The Greatest Singer Songwriter You’ve Never Heard Of

If you’re any kind of a music fan, or someone who’s paid any attention to pop culture over the last 40 years, you probably have your own opinion on who the greatest singer songwriter ever might be. Names like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and John Lennon are usually at the top of the list, no matter who’s making it.

That’s a pretty short list, though, and there are a whole bunch of great singer songwriters out there that you may not have heard of. Who are they? Well, try these three for starters.

1) Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson is probably better-known as “the other guy” in the Raconteurs, due to the fact that some dude named Jack White is also in that band. Make no mistake, though, Brendan Benson was cranking out perfect power-pop gems while Jack White was still upholstering ottomans.

He’s especially strong with little musical touches that add a slightly different slant to the two guitars, bass and drums (and sometimes piano) formula. Check the squiggly synth arpeggios that open “Tiny Spark”.

2) Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith is another guy who’s been hiding in plain sight for years… largely due to his untimely suicide in Los Angeles in 2003. Prior to that sad event, Smith’s star was definitely in the ascendant, with a string of nearly perfect albums and even a performance on the Oscars telecast. However, these days he’s completely absent on the radio, and still far short of a household name.

Later in his career, Smith took full advantage of the “studio as an instrument” approach. Many of his biggest fans prefer his quieter material, though, and “Miss Misery” is a great example of his earlier, more stripped-down acoustic aesthetic.

3) Mick Jagger

What? Mick Jagger has been one of the biggest rock stars on the planet for 50 years – how can he even be nominated as the greatest singer songwriter you’ve never heard of?

Well, okay, maybe he’s not exactly unknown, but I’d argue that while Mick as archetypal frontman, bad boy extraordinaire, rock singer, jet setter and fashion plate needs no introduction, all those aspects of the Jagger legend have totally overshadowed the fact that he’s an incredible songwriter of unexcelled sophistication and depth.

Just check out the lyrics to “Sympathy for the Devil”, for instance; somehow, Mick rolls colorful historical references, Bond-style globetrotting, and a subtle but remarkably powerful evocation of true evil into a six-minute jam that ruled the counterculture throughout 1968. And then, of course, there’s the matter of Keith Richards, but that’s a subject for another article.