Who's your personal favorite song writer

Subject: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:54 AM

Who would you say is your own personal favorite song writer? I know this one can get sticky so it is just about your own personal favorite. Why are they your fav. I love a great lyricist and I love discovering new ones (new to me).

Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle are 2 of my faves for Folk and Country.

Tom Waits is one of my all time favorites

Nick Cave, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine,

There are more but I have to jump off of here and feed my little boy.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:56 AM

Mr Happy

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Will Fly
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:57 AM

Richard Thompson, Randy Newman. Both able to create whole, believable lives in 5 minutes.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Volgadon
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:59 AM

Vladimir Vysotsky.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:08 AM

Mr.Happy I was going to put that and you beat me to the draw lol

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mark Ross
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:26 AM

Woody Guthrie, Utah Phillips, Hank Williams, Paul Siebel.


Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:33 AM

OMG I feel like I have commited a major sin on my behalf. Hank Williams was not on my list. My coffee must have not kicked in yet lol I love Hank. I love Woody as well but i cannot believe I left Hank off my list. Utah I am not that familiar with I know the name and that is about it.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:34 AM

Put a gun to my head and demand just one name, and I guess it would have to be Tom Paxton. But I woulddn't want to live in a world without the songs of Woody, Utah, Hank, Townes, and quite a few others.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: jacqui.c
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:41 AM

Utah Phillips, Mike O'Connor, Jeri.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:47 AM

Top of my head?

Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen.

Dani

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:50 AM

Gordon Lightfoot, Robert Earl Keen, Jr. and Guy Clark are some of them. Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter collaborations will be around as long as will Hank Williams and Bob Dylan songs.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:05 AM

AH man Robert Earl Keen Jr. yeah he rocks. Did you ever hear his song Christabel? I love that song can't remember off the top of my head what cd it is on No Kinda Dancer maybe. He is great Bigger Piece of Sky was like the soundtrack for my brother and me back when we were always on the road. I wore out 4 copies of that cassette.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:14 AM

Trad & his brother Anon

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Puck
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:20 AM

I very much admire Dave webber.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Wesley S
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:32 AM

A few would be Guy Clark, Tom Paxton, Lennon and McCartney, Tim O'Brien and Jimmie Rodgers.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:36 AM

Sailor Ron who is Trad and his brother Anon? That is a total new one on me. Thanks for your post this is why I wanted to post this.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: open mike
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:42 AM

Laurie Lewis, Kate Wolf, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Kristina Olsen,
(equal time for the distaff side!) and Tom Russell.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:43 AM

I think all folkies should try to get a copy of Bob Gibson's last recording "Making A Mess...The Songs Of Shel Silverstein". It has the most perfect Country backup musicianship (thanks to Shel) and a diversity of songs that is hard to believe.

Steve Goodman's songs maybe be best when done by Steve Goodman. Same with John Prine. But I prefer Dylan songs done by someone else, at least after 1975 when his voice became an instrument used to inflict pain.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Marion
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:06 AM

Stan Rogers, Jed Marum, Bill Gallaher, James Gordon, Utah Philips.

Aside to Open Mike - it genuinely pains me that the distaff side isn't represented on my short list. But I simply haven't yet found a woman songwriter who I deeply admire for a large number of songs or who inspires me to emulate her, although there are several individual songs written by women that I admire. Oh well, at least there's some national loyalty in my tastes, in that 3 of the 5 above are Canadian.

Marion

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:10 AM

Got several here: in no particular order.

Paul Simon: while his excessive cleverness turns me off on occasion,
             So many of his lines stick in my head: "Everybody loves
             the sound of a train in the distance," "Still crazy
             after all these years," and countless others. I love
             his stuff from Graceland (of course) but his career
             spans much of the history of rock and roll.

Randy Newman: Newman creates a whole short story in three or four
             verses. His songs are often visual, which is a special
             gift. Greate melodies and arrangements that sound Turn-
             of-the-Century.

Gordon Bok: Gordon is one of those songwriters who is very much of
            a time and place. Gordon brings you home, in his
            songs. His voice and guitar are mesmerizing, and an
            important element of the song.

Bob Dyer:   Not well known, from Boonville, Missouri. We lost Bob
            this year, and it was a sad loss, indeed. Bob was
            another writer who created a believable universe. Most
            challenging, his songs mostly created vignettes and tall
            tales from a time before any of us were born. No one
            captured life on the Mississippi and the Missouri
            River like Bob did. And most likely never will

I'd go along with many other names listed above, but these are personal favorites, as requested.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: PoppaGator
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:11 AM

Can't argue with any of the above.

I'll mention that I agree with pdq about Hunter and Garcia, which is probaly a minority opinion hereabouts; I think too many old-fogy folkies dismiss the Grateful Dead out of hand, without ever bothering to listen. (Not everyone, of course, but too many.) Jerry was an extremely accomplished bluegrass picker before electrification, with a vast knowledge of tradtional song, and Robert has always exhibited a unique ability to rework time-honored phrases and images in new patterns, creating original songs with very deep roots reachng back through centuries of English-language balladry.

No females mentioned except in that one post by a woman (one I had thought was a guy for years because of her psudonym). I'm kinda surprised she didn't include a personal favorite, and perhaps the greatest of them all, Lucinda Williams.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:15 AM

Yeah you can't leave out Lucinda she is great. Thank you PoppaGator for adding her in the mix.

Subject: Lyr Add: YOUR MIND IS ON VACATION (Mose Allison)
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:23 AM

One of my all-time favorites is Jazz/Blues performer and composer Mose Allison. Some of the most pungent and clever lyrics I've heard are his. Once example:

YOUR MIND IS ON VACATION

You sittin' here and yakkin' right in my face,
I guess I'm gonna have to put you in your place.
You know if silence was golden,
You couldn't raise a dime,
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is workin' overtime.

You quotin' figures and droppin' names,
You tellin' stories about the dames
You're over-laughin' when things ain't funny
You tryin' to sound like you're big money,
You know if talk was criminal,
You'd lead a life of crime,
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is workin' overtime.


You know that life is short,
Talk is cheap;
Don't be makin' promises that you can't keep.
You don't like this little song I'm singin'
Just grin and bear it,
All I can say is if the shoe fits wear it,
If you must keep talkin'
Please try to make it rhyme,
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is workin' overtime.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: MMario
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:28 AM

PopaGator - I saw at least 5 women mentioned.

Personal favorites: I'd have to go with
Mike Campbell
Jed Marum
Jeri
Andrew McKay

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: john f weldon
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:34 AM

Good answer, Sailor... ...I like the guy wrote "Twa Sisters" around 800 AD.
Also Alan A'Dale who was clearly a real person, even if Robin Hood wasn't.

I'll put in a word for the funny folk...

Noel Coward
Gilbert and Sullivan
Tom Lehrer
The Berrymans

...I usually prefer a good laugh to a lot of angst.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Marion
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:36 AM

Poppagator, Jacqui C. also listed Mudcatter Jeri, who is a woman. Do you know if Lucinda's songs can be heard online anywhere?

Or for that matter, can any of Jeri's songs be heard online?

Marion

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 11:40 AM

www.myspace.com/lucindawilliams

Here is her myspace link.

www.lucindawilliams.com

That is her website

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Marion
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:00 PM

Thanks Jayto. But, are you able to hear any of the songs on her homepage? I clicked on about a dozen song titles at random and just got "N/A" written beside them. I don't know if that's because I don't have some player installed or if they're not meant to be playable files.

I did find the four songs that she has on myspace.

I think the difficulty that I've had in finding a female songwriter to add to my favourites list is that I have a strong preference for songs that tell stories about other people, preferably real people. The five guys I listed above (Stan Rogers, Jed Marum, Bill Gallaher, James Gordon, and Utah Phillips) all concentrate on other people's stories, mostly based in real history, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of women writing on these topics. The women writers I've heard seem to concentrate more on their own feelings and relationships - that's true of most male songwriters, too, but then most male songwriters aren't on my favourites list either.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:02 PM

My personal favorite songwriter?

