Everyone knows the 1970’s were great years for singer-songwriters, but until I put together some playlists from that decade, I didn’t realize how large and impressive the list of artists actually is. This is not so much an article, as it is a list to take us back to that golden time. For each name listed, there are a couple of their 70’s song titles for reference. You’ll probably remember most of these songs, and be reminded of more great songs by many of these artists. The singer-songwriters are in no particular order, with legendary ones peppered-in throughout.
James Taylor…Fire And Rain, Shower The People
Jackson Browne…Doctor My Eyes, Running On Empty
Bob Dylan…Tangled Up In Blue, If Not For You
Cat Stevens…Wild World, Father And Son
John Denver…Rocky Mountain High, Take Me Home Country Roads
Joni Mitchell…Big Yellow Taxi, Help Me
Billy Joel…Piano Man, Just The Way You Are
Neil Young…Heart Of Gold, Like A Hurricane
Rod Stewart…Maggie May, You Wear It Well
Van Morrison…Domino, Moondance
George Harrison…My Sweet Lord, Isn’t It A Pity
Paul Simon…Kodachrome, American Tune
Bill Withers…Lean On Me, Ain’t No Sunshine
Karla Bonoff…Someone To Lay Down Beside Me, Lose Again
Harry Nilsson…Coconut, Without Her
Neil Diamond…Song Sung Blue, I Am…I Said
Carly Simon…You’re So Vain, Anticipation
Carole King…It’s Too Late, You’ve Got A Friend
Randy Newman…Sail Away, Mama Told Me Not To Come
Stevie Wonder…Superstition, You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
Gordon Lightfoot…Sundown, Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald
John Lennon…Imagine, Instant Karma
Stephen Stills…Love The One You’re With, Change Partners
Dan Fogelberg…Longer, Leader Of The Band
Leon Russell…Tightrope, This Masquerade
Harry Chapin…Taxi, Cats In The Cradle
Elton John…Your Song, Rocket Man
Jim Croce…You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, Time In A Bottle
Kris Kristofferson…Me & Bobby McGee, Loving Her Was Easier
Gerry Rafferty…Baker Street, Right Down The Line
John Sebastian…Welcome Back, Stories We Could Tell
Jimmy Buffett…Margaritaville, Come Monday
Paul McCartney…Maybe I’m Amazed, Band On The Run
Don McLean…American Pie, Vincent
Dave Mason…We Just Disagree, Feelin’ Alright?
John Prine…Angel From Montgomery, Hello In There
John David Souther…You’re Only Lonely, Faithless Love
J.J. Cale…After Midnight, Cocaine
Eric Clapton…Wonderful Tonight, Layla
John Fogerty…Almost Saturday Night, Rockin’ All Over The World
Jonathan Edwards…Sunshine (Go Away), It’s A Beautiful Day
Joan Baez…Diamonds & Rust, Winds Of The Old Days
Graham Nash…Chicago (We Can Change The World), Simple Man
Three of the best singer-songwriters had their own backing bands.
Bob Seger…Night Moves, Turn The Page
Tom Petty…Breakdown, Refugee
Bruce Springsteen…Born To Run, Thunder Road
It’s not a complete list of artists (the names are only from my collection), but it gives an idea of the abundance of singer-songwriters in the 1970’s. You can find individual articles on many of these artists on this site.
Bonus: To round out the information on the decade…great singer-songwriters could be found in 70’s bands.
Led Zeppelin, Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, The Allman Brothers Band, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chicago, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, America, Loggins & Messina, Supertramp, Bad Company, Steely Dan, Boston, Steve Miller Band, Foreigner, The Moody Blues, The Band, Heart, The Guess Who, Badfinger, Kiss, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, The Cars, Yes, and more.
Those were the days my friend. We thought they’d never end.
Sigh