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Who's your favorite songwriter?

Not "Who is the BEST", what songwriter's inspire you the most. Which ones have influenced your own writing the most?

Some of my favorites are Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, and Woody Guthrie.


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Hello again, McFredd-o:

We've encountered this topic on more than one ocassion here at JPF. It's always interesting. My reply is always, "Hoagy Carmichael."

All my best,

Dave Rice

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Anyone who writes lyrics that paint pictures or makes me think I'd consider a favorite - but to then say which one has influenced my own writing the most would narrow it down to Larry Norman.

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Richard Dobson


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

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There are way too many good songs written by many different people to name a favorite.


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yeah there's lots and lots. When i say "favorite" i often have a favorite of the day, then the next day someone else is my favorite. smile

I really have been listening to a lot of Peter Case lately. Saw him at the AMA festival in october and was blown away. I like the line in one of his songs "Come what may, I'll be okay if i could only find a stretch of open road."



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I don't know much about Nashville writers though I hear them mentioned a lot here. But in my little world, I am partial to guys like Paul Simon, Gorden Lightfoot, Leon Russell and yes Jimmy Buffett has written some nice non-mainstream songs. I have to say John Prine and Steve Goodman in the same breath. And Rodney Crowell (I guess he's a Nashville guy). These are people that I have played cover songs of. There are more I'm sure. Ben

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Stuart Adamson. He is the whole package. Music. Lyrics. Passion. I admire his originality and ability to write great songs in different genres : Punk, Rock and Country - first in The Skids, then Big Country and finally The Raphaels. He had a keen sense of social and political issues, and a way of addressing them eloquently and powerfully. And he had the greatest gift of being able uplift the human spirit. He was also an amazing guitar player!


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Yeah! What he said...it changes from day to day. Today it's:
Lyle Lovett
John Hiatt
Cindy Walker

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I could listen to Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Ryan Adams all day long. I'm also really inspired by David Bazan.

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My favorite songwriter is Billy Don Burns

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My favorite would be Bruce Cockburn...Prolific, poetic & honest.

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I have many, but will say Marshall Crenshaw is one favorite of mine.


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It's hard to narrow down to just one. There have been a lot that have influenced my writing, at different phases of my songwriting development.
So, I suppose, in chronological order, it would look something like:
•Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo)
•Paul Westerberg (The Replacements)
•Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü)
•Nick Lowe
•Hank Williams

But, for my favorite that hasn't OVERTLY influenced my writing (although I'm sure that he's in there somewhere):
Smokey Robinson

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Walt Aldridge
Matraca Berg
Tom T. Hall
Corky Bernard, aka "Dawg"
Cindy Miller, aka "TINK"

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Too many to mention, but since I've got a minute..
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Pete Townshend, John Lennon, John Prine,Roger Waters, Robbie Robertson, John Fogerty, Mick Jagger/Keith Richards.


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I forget NAMES real-easily, but Over The Years, these come back:
Jimmy Buffett, Paul Simon, Jagger-Richards, Willie Nelson, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, John Lenon, Mancini-Mercer, Paul Anka, Paul Williams, Carly Simon, Donovan, & Arlo Guthrie. Better add Ray Stevens, too...

ALL these Talented Folks have Brightened My Life & Inspired me..(& Many More whose Names I'm unable to recall on Short-Notice..heh!)

So..it's a 16-Way TIE at the Moment.

Thanks,
Big Guy-Hug,
Stan

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You are ALL my favorites!

Every word written has a reason, and every reason has a story, every story has an ending and getting to the ending is a journey that I hope continues on and on for years to come.

Every songwriter I've met has something unique about their presentation, so naming one would be impossible. If we were able to name just one, we would be lying, imo. There are too many to mentions and too little space available on the internet to get them all in.


Caroline


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Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them! (Dove Dark Chocolate)
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The guy who can write "Witchata Lineman" in his 20's and "The highwayman" in his 50's.


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of late it's Linda Perry.

short list:
Mike Reno/Paul Dean
Billy Idol/Steve Stevens
Steve Perry/Jonathan Cain/Neal Schon
Prince
Charlotte Caffey/Jane Wiedlin/Kathy Valentine
Tom Kelly/Billy Steinberg
Diane Warren
Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora
Richard Marx
Deborah Gibson
Daryl Hall/John Oates
Holly Knight
Teena Marie
etc.,



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ME!!!!

After that there are a bunch. To name a few, Jim Croce, Hank Sr., Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Tom T Hall, Roger Miller, and way too many more to mention.


Have a goodun,

John W. Selleck BMI Songwriter
A day without learning is a day lost forever.