Bruce Murdoch

See this post for examples of verses from Bruce's "Matters of the Heart" CD that I consider to be skillfully, and beautifully crafted.

thread.cfm?threadid=112880&messages=285#2412361

There are other Bruce Murdoch songs from his other recordings that are my favorites. Among them are "Plains of Jericho", "Maximeline", "Come Across To You", "If I Had Wings", and "My Country Tis Of Thee".

Switching genres, I also believe props should be given to these two great gospel songwriters:

Thomas Dosey {I particularly love Precious Lord, Take My Hand
and Peace In The Valley}

and

Rev. James Cleveland {my favorites are Peace Be Still and I Stood On The Banks [of Jordan].

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: open mike
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:08 PM

http://www.lucindawilliams.com/
her collection Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is a classic.

oh, and Wendy Waldman, and Carol Elliot, and Mary McCaslin,
and...Sarah Elizabeth Campbell...and Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen,
Kathy Mattea, Joan Baez, Julie Gold, Dolly Parton, Sally Van Meter,
Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky.....

Karla Bonhoff and Julie Miller and Tammy Fassaert and k.d. lang

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:28 PM

Wendy Waldman ... I went to a songwriter's workshop of hers .. a wonderful person and yes a damned good songwriter.

On the female side of songwriters I'll put in a plug for Patty Griffin and the late Laura Nyro.

biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:36 PM

I used to play guitar for Patti Griffin. She has one of the strongest voices live I have ever heard. I remember the first time I met and heard her. It was in a little club in South Nashville called Jack's Guitar Bar. Steve Earle was part owner for a while it was a cool little place with a ton of good writers and musicians always hanging out. I had a standing Monday night gig with a buddy of mine Chris Knight. Patti had came to town working on her first CD. She liked Chris's writing (all I did was play guitar at the time) and she came out to catch us live. In between sets she got up and did a few songs and I was blown away. She pretty much pinned me against the back wall with her very first note. Her voice is powerful live really strong and rich. I remember I would always get her to do The Cat's Out of the Bag. I used to love to hear her do that song. I remember she was so shy it was funny. Everytime anybody would say something to her she would look like she was about to crawl under the table but when she took the stage she owned it and the crowd. She is amazing.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: PoppaGator
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:42 PM

Jayto:

Your clickable links didn't work for me, but they did work when I copied-and-pasted them into my browswer address line. That means they're correct as far as they go, but are incomplete.

It took me a while to learn the correct procedure for Mudcat "blue clickies." The trick is to copy the COMPLETE web address, including the "http" prefix. If you start off with the "www" part, it doesn't work. I now always actually go to the desired site to highlight and copy the entire address that appears on the address line.

It's been a long time since I learned to work it properly, so I don't remember all the details of my early failures to create working links. I think some of my efforts used to link to incorrect pages within Mudcat. I believe inclusion of the full "http://..." is necessary to get outside Mudcat and onto the World Wide Web.

Thanks for the research, at any rate, and for making the effort. You already seem like an old-timer around here; it's a bit difficult to realize you're still a "newbie," at least in some regards, and could use a little help here and there, learning to navigate the small details...

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:45 PM

Thanks for letting me know. Yeah I am still trying to get the hang of the site. This is the first community site I have ever really been active on. So this is a new experience all the way around for me.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:52 PM

I like Bob Dylan the best of all, but I also like a whole lot of others and I think they're all absolutely wonderful, such as...

Gordon Lightfoot
Leonard Cohen
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Jackson Browne
Joni Mitchell
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Shawn Colvin
Ian Tyson
Al Stewart
Jagger and Richards
David Bowie
Van Morrison
Loreen McKennit
Enya
Chris Smither
Carly Simon
Joan Baez



Really, the list goes on and on. There are a lot of great songwriters out there.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Arkie
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 12:57 PM

Many good ones listed already. Several who will get my attention whenever they have a new recording are:

Iris DeMent
Beth Nielsen-Chapman
James Keelaghan
Charley Sandage (a local writer, musician, educator, who frequently writes many songs about actual events or real people.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: SouthernCelt
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 01:23 PM

Just off the top of my head:
Ian Tyson, Gordon Lightfoot, Jed Marum, Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Slaid Cleaves, Dan Fogelberg, Pat Sky, John Prine...

Better stop before I fill up the page...

SC

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 01:23 PM

Me!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:25 PM

Add 2: Travis Edmonson and John Stewart

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:32 PM

Lots of my favorites already listed. Certainly John Prine and Guy Clark will always get a listen from me. Just wanted to add Tim Wallace from out Ohio way. I've only heard one tape of his work, but the man can right a very funny song with a great imagination.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Acorn4
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:35 PM

Roy Harper in his heyday.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,cStu
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:48 PM

Gillian Welch
Mike Scott
Leiber and Stoller

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mark Ross
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:48 PM

Haywire Mac McClintock, Hank Snow, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, Sara Carter, Wilf Carter(Montana Slim), Rosalie Sorrels, Anne Feeney, Hell, the list could go on forever.............

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 02:56 PM

On the distaff side? Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cindy Mangsen, Anne Hills, Kitty Donahoe...plenty more there, too.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: olddude
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:02 PM

For me it just seems to move day to day based on the music I am listening to. My taste goes all over the field. Some of my favorites

Lightfoot absolutely

Joni Mitchell

Tom Waits, Oscar Brown Jr.

Phil Ochs

John Prine

Also like country like Hank Williams

LeadBelly

Murdoch without a doubt


list just goes on and on depending on the mood - what I am playing or listening to

new one is Dave Van Ronk (thanks to Ditty)

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Spot
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:04 PM

Allllooo everybody...
   

      Favourite songwriter...?   Dave Walmisley (ex -Risky Business UK!)   Bloody excellent writer, first class player,ace singer and a real nice guy!! Not recognised half as much as I think he should be....   :-)

                Regards to all, as ever...Spot

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Joe G
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:37 PM

Robb Johnson
Jez Lowe
Tom Bliss
John Tams
George Papavergis
Roger Waters (the Pink Floyd years)
Jim Boyes (for Jerusalem Revisited)


I'm sure I have forgotten some

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Joe G
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:39 PM

I knew I'd forgotten someone

Roger Davies

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Mike in DC
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:55 PM

Attention must be paid to Dave Carter, perhaps in the "most outstanding body of work written in a relatively short period" category. Sort of the Sandy Koufax of songwriters.

Mike

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Francy
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 03:58 PM

Woody Guthrie...Hank Williams......Merle Haggard........Townes Van Zandt....Tom Russell......David Olney....Kris Kristofferson...Joni Mitchell......Eliza Gilkyson........Silvia Frickett........Marty Robbins.....Frank of Toledo

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: topical tom
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:01 PM

Eric Bogle has a great mastery of words and rhyme but I also like Tom Paxton, Stan Rogers,David Massengill,Garnet Rogers, Utah Phillips,Pete Seeger, and the list goes on and on.....

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Arkie
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:07 PM

The list could go on and on. Some others in the country vein who produced good songs over a considerable period of time are:

Merle Travis
Harlan Howard
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
Lefty Frizzell
Hank Thompson
Willie Nelson
Marty Robbins
Roger Miller
Tony Joe White
Dolly Parton
Kris Kristofferson

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mrs Scarecrow
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:23 PM

Bill Caddick , Jon Heslop, George Papavgeris (not sure if I spelt thet right) Dave reader, Gilly Kemp, Anne Lister, and then on a broader scale Joni Mitchell ,Leonard Cohen, Ian Anderson but the problem is as soon as some one mentions another name or sings another song I would say oh and them as well, really the favourite is going to depend on my mood at the time it may even be me

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Silver Slug
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:33 PM

So many favourites, (note the proper spelling!) including

Lennon/McCartney for simple tunes like Things We Said

Brian Wilson, God Only Knows - simple yet beautiful

Neil Young, Graham Nash, Steve Stills and Dave Crosby for Deja Vu

Paul Simon - For Emily... will always move me

Fairport Convention for Babbacombe Lee

Guy Garvey - songs which have stopped me in my tracks over the last few months.

Kirsty McColl - tragically no longer with us. "I fell out of favour with Heaven somerwhere and I'm here for the hell of it now"

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: mg
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:37 PM

wHO IS Guy Garvey? Perhaps we are long-lost cousins.

