Favorite Song-Writers?

[KingLouieLouie]

Who are your favorite song writers? I have several to list, but just will limit it to 5 for now...

1) John Lennon/Paul McCartney (just too complex to separate the 2)
2) Paul Simon
3) Marvin Gaye
4) Jerry Cantrell/Layne Staley
5) Ian Ball/Ben Ottewell/Tom Gray (of Gomez)...

Who are yours?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Neil Diamond.

Phil Collins.

Toby Keith.

Jennifer Knapp.

Sara Groves.

Steve Taylor.

John Reuben.

 

[AzCards21]

Believe it or not, Willie Nelson has written a bunch of great songs for other performers. I don't like listening to him personally, but his work is pretty wide spread.

 

[FischerKing]

Lennon - McCartney
Prince
Tate - DeGarmo - Wilton (Queensryche)
Steve Taylor

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I'll add 5 more....

1) Aaron Lewis
2) Rob Thomas
3) Lajon Witherspoon
4) Lou Barlow
5) Mos Def

 

[Chaplin]

Eddie Vedder
Roger Clyne

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I should add...

1) John Sebastian
2) Stevie Wonder
3) Brian Wilson
4) Steve Winwood
5) U2 (since its a collaborative effort)
6) Bob Marley
7) Buddy Holly
8) Richard Ashcroft
9) Freddie Mercury
10) Smokey Robinson

 

[thirty-two]

Hanson
No Doubt (Gwen for the most part)

edited to add: incubus (or brandon boyd, dunno who)

 

[Brandon_Webb]

1.) Maynard James Keenen (Tool)
2.) Thom York (Radiohead)
3.) Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)
4.) Jim Morrison (The Doors)
5.) Beck (Beck)

 

[KingLouieLouie]

1) Pete Townshend (shocked I didnt mention him in my 1st post)
2) Billy Joel
3) James Taylor
4) David Byrne
5) John Fogerty
6) Neil Young
7) David Bowie
8) Jimi Hendrix
9) Trent Reznor
10) Martin Gore

 

[O]

How about the people from the Brill Building. They wrote songs that shaped rock&roll as we know it.

Do a google search if you're not familiar.

 

[vince56]

The king of songwriters is and will always be Bob Dylan IMO.

Other than that...

Kevin Moore/John Petrucci/Mike Portnoy/John Myung. Those guys writing as a 4 piece...man they made some amazing albums from both a musical and lyrical standpoint in the early 90s.

John Lennon
Tori Amos
Queen

Joe Satriani... he is the king of "Guitar singing"...you can sing or hum most of his guitar lines and not sound silly.

and I second FischerKing with Tate - DeGarmo - Wilton (Queensryche)

 

[FischerKing]

Tori Amos is an awesome songwriter

Taupin/John (Elton John)
U2 (collective)

shawn

 

[FischerKing]

hey fellas - if you're going to mention Dylan then i think we should toss in Neil Young as well - he ain't half bad either.

shawn

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I had deleted my post from a few moments ago because I didnt notice that
Prince had been mentioned earlier by FischerKing.... Although.. he's definitely worth mentioning twice because even his late 70s/early 80s songs still sound "fresh" today......

In terms of Dylan...I cant believe I didnt include him in my earlier lists.... I really enjoyed hiis material before he went electric and his ealry-mid 70s songs the best....

Also.... Crosby, Stills, and Nash cant be overlooked either.....

Then.....Steve Miller, Ian Anderson, and Ray Davies deserve to be recognized as well...

 

[vince56]

hey fellas - if you're going to mention Dylan then i think we should toss in Neil Young as well - he ain't half bad either.

shawn

yeah, you're right....... but as good as Neil Young is/was, he didn't write "All Along the Watchtower"

Man, what a great song, it's my favorite classic rock song ever (the Hendrix version of course). It's 3-chord rock done right.

 

[FischerKing]

yeah, you're right....... but as good as Neil Young is/was, he didn't write "All Along the Watchtower"

Man, what a great song, it's my favorite classic rock song ever (the Hendrix version of course). It's 3-chord rock done right.

don't get me wrong - i'm not equating Young with Dylan - but i think he's in that same category. Dylan's earlier writing was just flat out amazing and inspiring - a true musical poet.

p.s. - if memory serves me correctly i believe Paul McCartney's "Helen Wheels" (a pretty decent rock song) is entirely played with one chord - A.

shawn

 

[KingLouieLouie]

How would everyone rank Donovan or Tom Waits song-writing w/the others that have been listed thus far?

 

[O]

How about the old blues guys?
Mckinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters.
Robert Johnson.
Without the blues, rock and roll would would not exist as we know it.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

John Fogerty

I could have done without his singing today.

They should have run a tape and had him mouthing the words.

UGH.

That was awful.

 

[SouthNZoneFan]

I think that KLL has it correct.

James Taylor
Billy Joel

You also have to add some Rod Stewart in there for good measure as well...

 

[O]

I think that KLL has it correct.

James Taylor
Billy Joel

You also have to add some Rod Stewart in there for good measure as well...

Rod Stewart a song writer? Since when?
Don't get me wrong I have been a fan of his vocal stylings since he was with The Jeff Beck Group.
A song writer? No. Name the songs he has written.
As a matter of fact. if you want to hear where his vocal stylings came from, listen to Sam Cooke.

 

[vince56]

They should have run a tape and had him mouthing the words.

Like they did for Alicia Keys? Man, her mouth wasn't even CLOSE to the words and sounds coming out of the speakers, yet people are so clueless they just eat it up. Disgusting.

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Rod Stewart a song writer? Since when?
Don't get me wrong I have been a fan of his vocal stylings since he was with The Jeff Beck Group.
A song writer? No. Name the songs he has written.
As a matter of fact. if you want to hear where his vocal stylings came from, listen to Sam Cooke.

I really love Rod Stewart's vocals with The Faces and on "Truth" and "Beck-Ola" (especially his vocal reworking of "Shapes of Things).... It's unfortunate that
Rod Stewart since that time sold-out beyond belief......

Another song-writer to deserve recognition is Peter Gabriel.... "In Your Eyes" has to be one of the most beautifully composed ballads ever....Also, to have that on the same album as "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" is pure genius....

 

[O]

Personally, I think Peter Gabriel is brilliant.
I was fortunate to see "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"
tour and to this day it was still one of the best shows I have ever seen and it was because of Peter Gabriel.
Genesis was not the same without him.
Watch Peter Gabriel's Growing Up DVD. Brilliant.