# Bands with more than one writer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549 "2010-04-27T19:07:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auction_Barn_Messiah)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/1 "2010-04-27T19:07:19Z")
Always looking for patterns in my listening habits, I discovered an inordinate fondness for bands that have/had a number of writers and personalities consistently contribute: Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison), Chicago (Lamm, Kath, Pankow & Cetera), Pink Floyd (Barrett, Waters, Gilmour), Byrds (McGuinn, Crosby, Clark, Hillman), Fleetwood Mac (Green, C. McVie, Welch, Buckingham, Nicks), CSN&Y, Queen (all four), Genesis (all five), and the Moody Blues (all five). Goes to show that chemistry between more than two strong personalities and songwriters, though often tentative, can sure be fruitful. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/2 "2010-04-27T19:11:23Z")
Yes would be another example. Most of their albums had every band member contribute to the writing of at least one track, and many tracks were collaborations. An added feature to this example is the shifting line-up of the band over the years, and the effect that this may have had on the nature of the songs (e.g., Steve Howe-era Yes sounds different from Trevor Rabin-era Yes). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/3 "2010-04-27T19:20:22Z")
**Barenaked Ladies** for most of their span have been Steven Page and Ed Robertson writing together and the Page/Robertson tunes have always been my favorites. However, Page is out of the band now and the other band members are stepping up more than they have in the past to contribute. Their first post-Page album just came out and it’s actually pretty good. Better than their past few, I think. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/4 "2010-04-27T19:22:54Z")
How about The Church? Kilbey may have done the lion’s share of lyrics, but the music was done collaboratively, & some albums have an all-Koppes song & an all-Willson-Piper song. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/5 "2010-04-27T19:30:10Z")
I’m not sure a band actually counted as part of the Halifax Pop Explosion of the mid-90’s if they didn’t have more than one writer. I’m struggling to think of one (other than The Flashing Lights, which was just “Matt Murphy and three other guys”), that didn’t: Sloan, The Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit, Jale, Hardship Post, Plumtree, even all the associated acts like Eric’s Trip and The Inbreds featured multiple writers. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/6 "2010-04-27T19:42:39Z")
More examples: The Hollies — Early originals appeared under the pseudonym L. Ransford, and eventually all were given the joint credit of Clarke-Nash-Hicks, but each of the three contributed compositions that were essentially solo ones. At some point, distinct individual credits emerged, and this continued when Terry Sylvester replaced Graham Nash. Buffalo Springfield — Stills, Young and Furay all wrote great songs for this seminal group. (We won’t talk, however, about Jim Messina’s dreadful “Carefree Country Day”! They weren’t really a group by then anyway.) Moby Grape — All five members (Miller, Stephenson, Spence, Mosley and Lewis) wrote and sang. Badfinger — All four members (Ham, Evans, Molland and Gibbins) wrote and sang lead at one time or another. While Pete Ham came up with the best-known songs of their career, two of the coolest tunes of their last sessions with Ham as a member were written or co-written by drummer Mike Gibbins (“Your So Fine,” “Moonshine”). Big Star — Alex Chilton wrote their most iconic songs, but Chris Bell contributed heavily to their first album, and bassist Andy Hummell wrote “The India Song” on the first and “Way Out West” on the second, as well as co-writing with Chilton. Drummer Jody Stephens contributed the lovely “For You” to the third and final album. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/7 "2010-04-27T19:43:10Z")
> [@Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](#): > > Always looking for patterns in my listening habits, I discovered an inordinate fondness for bands that have/had a number of writers and personalities consistently contribute: Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison), Chicago (Lamm, Kath, Pankow & Cetera), Pink Floyd (Barrett, Waters, Gilmour), Byrds (McGuinn, Crosby, Clark, Hillman), Fleetwood Mac (Green, C. McVie, Welch, Buckingham, Nicks), CSN&Y, Queen (all four), Genesis (all five), and the Moody Blues (all five). Goes to show that chemistry between more than two strong personalities and songwriters, though often tentative, can sure be fruitful. The chemistry thing is important, but even if the members never interacted, groups like that would have a great advantage simply due to quantity and variety of material. In the Beach Boys, for example, Brian Wilson was a great songwriter, but during that band’s glory years, he had to come up with a full album’s worth of tunes every 6 or 8 months… and even if they were all great, they’d still all be Brian Wilson songs, and might tend to start sounding the same. With a group like the Beatles, by contrast, all you needed were six Lennon tunes, six McCartney tunes, and two Harrison tunes. Other groups with a wealth of songwriters included the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and the Strawbs. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/8 "2010-04-27T19:49:11Z")