I was trying to think of more women too. Certainly Judy Small, Linda Allen. Lady Christina Oliphant? Do I have her right. Lots of Scots classics. Certainly Dolly Parton. Sylvia Tyson came up with one stunning song to me..Truckers' Cafe. Sometimes they might be really well known for only a few songs..Mary Benson with Sail Away. Linda C. of B.C. on Canning Salmon. My favorite is Gordon Bok and Robert Burns and Stephen Foster. mg

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:44 PM

Richard Grainger,Bert lloyd,Ewan MaCColl,Dick Miles,Alan Smethurst,Tom Lehrer,Lennon and Maccartney,Stephen Foster,John Conolly.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Brakn
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 05:25 PM

Probably Loudon Wainwright. Love Bruce and Hank as well.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 05:33 PM

You are my kinda person Arkie GREAT list.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Silver Slug
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 05:40 PM

wHO IS Guy Garvey? Perhaps we are long-lost cousins.

He fronts a British Indie band called Elbow. Excellent musicians, sometimes wonderful lyrics and melodies, brilliant live, and a crap name which should ensure that they don't get the recognition they deserve. Still, the're good enough for me!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 05:44 PM

Thanks Joe and Mrs Scarecrow, you put me with esteemed company indeed!. Mine are:

Rob Johnson
Leon Rosselson
Stan Rogers
Eric Bogle
Sydney Carter
Jez Lowe
Cyril Tawney
Dave Webber
the whole bunch of the Cornish songwriters
and going off-centre a bit:
Billy Joel
Mark Knopfler
Angelo Branduardi

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Elmore
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 05:57 PM

Bob Franke, Enoch Kent,Kate Wolf

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 06:59 PM

Hoagy Carmichael!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Acorn4
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 07:10 PM

In the current crop of singer/songwriters, Richard Shindell.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 07:29 PM

I assume we get Dylan free, like the Bible and Shakespeare on Desert Island Discs. After Dylan, Robyn Hitchcock; after him, Peter Blegvad.

I'd also recommend Hilary Bichovsky, Carl Corbett, Richard Frisson, Mark Greer, Mark Simpson and Copland Smith (in alphabetical order) - none of them's particularly famous, but they're all fine songwriters.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,cStu
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:38 PM

Peter Blegvad the cartoonist?

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Joe_F
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:49 PM

I have been compiling a list of songs that are, in some way, magical for me, and looking up (as best I can) their authors, composers, & dates; so I can give a quantitative answer to this question. So far there are 280 songs on the list.

Anon. wins hands down, with 99. Runners up are Robert Burns & Rudyard Kipling, with 5 each. Stan Rogers has 4, and Cyril Tawney, Woody Guthrie, and Michael Flanders have 3 each. There are twelve who have 2, and the rest are 1-hit wonders.

The median date of composition is 1900.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Arkie
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:13 PM

Jayto, nice to get an amen.

I am glad to see Sydney Carter and Bob Franke finally make the list.

Fred Eaglesmith's name just popped in my head. An exceptional writer.

John Williamson from Australia has also written many good songs. There should be more writers from Down Under in this list. I like Kasey Chambers, but more as a singer than a songwriter though she has written some good songs.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Peace
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:02 PM

George W Johnson, 1866

I wandered today to the hills, Maggie,
To watch the scene below
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie,
As we used to long long ago
The green grove is gone from the hills, Maggie,
Where first the daisies sprung
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie,
Since you and I were young.         

2. Oh they say that I'm feeble with age, Maggie,
My steps are much slower than then
My face is a well written page, Maggie,
And time all alone was the pen
They say we have outlived our time, Maggie,
As dated as songs that we've sung
But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie,
When you and I were young.




As far as I'm concerned, it ain't been equaled yet.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:08 PM

Hmmm. For me, personal favorite depends a lot on who I am listening to at the moment.

Today, Elizabeth Cook
Yesterday, Hugh Moffatt
Earlier in the week, Norah Jones, Tom Paxton

Actually, I'd stack that list up against most any for listenability over a long period of time.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 10:19 PM

Jesse Winchester

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 04:38 AM

cStu - the same. He's a versatile guy.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: van lingle
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 05:37 AM

Dylan, Cole Porter, Robbie Robertson (though I haven't heard any recent stuff of his), Johnny Cash, Blind Lemon Jefferson...

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: van lingle
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 05:38 AM

Shane MacGowan

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 07:17 AM

Impossible to say. Depends on my mood and I have as many moods as favorite song writers. If I had to name one, Gordon Bok.That's complicated by the fact that he's my oldest best friend as well.
Everyone knows I love Utah Phillips' songs, he was also a dear friend. Tom Paxton, somewhere between acquaintance and friend.
Dave Mallett also a close friend.
Stan Rogers, outstanding song writer. Spent a weekend with him but couldn't call him a friend.
Bob Zentz, friend.
Seamus Kennedy, friend.
Tom Rowe dear friend, now deceased.
You have to love such songs as, "Handful of songs" by Jerry Rasmussen.
Jim Stewart dear friend.His Marco Polo suite is a masterpiece.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 07:18 AM

I've also been in love with our own KT since I heard her sing. Her song, Old Salt hits home.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 08:44 AM

Personal favourite male is Shane MacGowan.
Personal favourite female is K D Lang.
There are many others that I particularly like such as:
Bob Dylan
Leonard Cohen
Johnny Cash
Yellowman
Bruce Murdoch
Bo Diddley
.
.
.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: john f weldon
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 12:18 PM

Oops forget...

Yip Harburg (lyrics)
Uncle Dave Macon (Folky and funny!)

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 12:35 PM

John Hartford, just because he ain't been mentioned yet. He had a unique point of view, to say the least.

John Stewart was at least as good a writer than he was a singer/personality. He wrote so many songs that the gems are still, for the most part, not recognized.

If I had to pick one, it would be Gordon Lightfoot. But then, Ian Tyson and Steve Goodman would probaly be there some days. And Chris Hillman is almost criminally under-appreciated as a writer, and then...

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Guldhamstern
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 01:36 PM

I'm not a very good
In no particular order:

Roger Waters
Bob Dylan
Mickey Newbury
Leonard Cohen
Paul Simon
Tom Waits
Phil Ochs
Neil Young
Allan Edwall

Allan Edwall (1924-1997)
is best known for being an actor, for instance in most of the Astrid Lindgren-movies. His music is not very well known outside sweden. The best swedish lyrics, very witty and clever, often satirical and beautiful at the same time.

Dan Anderson (1888-1920)
Was more of a poet. But he made music to some of his poems. The most beautiful swedish tunes comes from his poems.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Singer's Knight
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 03:02 PM

Oh gosh, these choices are so hard!

First thoughts? Garnet Rogers and Jerry Rassmussen.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 04:47 PM

Marvin Gaye

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 04:52 PM

Writers?

Stevie Wonder
Felix Cavaliere/Eddie Brigatti
Hoagy Carmichael
James Taylor
Carole King
Carly Simon (That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be is nothing short of brilliant -- lyrically and musically)
Pierce Pettis
Paul Simon (charges of light-fingered writing, notwithstanding)
Bachrach/David
Rodgers/Hammerstein
Lennon/McCartney

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 06:25 PM

Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 07:43 PM

They were composers of music Kendall (musical composition) .... they were not songwriters (wrote musical compostion and the lyrics to that music).

But ... what the hell, who really gives a rat's ass.


biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 07:48 PM

Now kendall, if you had made a note of Amadeus Mozart in you post ... well, I guess he could be classified as a songwriter.

... but ... then again ... as I say .... who really gives a rat's ass.

biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Texas Guest
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 11:35 PM

I would have many of the above mentioned songwriters on my own list but would add: Michael Smith, Kim Ritchey and Jack Williams. Cheers.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Ravenheart
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 01:03 AM

Jack Hardy. Without him, whole regions of our experience would have no maps to them.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: eddie1
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 01:52 AM

So many names I have to agree with but three missing so far (I think)

Jake Thackray – for looking at the world in a different way from the rest of us.

Finbar Furey – if only for his song "Lonely One" which should be compulsory listening for everyone who tours doing gigs.

Iain Mackintosh – his "For The Special Friends" is definitely one of these "I wish I'd said that" songs.

