Greatest American Songwriter (1 Viewer)

[antipop]

So we're voting on Jonesy's top 5. Baloney. This pole needs to be flushed down the toilet on the PDQ.

what else would you expect from a Jonesy pole??

 

[kansast]

Guthrie, Dylan, Springsteen.. that's kind of a progression there.. ain't it ?

Springsteen definitely influenced by Dylan "Queen of diamonds, ace of spades, newly discovered lovers of the everglades" (sing that in your best Dylan voice

I believe Dylan was influenced some by Guthrie ?

 

[Jonesy77]

No, this is a vote on the objective greatest American songwriter. If I added the freaking Grateful Dead, some people would actually pick that even though it's wrong, and dilute the vote, and thus come up with an erroneous result. My tastes have nothing to do with this. I'm just filtering out the obvious distraction answers, and keeping it focused on the true contenders.

I want this poll to have some sort of intellectual validity.

I'm already regretting adding Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits. Clearly you people can't be trusted to vote correctly.

 

[PayOrPlay]

Old guy comment: This is "greatest songwriter" starting when?

Including Woody suggests you want to include the pre-rock world, but then where are Stephen Foster and Irving Berlin (who belong on the same top tier as Guthrie and Dylan), not to mention Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, and Duke Ellington, all of whom are at least as legit as Simon and Springsteen?

If you limit it to post-1960, though, I do find my winner on your list--Mr. Zimmerman. (And I even sat next to him at a party once!)

 

[BigOdin504]

why is Springsteen on the list at all?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

oh, and Kris Kristofferson

Two man were standing on a bridge
One jumped and screamed you lose
Just left the odd man holding
These late John Garfield blues

 

[Twyst]

the team of henley and frey.

 

[Devildog]

I voted Woody Guthrie just to see Jonesy ***** like a menstruating woman.

 

[geauxboy]

Dolly Pardon? Prince? How many songs have they written and sold to others with very little recognition?

In this pole, I go with Waits.

 

[Twyst]

Dolly Pardon? Prince? How many songs have they written and sold to others with very little recognition?

Heck even lionel richie has a pretty impressive list of songs he's sold off.

 

[GhostFace]

I'm not putting "other" as an option because that would be ********. If he's not on this list, you don't understand the question.

It is good to see that you and DD could at least sit around and "groove
to some tunes" together.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Dolly Pardon? Prince? How many songs have they written and sold to others with very little recognition?

this is causing me to think more than i wanted to - so for "song" i'm thinking meaningful lyrics that you want to sing -- now what makes one want to sing the lyrics?
for paul simon it's the catchy melody - and i think he gets devalued by critics b/c he's melody's are so catchy (and further down that line elton john/bernie taupin, billy joel, phil collins and further down the suck line)
then there're the lyricists who eschew the melody b/c the want you to hear the lyrics - leonard cohen is the chief culprit here, but dylan goes there sometimes, cat stevens & dan folgelberg seemed to simplify there melody to expose the lyrics)
then you have music as theatre and this is where tom waits lives and rufus wainwright is trying to move into (harry chapin, cowboy junkies, local alex mcmurray if you know him)

BUT - music's chief responsibility is to move you and thus prince's songs" as "music" are in a league by themselves (followed by every brass band there ever was, then every afro-pop band)

In this pole, I go with Waits.

b/c you're clearly very, very intelligent

 

[buzd]

cat stevens

Yusef Islam

 

[Jonesy77]

It is good to see that you and DD could at least sit around and "groove
to some tunes" together.

I don't know what that means. Does he like good music? I really know nothing about his musical taste.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Yusef Islam

walaikum salam