Who is/was the greatest American songwriter?

[rumguy]

I think it's Bob Dylan.

[graywarrior]

1. Yep

Dylan

[On the Road]

2. Steven Foster Might be Considered

but I'd have to give it to Paul Simon. You need words and music.

[kclown]

5. Agree 200%

And always left off top 100 guitarists.

Just like Joni Mitchell, who invented open-E tuning.  But she
didn't write "The Circle Game", Dave van Ronk did.

[mitchum]

13. Nor did she invent open-E tuning (it's been around since 19th century...

parlor guitar), but she is still VERY good :)

[Canuckistanian]

53. Nor is she American. She's from Canada.

[maxpower]

50. Yup

Paul Simon lyrically and musically

[KissMyAsscroft]

3. People are going to want to slap me for saying this...

But I think Eminem is on the top five lyrically...

Dylan was the best lyricist...Cobain was the best songwriter.

[mitchum]

4. Hank Williams Honorable Mention: Stephen Foster (for getting the...

whole thing rolling)

[rumguy]

6. Dylan is the best lyricist

But I think that some of the early blues singers laid the foundation that people like Dylan stand on...

Their melodies, along with certain folk melodies, are the foundation.

[graywarrior]

7. Tom Rush does Circle Game the best

[jeff30997]

8. John Asscroft !!!

:hurts:

[TheWizardOfMudd]

9. Asscrack

"When Eagles fly Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y . . .

[Myra]

10. Steve Earle is the greatest

No contest.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Louis Jordan

Not the bad actor Louis Jordan, the excellent jazz/swing/blues fusionist Louis Jordan.

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans are also up there. They wrote Tammy, Mona Lisa, Silver Bells, Mr. Ed, To Each His Own and several hundred other songs.

Carole King and Gerry Goffin might also be considered. Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann also rank up there.

Don't forget Steve Allen. "Steverino" was very a prolific songwriter.

Those other guys who got mentioned are also good. :)

--bkl

[Mr. McD]

15. She Dyed her Hair Chartreuse

Love that song I don't know if Louis Jordan wrote but he sang it.:)

[Dogmudgeon]

26. (You Dyed Your Hair) Chartreuse

I'm pretty sure he did write it. If you find out differently, let us know!

BTW, there's a five-CD box set compilation of most of his stuff, and it's under $30. Probably on Amazon.

--bkl

[Arwennick]

12. My Favorites

in no order

George Gerswhin
Cole Porter
Rogers and Hammerstien
Leonard Bernstein
Woody Gutherie
Robert Johnson
Son House
Glenn Miller
Bob Dylan
Steven Foster
John Phillips Sousa**
George Jones
Dolly Parton
Kieth Whitley

I can think of a hundred others that should or could be considered.

** Denotes my pick

[Arwennick]

20. a few more I admired

McCartney
Lennon
H.Chapin
C,Simon
J.Taylor
Tommy Simms(check all of Eric Clapton's songs)
Neil Diamond
Ronnie Milsap
Carlos Santana

I could go on and on
There are so many good ones

[VOX]

30. Excellent list. n/t

[dryan]

52. Very good picks!

[yardwork]

14. Yes, Dylan.

[bobthedrummer]

16. Bob Dylan

eom

[Radical Activist]

17. Woody Guthrie, still the best

The guy Dylan and Springstien worship.

[Mr. McD]

18. Leonard Cohen comes to mind

Bob Dylan, Gorden Lightfoot a couple of favorites.:)

[Dookus]

25. Leonard Cohen's Canadian

[Mr. McD]

27. Ok

:shrug: I didn't know but he has written some of my favorite songs.

[Dookus]

28. I agree

I love him, too. Just saying he can't be a great American songwriter. But he's a helluva Canadian songwriter! :)

[Quahog]

35. Lightfoot is also Canadian

And, BTW, one of the most underrated songwriters in history, I think. Shame most people only remember "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," because Gordon has written some wonderful things over the years.

[dolo amber]

19. Al Hedges

:D

[Whitacre D_WI]

33. Al Hedges is an asshat.

Nobody likes him. ;)

[jpgray]

21. Bob Dylan nicked a lot of things, but I can't pick anyone better

His voice during his freewheelin' years makes him sound like a Ralph Stanley / Woody Guthrie lovechild--not very authentic coming from a Midwestern Jewish kid. Also if you've listened to a good number of early folk/bluegrass, you've heard most of his melodies before. I'm not one for lyrics over music in songwriting, and Dylan's songs almost always fall on the lyrics side, so I wouldn't pick him, but I couldn't tell you who I'd pick instead.

edit: My avatar may seem hypocritical in this sense, but I have some similar caveats against Woody, since you have to note the influence of the Carter family et al on his playing style, his melodies, etc.

[argyl]

22. Steve Earle. Lucinda Williams is a close second.

xx

[TheWizardOfMudd]

23. The team of Henley & Frey

The greatest song writing team to ever come out of America.