Eddie

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 07:10 AM

Schubert wrote Ava Maria, one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 07:20 AM

Ludwig wrote "Ode to Joy". Beats the hell out of "I love a rainy night."

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 07:54 AM

Ludwig wrote the musical score to 'ode to joy' .... Fredrick Schiller wrtoe the words as a poem.


biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 08:08 AM

I sit here corrected (by my wife) and I am in a rather humbled dispostion ... Amadaes cannot be considered a songwriter as he did not write the librettos ... so, alas he is but a mere musical composer.

now ... a songwriter not so far as mentioned and I feel should be most certainly be mentioned (as he is a favourite of mine) and that is Jimmy Webb.

biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 10:09 AM

In no particular order
Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Niel Young, Bruce Cockburn, Van Marrison, Paul MacCartney, Ian Anderson, Hank Williams, Stephen Foster, Stan Rodgers,David Byrne, Rita Mac Niel, Johnny Cash,Eric Bogle, Paul Simon, Jagger and Richards.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 10:16 AM

Oh how could I forget Richard Thompson....one of the best ever.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: bankley
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 10:18 AM

okay, for lyrics.. my huckleberry friend, Johnny Mercer

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Midchuck
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 10:26 AM

Favorite is easy: Tom Russell.

Second is very hard. A tie between

Utah Phillips
Jim Ringer
Stan Rogers
Ian Tyson
Guy Clark
Dick McCormack (link; link
Andrea Cady (purely personal bias)

And probably two or three others that I'll think of as soon as I post this.

Peter

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Lucky7s
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 11:19 AM

For the ladies, Joni Mitchell, Patti Griffin, and Patti Smith.

For the lads, Andy M. Stewart, kinda old school but Leon Russell, and my fave of all time, Arlo Guthrie.

I'd second Laura Nyro & John Prine, too.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Gene
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 12:11 PM

Everybody has their favorite songwriters, Hank Williams, Sr. has
always been a favorite of mine, but consider the two below.

IMHO, two of the greatest songwriters that ever lived.
I cannot think of any others that come close to this record of
achievement.

=============
HARLAN HOWARD

"I Fall To Pieces", "Life Turned Her That Way", "Above And Beyond", "I've Got a Tiger By The Tail", "Don't Tell Me What To Do", "Somebody Should Leave", "Somewhere Tonight", "Too Many Rivers", "Why Not Me", "Busted" & "Blame It on Your Heart".

Most people knew Harlan Howard by the songs he penned, more than 4,000 of them. In a career that spanned more than six decades, the "Dean of Nashville Songwriters" established himself as one of the greatest and most prolific songwriters of the Twentieth Century. One critic daringly dubbed him the "Irving Berlin of Country" because of the number of classics he added to the annals of country music.

More than 100 of his self-penned tunes hit the top ten and his compositions became chart-toppers for artists as diverse as Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Buck Owens, Dean Martin, The Judds, Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, and Dolly Parton. But Harlan Howard's friends knew there was more to the man than song titles. Behind his enshrinements in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the CMA Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Popular Music Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame was a complex and unique man, a true interpreter of life well and fully lived.

Those fortunate enough to number among Harlan's intimates knew he was born in Detroit and raised on farms in Michigan, but times were tough for a young farm boy in the years following the Depression. He started writing country songs around the age of 12, listening to and loving the Grand Ole Opry, Ernest Tubb and Floyd Tillman. Although he managed to complete just nine years of formal education, he educated himself by reading books – sometimes as many as four and five a day.

Harlan moved to Los Angeles in 1955 to pursue his dream of songwriting, where lacking faith in his ability as a songwriter, he took a job as a forklift operator (There were no factories in Nashville). He devoted every spare minute to perfecting the craft of songwriting. He was possessed by songwriting, and each day left the factory with several new songs stuffed in his shirt pocket.

"I'd come home from work sometimes with six songs," the writer said. "During that period of time, I never knew there was that much money in songwriting. I was just writing because I loved it. I never thought I'd be able to quit the factory and make a living full-time as a writer."

A year after moving to LA, he met Tex Ritter and Johnny Bond and played them some tunes from his cardboard box full of songs. Slowly at first, with their help and that of others such as Wynn Stewart, Bobby Bare and Skeets McDonald, he began to have his songs recorded. His first real hit came in 1959 when Charlie Walker recorded "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down." Shortly after that both Ray Price and the pop singer, Guy Mitchell, put his "Heartaches By The Number" on the top of the country and pop charts simultaneously and his destiny was sealed.

Harlan moved to Nashville in 1960, and as the hits began to chart, the legend of Harlan Howard began to soar. A year later, in 1961, his career exploded, and he had as many as 15 songs in the top 40 of the country charts at one time - an amazing feat for any writer and one never since equaled.

Harlan began hanging out with the other struggling writers, such as Hank Cochran, Willie Nelson, and Roger Miller at Tootsies Orchid Lounge across the alley from the old Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry. Patsy Cline was a favorite Opry star who used to stop in between shows. This nucleus would gather wherever there was a guitar and swap their latest songwriting efforts, hoping to plug a few songs to Opry stars. From these late night/early morning "guitar pulls" another Nashville legend was born.

Harlan scored hits in the five decades: the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Harlan was fond of saying, "The lyrics usually flow easily and often." The "three-chord kid", as he was frequently called, believed country music was mostly lyrical content - about 90% words and 10% melody. He considered his songs his children and tried to find the perfect home for them; crediting much of his success with matching the right song with the right singer.

Artists such as Nanci Griffith, Mel Tillis, kd Lang, Collin Raye, and Patty Loveless chose Harlan Howard compositions to establish themselves on country radio. Producers rarely passed up an opportunity to listen to a tune submitted by Howard for fear of missing the next country classic.

In the late '80s, Harlan's publisher, Tree, was sold to the foreign conglomerate, Sony. Howard took on a new endeavor and started a small publishing company, Harlan Howard Songs, Inc. With his guidance, several "juveniles" had recent chart-topping successes such as The Chain of Love, Clay Walker; Real Live Woman, Trisha Yearwood; Someone You Used To Know, Collin Raye; and She Was, Mark Chesnutt. His hit by Patty Loveless, Blame It On Your Heart, was named BMI Song of the Year as the most performed country song of 1994.

Harlan continued writing well into his seventh decade of life, long after many other writers had begun to relax on their royalties. Howard didn't intend to put aside his pen. "I've been wanting to do this since I was 12, so it's a lifetime hobby and quest," he stated. "I never tire of it. Sometimes I do get burned out temporarily, but I can't imagine not wanting to write one more great song, get one more great record, or work with one more great singer. I like to give artists a song they have to sing the rest of their lives. Songwriting is both my living and my pleasure, so I'm a happy man."

On March 3, 2002, Harlan passed away at home with his wife, Melanie, by his side. He was 74 years old. A memorial celebrating his life and songs was held at the Ryman Auditorium.

============
CINDY WALKER

Cindy Walker (87), died on March 23 in Mexia, Tex. A country songwriter whose pure, plainspoken lyrics of romance, heartbreak and picturesque prairies were recorded by major artists like Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson, making Top-40 country or pop charts more than 400 times.

Until the 1990's, Texas Monthly observed in 1999 it was easier to count the number of country stars who had not recorded Cindy Walker songs than those who had, She had Top 10 hits in every decade from the 1940's to the 1980's.

Even as country music veered in louder, brasher directions, her continuing appeal to traditionalists is suggested by Willie Nelson's release of an album of her songs, "You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker."

The title song was a hit for Eddy Arnold in 1956, Ray Charles in 1962 and Mickey Gilley in 1981, and was re-recorded by Mr. Charles with Diana Krall for his best-selling 2004 album of duets, "Genius Loves Company." Presley, Van Morrison, Patti Page, Roy Orbison, Kenny Rogers and Emmylou Harris are among others who have recorded the tune.

Will some JoeClone straighten up any misalignement of text after posting.

Thanks
G

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: dwditty
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 12:14 PM

Oscar Brown, Jr.
Tom Waits
Randy Newman
Tim Buckley
Mose Allison
Billie Holiday (For God Bless The Child - My favorite song of all time)
Dan Hicks

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 01:42 PM

Thanks, Gene, for introducing me to Harlan Howard and Cindy
Walker.