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https://www.soundclick.com/artist/default.cfm?bandID=1468958 For Selleck/Kay co-writes
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The blue jays and the robins, and all the others that make a sweet sound. smile


My Music at Soundclick
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~call it a blessing or call it a curse, but I see all of life in verse~

Always open to collaborations smile

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I might have missed it, but I don't remember
seeing Kris Kristofferson listed.

I have seen the morning
burning golden on a mountain in the sky,
Waking with the feeling of the freedom
of an eagle when she flies...
LOVING HER WAS EASIER

I woke up Sunday mornin'
With no way to hold my head
that didn't hurt
The beer I had for breakfast
Wasn't bad, so I had one more
for dessert...
SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN


I'll stop there, but surely
Kris deserves a mention???


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I am mostly inspired by seventies, eighties rock ala Roxy Music/Talking Heads and some other classic rock, prog, new wave, and alt influences.
But I would have to say Paul Simon.
Especially Simon & Garfunkel's stepping out to the mainstream with Sounds Of Silence.
I read to where that album was a rush job.
Pretty incredible.
And that definately was'nt their only notable album.

I was'nt born yet when that came out. But it must have been fascinating to hear that, especially back then.

I also have a soft spot for Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat, Time Passages.

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That's kinda like the old Lay's potato chip commercial - I can't have just one - so:

Tom Petty
Steve Earle
Lucinda Williams
John Prine
Buddy Miller
Kasey Chambers
Kathleen Edwards
Feist
(There are probably more, but I should really be asleep right now!)

Oh, and many of songwriter's I've come across on JPF and MySpace. There are multitudes of great songwriters out there. Too bad we only get to hear a small percentage. So go seek out more independent unknown songwriters!!

Steve V


Steve Vaclavik

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Leon Payne. Wrote LOST HIGHWAY. Recorded by Hank Williams.
Perhaps Hank's Signature Song.

Jimmy Rogers. IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW. Recorded by Webb Pierce as well as others. Webb's Biggest seller.

Bill Anderson. THE TIPS OF MY FINGERS. A big hit by Bill as well as some others.

Marty Robbins. EL PASO. It made Marty Rich.

Merle Travis. SIXTEEN TONS. Recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Roger Miller. KING OF THE ROAD. Recorded by Roger.

A few I can think of.


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While I could name a bunch from the past I won't
My favorite songwriter is one who is writing Country hits TODAY.

Jeffrey Steele would be my choice.


Bill
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Skype; bill.robinson12

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." --Thomas Jefferson didn't say it

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Paul Simon
Carly Simon
Amy Grant
Freddie Mercury
Brian May
Roger Taylor
Alan Parsons


I don't know how much any of them influence my own writing. I am what I am. I don't intentionally ever try to copy anyone.

Linda

[EDIT: adding a couple more - ]
John Deacon
Sandi Patty
John Denver
Dan Fogelberg

Last edited by Linda Adams; 03/09/08 05:16 AM.
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Jimmy Webb - my songwriting hero.

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Bill Anderson
Bob McDill
Merle Haggard
Harold and Don Reid
Ben Peters

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the modern group (jest kidding)

Carrie Underwood
Tim McGraw
Elvis Presley
Jay DeMarcus
Lee Ann Rimes

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Those are your favorite songwriters? I know Elvis never wrote anything, and except for Tim McGraw I have no idea about the others, but was not aware of Carrie Underwood or Lee Ann Rimes writing anything.

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john hiatt

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Hey Linda!
What about John Deacon?? Bit of a "misfire" there? LOL!
I'm a big Queen fan too :-)


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Over the last 2 decades, i've had 5 favourite songwriters:

Linda Perry - she influences me a lot at the moment
PJ Harvey & Kurt Cobain - they have influenced me a lot over the last 10 years
Tori Amos - i'm jealous of her, she makes it all look so easy lol
Patrick Leonard - he inspired my first songwriting steps, back in the late 80s

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I love reading these lists! Makes me wanna max my credit card out on iTunes haha.

Mine:
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Patty Griffin
Kathleen Edwards
Deb Talan (The Weepies)

That's this month.

De-lurking and glad to be here....


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gary louris
ryan adams
julie miller

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Originally Posted by Jack Swain
Those are your favorite songwriters? I know Elvis never wrote anything, and except for Tim McGraw I have no idea about the others, but was not aware of Carrie Underwood or Lee Ann Rimes writing anything.


Yeah Carrie wrote one I think on her first. And now with her new release she wrote a couple. With great songwriters nonetheless. They actually wrote at the opry house, or the ryman (I really cant remember which one)to get inspiration for the songs. Elvis was actually credited as writing some...but that was back in the shady days of "well how bad do you want me to sing your song?" Enough to give me a cut of the song?"

