Favorite Three Songwriters

[Country Bladesmith]

@cosmicfolklore had some pretty good threads about great lines in songs, and it got me thinking... if you had to pick your top three songwriters (any genre), who would they be?

My three would be Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Guy Clark.

 

[edger]

You hit the proverbial nail on the head with those three!

 

[edger]

Let's add Bill Staines.

 

[warren]

Merle, Ed Bruce and a tie, Bill Anderson and Wayne Carson. Prine would have to be fourth.

 

[BarrelProof]

Neil Peart, Scott Avett, and Bocephus.

 

[brian64]

Dylan and Jackson Browne.

Third would probably vary from time to time, but right now I'm gonna say Becker & Fagan...they have to count as a team.

 

[dino]

Pete Townshend, Cole Porter, Lennon & McCartney

 

[wolflarsen]

Greg Graffin, Ian MacKaye, Mike Muir

 

[edger]

Pick any three from Tin Pan Alley. Yes, the Great American Songbook!

 

[Waning Embers]

Takkyu Ishino, Olga Yakovleva, and Enya Brennan.

 

[kcghost]

Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Sr., and Irving Berlin.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Foy Vance. Jónsi. Can’t think of a third.

 

[philobeddoe]

A few of my favorites would be Frank Zappa, Bernie Taupin and Jackson Browne.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan

 

[Ahi Ka]

Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan

You can call me al...askanpiper

 

[alaskanpiper]

You can call me al...askanpiper

Haha, I am pretty soft in the middle

 

[peregrinus]

Three not mentioned yet:
Van Morrison, Brian Wilson and Chuck Berry.

 

[peregrinus]

Can classical composers be considered the songwriters of their time? If so, and we are allowed to play loose with the definition, then list 1.2 might be:
Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

 

[Waning Embers]

Haha, I am pretty soft in the middle

Ever duck back down the alley with some roly poly little bat faced girl?

 

[jpberg]

So far so good. Need to add Steve Goodman, Neil Young, and Tim Hardin.