The 13 best singer-songwriters

Singer-songwriters. What would the world be without them? A lot less musical, that's for sure. We're presenting a bakers' dozen, these are the 13 best singer-songwriters. This is a genre. So someone can write a song and they can sing but that doesn't mean that they are a singer-songwriter. The genre's been known by many other names -- folk-rock, art songs, etc.


The artists first truly emerged in the sixties. They flourished in the 70s. They are still around today. For our focus, we are picking the 13 best from the sixties and seventies. That means Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos, Ben Harper and other artists we love were not eligible for this list.




1) Joni Mitchell


2) Neil Young


3) Carly Simon


4) Laura Nyro


5) Cat Stevens


6) Stevie Wonder



7) Bob Dylan


8) Phil Ochs


9) Melanie


10) Dolly Parton


11) Van Morrison


12) Paul Simon


13) Jackie DeShannon