The New York Times asked their readers to name the top living American songwriters, and the list they came up with is pretty impressive. Here are the Top 10.
Of course it would be easy to shuffle around these ten a bit (like moving Carole King up to #3), but overall the public chose some great songwriters. The fact that they had to be living means we miss out on artists like Brian Wilson and Tom Petty.
The artists chosen are mostly toward the end of their careers. Bob Dylan is 85, Paul Simon 84, Bruce Springsteen 76, Carole King 84, Billy Joel 77, Stevie Wonder 76, Taylor Swift 36, Dolly Parton 80, James Taylor 78, and Willie Nelson 93. Taylor Swift is the only exception, with her age being less than half all the other songwriters.
It’s cool to see the public come up with a list that includes actually popular artists, versus critics who like to rank niche artists into higher slots than they likely deserve. For example, as a consumer, I have purchased music from all ten of these performers.
The listing of songwriters went all the way to 100. The differences in the artists’ ranking become less significant down the list; however, it’s still fun to check out the next 20 (click to enlarge).
Again, we could quibble with the order, but the quality of their talent is obviously high. It’s nice to see some songwriters who are not known for their performing, such as the Motown team of Brian & Eddie Holland. They were part of an unbelievable number of hits.
The 25,000 New York Times readers’ top two certainly are American treasures. The best songs written by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon will become a permanent part of the American Songbook.