Expecting Rain

along with dylan who are the best songwritters of all time?lennon,paul simon,joni mitchell,brian wilson, tell me your thoughts friends.

There have been lots. Just a few are Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Stephen Foster, Franz Schubert, and Josquin Desprez.

Bob sang "Hard Times Come Again no More" by Stephen Foster.

All of the songwriters mentioned so far seem so small next to Dylan. I don't think you can put any songwriter "along with" Dylan, he will always be the one that stands out.

Yes of course Dylan is the non plus ultra but I think there are a lot of other great songwriters out there. I love the lyrics and music of Tom Waits, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Nick Drake, Roger Waters and so many more.

So you've listened to everything by Josquin Desprez, have you?

Bob Dylan and Neil Young have certainly been the most prolific. Bob is the better song writer thogh I like NY's music more...Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty are fantstic songwriters,,,In pop music Ray Davies and Lenon/Mcartney are the gold standard. Country Music Hank Williams Sr,is the man!!

I've heard enough Desprez to feel confident about my opinion. Have you listened to everything by Bob Dylan?[/code]

Nothing like a 'Desprez Snob' to ruin a good thread.

No--and that's why I'm not be qualified to say that Bob "seems so small" next to other composers. A judgment like that can't be made based on a sampling. If you only sample, you might miss the best.

Rick--Is a "good thread" just a place of worship? Or is a good thread a place for differences of opinion? In any case, please refer to me as a "Josquin snob" (there's no such thing as a "Desprez snob)."

I think Woody Guthrie is good,

But of corse bobs the best,

Not exactly following your good thread/place of worship comment.

I guess I should just ask you what is a "good thread?" And when is a good thread "ruined?"

If everyone agrees that Bob rulz and other writers are all small by comparison--I'd call that a place of worship, and certainly not a "good thread."

It's simply my opinion that throwing Desprez into the mix when it was obviously a thread that wanted to discuss Dylan's peers (ie: Young, Simon, etc) is not productive. I find it unfair to the person who wanted to discuss the topic to simply throw out names for no reason except to prove some point that escapes me.

This thread is about the "best songwriters of all time." It was the phrase "of all time" that prompted me to consider the ancients.

If the topic was "the best songwriters of Bob's generation," then I'd agree with you.

It seemed rather obvious to me that when the original thread was posted it mentioned comtemporary songwriters but hey what do I know.

I promise not to bring up Guillaume de Machaut and the Headbangers.

Do you guys know how silly you sound?

I know I do--how about you, Rick?

That makes 2 of us.

Besides bob the best songwriter is Tom waits
His Looking for the heart of saturday night is amazing
and i dont think you can get a better cd than that

Also Jim Croce is great, Johnny Cash;s First American recordings is brilliant, S and G, and James Taylor.

i agree with Tom Waits. his Rain Dogs album is sweet.
also:
neil young, otis redding, hank williams. all good.

Tom Waits is a flowery Bob, He did one good album, Saturday night, maybe Blue Valentine, the rest is garbage.

I can't stand when people put the two together, no contest. Just my opinion. Anyway, talk about someone who can't sing....

I think it's a little premature to announce Bob is the best all-time anything, except the best Bob Dylan ever.

Homer would have to be the greatest songwriter in history. His work has lasted almost 3000 years, was so powerful that it was recalled and preserved in oral tradition for hundreds of years, was influential (and remains so) in forging a national and ethnic identity for Greeks, and has set the standard for narrative poetry in many languages besides ancient Greek. He also worked in the most difficult form, the epic. I'll be he played a kick-ass lyre, too. Pindar would be right behind him.

Solomon, or whoever composed the Psalms, I'd rank behind Pindar, but some would put him first, with good reason.

George & Ira Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter could all be ranked ahead of Dylan for song composition.

Duke Ellington also is a more important composer of songs than Bob.

Someone already mentioned Stephen Foster, who was the first person to try (with mixed success) to live off songwriting, and was the first songwriter to collect royalties. His songs have lasted 160 years. Bob has some ground to make up there.

Bob is certainly the greatest folk-rock songwriter of his generation. I can't think of anyone remotely close to him. But "all-time best" is meaningless hyperbole usually coming from someone who has no competence to make such a judgement. A lot of that going around.

Any Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices) fans here? Many people, myself included, would argue that Pollard is one of the greatest songwriters of the past 20 years.

Also : Jacques Brel, Leo Ferré, Serge Gainsbourg (high level of poetry, like Mr Bob)