# Songwriters



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

This thread will be where you can discuss and post music of your favorite songwriters.

I'll start off with one of mine: *Guy Clark*





















Please tell us about your favorite songwriters.


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## Comity (Nov 8, 2020)

Guy Clark is great. 

Lou Reed
David Bowie
Bob Dylan
Mickey Newbury
many more


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Bruce Cockburn has been a favorite of mine for the past 20+ years. He's a superb guitarist and a fine lyricist too.

1994





1976





1999


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Anna Tivel *is someone I only recently discovered last year.






*Ellen Jewel * - good choice. I haven't listened to *Bruce Cockburn* much - but that's why I started this thread to get some suggestions to hear that for some reason I've not gotten too.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Since you're more of an acoustic listener I recommend Cockburn's 70s output. Although there are many fine songs on the 80s records, the production is dated like many records from that era. And there is some caustic political content. I like his 90s output as well including Nothing But A Burning Light-1991, Dart To The Heart-1994, Breakfast In New Orleans -1999. These are acoustic/electric but have more of an organic, rootsy sound compared to the 80s stuff. There are also two excellent double live albums from different eras. Circles In The Stream-1977, Slice O' Life-2013. Both feature loads of great acoustic guitar work.

I like this cover of the Blind Willie Johnson tune.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Another superb acoustic guitarist/songwriter I'd like to mention is Brooks Williams. He lives in central Mass and I've seen him in coffee houses in my town.











Acoustic instrumental with slide.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Okay, one more guy I've been listening to for 25+ years is Harvey Reid from York, ME. He is one of the finest all around acoustic musicians I've ever heard but he keeps a rather low profile as he has been operating independently from day one of his career. He has his own record company and website called Woodpecker.com. At this point he's probably released over 20 CDs but I recommend Circles for starters or his excellent double live CD, In Person. If you want to listen to a musician who is a master of traditional guitar styles both American and British, Harvey is the man. He plays the autoharp too.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

NoCoPilot said:


>


One of my all time faves. _Sail Away_ and _Nilsson Sings Newman_ are both fantastic. One of songs which I think is one of his best is "Cowboy" here sung by Nilsson..


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Thank for the clips of *Brooks Williams* and *Harvey Reid*, also, I'm enjoying the *Cockburn* clips.

How is his name pronounced? Is the "ck" silent?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

SanAntone said:


> Thank for the clips of *Brooks Williams* and *Harvey Reid*, also, I'm enjoying the *Cockburn* clips.
> 
> How is his name pronounced? Is the "ck" silent?


Yeah, he pronounces it Co-burn.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Malcolm Holcombe*






"Rocky Ground " written by Malcolm Holcombe

From the album _Pretty Little Troubles_ (Released on: 2017-04-07)
℗ Gypsy Eyes Music under exclusive license from Singular Recordings/Gokuhi, LLC


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Tim O'Brien is another talented songwriter and instrumentalist. I like his burnished, baritone vox.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

starthrower said:


> Tim O'Brien is another talented songwriter and instrumentalist. I like his burnished, baritone vox.


Have you heard his recordings with *Darrell Scott*, another fine songwriter?






They perform often together and have released two full length records.

Darrell Scott wrote You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've heard a little. My library had a couple CDs.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

My problem with the word songwriter is... is it meant here just as folksinger songwriter, or it's meant as a more generic "person who writes songs"?

In any case, considering the first one (to a degree) Tim Buckley has always been a big favorite of mine, from the first more conservative albums influenced by Dylan to the chamber folk jazz to the more experimental stuff to the funk of later albums. Incredible singer too.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Not folk singer only, imo. And I don't consider someone a folksinger just because they play acoustic guitar. I would call Harvey Reid a folk specialist, but not Bruce Cockburn or Tim Buckley.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

starthrower said:


> Not folk singer only, imo. And I don't consider someone a folksinger just because they play acoustic guitar. I would call Harvey Reid a folk specialist, but not Bruce Cockburn or Tim Buckley.


well some of his stuff is quite traditional, the first two albums and some of his live albums too like, like the beautiful Dream letter.
Then of course, something like Starsailor was definitely more experimental and a some of the later stuff was heavily into funk, but how would you call something like this?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Beautiful song! Tim Buckley sounds like a modern artist to my ears. Folk music is Doc Watson, Norman Blake, John Renbourn, etc.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

norman bates said:


> My problem with the word songwriter is... is it meant here just as folksinger songwriter, or it's meant as a more generic "person who writes songs"?


