Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters

Shelly Peiken is a multi-platinum songwriter best known for co-writing Christina Aguilera’s #1 hits “What a Girl Wants” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You).” She was nominated for a Best Rock Song Grammy for penning “Bitch” with Meredith Brooks, who took the song to #2 on the Billboard pop chart in 1997. Additionally, she’s penned songs such as “I Wanna Be With You” for Mandy Moore and “Out From Under” by Britney Spears. Celine Dion has recorded four of Shelly’s songs, while Miley Cyrus, NSYNC, David Archuleta, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Plain White T’s and Gladys Knight have each recorded two or more songs from the Peiken catalog. Others who have covered Shelly’s music include Jessie J, the Divinyls, the Pretenders, Reba McEntire, Lisa Loeb, Jennifer Lopez, Expose, Aaliyah, Backstreet Boys, Vanessa Hudgens, Smash Mouth, INXS, Keith Urban, Michelle Branch, Natasha Bedingfield, and the cast of the hit TV show, Glee. Shelly is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post and has recently released her first book, Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. 

After serving in World War II, Irving Burgie attended Juilliard where he studied classical voice. He eventually fell in love with folk music, and landed a steady gig as a Calypso singer at a Caribbean-themed Chicago nightclub in the early 1950s. Returning to New York, he became known as Lord Burgess on the Greenwich Village folk scene. He contributed eight songs to Harry Belafonte’s Calypso album in 1956, which became the first million selling LP in any genre, and spent an astounding 31 weeks at #1 on the Billboard pop chart. Burgie went on to write the majority of Belafonte’s hit albums Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean in 1957 and Jump Up Calypso in 1961. In total, he wrote more than thirty songs for Belafonte, including the hit singles “Jamaica Farewell,” “Day-O,” “Don’t Ever Love Me,” “Cocoanut Woman,” and “Island in the Sun.” Thanks to his strong reputation for popularizing island music, Burgie wrote the National Anthem of Barbados in 1966. In addition to Harry Belafonte, other artists who’ve tapped the Irving Burgie catalog include Sam Cooke, Julio Iglesias, Taj Mahal, The Kinks, Jimmy Buffett, Marty Robbins, Don Williams, Arlo Guthrie, The Righteous Brothers, Tom Rush, Carly Simon, Chubby Checker, and Patti Page. “Day-O” continues to live on, and, in more recent years, has been sampled by Jason Derulo in “I Don’t Wanna Go Home," and by Lil’ Wayne in “Six Foot, Seven Foot.” Burgie was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.   

Two-time Grammy nominee Billy Mann released a couple of solo albums as an artist via A&M Records in the mid-1990s before finding success as a songwriter in the European market. He eventually returned to the US and began getting his songs recorded by artists such as Celine Dion, Dakota Moon, and Daryl Hall & Joan Oates, who made “Do It For Love” Billy’s first #1 Billboard single as a songwriter in 2002. Other artists who charted with Billy’s songs in this era include Michael Bolton, Art Garfunkel, and Jim Brickman. He soon began finding hits with a new wave of pop stars, beginning with Jessica Simpson’s Top 20 single, “With You.” Around the same time he became a frequent collaborator with Pink, who has included many of Billy’s compositions on her albums, including “God is a DJ,” “Stupid Girls,” "Dear Mr. President," "I'm Not Dead," "Glitter in the Air.,” and "The Truth About Love." Additionally, Mann co-wrote and produced Teddy Geiger’s platinum selling single “For You I Will (Confidence).” He has worked with a variety of artists, including Cher, Sting, John Legend, Kelly Rowland, Ricky Martin, Backstreet Boys, Martina McBride, Allen Stone, Josh Groban, and others. In addition to his efforts as a songwriter and producer, Mann is a respected music executive. After forming his own Stealth Entertainment, he went on to become a President at both EMI and BMG Rights Management. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Green & Bloom/Topline, a hybrid record label and publishing company. He balances his business activities with his own creative efforts and philanthropic initiatives, which he calls the pursuit of "the hit life" over the hit song.

