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

It's Paul McCartney without a shadow of a doubt!

The man has written so many absolutely fantastic songs, not just in rock but also in ...
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Obviously Dylan - 1963 (when he really began putting out his own stuff) to Tempest...

McCartney - 1963 (All My Loving) to 2013 (Alligator)

Brian Wilson - had a couple nice ones on That's Why God Made the Radio...

 

Yes, I know there are McCartney doubters out there - but its kind of hard to deny.

 

I think Donald Fagen's recent stuff is as good as ever

 

I think Paul Weller warrants a mention, although most fans will name an era of his that they don't care for as much as others (e.g. "The Jam was miles better than Style Council!"), that's partly because he has covered a wide range in styles, and not everyone will appreciate that diversity. The Style Council, for example, have many fans who would say that is their favourite Weller era.

So....he's been consistently making good or great music, with few exceptions, for well over 35 years.

 

Todd Rundgren. 2004's 'Liars' is one of his best and his last release 'State' ain't too shabby either, so he's still got it.

 

Do you love what he did from about 1979 to 1989? I'm not arguing his greatness before or after, but "by a mile" seems a stretch given the decade I cited.

 

Paul McCartney sprang instantly to mind. Not just great songs, but ones in many styles too.

 

Willie Nelson

 

He did a lot of great stuff that didn't make it onto released albums during that time and there was always a lot of good stuff on the released albums anyway...and during all other times for that matter. He's a colossus...what he's achieved and done is staggering...and leaves everybody else in the shade by a mile.

 

I think Paul, on every release since 1997, has at least ONE song that reminds you of who he is and what he can do--

note- there are more than one on all of these (well, most)- just picking an example

97 - Calico Skies
99 - Run Devil Run
01 - Heather
05 - Jenny Wren
07 - Mister Belamy
09 - Highway
13 - Alligator

Most artists would be proud to have that collection as highlights of their last 15-20 years in music

...and...
97 - Flaming Pie
99 - What It Is
01 - Lonely Road
05 - Friends To Go
07 - House of Wax
09 - Dance Til We're High
13 - Queenie Eye

 

if you put those 14 tracks together, sent them to 1969, and said "here's Beatle Paul's output in his late 50s on..." you would receive a favorable response - and a "yep, that's Beatle Paul alright, good to hear he hasn't lost a step"

 

Might be my personal pick but I don't think I'd stop at 1984, tons of great stuff after that too, Thin Air is one of my fave pH albums and that's 2009!

 

Richard Rodgers.

Johnny Mercer.

 

Gotta say Dylan here.

 

There's a wonderful song graph that shows when songs entered the Grateful Dead repertoire and who wrote the songs.

Here's the link: http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/60257224

I wish this existed for more artists because it would visually show when artists were in their writing sweet spot, which seemed to be the intent of the question.

It's obvious looking at the graph that Garcia/Hunter were most productive/prolific from 68-74. Sure, they wrote plenty of great tunes from 74-94 (e.g. Days Between & Lazy River Road) but the run that established their reputations occurred over a 6 year period.

For the Stones, they were largely spent by 78. Sure, good songs came after, but they were fewer and far between with more filler.

In the modern era I'd go with Ryan Adams, Chris & Rich Robinson and Olson/Louris. Tweedy has a great run as well.

 

Radiohead - 22 years without a dud album in the bunch, not to mention their album quality B-sides. We're talking an unbroken run here...and these guys are still going.

 

Ellington, Armstrong & Dylan

 

Bill Leeb/Rhys Fulber- Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One, Intermix among other side projects

 

I agree great Hammill stuff after 84 but for me anyway up until 84 or 85 I like every tune on every record. after that it becomes hit and miss where I kinda feel less enthused about songs here and there.

 

I can understand that. If I have any criticism of his output it would be the "X My Heart" thru "What, Now" studio stuff - I sometimes have difficulty telling that run of albums apart.

 

Agreed, Forest of Pronouns is a jam and i cant say the album off the top of my head but its one of those I think.

 

X My Heart, but I had to go look heheh. Not sure what changed but after that stretch, starting with Clutch it just seems like he got a little bit of a fire lit under him again. Looking forward to the new album!

 

Neil Young easily miles ahead of all others as far as rock era artists and more modern artists.
His songs are consistently top notch and songwriting style never stale even when the recordings themselves aren't so hot.

 

Peter Gabriel has been doing it for quite awhile