Re: Songwriters

[Gatorharp@xxxxxxx]

turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes (with a lot of snippage):
<< The first thing one can say is that it's a demanding craft as well as a 
matter of talent and inspiration, and the great composers write every day 
(just as the great players play every).
 The second thing one can say is that no one writes a great song every
 time they write.   
 The third thing one can say is that it's important both to capture
 inspiration and to make the time to work the best inspirations into
 great pieces of music.  The two are not the same.  
 So: great songs come from talent, inspiration, and lots of hard work;
 did I forget anything?  Oh yeah; it's a good idea to hang out with
 songwriters, and work with other songwriters, and listen to what other
 songwriters have to say about your songs, and read what great
 songwriters have to say about writing their own songs.  All of those
 things can help you develop your own art. >>

i think robert has written the best response to a parts of this question.  
years ago, bill flanangan collected interviews with a bunch of songwriters 
into the book "written in my soul".  some were done over the years, some 
especially for the book.  his biase is songwriting that can be reduced to a 
lone singer and acoustic guitar.  he admits this, and doesn't discount other 
types of writing, but this was the thread he was interested in.  within that 
frame work, it's pretty diverse...chuck berry, willie dixon, dylan, young, 
elvis costello, lowell george, jagger, paul simon...and on and on.  he does a 
good job of getting them to talk about the process of writing, and there are 
as many answers as there are interviewees.  jackson browne starts talking 
about the process of making a ~record~ in the motown/beatles/whoever sense , 
not just recording songs, and that indirectly spawned another book.
anyway, it's probably out of print, but i'm sure you can find it on half.com
 

steven j gatorman