Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters

Norman Greenbaum gave the world "Spirit in the Sky," one of the greatest records ever made. He chats with us about his iconic classic, as well as other musical adventures and misadventures over the last few decades. PART ONE: Paul and Scott chat about Instagram, artist accessibility, and what the heck Norman Greenbaum looks like. PART TWO:Our in-depth conversation with Norman GreenbaumABOUT NORMAN GREENBAUMNorman Greenbaum might be known as a one hit wonder, but that one hit is one of the most wonderous records to ever hit the airwaves. With its infectious groove and unparalleled fuzz tone guitar, “Spirit in the Sky” was recorded in San Francisco in 1969 and quickly climbed to the Top 5 in the US and number 1 in a half dozen countries around the world. It has been certified double platinum for sales of over 2 million, and is among Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” It has reached #1 in the UK in three different decades by three different artists and has been covered by everyone from Elton John to the Blind Boys of Alabama. After his debut LP, Greenbaum went on to release the albums Back Home Again and Petaluma in 1970 and 1972, respectively. Though he gave up recording in the early 1970s, “Spirit in the Sky” remains one of the most popular songs of all time. With nearly 600 million streams on Spotify alone, it has been featured in films such as Apollo 13, Oceans 11, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and in commercials for American Express, Chase Bank, Nike, and Budweiser. To celebrate the song’s legacy, Craft Recordings has recently released a brand-new Dolby Atmos mix of the single as well as a new vinyl release of the long out-of-print Spirit in the Sky LP, cut from the original tapes. 

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2021 conversation with Ani DiFranco. ABOUT ANI DIFRANCOSinger, songwriter, musician, producer, poet, author, spoken-word artist, activist and entrepreneur Ani DiFranco has released more than 20 independent studio albums on her own label, Righteous Babe Records. Though often classified as “alternative folk,” DiFranco’s musical influences span a range of genres. After relentless touring, she reached a wide commercial audience in the late 1990s and early 2000s with albums such as Little Plastic Castle, Up Up Up Up Up Up, Revelling/Reckoning, Evolve, Educated Guess, and the gold-certified live album Living in Clip. The Grammy winner and nine-time nominee achieved her sole Top 40 hit as a songwriter when Alana Davis covered the DiFranco classic “32 Flavors” in 1997. The prolific and critically-acclaimed performer developed her own uniquely percussive guitar style and has collaborated with a range of artists, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Bruce Cockburn, Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, Maceo Parker, and Prince. In addition to releasing her own music, her label has issued recordings by Sara Lee, Andrew Bird, Nona Hendryx, and others. Ani was one of the first musicians to receive the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, and was honored with both the Woody Guthrie Award and the Southern Center For Human Rights’ Human Rights Award. Her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, was released in 2019 by Viking Books. At the time we spoke with her, the New Orleans-based DiFranco’s 2021 album, Revolutionary Love, was just about to be released. 

Lumineers front man and two-time Grammy nominee Wesley Schultz goes deep on his passion for songwriting. PART ONE:Paul and Scott tell the harrowing tale of the Wesley Schultz interview that almost didn't happen. Plus, do you have a question for Patty Griffin, Dave Mason, or Mary Chapin Carpenter? Share it with us and you just might hear your name on an upcoming episode! PART TWO:Our in-depth conversation with Wesley Schultz. ABOUT WESLEY SCHULTZWesley Schultz is best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and guitarist for The Lumineers. Founded in 2005, their blend of alternative rock, Americana, and electrifying live performances has earned them a dedicated following. Over the course of five studio albums, the band has achieved 24 #1 hits across multiple radio formats, earned over 6 billion streams, sold more than 1.5 million albums in the US, and built a Spotify following of 22 million monthly listeners. Their accolades include two GRAMMY® nominations, five Billboard Music Awards nods, an American Music Award nomination, and an iHeartRadio MMVA win for their #1 hit “Stubborn Love.” Aside from all that, Wesley Schultz is, fundamentally, a songwriter. The Lumineers’ most recent album is called Automatic.  

