Who are the 5 greatest songwriters of all-time?

Geoffrey Trueman wrote:Open your minds. If Robbie had strutted his stuff back in Dylans hey day he would have been seen as innovative, charismatic, the new Elvis, and taken the world by storm. Transport Dylan to Robbies hey day and the world would see Dylan for what he is, a boring, whiny old turd with a nasal problem.

Extremely well said

Yeah, if you're a 'tard.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Yeah, if you're a 'tard.

Yep, you are.

Robbie Williams can't even write his own name in block letters. He might cavort about on stage to the transient delight of repressed housewives and Mardi Gras refugees with the attention span of goldfish like some latter-day Barry Manilow, and his voice is just passable, but he hasn't written a solitary song of merit. Like Manilow, Osmond, Cassidy and a hundred other transiently popular crooners from the 60's, 70's and 80's he will be a forgotten man in just a few years.

Dylan, Cohen, Porter, Carmichael, Redding, HDH, Cooke, Mancini, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Patsy Cline, and many others have written great songs which will be around and give pleaseure for decades, if not a century or two.

Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker - Scorpions

David Bowie rates a mention. Personally i don't like much of his work after Aladdin Sane but those 5 albums in the early 70s were very impressive.

Alvin Lee?

lardbucket wrote:Robbie Williams can't even write his own name in block letters. He might cavort about on stage to the transient delight of repressed housewives and Mardi Gras refugees with the attention span of goldfish like some latter-day Barry Manilow, and his voice is just passable, but he hasn't written a solitary song of merit. Like Manilow, Osmond, Cassidy and a hundred other transiently popular crooners from the 60's, 70's and 80's he will be a forgotten man in just a few years.

Dylan, Cohen, Porter, Carmichael, Redding, HDH, Cooke, Mancini, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Patsy Cline, and many others have written great songs which will be around and give pleaseure for decades, if not a century or two.

TLA is not happy with you , Lardy

lardbucket wrote:Robbie Williams can't even write his own name in block letters. He might cavort about on stage to the transient delight of repressed housewives and Mardi Gras refugees with the attention span of goldfish like some latter-day Barry Manilow, and his voice is just passable, but he hasn't written a solitary song of merit. Like Manilow, Osmond, Cassidy and a hundred other transiently popular crooners from the 60's, 70's and 80's he will be a forgotten man in just a few years.

Dylan, Cohen, Porter, Carmichael, Redding, HDH, Cooke, Mancini, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Patsy Cline, and many others have written great songs which will be around and give pleaseure for decades, if not a century or two.

wtf?

Who can forget ??? ....

Music and passion were always the fashion
At the Mac....don't fall in love

(Mac...) don't fall in love
At Macmasters!
At Macmasters!

Robbie Williams?!?! - he doesn't even write his own songs, does he?

Anyhow...


Difficult to quantify 'greatest' when there are so many diffferent styles and genres of music. And I must admit my preferences are heavily Anglocentric.

If I was to name my personal favourites I would chose Morrissey, followed by daylight, and with Lennon / McCartney, Jarvis Cocker, Noel Gallagher and Alex Turner making up the top 5.

Other famous names British names that haven't been mentioned (or haven't been mentioned enough) on this thread are Jagger / Richards, Bowie, Weller, the sometimes maligned Chris Martin, and Richard Ashcroft. Doherty / Barat were briefly brilliant too before completely going off the rails

Other less famous songwriters who I very much enjoy are John Bramwell from I Am Kloot, Tom McRae, Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon), Louise Wener (Sleeper) and Paul Smith (Maximo Park)

You like music too much, Gary.

Merlin wrote:William Blake specifically for Jerusalem.

I'm not sure that counts - Blake wrote that as a poem decades before, I think, Hubert Parry, set it to music.

Music was one of the few things Blake didn't really turn his talents to.

Lardy is where it's at. Spot on. And Elvis is ridiculously overrated anyway.


Good leftfield pick by Gary in Alex Turner. Astonishingly good for his age.

Having read through this and just listened to Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Id have to agree with Pink Floyd - Waters and Gilmour - their ability to write instrumental atmospheric soundscapes is brilliant. Same reason I love Dream Theater, although they write anything from soft rock to progressive masterpieces to heavy metal.

Partly for their style and some musical variety and partly for their almost solo creation of the sound, imagery and style of metal I have to add the members of Black Sabbath (including Dio).

Also for one last suggestion, although I have no idea what their names are, the guys from Dire Straits. My friend has played me a lot recently and its very well written.

[quote="Hass"]

I also think it's interesting that many opt for Lennon without McCartney. It's true that McCartney often lets himself down with overly sentimental lyric choices, but the good outweighs the bad.