*A songwriter: a person who writes or co-writes songs.*

Although, I am more interested in songwriters who are not primarily performing artists. Of course most songwriters these days often produce their own records, but the songwriters I am mainly interested in are not major label recording artists.

Here's one, *Otis Gibbs*.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Here's the kind of songwriter I want to celebrate. The guys behind the scenes who write great songs which are recorded by other singers. Nashville is full of these guys. Writers nights like this happen every night and even famous songwriters will play the songs they are proud of which often have never been recorded.

*Hugh Prestwood*






"The Song Remembers When"

Of course this one was a huge hit for Trisha Yearwood.


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## arapinho1 (Oct 11, 2020)

Townes Van Zandt. I'm suprised he hasn't been mentioned


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

arapinho1 said:


> Townes Van Zandt. I'm suprised he hasn't been mentioned


I was waiting for someone else (besides myself) to mention him. Thanks.

Do you have some favorite songs?


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

A few songs by Townes Van Zandt

*Marie*






*Tecumsah Valley*






*Pancho and Lefty*






*Kathleen*






*If I Needed You*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Townes Van Zandt Interview 1993


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Hayes Carll - Arkansas Blues* (2020)








> For nearly two decades, Hayes Carll has been making consistently great singer-songwriter records, influenced by the back-porch songcraft of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. While off the road in Nashville for his longest stretch in years, Carll had the chance to revisit some of his best material - which he reimagines on a new acoustic album, Alone Together Sessions, out September 4th on Dualtone.
> 
> "It's probably good to pause every now and then, to take stock of everything," Carll said in a statement, talking about returning to his older material in the studio. "When you make your living playing out there for people, you're constantly in motion. That momentum doesn't leave much time for thinking about what happened, let alone what it all means. How often does someone get to go back in, change the rhythms, turn up guitars, shift the perspective of a lyric or the delivery of a vocal? The more I sang these songs, the more I learned about them."
> 
> Carll teamed up with his friend, songwriter-producer Darrell Scott, to record new versions of songs going all the way back to 2002's "Arkansas Blues," a haunting ballad about touring while trying to escape old love on the road. The new interpretation of the song is looser and more conversational. (Rolling Stone)


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## arapinho1 (Oct 11, 2020)




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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ok, since I mentioned Willard Robison I want to put some of his songs. I love how in his song jazz, blues, country and folk elements seem to coexist so well (after all most of his stuff was made before genres started being so divided as happened later). Only Hoagy Carmichael and some Alec Wilder managed to convey that sense of relaxed life away from the city.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

(this one is instrumental, am I cheating?)

ok another moving one with Ben Webster and Teddy Wilson, when they knew that Johnny Hodges passed away





and the man himself





and I've not mentioned a couple of his most famous songs like A cottage for sale and The devil is afraid of music (unfortunately the version with him singing and playing the piano has been removed)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Blaze Foley*

Clay Pigeons






If I Could Only Fly






Cold, Cold World






Foley was born Michael David Fuller in Malvern, Arkansas on December 18, 1949. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas and performed in a gospel band called The Singing Fuller Family with his mother, brother and sisters.

Foley worked with Gurf Morlix, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Schwartz, Billy Block, Calvin Russell, and others.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2020)

This is more of an experiment than it is anything else - one that requires the individual participants to make decisions as to its validity as a tool for exploration...

This is the site I'm experimenting with -

https://www.last.fm/

Near the top right side is a search icon - I click on it - a search box opens and I type in "*Townes Van Zandt*" -

I click on his name under "Artists" and a second page opens -

In the middle right side of the page is "Similar to..." and "View All Artists" - I clicked on it and here's the page -

https://www.last.fm/music/Townes+Van+Zandt/+similar

Here are the results -

Blaze Foley

Guy Clark

John Prine

Gram Parsons

Steve Earle

Gillian Welch

Gene Clark

Kris Kristofferson

Hank Williams

Willie Nelson

Any thoughts as to the validity of the results?


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2020)

Plug in "*Bruce Cockburn*" and these are the "Artists similar to..."

https://www.last.fm/music/Bruce+Cockburn/+similar

Rickie Lee Jones

John Hiatt

Patty Griffin

Harry Manx

Shawn Colvin

Sam Phillips

Greg Brown

Leo Kottke

Joan Armatrading

Cowboy Junkies

Any thoughts as to the validity of these?


