Singer-songwriter

The term singer-songwriter describes musicians who write the lyrics and compose the music for the majority of the songs they perform. It was coined in the 1960s and became common parlance in the 1970s, when it was more associated with folk music than other musical forms. To define someone as a "singer-songwriter" is somewhat nebulous, as the term has different meanings to different people in different geographic areas, and across generations. Still, there are artists who most listeners agree belong in this category; the early career of Bob Dylan is an example. The term is often used to describe relatively unknown artists, although many go on to great acclaim. Dolly Parton is an example of a famous singer-songwriter who is nonetheless usually thought of as a country singer. Most popular singers, including Elvis Presley and Britney Spears, for example, are singers, but not singer-songwriters, even if they occasionally write songs. Most country music stars, even those who write all of their own lyrics, do not generally call themselves singer-songwriters, perhaps with the exception of Tom T. Hall, while Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, Neil Sedaka, and Carole King were singer-songwriters years before the expression became fashionable in the late sixties. As a group, singer-songwriters tend to cover serious and emotional matters more than light-hearted material more fashionable in pop music.

Some of the early singer-songwriters include John Stewart (of the Kingston Trio), Chuck Berry (of rock 'n' roll fame), Townes Van Zandt, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom T. Hall, Neil Young, John Prine, Tim Buckley, Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico. More recent singer-songwriters include Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, K. D. Lang, Tracy Chapman, Jeff Buckley (son of Tim), Sarah McLachlan, Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco, Sheryl Crow, Hayes Carll, and Alanis Morisette.