The Traveling Wilburys (and perhaps other, similar “supergroups”): All 5 wrote (and sang lead) Madness: All 7 wrote (though some more than others; still, there wasn’t just one or two main songwriters) Once you get past the Brian-Wilson-dominated era, all the members of the Beach Boys contributed songs (and sang lead) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/9 "2010-04-27T20:04:19Z")
I think the Ramones shared writing duties. That is, if you’ll allow that their songs were “written” in the first place…TRM ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/10 "2010-04-27T20:06:08Z")
The OP lists most of my favorite groups, although in regard to the Beatles, Ringo also wrote a couple of songs (“Octopus’ Garden”, “Don’t Pass Me By”). Two other top groups of the classic rock era with multiple writers: Supertramp (Hodgson and Davies, who also split the lead-vocalist duties) Rush (Drummer Neil Peart typically writes the lyrcis, Lifeson and Lee generally collaborate on the music.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/11 "2010-04-27T20:08:43Z")
Bonzo Dog Band – Vivian Stanshell, Neil Innes (sometimes together) and Roger Ruskin Spear Traffic – Steve Winwood and Dave Mason, at least until Mason left. Winwood usually had a partner. Technically, the Who had four songwriters, though Townsend did nearly all the writing. Still, Entwhistle, Moon, and Daltrey all had songwriting credits ( **Happy Jack/A Quick One** promoted all four) The Greatful Dead had songs from Garcia, Lesh, Weir, McKernan. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Jefferson Airplane – Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Spencer Dryden, and Jorma Kaukonen all wrote for them in their heyday. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/12 "2010-04-27T20:16:27Z")
The Clash (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones) Husker Du (Bob Mould, Grant Hart) I’ve always felt that part of the magic that results from multiple songwriters is due to rivalry (friendly or otherwise) and the competitive spirit. Paul McCartney knew he’d need to get his songs past John Lennon, and vice versa, so perhaps they spent more time crafting them than they might otherwise have. If Paul knew he was bringing “Silly Love Songs” to John, rather than the guys in Wings, he may have taken another pass at it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/13 "2010-04-27T20:22:21Z")
Just about every member of Deep Purple over the years has a few song credits to their name. Quite a few songs are attributed to the whole band. The Moody Blues: Justin Hayward wrote the bulk of the songs, but John, Ray, John and Graeme all contributed their share. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/14 "2010-04-27T20:24:00Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > The Clash (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones) > Husker Du (Bob Mould, Grant Hart) > > I’ve always felt that part of the magic that results from multiple songwriters is due to rivalry (friendly or otherwise) and the competitive spirit. Paul McCartney knew he’d need to get his songs past John Lennon, and vice versa, so perhaps they spent more time crafting them than they might otherwise have. If Paul knew he was bringing “Silly Love Songs” to John, rather than the guys in Wings, he may have taken another pass at it. The exact 2 I came in to mention. Also much more in the Lennon/McCartney contrasting/rivalry vein than most listed here. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/15 "2010-04-27T20:24:51Z")
The Band Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson all contributed to the songs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/16 "2010-04-27T20:30:29Z")
**Fairport Convention** - freaking everybody wrote songs for that group, in _any_ incarnation. **Eagles** - Henley, Frey, Schmidt, Walsh, Leadon, Felder, and Meisner all contributed songs. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/17 "2010-04-27T21:14:53Z")
**The Youngbloods** — Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt wrote and sang in contrasting styles. Banana later contributed the wonderful “Okie From Muskogee” satire “Hippie From Olema.” **Cream** — Clapton, Bruce and Baker (“Blue Condition”) all wrote **Blind Faith** — Only one album, of course, but it featured compositions by Winwood, Clapton, Grech (“Sea of Joy”) and Baker (“Do What You Like”) **Raspberries** — Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Smalley’s replacement for the final album Scott McCarl all wrote Raspberries songs. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/18 "2010-04-27T21:44:38Z")
Don’t forget Styx!! Wait, were we only supposed to support the OP’s thesis about multiple writers making great groups? ---
**Author:** ![Mustardseed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mustardseed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mustardseed)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/19 "2010-04-28T00:47:13Z")
XTC - Alan Partridge and Colin Moulding each wrote and sang their own tracks, making their Albums much more interesting than a Partridge or Moulding Solo-Album would be. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549/20 "2010-04-28T05:10:30Z")
Well, **the Rock Bottom Remainders** , obviously. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-more-than-one-writer/537549.md?page=2)