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2020)

Plug in "*Blaze Foley*" and these are the "Artists similar to..."

https://www.last.fm/music/Blaze+Foley/+similar

Townes Van Zandt

Guy Clark

John Prine

Jerry Jeff Walker

Kris Kristofferson

Justin Townes Earle

Charlie Parr

Terry Allen

Colter Wall

Merle Travis

Any thoughts as to the validity of these?


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2020)

You could probably nail me for "borderline trolling" on this one although I'm really just providing it as a research resource for the topic "Songwriters"...

Rolling Stone Magazine - "The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time" -

https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/

I'll list numbers 10 through 1 -

10.) Stevie Wonder

9.) Joni Mitchell

8.) Paul Simon

7.) Carole King/ Carol King & Gerry Goffin

6.) Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

5.) Smokey Robinson

4.) Chuck Berry

3.) John Lennon

2.) Paul McCartney

1.) Bob Dylan


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Dylan and the Band said:


> This is more of an experiment than it is anything else - one that requires the individual participants to make decisions as to its validity as a tool for exploration...
> 
> This is the site I'm experimenting with -
> 
> ...


They are pretty valid results.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Dylan and the Band said:


> Plug in "*Blaze Foley*" and these are the "Artists similar to..."
> 
> Similar artists - Blaze Foley | Last.fm
> 
> ...


Including Charlie Parr is pretty cool reference. Not obvious but valid. Terry Allen is another great songwriter to link to Blaze. Colter Wall is not right on, at least not IMO.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Merle Travis Walkin' The Strings is an album I dig.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Diana Jones*
















My favorite album of hers so are is _Museum of Appalachia Recordings_

View attachment 146434


Recorded live in a cabin at Tennessee's Museum of Appalachia, with two sidekicks and a crackling fire, but its sound (guitar, fiddle, banjo) is rich, the playing faultless and Jones's distinctive vocals imperious - The Guardian

Here's something from her most recent recording


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Harder Dreams - John Moreland*






John Robert Moreland (born June 22, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Moreland sometimes plays solo with an acoustic guitar, but was often accompanied by two different bands: the Black Gold Band (now defunct) or the Dust Bowl Souls. Though his earlier music was more rock-based, his more recent releases are characterized as being sparsely acoustic.

He is characterized as a songwriter's songwriter. American television host and political commentator Rachel Maddow tweeted praise of Moreland's work: "If the American music business made any sense, guys like John Moreland would be household names." Moreland posits that Maddow probably saw him opening for Lucero, a band Maddow likes. Moreland jokes that her remark was "the first time his dad has agreed with Rachel Maddow." During the summer of 2015, Moreland opened for Jason Isbell, Dawes, and Patty Griffin.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*John Baumann*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

_South Front Street_
by *Grayson Capps*

View attachment 146515


Grayson Capps' 'South Front Street' is a 16-song retrospective of the acclaimed South Alabama singer-songwriter's career, compiled by his wife and longtime musical foil, Grammy® Award-winning producer/engineer, Trina Shoemaker. In the album's liner notes, Shoemaker explains: "I began this as a personal compilation that I sequenced for myself. It is a collection of songs that paint a picture of our life together and reveals a world from the uniquely enchanted, poetic and tormented perspective of Grayson Capps." She later continues: "These songs capture a life in motion, in pain and joy, in gain and loss, in humility and in grace."


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2020)

I once had a six month assignment in Alberta in which I had to alternate between being in Edmonton and Calgary. I chose to live in Red Deer which is a lovely city that is located almost midway between the two.

Thus is meant a one and a half hour drive to Edmonton on AB-2 N and a one and a half hour drive to Calgary on AB-2 S.

I was there from October to March... And I had to be where I had to be - weather be damned...

At the time I was using a leased vehicle that came with only a radio to pass the time.

The playlists were extraordinarily diverse ranging from "country music" at one end of the spectrum to "country music" at the other end of the spectrum.

I liked the tunes... eventually...

This was written by Rodney Crowell and Harlan Howard and performed by "Highway 101" -






Harlan Howard (along with Hank Cochran) also wrote "I Fall To Pieces" -


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2020)

Patty Loveless recorded this tune by Kostas (who probably deserves a thread of his own) -






Written by Hal Bynum and Bud Reneau -


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2020)

Carlene Carter co-wrote (along with Al Anderson) this tune which is insanely catchy -






This one was co-written by Carlene Carter along with her then boyfriend Howie Epstein, Benmont Tench (both of whom were members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers) and Perry Lamek -






Carlene Carter was married to Nick Lowe (What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?") from 1979 to 1990.


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2020)

And last of all - post number 100 - au revoir...

