Albums/artists that have influenced your song writing

So who has hit you the hardest?

FIT?

Dylan, both Gershwins. L & M, Neil Finn, early Costello, Laura Nyro, Burt Bacharach, Cole Porter, Graham Parker

I probably take more influence from authors and poets than I do songwriters.

If pressed, I'd probably go with people like John Prine, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon and such.

EG

I would say all of the musicians I've ever heard. I started with the learning of the classics playing fiddel in an orchestra in the 60s. Then had influences from the folk era from my sister who was 10 yrs older than myself, then had another sister who was into the whole pop thing. My mother loved jazz. I liked it all and played it all.

I've long long gotten away from any one artists or artists having any intentional influence on my own sound or song writing. There are some I consider to be musicians musicians, and there may be songs I write that may sound simular to music I've heard in the past, but when I write, the only listen to the sound I hear in my minds eye and consider it to be my own. If that happens to be a cullumnation of everything I've heard, then so be it.

I do have major collections of music in CD's Tapes, Albums, etc I consider to be my library. But I'd say in the last 20 years my collection of originals has grown to the thousands level. When I do get time to listen to music its usually my own or something I've done with others. Ocassionally I may pull something out or put the radio on when working and hear whats going on, but its rarely done to learn anymore. Since I record and write, then mix multitracks, I'll have likely heard that same song 20~50 times and have focused on every note, so I only need to play it once and after mixing, I can play the same tune note for note and add any improv needed for improvement.

My buddies get so dizzy, I can play something we recorded a week or two previously and they cant even remember playing it while being blown away by the song itself and the ideas thrown in there. Of course me adding the extra parts in helps alot too. We're only 2 guitars and drums and I add the bass after the fact.

I would listen to many more bands in the past especially in High School, but I was always noted for likeing "B" side stuff vs the hits of the time. I didnt care what I listend to so long as it was done well and I could learn from it. Guess that paid off with the non stop writing of stuff I do now. I did originals back then but it was more like coming up with a simular jam or riff already being done by someone else.

Guess getting married and having kids forced me to write vs perform and that daily focus on recording really made all the difference though. I did 10 years of recording solo stuff playing all the instruments, and it really honed my songwriting and recording abilities.

I'm sure some of what I recorded in the past was inspired by what I listened to driving around all day. But I can pull out those old tapes and theres no way I can trace the stuff to anyone else.

Now days, I just dont run out of ideas any more nor need to be inspired. Its more of a how well do you feel and can you handel another 3~4 hour session. When you hit 50, energy management is a much bigger factor writing than anything else. If I eat right, sleep right and all, I'll have the energy level to play my best. The rest, I give absolutely no thought to. Theres no magic formulas, no secret meditation, no mantra, no social associations that are going to inspire me to write great music, in fact all those things do are cloud the mind and distract your focus.

To me the sound of silence is where it all comes from, so hearing some other guy in my head is a sign that there was a self impressed bar placed on my ability I need to dismantle so I can trek my own ground.

I work with guys now who are all in the same groove and we constantly bounce ideas and come up with new material that the others interpit and add parts to and vice versa.

It wasnt always that way for me. There were many times when I played in cover bands, or did alot of study playing other material where I would mimick others, but that was always more from an educational point of focus vs a wannabee standpoint.

This was there from such an earley age when I first started playing fiddel in school. You're taught to read and not copy or play by ear and memorise the music. That of cource wasnt always possible and tabbing out parts was always nessasary.

My 40 cents here.

Jackson Browne speaks to me

Hmmmm. Here's a brief chronology of a what has influenced me and the path from then to now:

Now, I'm a wanderer. I'll find an album or artist and delve right in for a few weeks, then move on. Going back to the classics, and listening to what writers like Redd Stewart did and thinking about how they composed.

Since I got into song writing, I've been more analytical about composition and the writers themselves. I also listen to a lot more styles, artists and composers. without getting overly fixated by any of them.

Like WRGKMC, just about everything that I've absorbed has affected me.

Notables might be Hiram King "Hank" Williams, (but not son, Randall Hank, or grandson Shelton Hank), Bob Dylan, Richard Farina, Leonard Cohen, Leiber and Stoller, Hoagie Carmichael, Howard Devoto, Richard Thompson, Meredith Wilson, Gene Clark... but really, those are just a few I'm skimming off the top of my head.

Right... while Mcfontio's more looking for a lifelong influence oriented kinda thang, every Friday, almost like clock work, a weekly Friday Influences Thread appears... and since this is Friday:

Friday Influences Thread 04.30.10

I didn't realize that the FIT actually has "past influences" rolled in there.

That's more or less what I was getting at. Everything that's happening in music was influenced by the music before it. I was curious to hear what people thought to be their biggest influences, how much music history have they seen, and watch out for their song postings here as well to see if it is reflected in a detectable way.

Mind you, no problem with this thread, despite the close parallels to the FIT!

That said, I think a lot of folks look ahead to the weekly Friday thread. It's kind of a great institution and a big thanks to Stack for keeping up the good work. (He scared us there for a half day a week or two ago but happily for us it was just that darn ol' real world intruding and he rejoined a FIT reluctantly started by others in his absence.)

I know I look forward to it, even though I don't always post in it. (And I sometimes find myself jotting notes to myself about who I want to cite when FIT rolls around.)

[sometimes I just haven't listened to much that I like that I haven't already commented on before... I probably over-rely on a somewhat huge Rhapsody playlist I keep adding to that I typically kick on in the a.m. and, particularly when I'm busy with a project, listen to idly through the day. I do have to stir up the thread, though, since, while there's some great tech at Rhapsody, and I love the service and I think it's a great bargain, I do have to say their randomizer leaves a little to be desired. That said, as long as you just let it play and don't add anything to the list, it won't repeat any tracks, which beats more than a couple shuffle modes I've had to deal with in the past.]

But, for sure, this is a slightly different topic... what/who -- career-wide -- has made you the writer you are -- or influenced who you want to be.

That's a good topic.

As long as it doesn't devolve into what I guess we could call the Oasis v. Suede Syndrome. [Or blue2blue vs. latter Dylan... that seems to really set teeth on edge around here. ]

Re: the OP

Mid 70's Dylan. :poke:

You crazy kids today with your wacked out AOR!