He had an ear for melodies that I believe is unmatched. There are also many songs where he gets the lyrics right. eg. Yesterday, For No One, Elanor Rigby, Blackbird, Hey Jude.

There are also many songs that stand as true collaborations between Lennon and McCartney. Without McCartney's input "A Day In the Life" is reduced to Lennon signing about the news. That's still an extremely chilling piece of music, but you'd be missing the middle interlude, the musical orgasm and any references to being turned on.

Cheers.[/quote]

I totally agree with that, Hass. McCartney always reminds me of Steven Spielberg. Both great in their respective fields but both "suffer" from a saccharine optimism and a tendency to get a bit mushy. There's actually nothing wrong with it but us cynics prefer more grit and pain.

Lennon and McCartney worked perfectly together and it's never more obvious than in "Getting Better" where McCartney trills "It's getting better all the time" and Lennon, in the background, almost mutters "couldn't get much worse". They were symbiotic. Needed each other. The Beatles could not have happened without McCartney's genius and I'm pretty sure that if he'd been the one who was assassinated, he'd be far more appreciated than he currently is.

Winkle Spinner wrote:

Merlin wrote:William Blake specifically for Jerusalem.

I'm not sure that counts - Blake wrote that as a poem decades before, I think, Hubert Parry, set it to music.

Music was one of the few things Blake didn't really turn his talents to.

Bruce Dickinson set it to music on one of his albums as well. Different, but no less great.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:

Hass wrote:

I also think it's interesting that many opt for Lennon without McCartney. It's true that McCartney often lets himself down with overly sentimental lyric choices, but the good outweighs the bad.

He had an ear for melodies that I believe is unmatched. There are also many songs where he gets the lyrics right. eg. Yesterday, For No One, Elanor Rigby, Blackbird, Hey Jude.

There are also many songs that stand as true collaborations between Lennon and McCartney. Without McCartney's input "A Day In the Life" is reduced to Lennon signing about the news. That's still an extremely chilling piece of music, but you'd be missing the middle interlude, the musical orgasm and any references to being turned on.

Cheers.

I totally agree with that, Hass. McCartney always reminds me of Steven Spielberg. Both great in their respective fields but both "suffer" from a saccharine optimism and a tendency to get a bit mushy. There's actually nothing wrong with it but us cynics prefer more grit and pain.

Lennon and McCartney worked perfectly together and it's never more obvious than in "Getting Better" where McCartney trills "It's getting better all the time" and Lennon, in the background, almost mutters "couldn't get much worse". They were symbiotic. Needed each other. The Beatles could not have happened without McCartney's genius and I'm pretty sure that if he'd been the one who was assassinated, he'd be far more appreciated than he currently is.

...or Mark Chapman would be

Bukkake White was also behind some fine songs.

Blind Willie McTell too.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote: The Beatles could not have happened without McCartney's genius and I'm pretty sure that if he'd been the one who was assassinated, he'd be far more appreciated than he currently is.

Excuse me while I throw up. McCartney was not a genius. He was a good looking bloke in a band that took the world by storm because they were different. At the height of the Beatles powers him and Lennon could have written their home addresses down on a piece of paper, set it to music and shifted a billion copies worldwide. Imo there hasn't been a more over-rated bunch of toss in the history of music. The bin dipping farkers were nowt but the Bay City Rollers of their day. 'Shang-a-lang', 'We All live in A Yellow Submarine', same s**t, different generation.

So, not a fan?

Geoffrey Trueman wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote: The Beatles could not have happened without McCartney's genius and I'm pretty sure that if he'd been the one who was assassinated, he'd be far more appreciated than he currently is.

Excuse me while I throw up. McCartney was not a genius. He was a good looking bloke in a band that took the world by storm because they were different. At the height of the Beatles powers him and Lennon could have written their home addresses down on a piece of paper, set it to music and shifted a billion copies worldwide. Imo there hasn't been a more over-rated bunch of toss in the history of music. The bin dipping farkers were nowt but the Bay City Rollers of their day. 'Shang-a-lang', 'We All live in A Yellow Submarine', same s**t, different generation.

Amen.

Err, no, I wasn't. That's not to say I dislike them. I just don't adhere to all this 'genius' gubbings. Just like the Bay City Rollers, Take That and other similar boy bands they happened to be in the right place at the right time. The only thing that sets them apart is their longevity.

Barely ten years. Eight, recorded.

Rolling Stones? Status Quo? The Drifters?

But nearly 40 years on the Beatles are still regarded as the greatest purveyors of popular music by just about everyone.

That makes them the greatest.