Prompt
Talk about that songwriter’s primary influences, the era in which they first became prominent and how both of those impacted/showed up in their work.
Then, choose three of their songs from different periods of their career.
Using those songs, discuss why those songs were important to their career and their growth as an artist, how the songs impacted the era in which they were released, became influential to the rock songwriting canon and the next generation (or two) of songwriters and are ultimately essential parts of their body of work. Discuss why decades after they were first written/recorded/released they continue to resonate.
Finally…from the guests who’ve come to class during the quarter and the “Previous Guests” you’ve watched as homework assignments…relate what you’ve learned from them to your “essential” songwriter. The answer to this question should be at least five hundred words, and the more guests from our class you include, the better.
Previous Guests
– Burt Bacharach
– Chris Braide
– Mac Davis
– Lamont Dozier
– Gerson & Posner
– Claude Kelly
– Mann / Weil
– Jon Platt
– Mike Stoller
– Evan Taubenfeld
– Jimmy Webb
– Dan Wilson
Guest in Class
– Paul Buckmaster
– Poo Bear
– Evan Taubenfeld of Crush Music
– Paul Zollo
– Randy Poe
You need to cite at least three primary sources. At least one of them should be a biography or a book on the songwriter’s work. Others can include an audio or video interview…a newspaper or magazine article/interview.
Wikipedia is not a source.