These two tunes by "Baillie and the Boys" -

"Long Shot" written by Gary Scruggs and Don Schlitz (inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame - another guy who could use a thread of his own) -






Written by Richard Leigh (composer of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue") and Waylon Holyfield (his music has been regarded as a standard for "honest simplicity" in the Nashville writing community).


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Shel Silverstein wrote some great songs, surprised no one mentioned him yet.

25 Minutes to Go





The Unicorn


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Stephen Sondheim


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

jegreenwood said:


> Stephen Sondheim


Oh, Sondheim, for sure. A few years ago I found his two volume set of books about his songwriting filled with lyrics to most of his songs _Finishing the Hat_ and _Look I Made a Hat_. He tells the back stories for many of the songs, includes alternate verses and also gives his "rules" for theater songwriting. Great books.

_Lyrics on Several Occasions_ by Oscar Hammerstein II is also a good book, and one he recommends (he was mentored by Hammerstein).


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

*Jackson Frank*





Jackson C. Frank - Stitch in Time





Jackson C. Frank (1965) (Full Album)

He could write some amazing songs. I bought this biography and thought about him quite a bit in 2020. It's so sad he never got the help he needed. Paul Simon produced his only album he released in his lifetime, but he did have enough other tracks for about another album which was released bit by bit.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Milk and Honey (2001 Remaster)

This one in some form of engineering is in the album above but wanted to point it out.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

A lot of US based artists I've never heard of in this thread - when time/mind set permits I'll give some a listen so thanks for the heads up guys.

If I may as a Scotsman suggest a quintessentially English songwriter who for me was a great if tormented talent - Nick Drake.

Cello Song


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Mary Gauthier*


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

May I suggest another old favourite of mine from the early seventies - John Martyn.

Memories of me and friend singing this at the top of our voices on the walk back from the next village after a few (cough, cough) ales.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Nick Drake covered some Jackson Frank songs. They're online. Frank was a big influence on the folk scene and through others his influence has been a part of a majority of people's lives through acts like Simon and Garfunkel and Al Stewart. It was hard for me to appreciate at first Frank because clearly he did not get into any rehabilitation and must have seen himself as above having mental illness since he never admitted that he had any, at least any that could be treated. It was just depression from the trauma from the school explosion that killed 15 of his classmates and which he barely survived. So, for a while I was a bit creeped out by his music, all except for Stitch in Time which is so beautiful that it's hard not to like.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Sandy Denny another songwriter taken from us too young - I loved her work with Fairport Convention and her most well known song 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes' has been covered by a multitude of people.

Try this song as another example of her abilities.
I'd recommend the album it comes from - 'The Northstar Grassman and the Ravens' as a great showcase of her songs.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

I'm a Dreamer by Sandy Denny ......wonderful song!


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Some rare Townes Van Zandt footage.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

TIA BLAKE & her folk group - Folksongs & Ballads (1971) [FULL ALBUM]

Recorded by her in Paris when she was 18.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My favorite songwriters. I break them out into two groups, not ranked (they are all "my favorites"):

Masters
*Guy Clark
Steve Earle
Kris Kristofferson
Willie Nelson
John Prine
Billy Joe Shaver
Townes Van Zandt*

Favorites
*Hayes Carll
Blaze Foley
Malcolm Holcombe
Diana Jones
Kieran Kane
James McMurtry
Buddy Miller
Anna Tivel
Gillilan Welch
Lucinda Willilams*

Who''s on your list?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

> Who''s on your list?


Richard Thompson
Joni Mitchell
Mose Allison
Bruce Cockburn
Gordon Lightfoot
Cole Porter
The Gershwin brothers
Duke Ellington
Tom Waits


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Sturgill Simpson* (1978) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor.

As of August 2021, he has released seven albums as a solo artist. His first two albums, _High Top Mountain_ and _Metamodern Sounds in Country Music,_ were independently released in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The latter was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, listed 18th on Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2014," and named among "NPR's 50 Favorite Albums of 2014." His third album, _A Sailor's Guide to Earth_, was released on Atlantic Records and was Simpson's first major-label release, later earning him Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards while also being nominated for Album of the Year. Simpson's fourth album, _Sound & Fury_, was released on September 27, 2019 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards. He released two albums in 2020 - _Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1 _and _Vol. 2_ - which feature bluegrass interpretations of songs from across his catalog, and marked his return to independent music. His seventh studio album, _The Ballad of Dood and Juanita_, was released in August 2021. Simpson's style has been met with critical favor and frequent comparisons to outlaw country. (Wikipedia)

Sturgill Simpson is a _very_ interesting and talented songwriter/artist - stylistically he has exhibited an amazing grasp, and each new record seems to chart a new direction. He followed his avant-Rock album _Sound & Fury_ with two double records of Bluegrass versions of his previously unrecorded songs. His latest album is a song cycle which again, is something new from him.

