The Top 50 Songwriters!

There is a music magazine called Paste .
They published a list of the top 100 Songwriters.
I don't know if this is "of all time" or not, but it does
give the distinct impression that songs only really
started getting written about about 40 years ago.

Surprise.

Anyway, as I Stumble through the info-sphere, it's clear
that one of the things we share as humans is our love
of a good list, so here's the Paste Top 50. There are some
of my faves for sure, and probably some of yours...
and the difference in those lists probably says a lot
about who we are, and who we aren't.

Om.

50. Public Enemy
(Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler, et al)

49. Cat Stevens

48. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

47. Sufjan Stevens

46. David Byrne (Talking Heads)

45. Jackson Browne

44. Al Green

43. Ryan Adams (Whiskeytown)

42. Loretta Lynn

41. Ray Davies (The Kinks)

40. Burt Bacharach & Hal David

39. Led Zeppelin
(Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham)

38. Kris Kristofferson

37. Smokey Robinson

36. Beck Hansen

35. Steve Earle

34. John Fogerty
(Creedence Clearwater Revival)

33. Pete Townshend
(The Who)

32. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

31. Carole King

30. John Prine

29. Tom Petty

28. Robbie Robertson
(The Band)

27. Radiohead
(Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood,
Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway)

26. R.E.M.
(Peter Buck, Bill Berry, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe)

25. Chuck Berry

24. Jeff Tweedy
(Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Golden Smog,
Loose Fur, etc.)

23. Elton John & Bernie Taupin

22. Lucinda Williams

21. Lou Reed
(Velvet Underground)

20. Van Morrison

19. Patty Griffin

18. U2
(Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton)

17. Holland-Dozier-Holland

16. David Bowie

15. Willie Nelson

14. Stevie Wonder

13. Paul Simon

12. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
(The Rolling Stones)

11. Randy Newman

The Top 10!

10. Prince

9. Joni Mitchell

8. Elvis Costello

7. Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)

6. Leonard Cohen

5. Paul McCartney

4. Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan

3. Bruce Springsteen

2. Neil Young

1. Bob Dylan

Surprise.


It's a pretty good list, actually.
Three Canadians in the top ten. On a good day,
the true north punches well above it's weight.
But there other days...

It is interesting to see how songwriting gets
represented when it comes to the credit for writing
the songs... and the accompanying revenues.

Or not.

Is there a correspondence between that and
which bands are still making music of interest to many?


Wisely is it written...
"Follow the money".

Vayas con Dios...





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