[LagaLover]

36. Agree!!

[HEyHEY]

24. HELLOOOOO - Johnny Cash

Keep it simple and true...although my favourite song of his was written by Dylan...Wanted Man.

[OneBlueSky]

29. I was gonna say Joni Mitchell, but she's Canadian, too . . .

but you can't forget the classic songwriters like George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and classical composers like Aaron Copland . . . there were also some amazing jazz composers like Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman . . . probably impossible pick just one, because its so hard to compare one genre to another . . .

[no_hypocrisy]

31. Woody Guthrie, hands down.

Woody documented the forgotten people of the Dustbowl and went on to write "This Land Is Your Land", the song that encapsulates our American phenomenon, especially the last verses which are rarely sung at school assemblies.

[peacefreak]

32. Townes Van Zandt

Dylan
Dolly Parton
John Prine

[Whitacre D_WI]

34. A few who probably don't receive their due praise...

In roughly chronological order:

Mississippi John Hurt
Skip James
A.P. Carter
Sylvester Stewart
Patti Smith (okay, more of a poet who let her band do what it wanted, but she's still great)
Ron House
Karl Hendricks
Franklin Bruno


Also, let's not forget the writers who put Motown on the map: Smokey Robinson and Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, & Lamont Dozier.

[Quahog]

37. I see no mention of Duke Ellington

Is this because we are focusing on "singer-songwriters?"

[terrya]

38. Cole Porter. Hands down the best. eom

[mac56]

42. Second on Cole Porter.

nm

[emulatorloo]

43. Cole Porter, and let's put George Gershwin in contention

n/t

[Loonman]

39. Pete Seeger

Without Seeger, there would be no Dylan.

[johnnie]

40. Seeger is a legend....no doubt but

He isn't as good as Dylan in my opinion. That's like saying without Elvis there would be no Beatles. John and Paul were much better songwriters than Elvis.
The thing about this music thing is...you can go back and back and back and find the influences for everyone.

[regularguy]

41. tie: Duke Ellington / George Gershwin

honorable mention: Paul Simon

[non sociopath skin]

44. The US has produced so many brilliant songrwriters....

.. that there is no way I could choose just one. Or ten. A hundred and I might have a chance ...

The Skin

[lil-petunia]

45. ellington/gershwin/porter

[Bridget Burke]

46. Stephen Foster started it all.

He used his formal musical training to create American song. He listened to the styles of various immigrant groups and raised the minstrel tradition from crude racism to respect for the African-Americans. More importantly, his tunes still have emotional power. Here's "Hard Times Come Again No More" (Emmylou Harris does a fine version):

www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster//gallery/gal_foster_3.html

Where do we go from here? All I can say is "all of the above". We're very rich in song.

Gordon Lightfoot & the McGarrigle sisters both wrote tribute songs to Stephen Foster. But they're Canadian--do they fit into the larger "American" classification? If they do, what about Jose Alfredo Jimenez & his compadres? And from way down south--can we forget Gardel? And if we count "both" Americas, we surely can't neglect the islands.

Music does not respect borders. And we're all very rich in song--even if many of the songwriters do not end well. (That's part of the tradition.)


(No, we can't forget el Rey del Tango.

[Red State Rebel]

47. Can I get a vote in for Irving Berlin?

I love his music, love Gershwin also tho....

[Burma Jones]

48. Dylan - Don't forget Irving Berlin though

Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Carole King, Stevie Wonder too.

[GOPisEvil]

49. Heck...throw George M. Cohan into the mix, too!

[1gobluedem]

51. The Boss!

Bruce Springsteen. Pure poetry.

Paul Simon is pretty darn good too.

[leftofthedial]

54. whew! what a question

the definition of "greatest" is so ambiguous.

Plus, the Tin Pan Alley tradition (which still survives in Nashville) involves cowriters on almost every song.

The short list has to include:

George Gershwin (and Ira)
Cole Porter
Irving Berlin
Smokey Robinson
Bob Dylan
Woody Guthrie
Hank Williams
Harlan Howard
EY Harburg
George M Cohan
Duke Ellington
Huddie Ledbetter
Lerner and Leowe
Burt Bacharach
Jimmie Rodgers
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
Lamont Dozier


then there's:
Randy Newman
John Prine
Don Schlitz
Willie Nelson
Gary Nicholson
Carole King
James Taylor
Steve Earle
Rodney Crowell
Jimmy Webb


And I've left out so many! But I'm late and have to go.

[terrya]

55. Harold Arlen should be added to the list. eom

[misanthrope]

56. Duke Ellington...

...Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Johnny Mercer come to mind. What about Richard Rodgers? Or Holland, Dozier & Holland?

[RandomKoolzip]

57. Diane Warren.

Yes, I am kidding.

[gpandas]

58. dylan n/t

[Kat45]

59. I'd go with Springsteen. n/t

[GumboYaYa]

60. Townes Van Zandt is certainly one of the top songwriters.

If I had to list my top five it would probably be: Dylan, Townes, Lennon (not American), Marley (not American) and Dave Bartholomew.