Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
well lets see your list, mine was written already....

I have no idea. I'm not even sure I get the question. My ten favorite? The ten that I think are the most popular? The top ten in sales? The top ten on the Hit Parade? The ten most prolific? The ten that critics like best?

And - past fifty years? Martha Reeves is still alive, but her big hits were all pre-1968. So would she count or not? And, shoot, what's the fun of a top songwriter list if you can't name Woody Guthrie, Aunt Molly Jackson, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, or Florence Reece?

Anyhow, to answer one of your questions, I didn't name any of the ones you did because I wouldn't have thought of them. You did.

Here are ten I can think of offhand. I'd include Garcia/Hunter, Jagger/Richards, and maybe Lennon/McCartney, but the question specifies individuals, not teams. Anyhow:

Ry Cooder
Aretha Franklin
John Hiatt
Tish Hinojosa
B.B. King
Lyle Lovett
Mike Scott
Nina Simone
Tom Waits
Frank Zappa