On the American audiences thread there's been some talk about how "folkies" are divided up into different communities,
based on genre, Like trad, Irish, singer-songwriter, blues,
bluegrass, contra dancers, etc. One such community that isn't
known terribly deeply by most "folkies" is the social change
music community. Of course, a fair number of the songwriters
mentioned are in that community, but others not mentioned are Charlie King and Fred Small, as well as Joe Hill and John
McCutcheon, who has one foot there and one foot all over the
map!

Other great songwriters that I don't THINK were mentioned
(please forgive me if I'm wrong) include: Willie Nelson,
Fats Domino, Bruce Cockburn, Bill Staines, Elizabeth Cotten,
Tom Lewis, Fats Waller, Steve Goodman, and Lyle Lovett. If
you want more info on any of these, please drop a line in the
thread.

All the best,

Marymac

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 02:44 PM

Willie Nelson man I don't know how I forgot to put Willie on here. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain makes me melt. I heard it when I was a kid and started crying the only other song I can recall that moved me that hard when I was a kid was If you could read my mind by Gordon Lightfoot. Willie is incredible and such an influence on American music in general. Willie gets respect no matter what scene he rolls in (no pun intended) in the US. Such a cool cat man it is impossible to pput it into words.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:16 PM

Yeah, I somehow forgot Willie Nelson too. The guy is just incredible, one of the greatest of all time.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:29 PM

"Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" is a Depression era song so Willie did not write it. Kinda like "Miss The Mississippi And You" that Emmylou Harris did such a nice version of. Also Depression era retro.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:32 PM

Thanks PDQ I didn't know that. Do you recall who did it originally or wrote it? I swear man this is why I think this site is so great.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:49 PM

According to AMG it was written by Fred Rose, as in Acuff-Rose Publishing Company.

Fred Rose signed Hank Williams as a writer in 1947 where he joined Pee Wee King and others. They taught Hank Williams the art of songwriting.

"... Williams signed to MGM in 1947, Rose became his manager and producer, also co-writing classics including "A Mansion on the Hill," "Kaw-Liga," "Crazy Heart," "Settin' the Woods on Fire," "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," and "Take These Chains From My Heart." Rose also possessed an extraordinary gift for placing Acuff-Rose material..."

So, let's extend the list of Country songwriters to Harlan Howard, Cindy Walker, Willie Nelson and Fred Rose.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:57 PM

In no particular order:


Harry Chapin
Bruce Murdoch
Steve Knightley
Ron Bankley
Bruce Cockburn
Martyn Joseph
Loreena McKennitt
Dougie McLean
Reg Meuross
Bruce Springsteen
The Oysterband (collectively or individually)
Jez Lowe
John Tams
James Keelaghan
Oliver Schroer (whose violin sang Oliver's words)
John Denver
Stephen Fearing
Ashley Hutchings
Dave Gibb
Noah Zacharin
Tom Palmer
Mike Silver
Joni Mitchell
Vinnie James
Emmy Lou Harris
Fred Small
Shania Twain
Gordon Lightfoot
Sandy Denny
Richard Thompson
John Mayer


...just for starters..

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 04:00 PM

Slight oops...Fred Rose signed Hank Williams in 1946 and helped him get the MGM recording contract signed the following year. Rose stayed with Hank as manager and co-writer.

Fred Rose was "...(along with Williams and Jimmie Rodgers) as one of the first three inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame."

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Gene Burton
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 04:24 PM

It's probably been said before, but the reality is the best songwriter is most likely somebody whom none of us has ever heard or ever will. I mean, who knows why the breaks fall as they do?

For me, increasingly, the answer is trad.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 04:35 PM

Wolfgang Winterbottom and his much misunderstood solo album, 'Songs you Can Wipe You Nose On.'

Dreadful songs! but what a character! My favourite songwriter.

As they said in Rolling Stone, 'a bar of Winterbottom can bring mucus to the driest nostril.....'

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Peace
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 04:37 PM

The following will take you to a bio of Fred Rose. But be aware there are pop-ups galore, and if you do not have a good firewall, forget it. I couldn't cut and paste. Sorry.

http://www.angelfire.com/me2/kulacoco/rose.html

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 06:00 PM

I did not realize Fred Rose wrote that. That is cool Uncle Tupelo had a great song titled Acuff-Rose it was on thier Anodyne CD. Great song but then again it was Uncle Tupelo they were great anyways. Acuff-Rose you talk about a company that shaped Nashville and Country music OMG.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Peace
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 06:32 PM

Yeah. But that was Nashville then. Then there is Nashville now. I think the worlds are different.

??

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Peace
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 06:35 PM

Soory. What I meant was that today it seems like a commercial venture as opposed to a music venture. I quit even knowing how to spell the name when they turned their collective backs on the Dixie Chicks. I expect however that that's just the side of Nashville I see and that your view is both clearer and more well informed. No offense.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 06:44 PM

Hey I know exactley what you mean Nashville is all about image, marketing, hooks,.. everything but talent. It is sickening to me to see the current shape of Nashville. There is an underground scene that is cool though. I just hope it finds a way to surface. I don't see how it can though. It is so political and all about the charts. I got out of the main stream stuff yrs ago (by choice) I just can't stomach it. You are totally right Peace. It doesn't matter where you are you can see it.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: oldhippie
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 09:06 PM

The late Kate Wolf comes to mind as consistantly writing good material. Another consistant favorite is Carolyn McDade.

Otherwise, most favorites are for a single particular song.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 09:45 PM

Ian Anderson wrote:

          Nothing To Say
          To Cry You A Song
          Inside
          Time For Everything?
          Nothing Is Easy

as well as Aqualung, Bungle In The Jungle, Locomotive Breath and dozens more...wow, what an intellect...

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: balladeer
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 08:58 AM

Memo to Marion: She seems to have disappeared from the Net, but if you're interested in women who write from history, see if you can track down the work of Rosalie Peppard. She's back in Nova Scotia now, but a few years ago she was living and playing in Toronto. Her oeuvre focuses on the lives and historical contexts of mostly unknown Canadian women. She wrote a song called Evangeline that is as good as any song I've heard.

Re Nashville. Lots of talented writers there for sure. Kevin Welch and Kieran Kane to name a couple.

My favourite writers today are Rick Speyer and Garth Douglas.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 09:05 AM

I can't disagree pdg ... Ian Anderson is certainly a genius when it comes to songwriting.

who else could pen such slyrics as this (one of my favs of his) .... "Heavy Horses"

Heavy HorsesIron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust
An October's day, towards evening
Sweat embossed veins standing proud to the plough
Salt on a deep chest seasoning
Last of the line at an honest day's toil
Turning the deep sod under
Flint at the fetlock, chasing the bone
Flies at the nostrils plunder.

biLL

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Folk Form # 1
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 09:37 AM

Too many to mention. Really, too many.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Cats
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 09:46 AM

Jon Heslop [I'm biased], Mike O'Connor [Crowdercref], Barrie Temple, Lucy Burrow [Hawker]

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mad Spaniel
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 10:28 AM

Neil Young
Patti Smith
Leonard Cohen
Steve Knightley
Nanci Griffith
Joe Strummer
Ian Dury
Elvis Costello
Guy Clark
Lucinda Williams
John Tams
Harvey Andrews

Will that do for now?

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: fat B****rd
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 10:35 AM

Lieber and Stoller, Carole KIng, Lennon and McCartney, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits. Many of the lyricists from the prewar 'popular song' era...and a few I'm bound to have forgotten

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mad Spaniel
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 11:03 AM

Oh and Tom Waits
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Springsteen
Townes Van Zandt
Christy Moore
Joni Mitchell
Pete Shepherd

Still thinking

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Skylark
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 11:36 AM

John Tams! Robin Laing!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 11:41 AM

John Tams! (?)

OK, then here is one you never heard of: Tom Jans

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 01:19 PM

There was another huge one I kept trying to remember
yesterday. I kept singin' to myself "10,00 roads I
went down, down, down, and they all lead me straight
back home to you..." until finally the name of the
late, great GRAM PARSONS percolated through!

Others not mentioned on this thread yet, I don't
think, are Steve Gilette, Charlie King, and Si Kahn.

