Libertarian Librarian

Well, we could go all the way back to Mozart and Bach and Beethoven, but that would be silly. So. Best songwriters of the last 50 years. I am defining a songwriter as the person who writes both the lyrics and the music, or a tandem working together to accomplish the same thing. Lyrics without music is poetry, not a song. Music without lyrics is Muzak (well, not always, but you get the idea).

People who wrote as part of a duo/band and as a solo artist get credit for both, but there will only be one entry per person-- there will be no separate entries for John Lennon and The Beatles. My list is inevitably weighted heavily toward rock/pop since I don't listen to much country, motown/r&b, rap, or punk, and it will-- as Troy will no doubt note with disdain and snarkiness-- contain mostly folks over 40. I am not over 40, but I must admit most of the music I listen to is what is now characterized as classic rock. Plus, I think to qualify as a great songwriter, one of the best of a half-century, you need to have produced a pretty substantial body of work-- which is hard to do if you are younger than 40. So, sue me. Or make your own lists.

Blah, blah, blah. Enough prevarication. On with the list:

25) Ray Charles. Maybe should be higher, but his genre is not my genre.
24) Randy Newman. Mostly soundtracks, but the variety of those soundtracks is astonishing.
23) Frank Zappa. Not terribly commercially successful, but constantly creative and he broke songwriting ground in so many areas.
22) Sting. I much prefer the Police days to his later solo stuff, but even sappy ballads have their place, from time to time.
21) Michael Jackson. Freak or not, pedophile or not, you don't get to be the King of Pop without some talent.
20) Michael Stipe/Mike Mills. REM is the ultimate college band making it big. The reason? The music, the lyrics, the feel. Plus they're under 50. So there, Troy.
19) The Ramones. Set the stage for the punk revolution. Stripped it all down to the basics and wrote some of the best rock songs ever.
18) Paul McCartney. A long solo career does not always equate to a good solo career. Still, he writes a great silly love song, and the collaborations with Lennon during The Beatles years were pretty awesome.
17) Elvis Costello. Carved out a nice niche being quirky, irreverant and catchy all at the same time.
16) Tom Petty. Good infusion of folk music into rock, plus a sense of humor.
15) Johnny Cash. There are likely other, more significant, country songwriters, but I don't know them. The Man in Black I know, and his stuff is great.
14) Bob Dylan. Never been a huge fan, but the impact he's had is immense, and his voice aside, the songs stand the test of time.
13) Stevie Wonder. Nearly 500 songs. Set the stage for many who have followed.
12) Roger Waters. Doubtful many others would put him this high, but hey, I'm a Pink Floyd nutbag, so there it is. His solo stuff isn't as good as his Floyd stuff, but it's pretty darn good.
11) Pete Townsend. His stuff set the stage for the punk revolution and he pretty well invented the rock opera. Solo stuff didn't get the same attention, but the lyrics and music are still arresting and compelling.
10) James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich. You don't get to be the biggest, baddest, best-selling rock band of all-time if you suck. These guys don't suck.
9) Chuck Berry. In large measure, he invented rock n' roll. But he could, and did, write blues and r&b as well.
8) Elton John. Okay, having him play at the Harley 100th was a bad idea, but this guy can write songs.
7) Bono/The Edge. I don't like their recent stuff as much as the "classic rock" stuff, but I give everyone else credit for reinventing themselves, so I best do the same for the U2 boys.
6) Jimmy Page/Robert Plant. At their best as a writing duo, no question. But the solo stuff and the other collaborations do add a little to the huge gravitas of the Led Zeppelin catalog.
5) Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus. ABBA sold over 150 million (some put the figure at 500 million) albums. Then these Swedes penned two hugely successful musicals. The ultimate pop music songwriters.
4) Mick Jagger/Keith Richards. Their solo stuff isn't horrible, but it isn't great, but the Stones' body of work is monumental.
3) John Lennon. Died too young, but his Beatles' stuff and his solo stuff were superior to Sir Paul's by a substantial margin. Loopy as a loon once he hooked up with Yoko, but even then, the talent was undeniable.
2) David Bowie. Writes an amazing variety of stuff both for himself and others. Constantly reinventing himself and his music.
1) Paul Simon. Okay, let the stoning begin. I drew up a list of about 40 folks and I couldn't find one that I'd put in front of him. Variety in the music, depth of the lyrics, catchiness of the tunes, durability of the music. It's all there. Lennon maybe could have made a run at the top spot, but he was killed too young.

Just missing the list for a variety of reasons: Bob Marley, Curt Kobain, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Don Henley/Glenn Frey, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Freddie Mercury/Brian May, Jeff Lynn, Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Leonard Cohen and Muddy Waters.

Okay, there's my old fogey's list of Best Songwriters of the previous half-century. Feel free to snark, suggest, tweak or reinvent as you see fit.

Labels: Lists