But the bottomline is they are all really good. Here's _The Ballad of Dood and Juanita_ (his music starts after the first minute).


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

A couple of great songwriters I've been listening to since the holiday season:

*Stephen Sondheim*
*Bob Dylan*

Very different from each other, but what they have in common is a care with the lyrical content and how it sings. They also both have a very identifiable style or voice.

I wonder who else might qualify as a great songwriter in their league?


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

starthrower said:


> Gordon Lightfoot


Yes. A fantastic songwriter. His United Artists records were very important to me - then with the Warner stuff he came into full bloom.

He was musically literate too, and notated his own lead sheets (melody, lyrics, and chords) for all his songs. A very talented guy.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Great song -

*James Taylor* - _Never Die Young_


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Marina Allen : Centrifics*
℗ Fire Records
Released on: 2022-09-16






"Her vocals draw you in, at times conversational and stoner-y, at others floating into the clouds a la Karen Carpenter (though it’s hard to imagine Karen dropping “*************” into a verse as elegantly as Allen does on the gorgeous “Better”). Allen even nails the dreamy jazz balladry of “New Song Rising,” accompanied only by spine-tingling celeste. 

However, it’s the songwriting that keeps your attention, with sharp melodies and lyrics that are melancholy but never without an overriding wit, a little bit wasted, a little but wide-eyed. However tasteful and timeworn the sonics may be, _Centrifics_ always has a surprise in store for the listener, something that makes you sit up and pay attention." |* t wilcox/**aquarium drunkard*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Amy Ray : If It All Goes South*
Daemon Records






"Amy Ray is on a good roll lately. Recently accorded a lifetime achievement award for her efforts as part of the Indigo Girls, and a proud mom as well, she can also revel in the release of her seventh solo album, a dynamic set of songs that gives her an identity of her own, even as the Indigos continue to enjoy their own success. Ray isn’t reticent about venturing out on her own, purveying a sound that’s markedly different from the approach she takes with her day job, but equally emphatic all on its own.

"That’s evident at the outset with the tenacious trappings of “Joy Train” and later, the country twang that permeates “Cowboys and Pirates.” Ray is an astute observer of the human condition, and there’s little that escapes her gaze. Nevertheless, she doesn’t shy away from more tender trappings, as evidenced by the easy pace and gentle ramble of “Chuck Will’s Widow,” the wistful reflection that illuminates “From This Room,” the quiet repose found in “Muscadine,” and the elegiac enchantment of “They Won’t Have Me.” No matter what the tone or tempo, Ray clearly possesses an emotional clarity as well as the innate ability to shift the settings, a skill that results in a varied set of songs that can be, by degrees, both tender and tempestuous." (*American Songwriter)*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

HERE IT IS - HERE IT IS: A TRIBUTE TO LEONARD COHEN










Larry Klein, who produced Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY Album of the Year winning release _River: The Joni Letters_, has assembled another extraordinary star-studded project with _Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen_. 

This heartfelt tribute to Klein’s dear friend, the legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, presents stunning renditions of his profound songs by an impressive and eclectic line-up of guest vocalists including James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Gregory Porter, Peter Gabriel, Nathaniel Rateliff, David Gray, Sarah McLachlan, and Luciana Souza. The backing band is no less impressive featuring a remarkable quintet of modern jazz talent including guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Nate Smith. (Blue Note Records)

1. Steer Your Way – Norah Jones
2. Here It Is – Peter Gabriel
3. Suzanne – Gregory Porter
4. Hallelujah – Sarah McLachlan
5. Avalanche – Immanuel Wilkins
6. Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye – Luciana Souza
7. Coming Back to You – James Taylor
8. You Want It Darker – Iggy Pop
9. If It Be Your Will – Mavis Staples
10. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy – David Gray
11. Famous Blue Raincoat – Nathaniel Rateliff
12. Bird on The Wire – Bill Frisell


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Two great songwriters - who often perform together.

*John Prine - "Sam Stone" *






*Iris DeMent - "Our Town"*






*John Prine and Iris DeMent - "In Spite of Ourselves"*


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

SanAntone said:


> My favorite songwriters. I break them out into two groups, not ranked (they are all "my favorites"):
> 
> Masters
> *Guy Clark
> ...