Marymac

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: mg
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 01:26 PM

adding to the list of women, Rita McNeil ?? Listen to it's a working man I am on you tube (bard of cornwall does a nice version) if you haven't heard it.   mg

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: M.Ted
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 01:45 PM

Most everybody great has been mentioned, as well as some not so great, but I am going to through someone in who should be on the list of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century, and usually isn't, Vietnam's Trinh Cong Son

Even if you don't understand the language, the soul of a ravaged land pours out-

The page above is a comprehensive collection of recordings, and lyrics are at one of the links at the top--Many are sung by Khanh Ly, whose voice is perfect for his material--

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Lenny's mum (inactive)
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 01:50 PM

My current favourites at this moment in time are Linda Kelly from Hissy Fit and Michael Forsyth from Copper Kettle, both of whom write some really good moving songs. Then, of course, theres George Papavgeris. There are so many great song writers to choose from.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: fumblefingers
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 11:20 PM

Still Living - Tom T. Hall

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 01:16 AM

Dylan for depth and longevity, the Carters, then the Texas songwriters from the 1940's to today.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: BK Lick
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 04:46 AM

Open Mike -- Sally Van Meter is a splendid resophonic and steel-guitar virtuoso, but do you know of any songs she has written?

—BK

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 05:12 AM

There's a lot to choose from so I'm keeping this one short.
Living: Norman Blake, Guy Clark
Dead: Hank Williams

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 06:02 AM

"Sally Van Meter is a splendid resophonic...but do you know of any songs she has written?"

Perhaps open mike was thinking of another member of Good Ol' Persons: Kathy Kallick?

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 09:00 AM

Chris Smither, Leonard Cohen, Terry Allen.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mad Spaniel
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 10:12 AM

Terry Allen, now i had forgotten him thanks for reminder

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: BK Lick
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 01:54 PM

"Perhaps open mike was thinking of another member of Good Ol' Persons: Kathy Kallick?"
Yep, and I'm thinking maybe Marion should give a listen to my own personal favorite song writer.

—BK

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: van lingle
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 08:33 PM

If teams are permitted:
George and Ira Gershwin
Lerner and Lowe
Bono and The Edge
Lennon and McCartney
Brecht and Weill

and seconding Ian Tyson and Townes Van Zandt

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Mike Rogers
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 09:12 AM

This is tough. I had to sift through a lot of names, including Messrs
Kristofferson, Harlan Howard,JR Cash, van Zandt, Guy Clark, Hillman, Earle, Silverstein. McDill and Rushing before returning to my first choice: Hank Williams.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Arkie
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 09:41 AM

Terry Allen certainly needs to be in the mix. I do not know how many of his songs were sung by other artists but he does have a way with words and melody. The first time I heard one of his CDs I played it over and over and over and the other guy in my office did the same thing. One of us had it on the CD player constantly for several weeks.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 10:45 AM

Aw, Kendall. Thank you...

KT

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Wincing Devil
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 10:53 AM

Janie Meneely, without a doubt. She is funny, irreverant & witty. I have seen her scribling away at a Sing, I've listened when she askes "what do you think so far?" and I've mangled her stuff myself, and she appreciates it.

};-(

Subject: Lyr Add: THE END OF MY PIRATE DAYS (M C Carpenter)
From: akenaton
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 11:46 AM

Amazed that there's only one vote for Mary Chapin Carpenter(frogprince).
She is, in my opinion, one of the finest writers. Here's two of my favourites.

THE END OF MY PIRATE DAYS.

The night is soft and silent, new moon at my door
There's nothing near as quiet as the light I'm looking for
And last time that it appeared he was lying next to me
Last time I felt this near to whispered ecstacy

And those who need adventure, they can sail the seven seas
And those who search for treasure, they must live on grander dreams

We rose and fell just like the tides, he filled my heart and soul and I
Buried all my dreams for someone else to find in my pirate days

This world is kinder to the kind that won't look back
They are the chosen few, among us now, unbowed somehow
And one day he turned to me, and before I took one breath
I knew I would only see his shadow in what light was left

And those who need adventure, they can sail the seven seas
And those who search for treasure, they must live on grander dreams

And if I've seen his face since then, it's only been in dreams my friend
Since I came to the end of my pirate days
And if I've called his name since then, it's only been in dreams my friend
So I came to the end of my pirate days.


GOODBYE AGAIN.

Every night she sleeps alone
And by her bed she puts the phone
And every morning after that
She takes the phone and puts it back

He's got a wife back home and three kids up and grown
But these are things that go unsaid
He might call her from the road just in time to say hello
And goodbye again

She keeps his picture tucked away
She thinks she'll have it framed one day
And maybe he'll come see it there
Hanging by her rocking chair

In a corner of her room on a Sunday afternoon
When all the world is dull and gray
She might close her eyes and sit, rocking gently for a bit
Till all the bad thoughts go away

Back when children played their games
London Bridge and Jesse James
She captured flags, she bounced the ball
And every time, she beat them all

And now she comes home to a cat in a three-room walk-up flat
And plays a game of solitaire
Well she made a fist last night, and she broke the hallway light
And the pieces scattered everywhere

You see, he's got a wife back home and three kids up and grown
But these are things that go unsaid
He might call her from the road just in time to say hello
And goodbye again.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: C. Ham
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 11:50 AM

All time favorites would have to include:

Tom Russell, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Leonard Cohen, Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle, Bruce Murdoch, James Talley, Tom Paxton, Ian Tyson, Stan Rogers, Dave Van Ronk, Jelly Roll Morton, Brownie McGhee, Utah Phillips, Rosalie Sorrels, John Stewart, Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: kendall
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 05:13 PM

Kris Kristofersen wrote the best country song ever, Sunday Morning Coming Down.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Becks
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 05:54 PM

My absolute favourite is Ray Lamontagne, I will never tire of his music, songs or voice.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Dave Hunt
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 06:31 PM

Bill Caddick
John Tams
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Cyril Tawney
Richard Thompson

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 06:57 PM

Another vote here for Mary Chapin Carpenter to be among those I give 10 out of 10. You cannot be a better songwriter than Mary Chapin Carpenter is.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 05:20 AM

Chris Wood and Hugh Lupton
Joe Strummer
Sydney Carter
Bob Dylan
Neil Finn
Leon Rosselson
John Tams

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 06:25 AM

One of my favourite's on Radio4 now, Randy Newman.

JM

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: quokka
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 07:12 AM

From Australia:

Paul Kelly
Kev Carmody
Eric Bogle
Mick Thomas
Neil Murray
Archie Roach
Peter Garrett
David Hyams
David Bridie
Josh Pyke
Tex Morton
John Schumann
Shane Howard
Darren Hanlon
Mark Seymour

and now for the women:

Judy Small
Margaret Roadknight
Kasey Chambers
Deborah Conway
Vicki Simpson
Donna Simpson
Mia Dyson
Sally Dastey
Lisa Miller
Jodi Martin
Jen Cloher

I'll probably think of some more later...if anyone wants to know more about anyone on the list let me know! At least one of the above is an Ozcatter (Mudcatter from Australia)

Cheers,
Quokka

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 06:47 PM

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, several times even.

Except one.

John Hiatt.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 07:43 PM

As has been said by others above, there are too many to mention who have given us songs I wouldn't like having to do without. Among those still with us, some for me stand out by the consistency of quality of their output. Among them are Judy Small, Tom Paxton, Gordon Bok and Brian McNeill. Unless I missed it, Brian doesn't seem to have been mentioned in the present thread, which would seem more than a bit unfair.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 09:25 PM

Willie P. Bennett

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Peader (formerly) of Portsmouth
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 10:35 PM

Quick list of folkies:
Richard Shindell, Jez Lowe & Ewan MacColl

non-folkies:
Lennon/McCartney & Elvis Costello

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: RamblinStu
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:22 AM

There are many very good writers already mentioned in this thread, I would like to add one more.

Ron Trueman-Border

A man of great talent, if you've not heard his work, check him out..

Stuart Pendrill

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: SunrayFC
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 05:13 AM

and interestingly he is performing at the SUNRAY FOLK CLUB, this thursday.

Supported by Alex and Noleen.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: SunrayFC
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 05:14 AM

.....and looking through the thread, I didn't get a single mention!

