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.

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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].