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Originally Posted by Kester
Hey Linda!
What about John Deacon?? Bit of a "misfire" there? LOL!
I'm a big Queen fan too :-)


Hey Kester!
I should add him too, you're right! Duh.

John's songs don't tend to be my favorite songs of-all-time, although I like them a lot. Seemed like the question was "who influences you" the most in your own writing. Even though I admitted I don't know how much any of my favorites influence me. smile

Brian and Freddie's songs "speak to me" the most, they can really hit me in the gut. Roger twists things around that grab you lyrically. Lyrics move me the most in a song, typically, and John's lyrics don't "move" me the same way, although they're all right, and interesting. He does great story songs. His melodies and rhythms are great though, and the basslines he wrote are awesome. So I didn't mean to knock him at all by leaving him out. (Actually, it was more likely me trying not to look obsessive and probably failing anyway.)

Nice to meet another Queen fan, who actually knows "Misfire" - and you know it was John's too, I'm sure. hehe Here I thought I was all alone on this board! Thanks for 'coming out!' LOL.

And to give John full credit - I totally, stupidly love "Another One Bites the Dust" - even though it was so stinkin' popular and overplayed and has silly lyrics - I can listen to it 5, 6 times in a row and not get sick of it. And I STILL can't sing along to it. Holy cow. My other John favorite is "Spread Your Wings." Same thing.

That's what I love about Queen... re-play-ability.
I would start a thread on that, but...
My current favorite 're-play it so many times in a row your family screams for mercy' song is "My Melancholy Blues."

Anyway, if you ever need a Queen trivia fix, feel free to PM me anytime to chitchat. smile

Linda

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Hello again, McFreddo:

I've decided to change my original answer. My favorite songwriter is me. (Who else would put up with such a pugnacious old geezer?) Other than that, Hoagy is still my songwriting idol but I appreciate such a broad spectrum of writers and genres, you really have posed a difficult question disguised as a simple one. (John Selleck inspired me to step out of the shadows and admit to being fond of myself... LOL!)

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OK, I love several of the ones already brought up (Tori Amos is one in particular) but here are a couple I haven't heard mentioned:

Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.
Oh, Robert Johnson and Rev. Gary Davis pop in my mind as well.

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All of the above! You guys nailed them all except for about another hundred or 4. grin

There are so many great songs out there and each one has a songwriter behind it and they're all my favorite at the time I'm loving their song....

Steve "Pollyanna" West grin


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my favorite songwriter is tim mcgraw and faith hill i have alway dreamed about working with them too. i have a special song that i wanted them to do for me. but they didnt answer the message on myspace so i gave up on it

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Very interesting yet difficult question to answer. The reason is because most of the names listed above may have (indeed) been the artists/performers of many popular songs, but in most cases there were many other writers involved. For example, Amy Grant used mostly outside (non performing) writers.

In other words, back in the days of the "super stars", many songs where written by relatively unknown writers, so we'd have to really dig to pull up all those names. The best way is to check song sheet credits inside popular song books or around the net. In most cases the stage performers got all the "fame & glory" while the actual songwriters where somewhere behind the curtains.

Things may be changing now for most genres because now more than ever we have Singer/Songwriters; so the songwriter and the performance personality are wrapped up in the same "famous" stage name. This is more how it was in the days of classical and neo-classical music. All the "famous" composers started out with performing their own music, so they got famous not only for composing the music but also for performing it. They had to do both well, so there was less of them and they had to be "great" to raise through the "clutter and noise" and survive this many years.

This concept is also true for many modern day bands, probably starting with bands like Glen Miller (back in the 1940's) and of course mostly through the Beatles era and beyond to this day. Think of Chicago, Pink Floyd, many of the "smooth jazz" giants and almost all modern day rappers, etc. Their bands or groups wrote their own songs and they also performed them.

From what I hear, Country music is about the only genre left which outsources songwriters, but it's probably less than 50% of the time anymore. The whole industry seems to be going in the direction of singer/songwriters and bands that create their own music and stage it, so they get famous for doing both.

Michael


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Originally Posted by McFredd-o
Who's your favorite songwriter?

Not "Who is the BEST", what songwriter's inspire you the most. Which ones have influenced your own writing the most?

Some of my favorites are Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, and Woody Guthrie.



Very difficult question to answer. The question of who is the best of all time is highly subjective. Obviously, you would think that your favorite is the best. I have a few in a variety of different genres.

Here are a few. This list is in no particular order, BTW.

Cole Porter - Anyone who can write "I've Got You Under My Skin", my favorite Sinatra tune ever, gets a place on my list.