Damn!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: David C. Carter
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 05:40 AM

I second Jake Thakray,and add Brell & Brassens.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: David C. Carter
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 06:20 AM

Sorry.That should hav been   Brel.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,dulcimerjohn
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 02:27 PM

Dave Cousins..Richard Thompson...Bert Jansch..

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:47 PM

Once, in a former life conducting wine tastings and dinners, I had a guest speaker from England, one David Symington of the noted family of port wine producers and marketers. He was speaking about old vintage ports when he got a question from a doctor in the audience. The question was, "How long can a vintage port age?" He responded, "That's rather like asking, how long is a piece of string, isn't it?" A little obtuse, no doubt, but the point was made. It would depend on the strength of the vintage and many other variables.

When you ask a question like, who is your favorite songwriter or what is your favorite song, it is much the same. My answer would vary with my mood, the season, the setting, the phase of my life in which the songs were most prominent, where I was living and who I was with when I heard them. No list would ever cover all of that, but the responses, above, cover most of them.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 01:33 PM

I have to put Waits on here again. I have been listening to his Orphans cd set alot in the last few days. I just had to mention him again because he deserves it afer that 3-cd set. Amazing simply amazing.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: frogprince
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 02:19 PM

I'm glad Dave Carter got mentioned, too. I had fallen in love with his work from the first I heard it. Dave and Tracey opened for Tom Paxton and Anne Hills at the Ark in Ann Arbor, MI., and we drove the two hours to get there; it was a show I would have happily driven six hours to see; we heard "Gentle Soldier Of My Soul" for the first time that night. Turned on the radio just a few days afterward, and learned that he was gone.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 04:01 PM

I get your point TJ. It almost always depends on all the factors you listed. At the same time though there are certain artists I have came across through the years that just sticks with me. No matter when, where, or what is going on they simply hit me hard. That is basically what I was asking for when I started this thread. I am also looking for names and artists I am not familiar with. Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle,... These guys just speak the same language as my mind and soul. I never waver on these artists be it good times or bad, if I am in the desert or on a beach, no matter where or when. These are the guys that can penetrate my mind and soul with the thoughts and words that pour out of the speakers.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Dave Illingworth
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 04:08 PM

So many good writers that I love have been already mentioned.
I was particularly pleased to see one mention (by "Francy") of DAVID OLNEY. A personal favourite.   He writes in such a variety of forms:-
blues, country, rock'n'roll, folk (some that sound "traditional").
He is a master of putting words in the mouths of different characters, e.g. :-

The French prostitute in "1917"

The ventriloquist's dummy in "WHO's THE DUMMY NOW"

The ass that carried Jesus through Jerusalem in "BRAYS"


    and loads more.    A fine live performer, too.

"Arkie" mentioned Aussie songwriters. The late SLIM DUSTY and his
wife JOY McKEAN wrote some fine songs about outback characters.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned the Irish writer MICK HANLEY -
a good singer, too.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,baz parkes
Date: 22 Oct 08 - 11:54 AM

So is it only Dave and I rate Bill Caddick?

John Tams
Jez Lowe
Guy Clarke
Emmylou Harris

Richard Thompson

I just rememebered I don't like singer/songwriters...:-))

Baz

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: PeadarOfPortsmouth
Date: 22 Oct 08 - 05:08 PM

Oh...I forgot Dave Francey...great stuff

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Dave MacKenzie
Date: 23 Oct 08 - 07:23 PM

I had a long list when I started reading this thread, but the only one left unmentioned is Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Dead Horse
Date: 23 Oct 08 - 08:04 PM

Mike West

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 23 Oct 08 - 08:40 PM

Only one previous mention from Skylark, but I would definitely have ROBIN LAING way up high on my list: extraordinarily clever with words, and highly entertaining to boot.
Not yet seen David Francey, but will be next week: from what I've heard on the radio, he could be up there too. Anyone mention Steve Tilston?
Of the others already mentioned, Eric Bogle and Tom Paxton also fit the bill for me.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Dave MacKenzie
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 06:34 PM

Has anyone mentioned June Carter Cash?

And all those people wanting to include Herr Mozart, the man they really meant was Lorenzo da Ponte (and yes, I have sung his work in a Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Acorn4
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 07:28 PM

or Franz Scubert?

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Mrs Scarecrow
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 05:05 PM

You didn't read the whole list Baz I know I put Bill Caddick in in August some time,

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 08:31 AM

Oh, and Graeme Miles.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Rob the Roadie
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 11:38 AM

I know I am a bit biased here but.......






My Wife.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 06:13 PM

Ok then Rob, wotsername?

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Rob the Roadie
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 09:08 AM

Oh forgot to look at this and answer.... so Tattie Bogle she is Angie Wright.
See her at The Birnam Institute Friday March 27 when she will entertain during the interval of two one act plays.

Or at open stages at

Lymm Festival Sunday 28th June

Lomond Festival 24th -26th July

Colonsay Festival 17th - 20th Sept.

She will also be reuniting with Anne Taggart to perform as TAGGART AND WRIGHT and generaly make a nuisance of themselves at The Holmfirth Festival at as many sessions and singarounds as they can during the weekend of 8th -10th MAY.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Bert
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 11:20 AM

Ah Guest from Sanity! Spoken like true songwriter.

Well there's a load of good ones you all have listed. But Sheesh! You've missed out McGrath of Harlow and Amos, and just take a look at Aine's song page and you won't be able to choose a BEST.

Marion, You need to listen to Hot Soup, Eileen Tipping, and Cheryl Wheeler for aome great women songwriters.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Musket
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 11:25 AM

Despite trying to think of abstract or off the wall songwriters...

I am still in awe of Ewan McColl.

Just listen to "The Joy of Living" and you will see what I mean. Then note how the songs from the radio ballads provide a narrative that sets the scene better than a thousand words.

Oh, and then the love songs.

He may have been an ill tempered old so and so, and his politics never quite swung by mine, but he was the 20th century bard.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 11:30 AM

Ian Anderson (the J.Tull one)
Neil Finn
Richard Thompson
Stephen Fellows (of Sheffield) - Who? (you say) - refer to 'Comsat Angels'

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jayto
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 11:46 AM

Darrell Scott
Chris Knight (I am biased I guess lol)
Wayne Hancock

Tom Waits: I know I already put him but I really dig him.

Col.JD Wilkes: Not the deepest but I love the subject matter he always writes about. He finds really obscure things that catches you off guard. Plus he and I are both a Ky col.

Chad Estes: A local writer that is one of the best I have ever heard in my life. He is so shy though I doubt anyone (except for maybe Bankley) will ever hear him. I have tried to get him recorded and out there but he cannot do it. He is the shyest guy I have ever met in my life.

I took him to a get together with some guys that could have helped him in a major way one time. Mid way through the cookout I was talking to the people and couldn't find him. I finally saw his leg sticking out of a bush. He was sitting in the bush drinking a beer. Just his leg stuck out barely enough for me to see him. I walked over and tried to get him to come out and he wouldnt. He is that shy. He has a masters in psychology and is majorly intelligent just socially stupid (I am not talking behind his back I tell him that. I know I am a sweetheart). I managed to get him into 2 bands I put together and he did alright in them once he is onstage. I just wish I could get more recordings.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: boosh
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 01:26 PM

definitely has to be Nick Drake.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Sookite
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 03:59 PM

A lot of the folks mentioned above.
Got turned on to Richard Shindell a couple of years ago....amazing writer.

Oh...and some guy named Murdoch everybody keeps mentioning.
....got a real fine way with the lyric. That boy just might have a great career ahead of him.

DG

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Joseph de Culver City
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 04:23 PM

Tim Hardin

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 05:46 PM

Everybody who has been named in this thread is my favorite depending on the time of day and mood I'm in.

