What songwriter or band has had the longest run of writing great songs?

I was thinking about some of the threads I've been reading here....and I honestly love reading them all. The back and forth from fans of the band...long term lifers, and newer fans I find not only interesting but very educational.

It got me thinking.

I work as an illustrator and one thing I studied early on in my career was the longevity (or career trajectory) of great artists...what was their "sweet" spot and how long did it last (and what happened when it dipped) was it success and money that kind of spoiled them and maybe pulled them into a different head space, all the great ideas had dried up, they started to rush and were more on a tread mill pumping out work based more on demand, than maybe inspiration. Label or company pressure (I work for Warner Brothers and have for about 16 years now) so I have insight into the types of demands placed on their talent.

With that said...some artists thrive in that sort of work environment....sometimes we say "deadlines are your friend" meaning..it puts some solid pressure on you to produce and maybe not over think things.

so what are some bands, some writers you like that have had the longest stretch of creating great work. In my field the window seems to range from about 5-12 years and obviously there are people who maintain a career for 30-40 years but that high point is generally about a 10 year window if that/

excited to read people's thoughts and answers!

I guess it would be which artist, how long have they extended their best years and if they did dip...what do you think caused the decline?

thanks!

 

I should add....writing great songs is subjective...so I mean an artist or writer that has maintained THEIR best work.

not necessarily it's been universally heralded as "great"

everyone will have a different perspective of what bands or artists they like and deem "great"

 

Dozier / Holland

 

cool...see I don't even know the name.

I will look him up.

thank you for replying!

 

sorry I meant to ask....how LONG do you feel Dozier Holland produced his top work...I kind of want to create a bit of a timeline for all this ultimately.

 

Since you don't know who he's talking about it should be clarified that he's referring to songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland, I'm assuming,

 

Tom Waits and Nick Cave get my votes. I can't think of any albums of theirs that should be skipped. Can't say the same with Dylan, Reed, Young, Lennon, McCartney.

 

In descending order...

Jagger/Richards

Dylan

Waits (agree with above poster)

Cave (agree with above poster)

 

ok. I was going to google it..I am sure it would have came up.

thank you for clarifying though!

I am thinking this over now.

again I'd love to have the number of years they've stayed at the top of their game in your eyes.

 

where do you feel Jagger and Richards started to drift...or have they in your eyes?

I was a huge Stones fan as a kid and around Tattoo You I started to lose interest.

 

David Bowie
Damon Albarn
Ray Davies
Johnny Cash
George Jones

 

Tom Petty

 

Graham Parker. 1976 to present!

 

IMO the Gibb brothers (Bee Gees) have at least one or two really great songs on every album they released from the very begining until the end (about 4 decades). Also, especially during the 80's they wrote some great material for other artists.

 

I happen to just have watched a comedy a minute ago. And your reply now comes across as incredibly funny.

 

Elton & Bernie

 

hahaha

cool....I think



Tool has been very consistent(22 years now)....but they are not very prolific.

 

John Hiatt!!!!

Agreed about Jagger/Richards, they're still good.
I also second the great Graham Parker, Dylan, Tom Waits and Tom Petty...

 

Maybe Springsteen.

 

Richard Thompson

 

Well, tattoo you was an album of old songs for the most part. However it was my first "new" album at ten years old, and, imo, it was their last perfect album-one with zero bad tunes...

But each of the subsequent albums has had more than its share of good tunes. And keef's solo efforts have been strong (mick's not so much, though still much more listenable to these ears than the stuff sir Paul is doing, including any of the wings stuff). There were good songs on a bigger bang, and even the singles from grrr... weren't awful. And when one considers how long it has been since the first singles, I would have to put the glimmer twins at the top of this list...

Also, I agree with the folks that say Bruce and petty, though none of these have been at it successfully as long as mick and keef...

Ymmv, of course...

 

Dylan....end of debate-

Massive Cave fan but to suggest he has not had a few mediocre records is total folly.....

 

I give credit for "steadying" the ship.

 

Irving Berlin. You don't get a longer run in life or song than him.

 

There's a guy names Traditional who's written tons of songs that have been covered countless times.