Most versatile song writer ever-Paul McCartney

[unassuming]

IMO, Macca is the most versatile song writer of all time, anyone disagree?

From love ballads to rock to country to disco to songs that are not the norm.

 

[Knuckle Ball]

No argument from me.

 

[Butler1000]

I would throw Dolly Parton in there. She wrote alot of top pop hits.

Elton John was quite prolific as well.

 

[shack]

Neil Young has written songs in enough genres to rival Paul.

Rock, grunge, folk, country, heavy metal, electronic, pop, blues...

 

[Druidicfluid]

I would say Maynard Keenan is up there with Paul McCartney personally.

 

[Insidious Von]

I disagree, Paul wrote too many insipid love songs, along with the worst Christmas song.

As a composer of music, he has few peers.

 

[Druidicfluid]

I disagree, Paul wrote too many insipid love songs, along with the worst Christmas song.

As a composer of music, he has few peers.

How dare you say that about Sir Paul lol.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Don't forget John Lennon.
Lennon–McCartney (sometimes McCartney–Lennon) were a brilliant team!

Lennon–McCartney (sometimes McCartney–Lennon) was a songwriting partnership.
They are the best known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the Beatles selling over 600 million records worldwide as of 2004. Between 5 October 1962 and 8 May 1970, the partnership published approximately 180 jointly credited songs, of which the vast majority were recorded by the Beatles, forming the bulk of their catalogue.

Unlike many songwriting partnerships that comprise a separate lyricist and composer, such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Hal David and Burt Bacharach or Elton John and Bernie Taupin, both Lennon and McCartney wrote lyrics and music. Sometimes, especially early on, they would collaborate extensively when writing songs, working "eyeball to eyeball" as Lennon phrased.

After this brilliant team split up, I felt the music they wrote that followed, was not as good as when they were a team.

 

[shack]

I felt the music they wrote that followed, was not as good as when they were a team.

Slightly off topic, but IMO the best post-Beatles Beatles album was All Things Must Pass. George's songwriting talents, understandably, were obviously stifled by the Lennon/McCartney giant.

 

[james t kirk]

I would throw Dolly Parton in there. She wrote alot of top pop hits.

Elton John was quite prolific as well.

Elton John has never written a song in his life.

Bernie Taupin writes and has written just about every song that Elton has ever sang.

Elton does add the sound to the lyrics though. They are a very effective partnership and they are also friends.

 

[james t kirk]

Bob Dylan - prolific song writer. You'd be amazed how many songs that you know and it turns out that Bob Dylan wrote it.

Roger Waters - wrote just about everything Pink Floyd ever did of any worth. (Though without David Gilmour, adding that guitar sound and that voice, well, Roger can only go so far.)

Bono from U2 - another prolific song writer.

Pete Townsend - wrote virtually every song The Who ever did, including the rock operas - Tommy and Quadrophenia.

David Bowie - without a doubt one of the most multi talented writers of the last 40 years and what is INCREDIBLE about Bowie, or sadly, what was incredible, is that his music never started to suck with age. He was consistently brilliant and never faded away. As much as I love Townsend, he is a shadow of his younger self. (Which is only natural since it's hard to be pissed off at the world and rail against "the man" when you're fucking loaded and you ARE the man.)

For pure artist though, I think the award goes to Leonard Cohen.

 

[oil&gas]

I would throw Dolly Parton in there. She wrote alot of top pop hits.

This song belongs to Dolly Parton.

 

[Druidicfluid]

Roger Waters - wrote just about everything Pink Floyd ever did of any worth. (Though without David Gilmour, adding that guitar sound and that voice, well, Roger can only go so far.)

If you like Floyd you'd probably like Tool.

 

[shack]

Bob Dylan - prolific song writer. You'd be amazed how many songs that you know and it turns out that Bob Dylan wrote it.

Roger Waters - wrote just about everything Pink Floyd ever did of any worth. (Though without David Gilmour, adding that guitar sound and that voice, well, Roger can only go so far.)

Bono from U2 - another prolific song writer.

Pete Townsend - wrote virtually every song The Who ever did, including the rock operas - Tommy and Quadrophenia.

David Bowie - without a doubt one of the most multi talented writers of the last 40 years and what is INCREDIBLE about Bowie, or sadly, what was incredible, is that his music never started to suck with age. He was consistently brilliant and never faded away. As much as I love Townsend, he is a shadow of his younger self. (Which is only natural since it's hard to be pissed off at the world and rail against "the man" when you're fucking loaded and you ARE the man.)

For pure artist though, I think the award goes to Leonard Cohen.

Love all those guys but prolific is not the same as versatile. Can't say a guy like Leonard Cohen strayed too far out his tried and true style into wide ranging genres.

 

[unassuming]

...... prolific is not the same as versatile. Can't say a guy like Leonard Cohen strayed too far out his tried and true style into wide ranging genres.

Folks, thread is about the most "versatile" song writer, not "prolific".

shack gets the point of this thread, there are a lot of prolific song writers, but not versatile, they don't write songs of different genres. McCartney happens to be "versatile" and prolific. As I said before, he wrote love ballads, rock , country and disco songs and songs that are not the norm to boot.