But right now, it's Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 12:11 AM

Bob Nolan for me! Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, Tommy Makem, etc. etc.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: alanabit
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 04:05 AM

I probably should know more of the writers, who have been mentioned here.
I had the good fortune to see Pete Morton in action again on Friday. His cheerful optimism won over a German crowd of all ages very quickly. I was struck by the precision of his lyrics (as I always have been) and the jaunty, singable tunes.
Two of my favourites, who have not been mentioned here - possibly because people do not associate them with "serious" songs - are Shel Silverstein and Tom Lehrer. Silverstein had a preoccupation with offbeat characters, but there was always a kindly eye watching their eccentricities. George Papavgeris among others here, has already commented elsewhere on the dazzling lyrical pyrotechnics of Lehrer.
My favourite songwriter, whom I have seen close up, is still Bill Boazman, although sadly, he no longer performs his own beautiful songs.
I have also come to admire the classic songwriters of the first half of the last century. A quick perusal of the writers mentioned so far does not find George Gerschwyn, Noel Gay, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Henry Mancini, Noel Coward or Cole Porter. I was a little surprised that they did not figure highly in anyone's lists.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Larry Saidman
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 05:05 AM

Well Shel Silverstein's certainly up there.

But for me right now it's a tossup between Mickey Newbury and Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady).

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 05:35 AM

Me......that way I can say exactly what I want, the way I want to say it!

I once had another musician ask me that once...and while I was thinking about it for a moment, he jumped all over me...."YOU ARE" he blurted..and...I never forgot that.

GfS

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: autolycus
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 06:07 AM

Please forgive me for my inappropriate list - Gershwin, Rodgers, Porter, Berlin, Kern, Harry warren, Frank Loesser, Hoagy and Jules Styne.

In the folk field, I too am very fond of the twins Anon. and Trad.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 19 Mar 12 - 05:06 PM

Henry Clay Work
Stephen Foster
Ewan MacColl

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Musket
Date: 20 Mar 12 - 05:25 AM

Certainly Tom Paxton, Ewan McColl, Harvey Andrews et al, as writers of nice songs that many can perform in folk clubs and the simplicity of the songs make them accessible for all.

Jake Thackray was a wordsmith and no mistake, not just the funny ones either.

In other fields, Ian Dury, Paul Weller and similar songwriters wrote my life for me, and in the States, Kris Kristofferson wrote the life I dreamed of.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 Mar 12 - 07:52 AM

i dont have one

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:55 AM

Dylan, Cohen, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Lennon& McCartney ,Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison...loads more, but these are a fwe of my favourites.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 03:35 PM

Blind, one-armed, Willie Higginthorp. Tha Lancashire coal miner and blues sing who wrote such classics as "When I'm in love I can't shit" and "Stuff it up your bum, Flossie, it's only fromage frais." It is said that the former was recorded by Gracie Fields and Hollywood magnate Sam L Goldwyn bought the rights. It was never released apparantly. The second was thought to be a refelction on the raging recession that dominated the 1930s but no-one could ever quite figure out why.

DtG

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Bert
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 04:24 PM

I've been enjoying this thread again. But there is one that has been overlooked.

From the number of times that I find myself singing "That's not my Colorado" I have to include our own katlaughing.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 05:38 PM

Just lately? Lynn Miles.

Other favorites of longstanding: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Al Stewart, Jackson Browne, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Joan Baez (who did write some great stuff, although she's known more for doing cover tunes), Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Ian Tyson, Tish Hinojosa, Gordon Lightfoot, Willie Nelson.

And I like my own songs a lot. I'd have to, being very close to them.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Crowhugger
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 05:41 PM

Me too re-enjoying this thread. Bookmarked it this time around so I can go explore all the ones I'm not so familiar with.

Many of my faves have been mentioned:
Joni Mitchell
Cole Porter
Kristina Olsen
Gordon Lightfoot
John Prine
Irvin Berlin
Jane Siberry
Neil Young
Toni & Terry Garthwaite
Jann Arden
Jackson Browne
Ian Bell
those who wrote for Grateful Dead
and uncountable others.

Not mentioned are a couple of friends of an old friend:
Tom Burns
the late Pete Wail

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 06:23 PM

200!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Elmore
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 11:03 AM

Leo Kretzner(Bold Orion), because he used to live around the corner from me, Chuck Hall(Angels, and Love Comes to the Simple Heart), because he forced his autograph on me, and Debby McClatchy, because she put a new tune to the old chestnut, Amazing Grace.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Fyldeplayer
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 11:06 AM

Ron Sexsmith
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Darrel Scott
Steve Knightley
Beatles
Brian Wilson
Squeeze
Many I haven't heard - no doubt some great material has been written in the time I scrolled down this lengthy thread.
My choices because the 'idea and melody' would hold up without a big production. God Only Knows has a decending phrase that would touch anyone.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 11:38 AM

Several people have suggested Emmylou Harris as one of their favorite songwriters on this thread, but she has never written a known song in her life.

Neither has Linda Ronstadt, although she has a couple of courtesy co-write credits, probably because she botched the words in recording the songs and asked for credit for the new lyrics.

Some ladies who write well are Gail Davies (married to one of Earl Scruggs sons) and Carol McCord (once part of Kathy and Carol). Also Toni Brown and Terri Garthwaite (both former Joy of Cooking founders).

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Elmore
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 12:28 PM

Attn: PDQ The Carol McCord to whom you refer is Carol McComb. Kathy and Carol will be appearing at Freight and Salvage in Berkley, Ca. in either April or May.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: topical tom
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 01:41 PM

I believe that the word artistry of the Australian folk singer Eric Bogle has been unsurpassed to date. "No Man's Land","And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" and "A Reason For it All" are superb examples of his great artistry with words. There are many, many more.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Robo
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 01:48 PM

Guy Clark would be at or very near the top, along with John Prine . . . and Ray Davies!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: eddie1
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 02:21 PM

Topical Tom.
I totally agree on Eric Bogle but, although he has lived in Australia for a long time - he's Scottish!

Eddie

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Elmore
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 02:57 PM

Still, he's been an Australian citizen since 1982.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 03:00 PM

Dorothy Field

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: pdq
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 03:02 PM

Is anyone on Mudcat willing to sell me (or trade) a copy of Eric Bogle's "Endangered Species"?

Please PM if you are interested. I have tons of trade material.

Import price on eBay is out of my league.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 03:30 PM

Jim White - the Southern Gothic influence, with a slice of absurdism on the side. Think William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews and Samuel Beckett set to music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_White_(musician)

Warren Zevon

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Robo
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 05:08 PM

Just got through reading the entire list . . . can't believe I'm the only Ray Davies fan!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 07:42 PM

Nick Currie/Momus surpasses everyone for his sublimely elegant serpents tongue, second for me comes melodic cynic Morrissey, and then I also love the charmingly smart lyrics of Stereolab - seem to have a slight infatuation with French electronica of late too, which may or may not be pertinent..

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jun 17 - 09:54 AM

Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle, Joni Mitchell,Kate Bush, Neil Young.

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 18 Jun 17 - 12:44 PM

Most of the above would be in my overall choice however I'd single out the following as my tops -

Tom Waites
Cole Porter
Michael Marra
Tilbrook/Difford (Squeeze)

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: robomatic
Date: 18 Jun 17 - 07:51 PM

Being a patriotic American, I have to report a tie between an Englishman and a Canadian:

Richard Thompson, and the late Stan Rogers

I'll give honorable mention to Randy Newman, Tom Russell, and Bill Staines

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Jerome Clark
Date: 18 Jun 17 - 08:13 PM

Tradition, followed in no order other than alphabetical by Norman Blake, Willie Dixon, Rayna Gellert, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Percy Mayfield, James Talley, Richard Thompson, Ian Tyson, Gillian Welch, Robin Williamson

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Roz
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 05:46 PM

We gotta get Pheobe Snow on the list! And don't forget the wonderful Michael Hurley!

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 09:35 PM

Despite being a dyed in the wool English traditional-style music enthusiast, something about Al Stewart's lyrics just seems to grab my attention. I don't know why.
Friends look through my record collection and see his recordings placed amongst the sundry Leader and Topic labelled albums and are more than a little bemused....

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 20 Jun 17 - 06:55 AM

Another Towns Van Zandt fan here, I once interviewed him for a mag and found him a real gent an d one of the nicest people I ever met. I'd also champion Hank Williams Snr and Pete St John

Subject: RE: Who's your personal favorite song writer
From: Jackaroodave
Date: 20 Jun 17 - 03:31 PM

Chuck Berry

Traditional, Anon; blues, Willie Dixon (though I've read--I forget where--that he might not have actually written all the songs credited to him.)