Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters

Jimmy 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, most recently 2013’s Still Within the Sound of My Voice, which features duets with guest artists such as Lyle Lovett, Carly Simon, Keith Urban, and Brian Wilson. 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 new memoir, The Cake and the Rain, details his formative years and early career through 1973. It’s available now from St. Martin’s Press.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Emerging from Brooklyn in the late 1990s, Talib Kweli has carved out a reputation as a gifted lyricist and has been called “one of this generation’s most poetic MCs” by AllMusic.com. A prolific collaborator, he is a member of multiple duos, including Reflection Eternal with DJ Hi-Teck, Black Star with Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), and Idle Warship with vocalist Res. He has placed seven releases in the Top 10 on Billboard’s R&B and Hip Hop Albums chart, and has found success with the solo hit “Get By,” which was produced by Kanye West. Additional hits include the Top 5 Black Star track “Definition,” the chart-topping Reflection Eternal singles “Move Somethin’” and “The Blast,” and the Top 5 single “One Four Love Pt. 1,” which was included on the Hip Hop for Respect EP he organized with Mos Def. Additionally, he and Common collaborated on “Get ‘Em High” from Kanye West’s The College Dropout album. Kweli recently contributed to “The Killing Season” from A Tribe Called Quest’s 2016 comeback album that debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts. Others with whom he’s collaborated include John Legend, Pharrell Williams, J Dilla, The Roots, Will.i.am, KRS-One, Consequence, Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige, Raheem DeVaughan, Norah Jones, Musiq Soulchild, Sizzla, Justin Timberlake, and Jay-Z.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joe Melson co-wrote more than 200 songs with Roy Orbison, including over half of Roy’s sixteen Monument Records singles that appeared on the Billboard chart between 1960 and 1963. Their first major hit together was “Only the Lonely,” a style-defining performance featuring Orbison on lead vocals and Melson on the prominent counter melody. The pair followed up their success with a string of hits, including “Blue Angel,” “Running Scared,” and “Crying.” Legendary songwriter Boudleaux Bryant once wrote, “It would be an unpardonable oversight to overlook the contribution of Joe Melson to Roy’s meteoric rise to stardom.” In the 1960s Joe landed his own record deal with the Hickory label, while continuing to pen songs for other artists. His successes in that era include The Newbeats’ Top 10 pop single “Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)” and Don Gibson’s Top 40 country hit “Ever Changing Mind.” In subsequent years the team of Melson and Orbison reunited, working together as both co-writers and producers. Linda Ronstadt covered their “Blue Bayou” in 1977, making it a Top 5 hit on both the country and pop charts. Credited with creating the template for the dramatic rock ballad, Melson has won multiple BMI awards. “Blue Bayou” was named one of BMI’s Top 100 Songs of the Century, “Only the Lonely” is among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and “Crying” appears on both the BMI and Rolling Stone lists. Most recently, Melson joined forces with Australian Idol winner Damien Leith. The pair have released several singles since 2013 and continue to collaborate. Joe was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2002.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rod Argent is the founding member, keyboardist, and driving force behind the legendary 1960s British Invasion band, The Zombies. Argent wrote the band’s best known classics, including the Top 10 single “Tell Her No” and the #1 hit “She’s Not There,” which Rolling Stone ranked at #297 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. By the time The Zombies’ 1968 LP Odessey and Oracle was released, the group had disbanded. “Time of the Season” became a surprise hit from the album, however, reaching the Top 5 on the US charts. Over time, Odessey and Oracle has become a cult classic, and was ranked in the Top 100 Greatest Albums of All Time in both Rolling Stone and Mojo magazines. Rod went on to form the band Argent, scoring a Top 5 hit in 1972 with “Hold Your Head Up,” which he co-wrote with former Zombies bandmate Chris White. Additionally, the group recorded the original version of “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” which was subsequently covered by KISS. After the demise of Argent, Rod threw himself into session work, playing piano on the Who’s classic single “Who Are You,” and working extensively with Andrew Lloyd Weber. He released a handful of solo projects, produced successful albums for artists such as Nanci Griffith and Joshua Kadison, and toured as a member of Ringo Starr’s All Star Band before re-forming the Zombies with original lead singer Colin Blunstone in the mid-2000s. His songs have been recorded by The Ventures, Dusty Springfield, Vanilla Fudge, The Mindbenders, Del Shannon, Santana, Steppenwolf, Uriah Heep, Juice Newton, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, Susanna Hoffs, Tom Petty, America, Mother Love Bone, Ronnie Spector, and others. The original lineup of The Zombies - Rod, lead singer Colin Blunstone, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy - have just released a career retrospective coffee table book called The Odessey. They’ll launch a tour this month in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the recording of Odessey and Oracle and will perform the full album in its entirety.       Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Natalie Hemby came to prominence as an award-winning Nashville-based writer for other artists, penning at least two dozen songs with or for Miranda Lambert, including the hits “White Liar,” “Only Prettier,” “Baggage Claim,” and the #1 single “Automatic,” which was nominated for a Grammy and named both ACM and NSAI Song of the Year. Additionally, she co-wrote Little Big Town’s chart topping singles “Pontoon” and “Tornado,” the #1 hits “Downtown” by Lady Antebellum and “You Look Like I Need a Drink” by Justin Moore, Toby Keith’s Top 20 “Drinks After Work,” and “Don’t Rush,” which was a hit for Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill. Additionally, she scored a Top 10 UK pop hit with “Jealous,” a song co-written with - and recorded by - the English producer, performer, and multi-instrumentalist known as Labrinth. Natalie has co-written songs with a long list of artists who’ve gone on to record their collaborations, including Eli Young Band, Amy Grant, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Brett Eldredge, Chris Isaak, Laura Bell Bundy, Dierks Bentley, Maren Morris, Johnnyswim, and previous Songcraft guests Trent Dabbs, Lori McKenna, and Maia Sharp. Others who’ve dipped into the Natalie Hemby songbook include Lee Ann Womack, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Blake Shelton, Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice. In addition to writing a half dozen #1 hits, Hemby co-produced a documentary about her grandfather’s hometown called Puxico, which was the inspiration for the eponymous album that’s been heralded by The New York Times, NPR, and Rolling Stone as an early favorite of 2017. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The legendary Jerry Chesnut has written more than three dozen Top 40 singles, including Top 10 classics such as Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Another Place, Another Time,” Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s “Holding On to Nothing,” George Jones’s “A Good Year For the Roses,” Faron Young’s “It’s Four in the Morning,” Loretta Lynn’s “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy Anymore,” and  Johnny Cash’s “Oney.” Additionally, he wrote five songs that were recorded by Elvis Presley, including the Top 10 "It's Midnight," and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” which would later become a hit single for Travis Tritt. Chesnut also penned charting singles for Tammy Wynette, Dave Dudley, Bobby Goldsboro, Bill Anderson, Hank Williams Jr., Mel Tillis, Tom Jones, and Alan Jackson. His songs have additionally been recorded by Waylon Jennings, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, Hank Thompson, Willie Nelson, Mark Chesnutt, Johnny Paycheck, George Strait, Elvis Costello, the Counting Crows, and many others. The two-time Grammy nominee was named Billboard’s Country Songwriter of the Year in 1972, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996, and became a member of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Texas songwriter extraordinaire Radney Foster has written over a dozen Top 10 country hits, including Colin Raye’s “Anyone Else,” Keith Urban’s “Raining on Sunday,” and Sara Evans’s “A Real Fine Place to Start.” He initially hit the scene with songwriting partner Bill Lloyd, with whom he penned Sweethearts of the Rodeo’s “Since I Found You.” The pair gained success as performers with the Top 10 singles “Crazy Over You,” “Sure Thing,” “What Do You Want From Me This Time,” and “Fair Shake,” earning four nominations for CMA Vocal Duo of the Year. Foster’s debut solo album, Del Rio, TX 1959, spawned five charting singles, including the Top 10 hit “Nobody Wins.” He has gone on to release nine additional albums as a highly respected singer/songwriter, while continuing to have his material recorded by others. Notable highlights from the Foster songbook include The Mavericks’ “I Got You,” The Dixie Chicks’ cover of “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams),” Dierks Bentley’s recording of “Sweet and Wild,” Pat Green’s Top 40 single “Three Days,” Jack Ingram’s Top 20 single “Measure of a Man,” Keith Urban’s chart-topping take on “I’m In,” as well as “Somebody Take Me Home” from Kenny Chesney’s #1 triple platinum album The Road and the Radio, and “I Knew You That Way” from Luke Bryan’s multi-platinum #1 album Tailgates & Tanlines. The long list of additional artists who’ve recorded Radney’s songs includes Guy Clark, Hootie & The Blowfish, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Brooks & Dunn, Gary Allan, Kenny Loggins, and, Darius Rucker. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After establishing herself in Europe, New Zealand native Pam Sheyne broke through to international songwriting success when “Genie in a Bottle” hit #1 in more than 20 countries, sold millions of copies around the world, cemented Christina Aguilera’s place as a new pop superstar, and earned Sheyne an Ivor Novello award for International Hit of the Year. Pam went on to pen the single “Mirror Mirror” for the Norwegian pop duo M2M, which landed in the Top 20 on the US Dance chart, as well as “He Loves U Not,” which was recorded by the girl group Dream, hit #2 on the Billboard pop chart, and was certified Gold after selling more than a half million copies in the US. She went on to write “Irresistible,” the title track to Jessica Simpson’s second album, which reached #15 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 2001. Pam also co-wrote the Top 40 single “She Said” for teen pop singer turned Academy Award winning actress, Brie Larson, and the #1 hit “Lighthouse” for South African Idol winner Elvis Blue. Other artists who’ve recorded her songs include Sheena Easton, O Town, Nick Lachey, Lindsay Lohan, Ce Ce Winans, Vitamin C, Corinne Bailey Rae, Demi Lovato, Seal, and others. In addition to her creative efforts, Pam is also a tireless advocate for the songwriting community and has been in the trenches fighting for fair legislation and business practices that support the songwriting profession. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scott and Paul look back on the first two years of Songcraft, sharing memories and clips of previous episodes, including some of their favorite moments from classic interviews. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sonny Curtis began his music career in Lubbock, Texas, playing lead guitar in Buddy Holly’s pre-Crickets band, The Three Tunes. He landed his first hit as a songwriter when Webb Pierce took his song “Someday” to #12 on the Billboard country chart in 1957. He went on to his own performing career, both as a solo artist and as the longtime guitarist and vocalist for the post-Buddy Holly Crickets, while continuing to write songs that became hits for others. These include The Everly Brothers’ “Walk Right Back,” Andy Williams’ “A Fool Never Learns,” The Bobby Fuller Four’s “I Fought the Law,” Bobby Goldsboro’s “The Straight Life,” Leo Sayer’s “More Than I Can Say,” and Keith Whitley’s #1 country hit, “I’m No Stranger to the Rain.” In addition, Curtis wrote and performed “Love is All Around,” the theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. His music has been covered by Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, The Grateful Dead, The Stray Cats, Bryan Adams, John Cougar Mellencamp, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jr., Joan Jett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Chet Atkins, Johnny Rivers, Green Day, Harry Nilsson, Glen Campbell, and many others.  He’s a member of the Musician’s Hall of Fame and the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2012 he and his fellow Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which also counted Sonny’s “I Fought the Law” as one of the 500 “Songs That Shaped Rock.” Similarly, “I Fought the Law” is on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.