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2017 conversation with Jimmy Webb. ABOUT JIMMY WEBBJimmy Webb emerged as a superstar songwriter and arranger in 1967 when two of his songs – The 5th Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away” and Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” - were among the five nominees for the Grammy’s Song of the Year award. He went on to write a string of major hits for Campbell, including “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” "Where’s the Playground Susie,” “Honey Come Back,” and many others. Additionally, he penned “MacArthur Park,” which was a hit for a diverse range of artists, including Richard Harris, Waylon Jennings, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, and Donna Summer; “The Worst That Could Happen,” which was a Top 5 hit for The Brooklyn Bridge; “Didn’t We,” which was recorded by Thelma Houston, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, and Barbra Streisand; “All I Know,” which became a Top 10 hit for Art Garfunkel; “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress,” which has been recorded by Joe Cocker, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, and Josh Groban; and “If These Walls Could Speak,” which was recorded by Glen Campbell, Amy Grant, Nanci Griffith, and Shawn Colvin. Others who’ve covered material from the Jimmy Webb songbook include Diana Ross, Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, The Four Tops, Roberta Flack, The Temptations, The Association, Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick, Cass Elliot, Harry Nilsson, Nancy Wilson, Cher, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Nick Cave, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, David Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, R.E.M., Aimee Mann, America, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, Peggy Lee, Bette Midler, James Taylor, Carrie Underwood, Dwight Yoakam, and The Highwaymen (consisting of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson), who took Jimmy’s song “Highwayman” to #1, earning him a Grammy for Country Song of the Year. As an artist, he has released more than a dozen albums. One of the most celebrated songwriters on the planet, Jimmy is the only individual to win Grammy awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. Additionally, he has received ASCAP’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Influential Songwriter Award from the National Music Publishers Association, and the Academy of Country Music’s prestigious Poets Award. In 2015 he was named among Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Jimmy’s memoir, The Cake and the Rain, details his formative years and early career through 1973. It’s available now from St. Martin’s Press. 

Grammy-winning songwriter and Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner chats about his process, from the earliest days of the band to to the most recent album, Slowly But Shirley PART ONE:Paul and Scott talk about movie soundtracks, music discovery, and how technology changes but the power of music endures.PART TWO:Our in-depth conversation with Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum.ABOUT DAVE PIRNERDave Pirner is best known as the lead singer, frontman, and primary songwriter for the Grammy-winning alternative rock band Soul Asylum. Formed in Minneapolis in the early 1980s, the group has blended punk, roots music, power pop and other influences to create its own unique sound. After a series of indie releases and two albums for A&M, the band’s widespread commercial breakthrough came with Columbia Records’ release of the Grave Dancer’s Union album in 1992. “Black Gold” and “Somebody to Shove” were hits on Billboard’s Alternative Rock chart, with the latter reaching #1. “Runaway Train” was a top-5 pop single and earned Pirner a Grammy for Best Rock Song. The follow-up album, Let Your Dim Light Shine, produced the top 20 singles “Misery” and “Just Like Anyone.” To date, Soul Asylum has released over a dozen studio albums and Pirner has released one solo album, Faces & Names, in 2002. The band’s most recent record, Slowly But Shirley, was released in September of 2024.  

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2021 conversation with Steve Perry. ABOUT STEVE PERRYOne of the most iconic voices in rock music history, Steve Perry is best known as the lead singer of the band Journey during the group’s most successful period. His first Top 20 pop hit as either a performer or songwriter was the solo-written “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’,” which became a hit for the band in 1979. In the following decade he co-wrote an unbelievable streak of classic songs with Neil Shon and Jonathan Cain, including “Any Way You Want It,” “Who’s Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” “Separate Ways,” ”Send Her My Love,” and “Don’t Stop Believin',” a single that’s been certified five times platinum. His 1984 debut solo album Street Talk produced the classic singles “Oh Sherrie” and “Foolish Heart.” After penning additional Journey hits “Be Good to Yourself,” “Girl Can’t Help It,” and “I’ll be Alright Without You” he departed the band and released his second solo album, For the Love of Strange Medicine, featuring the single “You Better Wait.” After briefly reuniting with Journey and co-writing the additional hits “When You Love a Woman” and “Message of Love” in the mid-1990s, he stepped away from recording. Steve returned in 2018 with his third solo album, Traces. In 2021 he released his fourth solo record, a holiday collection called The Season, produced by Steve and Thom Flowers, and featuring contributions from multi-instrumentalist Dallas Kruse. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, whom Rolling Stone magazine named among the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” joins us to talk about exploring the great American Christmas songbook from a writer’s perspective, to share some stories about his own songs, and to offer some insight into his approach to the craft.

GRAMMY winner Suzanne Vega talks "Luka," "Tom's Diner," her first studio album in more than a decade, and much more! PART ONEPaul and Scott talk about the pop culture museum in Seattle, as well as Nirvana, Soundgarden, the diner in Seinfeld, canned green beans, and other important stuff. PART TWOScott's in-depth conversation with Suzanne VegaABOUT SUZANNE VEGAGRAMMY winner Suzanne Vega is best known for “Luka,” which was a top 5 pop hit in 1987. In 1990 DNA reworked and remixed her song “Tom’s Diner,” giving her another top 5 pop hit. In total, Vega has released ten studio albums, four acoustic collections, and eight live albums, earning five GRAMMY nominations in the process. A wide-ranging songwriter, Suzanne has earned accolades for “Book of Dreams,” “Blood Makes Noise,” and “Caramel,” three sonically distinct compositions that reflect the breadth of the musical ground she covers. In 2004 she won a Peabody award for entertainment. Suzanne’s most recent album, Flying with Angels, is her first new studio record in over a decade. 