Irving Berlin - What would Bing Crosby and Christmas have been with no 'White Christmas'? What would Kate Smith and America have been with no 'God Bless America"?

John Lennon and Paul McCartney - too many great tunes to list. Most of the Beatles albums contain not just hits, but standards.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - These guys have always been overshadowed by Lennon and McCartney but they were (and still are) great themselves.

Bob Dylan - 'Like a Rolling Stone', 'Blowing in the Wind, 'All Along the Watchtower'. What else can I say?

Paul Williams - Numerous standards of the early 70s, recorded by such singing greats as Barbara Streisand and the Carpenters. 'Rainy Days and Mondays' and 'I won't Last a Day Without You' are two of my ALL TIME favorites.

Bert Bacharach and Hal David - This great songwriting team wrote numerous hits for Dionne Warwick and the Carpenters. They won an academy award for 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head,' recorded by B.J. Tomas.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant - these two don't get their just due sometimes. Zeppelin has always had a reputation for using the material of other artists and not giving proper credit, but they also wrote some of the greatest songs in Rock and Roll history, such as 'Kashmir' and 'Stairway to Heaven'

Elton John and Bernie Taupin - It is hard to imagine that Elton John only decided to become a performing artist when he and Bernie could find nobody willing to record their songs.

Carole King - Tapestry is one of the best albums of all time.

James Taylor - I just love this guy, everything about him: his playing, his singing, his writing.

Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian - OK, if you are not a fan of contemporary heavy metal, you have probably never heard of either of these guys. They are half of the band System Of A Down. 'Chop Suey' is one of my top five favorite songs ever.

Jimmy Webb - penned the great Glen Campbell recorded standards 'Wichita Lineman' and 'Galveston'.

There are others I could list but I don't have the time at the moment. I'll add if one or two come to mind later.

GREAT THREAD here.



Fisherman hook fish; songwriters fish for hooks

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Originally Posted by thepinkstockbrokers
my favorite songwriter is tim mcgraw and faith hill i have alway dreamed about working with them too. i have a special song that i wanted them to do for me. but they didnt answer the message on myspace so i gave up on it


As far as I know, neither one of these two are SONGWRITERS. They are only PERFORMERS who record other people's songs. I once heard McGraw interviewed about songwriting and he said he won't even TRY to compete with the great writers who have penned his hits.

This reflects the most frustrating part about being a non-performing writer. EVERYONE ALWAYS BELIEVES TS THAT THE PERFORMER WROTE THE SONG. I bet 75% of McGraw's fans think he wrote LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYIN' by himself.

On the other hand, if you are getting the royalty checks on time and aren't being stalked by paparazzi, I guess you don't really mind so much.


thepinkstockbrokers,

Don't be discouraged because you didn't get a reply from Tim. If you only knew how many songwriters try to pitch their songs to him every day, you would understand. You will have to send your song through a publisher or someone connected with his manager or producer and hope he is currently looking for new material. Everyone wants a McGraw or a Hill cut and you are competing with the absolute best in Nashville for what few cuts are available.


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Hi "Folks"

This one is EASY!

When you ask which writer has "inspired" me the most the answer was a no brainer.

The catalog of "songs" entitled: Psalms, of King David.

Wayne


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The Beatles from what I have read of pop history were one of those first acts to where the band made their originals.
That has seemed to be commonplace.
I tried doing a coffee house blues standard to expand my horizons upon meeting a blues musician.
He was to put it mildly, very discouraging.
Then there are people to where if you have a quality they like, they expect you to settle and do one thing.
I am sure glad The Beatles kicked down that door.
I still can't see how one can write a song and not want to attempt to play it.
I can't read sheet music and only know how to read some tab and chord scales. I wonder how many musicians actually write a song out on paper first.

But the type of songwriting I also notice is what musicians don't tend to get credit for. What lies within the song.
Like the guitar player that put in their fill or had a certain spin to that song.

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Very cool Linda,

One of the things I have always most loved about Queen is that they are all songwriters. Growing up, I always wanted to take my favorite bits of each member of Queen and put it into my music, which in a very odd and barely recognizable way I think I did. LOL. "A Night At The Opera" was on my turntable for over one year straight in 1975-76 so how could it not permeate my being?

My favorite "John Song" is definitely "Spread Your Wings" probably followed by "Who Needs You" so "News Of The World" was a good album for John to my ears.

I am really looking forward to the new album with Paul Rodgers as well. Don't know if you check out BrianMay.com, but Brian has a really great site and is very active on it himself.

Anyway...I could go on and on about Queen...maybe we should have that chat...someday oneday :-)


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