Great list and some names for me to check out, but how can you not have Gram Parsons on it?


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

don’t really know the criteria - so just excluding rock and classical

Burt Bacharach
Hoagy Carmichael
WC Handy
Tony Jobim
Robert John
Johnny Mercer
Gram Parsons
Bob Wills


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Bwv 1080 said:


> Great list and some names for me to check out, but how can you not have Gram Parsons on it?


GP is a good songwriter but I think of him more as a stylist/bandleader/singer, although, you're right he wrote some great songs, like the one you posted, and "Hickory Wind."

Done here by Emmylou Harris


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Bwv 1080 said:


> don’t really know the criteria - so just excluding rock and classical
> 
> Burt Bacharach
> Hoagy Carmichael
> ...


Most among my favorites (not heard of Robert John). Never heard *Antonio Carlos Jobim* called Tony Jobim - Tom yes, but not Tony. Although I guess it works. *Burt Bacharach* has been a huge interest of mine since I was in high school, this was the late '60s - and when I think of Burt Bacharach I also think of *Brian Wilson*.

Not mentioned yet, but a really creative songwriter - this song co-written with *Van **** Parks*, one more amazingly talented songwriter, is truly a masterpiece.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Oregon-based songwriter *Anna Tivel*’s newest album _Outsiders_ starts with a lens so wide that we have left the planet to look back from a great distance at the turmoil and beauty of our shared humanity. From there, the lens pulls close and unfolds in a gripping collection of stories so often ignored. Tivel’s flawed and honest characters move through a landscape of hurt and loss, of small triumph and big love. In 11 songs full of recognition, veracity and hope, Tivel’s watchful and empathetic eye details the undeniable ache of living.

_Outsiders, look up / The night is dark but brilliant and it turns out we are not so different_

Recorded almost entirely live to tape in Rock Island, IL with producer and multi-instrumentalist *Shane Leonard* and engineer *Brian Joseph* (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens), the album is a truly collaborative exploration. Tivel gathered the same vibrant group of friends from her acclaimed record, _The Question_, which NPR heralded as “one of the most ambitious folk records of 2019.” 

*"Black Umbrella"*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Amy Speace* is a Nashville-based folk/Americana American singer-songwriter and essayist from Baltimore, Maryland. National Public Radio described her voice as "velvety and achy" and compared her to Lucinda Williams. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wikipedia)

Here's a song from her latest record, _Tucson_.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Todd Rundgren*

_Space Force_ arrives as a hybrid work: part Rundgren solo album, part Rundgren sitting in the producer's chair. Like on 2017's _White Knight_, he collaborates with a range of artists whose resumes are as long and as varied as his. Guests this time include members of *Cheap Trick*, *the Roots*, *Sparks* and *Weezer*, and they help Rundgren satisfy his boundless curiosity in the dozen new songs collected here.

And like _White Knight_, _Space Force_ is at its most interesting when the artists' sense of adventure matches Rundgren's or when Rundgren himself wades deep into studio-wizard waters. The more out there they get, the better the results. But _Space Force_ is pretty conventional, as far as Rundgren albums go, so don't expect to find many reasons to revisit the record in the way his '70s catalog invited deeper dives. (*ultimate classic rock)*


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)




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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Nobody mentioned Lyle Lovett. I haven't kept up but I'm a big fan of his albums released in the 80s & 90s. One record entitled Step Inside This House pays tribute to Lyle's favorite songwriters including Guy Clark, Townes Van Zant, Robert Earl Keen, and several others. This is one of my favorites of his releases.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

After a ten year hiatus Lyle Lovett's album of originals _12th of June_ came out in May of this year.

*Lyle Lovett Reflects on Fatherhood, Mortality in New Song ’12th of June’*
The ballad is the title track to the Texas singer-songwriter's first album in a decade






The 11-track _12th of June_ features a mix of Lovett’s originals as well as interpretations of songs by Nat King Cole and Dave Frishberg. Lovett co-produced the project with Chuck Ainlay, bringing together his usual sonic mix of country, jazz, folk, and more. The album follows Lovett’s 2012 album _Release Me_.