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2021 conversation with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. ABOUT JIMMY JAM & TERRY LEWISWith 26 Billboard #1 R&B hits and 16 Billboard #1 pop hits to their credit, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are perhaps the most influential and successful songwriting and production duo in modern music history. With a total of 41 Top 10 hits in the US, Jimmy and Terry were named ASCAP Songwriters of the Year a record-breaking nine times. They are perhaps best known for their work with Janet Jackson, beginning with the Control album, which earned the duo a Grammy for Producer of the Year. Between 1986 and 1994 they scored thirteen #1 songs with Janet on either the R&B or pop chart, including “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” “Nasty,” “When I Think of You,” “Control,” “Let’s Wait Awhile,” “Miss You Much,” “Rhythm Nation,” “Escapade” “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “Any Time, Any Place,” and “Again,” which earned Jimmy, Terry, and Janet an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Jimmy and Terry got their start as musicians with Morris Day and the Time, the Prince-produced band whose biggest hit was the Jam and Lewis-penned “Jerk Out.” They made the transition to a successful songwriting and production team working with the S.O.S. band, which landed a #2 R&B hit with “Just Be Good to Me.” From there, they made their mark on pop and R&B hits for decades to come. In addition to their work with Jackson, the duo wrote and produced the #1 pop singles “Human” by Human League, “Romantic” by Karyn White, “Thank God I Found You” by Mariah Carey, and the Boyz II Men singles “On Bended Knee” and “4 Seasons of Loneliness.” Additional R&B chart toppers include “Encore” by Cheryl Lynn, “Fake” by Alexander O’Neal, “Everything I Miss at Home” by Cherelle, “Sensitivity” by Ralph Tresvant, and the Johnny Gill singles “Rub You the Right Way” and “Wrap My Body Tight.” Other highlights from their catalog include New Edition’s “If It Isn’t Love” and “I’m Still in Love With You,” “No More Drama” by Mary J. Blige, Robert Palmer’s hit pop cover of their Cherelle single “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On,” and recordings by Gladys Knight & The Pips, Barry White, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Usher, Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Charlie Wilson, Ledisi, Sting, Elton John, Beyonce, Rihanna, Rod Stewart, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani, Willie Nelson, and many others.Always versatile, the duo has earned Grammy awards for Best R&B Album for Chaka Kahn’s Funk This, Best Gospel Song for Yolanda Adams’ “Be Blessed,” and Best Dance Recording for Janet Jackson’s #1 pop and R&B hit “All For You.” Additional Jackson hits that were written and produced with Jam and Lewis include the Janet and Michael Jackson hit “Scream” and the #1 singles “Together Again,” “I Get Lonely,” “Doesn’t Really Matter,” and the Nelly duet “Call On Me.”In total the team has earned over 100 gold, platinum, multi-platinum and diamond album certifications from the RIAA, have received more Producer of the Year Grammy nominations than anyone in history, earned the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, and were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz explains how his songwriting process has changed over the years, and offers insights into some of his songs, from early classics to recent compositions. PART ONE:Paul and Scott discuss judging a book by its cover and their possible status as idiots. PART TWO:Our in-depth conversation with Adam DuritzABOUT ADAM DURITZ:Songwriter Adam Duritz is best known as the lead singer of Counting Crows, which formed in 1991 in the San Francisco Bay area. Their 1993 debut album, August and Everything After, which was produced by T. Bone Burnett, attracted attention for songs such as “Mr. Jones,” “Round Here,” and “Rain King.” The album earned the group two Grammy nominations and was certified seven-times platinum. The double platinum follow-up album, Recovering the Satellites, reached number one and produced the top 10 pop single “A Long December.” Subsequent #1 singles on Billboard’s AAA chart include “American Girls” with Sheryl Crow, “She Don’t Want Nobody Near,” “Accidentally in Love” from Shrek 2 (which earned them an Academy Award nomination), and “You Can’t Count on Me” and “Come Around” from the band’s fifth album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. In 2021 Counting Crows reached #2 on the AAA chart with “Elevator Boots” from their EP Butter Miracle, Suite One. Their eighth studio album, Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!, will be released this Friday, May 9. You’ll hear clips of some of the new songs during our conversation, but to hear others Adam discusses, such as “With Love, From A-Z” and “Boxcars,” you’ll have to wait a few days for the new album. In all, the band has sold over 20 million albums and established themselves as vibrant live performers who often put a fresh spin on the recorded versions of their classic songs.  

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2020 conversation with Peter Frampton. ABOUT THIS BONUS EPISODEThe exceedingly generous and gentlemanly Peter Frampton talks about David Bowie giving him his very first job; Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones getting him into a recording studio for the first time; stumbling into session work thanks to George Harrison; writing two massive hits in the same day; how the loneliness of stratospheric success impacted his songwriting; and the inside stories of classics such as "Baby, I Love Your Way," "Show Me the Way," "Do You Feel Like We Do," "I'm in You," and many more.