see that while I was postin' the above, Dude edited the list at the top and moved the thread. I'm still trying to decide whether to impeach or terminate the mofo.

[DudeAsInCool]

Joan Baez

Joe South

...and lets not omit Julie Brown. Who can forget such classics as:

'Cause I'm a Blond

Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun

Earth Girls Are Easy

I Like 'em Big And Stupid

Trapped In The Body Of A White Girl

Will I Make It Through The Eighties

I see that while I was postin' the above, Dude edited the list at the top and moved the thread. I'm still trying to decide whether to impeach or terminate the mofo.

Meep started a new thread for this category, so I combined the old one, moved it from the Rock Forum to the Lists Section where it should have been, and added the Paste list to give the thread a little weight.

Now we can honor Meep's revisitation with some liberal class and Southern hospitality

[Mister Spong]

I think it depends on your definition of best... two that haven't been mentioned yet are Rivers Cuomo and E... Cuomo is the master of the modern three minute pop song while E writes songs that appeal to everyone from Disney cartoon makers to disaffected teenagers.

Edited March 7, 2008 by The Ox

[Redneck4sure]

with some liberal class and Southern hospitality

Now there are 2 things you don't see around here very often. class and hospitality.

[Mister Spong]

Isn't "southern hospitality" better described as "sleeping with your sister"?

[Redneck4sure]

Isn't "southern hospitality" better described as "sleeping with your sister"?

Works for me but I don't have a sister.

[DudeAsInCool]

Works for me but I don't have a sister.

What about that niece in Oklahoma?