Greatest Singer-Songwriter-Musician

Prince is good, but I'm not going to put him Top O' List.

When he tries to do everything, he sounds too synthetic. Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney have the same problem. There's a reason the live version of "Coming Up" was a hit in the USA versus the studio version.

I loved 1999 when I was in college, well at least side 1. The rest got pretty nasty.

Next album or two, he let Wendy and Lisa have a little air. That was nice.

But too much Prince all the time just sounds too one-dimensional to me. And I probably shouldn't get into his obsession with sex. After a while, it gets old.
 
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I'm going to slip Harry Chapin's name into the conversation.
 
Adding in to others listed:
Neil Diamond
Brian Wilson
 
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bob Dylan
 
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David Bowie! Amazing vocal range and an incredible repertoire that just kept going and going. The range of popular styles he was able to recreate always blew my mind.
 
The Monkeys [emoji4]


I really like Kris Kristofferson. Great songwriting, good enough guitar, and unusual voice that fit his music perfectly.

But yea, Lennon & McCartney like everyone says are the best. If Keith Richards had a voice you could toss him in.

I also like Cat Stevens but not sure about his instrument playing. Someone mentioned Hank Williams and I definitely agree.
 
Trying not to repeat any previously listed and in no particular order-

Jimi Hendrix
George Harrison
Townes Van Zandt
Jerry Garcia
Blaze Foley
Chris Cornell
John Fogerty
Johhny Cash
Ann Wilson
Nancy Wilson
Otis Redding
Phil Collins
Peter Gabriel
Bruce Springsteen
Jimmy Page
Sonny Bono


And on and on... So much great music then and now!
Rock on!
 
Dave Grohl (also I hear he's good with money!)
 
Not mentioned yet -

Lindsey Buckingham
David Gilmore
 
Singer, song writer, musician.


I'm sure the best is very personal. So I'll throw out a few of my favorites that haven't been mentioned.


Bruce Cockburn. Incredible songs and a great guitar player.
Richard Thompson. ditto
John Hiatt. ditto again.
Stephen Stills. great guitarists writer and singer.
 
I would put Dan Fogelberg right up there with the best of them. Well known for his songs like Leader of the Band, Run for the Roses, Same Old Lang Syne and Longer. His catalog is pretty extensive. I was a fan of his late 70s and early 80s stuff.
After learning of his passing in 2007 I explored his whole catalog. His early stuff is excellent too. We were lucky to have a few gifts since his passing. He left us with an album called Love in time. Then his wife discovered a DAT recording of Dan's 1979 solo performance at Carnegie Hall and went to great lengths to get that released. Dan was nervous that night because his parents were in the audience and did not want to record the event. Lucky someone did anyways and captured a great performance.




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2HOTinPHX said:
I would put Dan Fogelberg right up there with the best of them. Well known for his songs like Leader of the Band, Run for the Roses, Same Old Lang Syne and Longer. His catalog is pretty extensive. I was a fan of his late 70s and early 80s stuff.
After learning of his passing in 2007 I explored his whole catalog. His early stuff is excellent too. We were lucky to have a few gifts since his passing. He left us with an album called Love in time. Then his wife discovered a DAT recording of Dan's 1979 solo performance at Carnegie Hall and went to great lengths to get that released. Dan was nervous that night because his parents were in the audience and did not want to record the event. Lucky someone did anyways and captured a great performance.




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Yes very talented guy. Saddened by his passing. Many really good songs.
 
statsman said:
I wouldn't put Elton John on this list. Singer-Musician, yes. But not as a songwriter. Most of the lyrics to his songs were originated by Bernie Taupin (along with a few others). To quote Elton himself early on: "I'm hopeless at writing a song from scratch ... forget it, let's write with Bernie instead."
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Elton wrote the music and the melodies, that's 98% of a song. The lyrics are incidental.
 
Montecfo said:
Well, I guess McCartney's lyrics would be exhibit A.
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My point was that lyrics are often not very important to the song, it's the music and melody that capture people's interest. Of course, there songs with all three...great music, great melody, and great lyrics.

But, there are plenty of songs that are considered great or are standards with lyrics that are nothing special.
 
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