"I Write The Songs" - Barry Manilow

Good evening peeps!! Long time no see! How have you been, boo? Miss me? I miss you, cause I haven't written anything since New Year's Eve. The reality is that I had "Writer's Block" and was feeling uninspired. However, today I feel like writing about the singer-songwriters of the seventies. In my opinion, some of the finest songs I've ever listened to were written in the seventies, by singers who penned their own songs, as well as wrote for other artists. One of my favorite singer-songwriters of that era is Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam. He had a string of songs that were not only pretty to listen to, but told stories that touched the soul. "Wild World" comes to mind. In the song, he sings about his woman leaving to go out into "the wild world" as he cautions her to be careful: "but if you want to leave, take good care, hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, but just remember there's a lot of bad everywhere;" a gentle, not hostile warning, from a man that is obviously hurting over losing his love.

Another prolific writer of the seventies is Don Mclean, who wrote the enigmatic, metaphorical, speculative masterpiece, American Pie and Vincent. While Vincent is a straightforward ode to the artist, Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting; Starry Night (maybe metaphorical also?); American Pie created a stir by referencing multiple figures, including "The Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Some interpreted that as the religious trinity; whereas others felt he was talking about the three rock and rollers that died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens. This song has produced more interpretations than The Beatles walking barefoot on the cover of their Abbey Road album. My son Shannon, who was five at the time, even offered his interpretation of the song as he tried to explain it to me; it was one of his favorite songs at five!

The seventies was also a time of  female singer-songwriters as well. Carole King, Laura Nyro, Ellie Greenwich, Joni Mitchell and Carley Simon come to mind. Carole King started writing in the nineteen fifties; writing some of the best lyrics for rhythm and blues artists like The Drifters. She later recorded her own compositions. Ellie Greenwich wrote some of the most memorable lyrics ever sung by female and male groups: "Da Do Run Run Run, Da Do Run Run" and "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Doo"

How can I not mention Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka,  Gamble and Huff, Holland Dozier Holland, Linda Creed, Thom Bell, Smokey Robinson, who was called "the world's greatest poet" by none other than Bob Dylan  and of course, the man who writes the songs himself; Barry Manilow! Oh how I could go on and on about these singer-songwriters and how much I miss this kind of music...but I won't! Thanks to YouTube, I have been able to hear my favorites whenever I so desire.