North America and the United Kingdom The origins of the singer-songwriter in North America can be traced back to folk singers who created original works in the folk music style. The best known early singer-songwriters include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Pete Seeger, along with members of The Weavers (Seeger performed solo and as part of the Weavers). These proto-singer-songwriters were less concerned than today's singer-songwriters with the unaldulterated originality of their music and lyrics, and would lift parts from other songs and play covers without hesitation.
The tradition of writing topical songs (songs regarding specific issues of the day, such as Lead Belly's "Jim Crow Blues" or Guthrie's "Deportees") was established by this group of musicians. These singers would lead rallies for labor unions, and so wrote many songs concerning the life of the working classes. This focus on social issues has greatly influenced the singer-songwriter genre.
The first popular recognition of the singer-songwriter in English-speaking North America and Great Britain occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s when a series of folk and country-influenced musicians rose to prominence and popularity. These singer-songwriters included Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Young, John Denver, Gene Clark, Jackson Browne, Dave Mason, Jim Croce, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Donovan, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot, Nick Drake, Fred Neil, Tom Rush, Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Bruce Cockburn, Van Morrison, Townes Van Zandt, Harry Chapin, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash. People who had been primarily songwriters, notably Carole King, also began releasing work as performers.
In contrast to the storytelling approach of most prior country and folk music, these performers typically wrote songs from a highly personal (often first-person), introspective point of view. The adjectives "confessional" and "sensitive" were often used (sometimes derisively) to describe this early singer-songwriter style. It can be argued that some bands of the era - most notably the Beatles and the wave of artists on both sides of the Atlantic that followed in their wake - fit the definition of singer-songwriters, with most or all of their members taking an active role in the songwriting process.
While there is some debate over the claim, it is worth noting that many former bandmembers (including Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Peter Frampton, and later Don Henley and Glenn Frey) found success as singer-songwriters in their later careers. By the late 1970s and early 1980s the original wave of singer-songwriters had largely been absorbed into a more general pop or soft rock format, but some new artists in the singer-songwriter tradition (including Bruce Springsteen, Mark Heard, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks, Cheryl Wheeler, and Warren Zevon) continued to emerge, and in other cases rock and even punk rock artists such as Peter Case and Paul Westerberg transitioned to careers as solo singer-songwriters. In the late 1980s, the term was applied to a group of (predominantly female) artists, beginning with Suzanne Vega with her first album selling unexpectedly well, followed by the likes of Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffith and K.
D. Likewise, the success of Tori Amos in the United Kingdom lead to her success in her home market.
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