Though the father/daughter songwriting duo of Randy and Maia Sharp found their greatest collaborative success with the Dixie Chicks' recording of "Home" in 2002, they've enjoyed diverse songwriting careers, working both together and separately. Randy released his first independent album as a singer/songwriter in 1973, eventually finding chart success as a writer for other artists, including Jennifer Warnes, Marty Robbins, and Glen Campbell. Thirteen of his songs have reached Billboard’s Top 40 country chart, a half dozen of which hit the Top 10. He wrote the #1 hits “(Why Does It Have to Be) Wrong or Right” and “Tender Lie” for Restless Heart, as well as a string of hits for Exile, including “Nobody’s Talkin’” and “Yet.” He continued to write hit songs in the mid to late 1990s, such as “You Will” for Patty Loveless, “The Cheap Seats” for Alabama, and “Then What” for Clay Walker. In 2005 Emmylou Harris won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for Randy’s song “The Connection.” Additionally, his music has been recorded by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, Kelly Clarkson, Edgar Winter, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. His most recent album, I Won’t Let Go, was released in 2015. Following in her father’s footsteps, Maia Sharp has released six albums as a solo artist, earning a reputation as a skilled instrumentalist, singer, and highly respected “songwriter’s songwriter.” Her songs have been recorded by Kathy Mattea, Kim Richey, Amanda Marshall, Paul Carrack, David Wilcox, Lisa Loeb, Edwin McCain, Trisha Yearwood, Cher, Keb’ Mo’, Art Garfunkel, and Bonnie Raitt, who included three of Maia’s songs on her Souls Alike album, including the single “I Don’t Want Anything to Change.” Maia’s own version of the song can be found on her recently released studio album The Dash Between the Dates.

Best known for singing a string of successful trucking-themed country songs in the 1960s and 70s, Red Simpson was also a highly influential behind-the-scenes songwriter from Bakersfield, California. Buck Owens recorded more than 30 Simpson originals, including the Top 10 hits “Gonna Have Love,” “Sam’s Place,” and “Kansas City Song.” Additionally, Red penned perennial standards, such as “Close Up the Honky Tonks” and “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go.” As an artist, he released a total of seven albums for Capitol and logged seven charting singles onBillboard’s country rankings, including the Top 40 hits “Roll Truck Roll” and “The Highway Patrol.” He is perhaps best known, however, for singing “I’m a Truck,” which hit the Top 5 in 1972. Simpson played guitar on most of Buck Owens’ recording dates in the mid-1960s, including sessions that produced hits such as “Buckaroo” and “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line.” He went on to play numerous sessions with Merle Haggard, who referred to Simpson as a “hillbilly hippy.” Merle recorded a couple of Simpson originals on his 1969 album Pride in What I Am, and Red went on to play guitar on Haggard’s classic live LP, Okie From Muskogee. A half dozen other Simpson compositions have been recorded by Haggard, who wrote “A Bar in Bakersfield” in tribute to his old friend. As a songwriter, Simpson enjoyed additional charting singles by Charlie Walker, Wynn Stewart, Junior Brown, and others. His songs have also been recorded by Ferlin Husky, Johnny Paycheck, Wanda Jackson, The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Dave Dudley, Roy Clark, Roseanne Cash, Steve Wariner, Lucinda Williams, Alan Jackson, Candi Staton, Dwight Yoakam, and many more. Simpson died on January 8, 2016. This is the final in-depth interview with the California country mainstay Bob Dylan once called "the forgotten man of the Bakersfield Sound."

Mike Stoller has written more than 60 songs that have appeared on the Billboard charts, including the #1 hits “Hound Dog,” “Kansas City,” “Yakety Yak,”  “Searchin’,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Poison Ivy,” “Stand By Me,” “Young Blood,” “Don’t,” and “Ruby, Baby." After Stoller and songwriting partner Jerry Leiber found early R&B success with recordings by Little Esther, Charles Brown, Ray Charles, and Big Mama Thornton, Elvis Presley turned their song "Hound Dog" into a #1 single on the pop, R&B, and country charts in 1956. Elvis went on to record more than 20 Leiber and Stoller titles, including the hits "Love Me," "Loving You," "Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice," "She's Not You," and "Bossa Nova Baby." Mike and Jerry signed an independent production deal with Atlantic Records in the mid-1950s, where they wrote and produced a series of hits for several artists, including the Drifters' "There Goes My Baby," "Dance With Me," and "On Broadway." Additionally, the pair wrote and produced all the Coasters' singles, including "Young Blood," "Searchin'," "Charlie Brown," "Along Came Jones," and "Poison Ivy." Other highlights from the Leiber and Stoller songbook include "Love Potion No. 9," which was a hit for both the Clovers and the Searchers, and "Is That All There Is," which was a hit for Peggy Lee. Eleven different versions of their song “Stand By Me” appeared on the Billboard charts over the span of 50 years, with the original version by Ben E. King hitting the Top 10 in both 1961 and 1986. Smokey Joe's Cafe, which included 40 Leiber and Stoller songs, opened in 1995 and became the longest running musical revue in Broadway history. Stoller received the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award in 1991, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Canadian singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mars Bonfire began his professional music career with the Sparrows, a 1960s rock group that eventually morphed into the band Steppenwolf. Though he’d departed by the time they released their first album, Steppenwolf made Bonfire’s “Born to be Wild” a massive hit in 1968. The song was prominently used in the film Easy Rider the following year, cementing its place as a classic American anthem of free-spirited rebellion. The lyrics introduced the term “heavy metal” to the music world, and Rolling Stone magazine named “Born to be Wild” one of the Top 500 Songs of All Time. Steppenwolf went on to record five additional Bonfire compositions, including “Faster Than the Speed of Life” and “Ride With Me.” All Music called Mars’s 1968 self-titled psychedelic solo album a “lost masterpiece,” and in 2015 he was honored with the first ever Cultural Impact Award given by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. In addition to Steppenwolf, Mars Bonfire’s music has been covered by Alice Cooper, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, The Cult, Crowded House, INXS, U2, Bruce Springsteen, and others.   