In “12th of June,” Lovett reflects on big changes in his life since becoming a father to twin children in 2017. “One thing I know for sure/is they improve the likes of me,” he sings to a gentle country arrangement with fiddle. He ends the song with some thoughts on mortality. “To these beautiful two children/and to my sweet and tender wife/I will love you three forever/though I fly beyond this life.” (*rolling stone*)


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Hilarious song from a download only album.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Geoff Muldaur* may not be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he doesn’t have a Grammy, though he does have an Emmy Award for his soundtrack work in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a music legend who helped shape American music from the ‘60s on. He first came to prominence with *Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band* who were the most successful and influential ‘60s jug band. A few quotes will give a clear sense of the influence he had at a formative time in the music we all love, Van **** Parks is reported to have said “Bob Dylan didn’t want to be Woody Guthrie. He wanted to be Geoff Muldaur. Geoff was the big man on campus. He still is.”, and the UK’s own Richard Thompson said, “There are only three white blues singers – and Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them.”, and Bonnie Raitt is on record confirming, “Geoff has always been one of my favourite singers”. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson caught up with Geoff Muldaur over Zoom to discuss the latest addition to his considerable lifetime body of work ‘*His Last Letter – The Amsterdam Project*’ which builds on the orchestration style of his Bix Beiderbecke tribute album and was recorded in Amsterdam over a period of ten years and features sumptuous music, sound and packaging. He shares the emotion he felt when he read the last letter his great grandfather wrote to his wife the day before he drowned in Yokohama Harbour following a maritime collision, which inspired his new work. He explains that he has never felt constrained by any specific genre and the fun he had with The Jug Band, his duets with his then wife, Maria, his time in Woodstock and working with Paul Butterfield. (americana uk)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Fred Neil*

You know his music. Hell, just about everyone in the civilized world has heard his songs and loved them. You just don’t know his name. Welcome to the mysterious life of Fred Neil.

It’s been 57 years since Fred Neil released one of the greatest blues albums ever. The August, 1965 record was called _Bleecker and MacDougal_ and featured a young John Sebastian on harmonica . Up front though, were the unforgettable baritone voice and the brilliant, original and compelling songs of a man who did everything he could to prevent himself from becoming famous. It almost worked. Most people have forgotten his name, if they ever knew it. (vivascene)






What they haven’t forgotten is the immortal composition "Everybody’s Talkin’", chosen as the theme song of the movie _Midnight Cowboy,_ sung by Harry Nilsson. It’s the seventh most played song on radio ever. It’s also been recorded by more than one hundred artists. The movie version was well sung by Harry too and became Nilsson’s biggest hit. It’s just that if you hear the original version by Fred Neil, you’ll understand almost everything there is to know about the author.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Terry Allen* (born May 7, 1943) is an American Texas country and outlaw country singer-songwriter, painter, sculptor and conceptual artist from Lubbock, Texas. He currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has recorded twelve albums of original songs, including the landmark releases _Juarez_ (1975) and _Lubbock (On Everything)_ (1979). His song "Amarillo Highway" has been covered by Bobby Bare, Sturgill Simpson and Robert Earl Keen. Other artists who have recorded Allen's songs include Guy Clark, Little Feat, David Byrne, Doug Sahm, Ricky Nelson, and Lucinda Williams. Rolling Stone magazine describes his catalog, reaching back to Juarez as "..uniformly eccentric and uncompromising, savage and beautiful, literate and guttural." (wikipedia)






His latest, _Just Like Moby Dick_ is a masterpiece.

On _Just Like Moby Dick _(2020), his first collection of original songs since 2013, Allen evolves, bringing new musicians and singers into the fold to create an album whose strongest moments result from its collaborations.

Together, they take what would be just another great, narrative album set to the familiar rhythms of a country waltz and bring it to new places. (pitchfork)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Chip Taylor* (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing". (He is Jon Voight's brother).

Although he did write Wild Thing, most of his songs are nothing like that, and on his later work, i.e. the last 30 years, he has an understated style and production with personal songs that he puts across very effectively.

He also made a number of duo records with *Carrie Rodriguez* in the 2010s which are excellent.

_Whiskey Salesman_ is among my favorites from his recent work.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Bill Callahan* is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who has also recorded and performed under the band name *Smog*. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four-track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today. His work, in addition to lo-fi music, has encompassed apocalyptic folk and gothic country.






