This poll asks you to:

1) Indicate your favourite songwriters (maximum 5 preferences)

2) Write their names

3) Write at least one album you love for each of them

4) If you want, explain what you like about them that differentiates them from others. Any discussion is welcome

(I chose only American [US and Canadian] white and male singer-songwriters born since the late 1930s. Of young people, there is only Beck. I chose successful singer-songwriters. Obviously the criterion is arbitrary. Some were successful in the group they belonged to, and then had a parallel or subsequent solo career. I wrote them down according to date of birth).

Enjoy!

* Added later

Here's Helplessly Hoping.....

1) Bob Dylan

Highway 61/ Blonde on Blonde/ Desire/ Oh Mercy/Time out of Mind

2) Bruce Springsteen

The Wild, The Innocent etc/ Born To Run/Darkness on the Edge of Town/ Nebraska/

3) Neil Young

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere/ After The Gold Rush/ Tonight's the Night/ Rust Never Sleeps

4) Tom Waits

Swordfishtrombones/Rain Dogs/ Franks Wild Years/Bone Machine

5) Lou Reed

Berlin/ Rock and Roll Animal/ New York/ Magic and Loss

------

I'm sorry for:

6) Paul Simon

I love The Rhythmn of the a Saints + Songs for the Capeman

7) Leonard Cohen

I Love Songs of Love and Hate

8) Jackson Browne

Late for the Sky 

No women? I guess Joni Mitchell is just another ... nothing!

Interesting list, but I'm not sure that some folks have heard some of this stuff in the old days, and some of the names are simply being remembered by the names. Bruce, Neil, Bob, Paul, Jackson and a couple of others are still around, and playing and you know they will until the strings or fingers fall off their bodies into the ground.

I'm not sure anyone ever heard of Lindsey, before his FM days. Neil Diamond is already old school by comparison. Gordon Lightfoot should get some respect, for how he created some rather nifty material (see his special on Prime I think it was -- very good!). I'm not sure that many even know (or care) who McGuinn is and what group was he in? AND how many folks came out of that in this poll, AND what group with a hit were at least one member involved?

Interesting poll, though I would prefer that it was broken down into zones, or specific eras, but there are some bits and pieces that are strange. Lou Reed is ok, but he had very good musicians behind him making him better ... he could not make himself better with his wife on the keyboards, for example. As much as Iggy Pop in an interest here, he was not exactly a good writer. The band's and his shows were more about his physical presence than the songs, and even in the LA Free Press (way back when!!!) he made a joke about one of the songs ... what song was that again? 

Yes, as I've written, I've selected US and Canadian singer-songwriters.

Oh!!!!

my God.

John Fogerty takes his place!!!

Rundgren is here on progarchives.

This is a poll of non-prog musicians.

Funny the list starts with two non-Unitedstatians and mentions another two or three canadians.

BTW, Bob Seger ios listed twice.

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971)

Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills (1970)

Bob Seger twice:

Warren Zevon takes his places.

The list starts with two Canadian singers because they are the oldest.

Just in order of how the five appear in the listing:

Leonard Cohen ~ Master songwriter and incredibly charismatic (have met him in person)  

Gordon Lightfoot ~ For his incredibly gorgeous "Affair on 8th Avenue," one of my favourite love songs of all time

Bob Dylan ~ Another master of the written word, stood the folk world on it's head.  Have a huge collection of Dylan

Paul Simon ~ I love his work with Garfunkel the best.  Wrote some incredibly beautiful and potent songs, sharp social commentary.

Neil Young ~  I love pretty much all of Neil Young's works, especially with Crazy Horse, but throw him in any mix of the Buffalos and CSN.  Another one I have a massive collection of, in all of the various places he shows up.

Good idea, Dr. John takes the place of David Byrne 

Browne would also be my pick here... enjoyed a number of his albums back in the day; Lives In The Balance is particularly strong; Hold On, Lawyers In Love and Running On Empty were all great too.. 

2. Lindsey Buckingham: Out of the Cradle (1992).

3. Tom Petty: the first five albums with the Heartbreakers (1976-82).