Known as a respected “songwriter’s songwriter,” Jim Lauderdale is a versatile and highly prolific artist who is equally comfortable writing country, bluegrass, soul, or pop. His 1991 debut, Planet of Love, was packed with original songs that went on to be covered by George Strait, The Dixie Chicks, Gary Allan, Lucinda Williams, Mandy Barnett, and others. Since then, Lauderdale has recorded nearly thirty albums, including the Grammy winning releases Lost in the Lonesome Pines and The Bluegrass Diaries. Patty Loveless has recorded five of his songs, including the Top 10 single “Halfway Down” and her hit duet with George Jones, “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me.” Likewise, George Strait has covered well over a dozen Jim Lauderdale compositions, including the Top 5 hits “We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This,” “What Do You Say to That,” and “I Gotta Get to You.” Others who have recorded Jim’s songs include Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds, Tracy Nelson, Shelby Lynne, Vince Gill, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blake Shelton, Gary Allan, Lee Ann Womack, and Solomon Burke. In addition to his Grammy wins, Jim took home both the Song of the Year and Artist of the Year honors at the 2002 Americana Music Association Awards. In 2015 he was honored by the National Music Council – alongside Kris Kristofferson and Charley Pride – for his “long-term contribution to America’s musical culture and heritage.”

Arkansas native spent his formative years playing in a jazz band with future President Bill Clinton, before going on to write a ton of #1 pop and adult contemporary hits, including Michael Johnson’s “Bluer Than Blue,” Steve Perry’s “Foolish Heart,” Toto’s “I’ll Be Over You,” El DeBarge’s “Who’s Holdin’ Donna Now,” and Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me,” which earned Goodrum a Grammy nomination and became the ACM Song of the Year.   Additionally, he wrote Chicago’s “If She Would Have Been Faithful,” Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie,” and “A Lesson in Leavin’,” which was a #1 country hit for both Dottie West and Jo Dee Messina. In 1981 Randy won six ASCAP awards in a single year and was named ASCAP country songwriter of the year. His music has been recorded by Gladys Knight, Reba McEntire, Ray Charles, Michael McDonald, Al Jarreau, Chet Atkins, Natalie Cole, The Commodores, Kansas, Dusty Springfield, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Michael Bolton, Isaac Hayes, Tammy Wynette, and many others. Goodrum was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000.

Long before Little Big Town took her song “Girl Crush” to the #1 spot on the Billboard country chart for a record-breaking thirteen consecutive weeks in 2014, Lori McKenna established herself as a highly respected singer/songwriter on the Boston-area folk scene. She recorded four independent albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s before country superstar Faith Hill released her versions of four of Lori’s songs in 2005. The pair appeared together on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and McKenna soon signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. After releasing the Top 20 country album Unglamorous in 2007, she returned to her folk roots with the critically acclaimed independent albums Lorraine, Massachusetts, and Numbered Doors. McKenna has expertly balanced both her career as an emotionally evocative musical poet and consistent mainstream success as a commercial songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, Mandy Moore, Keith Urban, Alison Krauss, Ashley Monroe, Hunter Hayes, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, and others. Fiercely devoted to her husband and five children, McKenna still lives in her small hometown of Stoughton, Massachusetts. She has famously described herself as “just a housewife from Stoughton who likes to write songs.” But those songs have earned her multiple Boston Music Awards, a half dozen Top 40 singles, and Song of the Year honors from the Nashville Songwriters Association, International and, most recently, the Country Music Association.