There is a patience to Bill Callahan’s work, even when the tempo is upbeat. On his forthcoming album, YTILAER, it’s no different, a wise sense of humor seeming to permeate the veins of his songwriting. On lead single “Coyotes,” he weaves dream material in and out, telling the story of his sleeping dog, sweetly explaining, “In her dreams she is coyotes / Which of course is what she used to be / A dream of a coyote / Watching over you and me.” (Rosa Sofia Kaminski, paste music)


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Singer/songwriters is not the largest part of my listening, but guess these people fit there...
Tom Waits
Leonard Cohen
Paul Simon


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Bonny Light Horseman*’s 2020-released self-titled debut was a Grammy nominated set of traditional British folk songs reworked with splashes of original melody, lyrics, and instrumentation, or as they put it, “a co-write with the traditional.”

Here the trio have shifted their approach to create an album of originals that shine and shimmer like a woozy summer afternoon. *Anaïs Mitchell*, creator of hit Broadway musical _Hadestown_, intermingles her wistful, smoky voice with that of Fruit Bats’ *Eric D. Johnson*. His vocals, choirboy sweet, lucent as a lion’s roar, are perfectly accompanied by *Josh Kaufman*, the former National and Hold Steady collaborator, whose playing, arrangements, and production form the rich soil in which these sunflowers grow.

The honey haze of banjo, nylon string guitar, and piano, though, accentuate the underlying passion and hope raised on radiant opener “Exile” and the rowdy “Sweetbread,” the latter featuring the luminous saxophone of Bon Iver regular Mike Lewis.






A put-together band of three writers/performers with strong individual voices seems to work despite possible ego clashes.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Skullcrusher | *_*Quiet the Room*

Blending misty ambience with introspective folk songwriting, the Los Angeles artist’s full-length debut is less about specifics than the way it all smears together._






With just two EPs and a couple standalone singles, *Helen Ballentine*, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter who records as Skullcrusher, has honed in on a sound that’s both familiar and bracingly distinctive. The market for vulnerable, downtempo acoustic music is a crowded one, but with her focus on the ambient side of folk—songs as haunted whispers, emphasizing texture over structure—Ballentine has carved out her own dusky niche. (source)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I wasn't sure where the post this fantastic new record by Mali Obomsawin (formerly of Lula Wiles). It is one of a number of new records which can only be described as post-genre. There are elements of jazz, world music, and folk but above all the thing that I settled on was the songwriting. This record has a wuality which bring to my mind Charlie Haden's seminal record Liberation Music Orchestra - but this album is not derivative but stylistically a little related.






_Sweet Tooth_, *Mali Obomsawin*’s solo debut, is rich in history and soaring musicianship. Obomsawin, formerly of Lula Wiles, unleashes their formal jazz training at Dartmouth College in a suite of six songs that are epic and intimate in scope: the political, cultural, and musical journey of their Wabanaki ancestors from before Columbus through the brutal oppression of American settler colonialism, and the unbroken line of strength and resistance through it all.

The album is divided into three movements, beginning with “Odana.” The song features a dirge-like maelstrom of horns, with Obomsawin’s rich voice in the foreground, captivating us with their powerful memorial for the Wabanaki homeland in and around what is now New England via a ballad that dates to 1730 at the earliest. (full review)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Texas singer-songwriter *Slaid Cleaves* is readying a new release, _Together Through the Dark_, for early next year. We here at Folk Alley are thrilled to premiere its first single and title track today. Cleaves co-wrote the song (“Through the Dark”) with his long-time friend and collaborator, *Rod Picott*. Both grew up in a small town in Maine and have gone on to become some of the finer “songwriters’ songwriters” on the scene these days.

Cleaves has said the song is, simply, “about offering comfort in hard times.”


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I don't think anyone's mentioned the excellent White Buffalo (aka Jake Smith). Love his simple style and rich baritone voice. Went to see him in Glasgow about 5 or 6 years ago in a solo show and he was superb. Here's one of his excellent tracks, 'Wish it was True'.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Beabadoobee*‘s 2022 project B_eatopia_ continued *Beatrice Kristi Laus*’ hot streak thanks to its carefully crafted yet effortlessly fun collision of genres — even at its most allusive moments, it still feels like you’re listening to a mixtape comprised of the music of her life. Today, NPR released her long-awaited Tiny Desk Concert, where three _Beatopia_ songs and a previously unheard track got the acoustic treatment. (read more)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Hide and Seek · Imogen Heap*






Major talent, Imogen Heap. I think I'm in love.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Joan Shelley—The Spur*






Louisville, Kentucky’s finest songwriter unleashes another masterwork. Further expanded are the swirling uncertainties and fears tied to maturing; underpinning the warmest arrangements recorded this year. Backed by the likes of Nathan Salsburg, James Elkington, Meg Baird, and Bill Callahan, The Spur is a testament of collaborative spirit.


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