Saturdays Toronto Star had an article about Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson as they are both playing here this week.

It opened with a statement something like: When rating the great American songwriters of the last 40 years, these two have to be considered number one and two.

I have no problem with Dylan as #1, but Brian Wilson #2???? I think he was a jingle writer whose lyrics were meaningless, his melodies were often just slightly altered variations of his other works.

This statment really bothered me. It is a slap in the face to Willie Nelson, John Prine, Rickie Lee Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Kris Kristoffersen, Willie Dixon, Tom Waits and many, many other fine writers.