Who of them in your esteemed opinion is the most talented, lyrically and/or musically?
It’s quite obvious to me that Dylan is so far above the two of them, that it’s not even funny. I’m just wondering if some of you out there has a different opinion?
Bob can’t sing worth beans, but he is by far the most talented as a songwriter, both musically and lyrically.
Dylan. None have particularly good voices (though they are all distinctive), but I think even Young and Waits would pick Dylan as the most talented.
Bob Dylan. I saw him in concert a couple of summers ago in Pawtucket RI, and he put on a hella concert. I was moved.
Neil Young is good, but I don’t think you can compare him with Dylan.
Wait, who the fuck is Waits? 
I don’t think Young comes close to either Dylan or Waits. While I would find it hard to argue against Dylan, Waits has been more innovative in his experimenting with music. I find some of Waits’s best stuff more interesting than Dylan, but overall it’s hard for me to pick between the two.
Dylan is by far the best songwriter, but I would agree that Waits is more creative musically. Not really fan of Neil Young.
Young seems an odd inclusion.
And I vote Tom Waits. Dylan has never had 1/5 of the musical innovation or variety that Waits has had in his career.
And this is coming from someone who idolizes Dylan. Waits is simply awe-inspiring.
-Dylan is the best lyricist (by a good bit)
-Waits is the best composer of music (also by a good bit)
-Young is the best musician (by a slimmer margin, but he is clearly a better musician and singer than the others)
I suppose it depends on which of those three things is most important to you.
Bwuh? Waits is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist.
Damn hampsters!
One more try at my original reply.
Waits is a multi-instumentalist, but I would not say he is any more acomplished than Young. Playing many instruments reasonably well is not neccesarily better than rocking two or three. Both are strong singers (nontraditional voices, but both are strong) but I give Young the edge as far as singing goes.
I have struggled with each of their voices so haven’t delved into their catalogues like I feel I should. I have spent more time with Dylan’s work over the past few years and come away amazed. I would probably look more into Waits next and really don’t know if I can handle Neil Young - I want to check out Harvest and After the Gold Rush, but even now, when I hear his voice on the radio, I can’t change the channel fast enough. It just sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me - this from a guy who was listening to Pantera on the way in this morning, so don’t listen to me…
I love a lot of his songwriting though…
Just a note: “innovation” and “variety” do not equal “good.”
Just a note: in Waits’s case, they do.
I think Dylan by far has reached higher and gone further wrt musical accomplishments. I don’t particularly like him as a person though and while I respect his body of work, I’d much much much rather listen to Neil Young. Not even close, between those two. Of Waits I know very little.
For me, it’s all Neil.
Tough stuff. I’m not a big fan of Dylan. I’ll not argue against him - he just isn’t in my top-anything list.
But Waits and Young are both top-5 in my favorites. I think I’d rather listen to the Waits catalog on shuffle than the Young catalog. That was surprisingly easy to decide.
My ideal Ipod would have the entire catalogs of Tom Waits, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, if limited to 5 artists.
Joe
Waits all the way. he has a way with lyrics that lacks the pretentiousness of Dylan. Both young and Dylan are good songwriters, but neither can sing. Waits is the best, IMHO, because he has the whole package. He writes well, is innovative while consistently good, and performs well.
I am not very familiar with Waits’s work. I have a lot of respect for Dylan, but when it comes right down to it, I prefer listening to Neil Young.
I think Dylan is a lot of hype, mostly based on a decades-old reputation and Baby Boomer/rock critic loyalty. He’s a decent lyricist, but he’s written just as much pretentious and nonsensical crap as modern-day classic poetry. He’s the weakest musician of the three, and while none of the three are traditionally great singers, he also has the weakest voice. He’s also probably the worst live performer.
I can’t stand Young’s voice. I suspect he’s the strongest guitarist of the three, but I’ve never been terribly interested in delving into his back catalogue. My favorite of all his works is the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s film Dead Man, which happens to (thankfully) be instrumental.
As for Tom Waits, I’m probably the biggest fan of his on the SDMB. I won’t try to convince anyone he has a great voice – the dude sounds like Cookie Monster more often than not! However, you don’t have to have a voice like Freddie Mercury in order to work magic with it, and his gravelly growl is perfect for the beautiful, evocative, timeless music he writes. Yes, I’d say he is the most interesting lyricist (easily on par with Dylan’s best, and occasionally surpassing him), and the best composer and overall songwriter of the three. He’s experimented with the most musical genres and remained relevant for the longest period of time, without fading into obscurity or turning into a pathetic shadow of his former self. As the replies here are confirming, I suspect he is the most obscure of the three to begin with, even among “music people,” but his fans are obsessive and loyal for a reason. The man is one of the gods of American music, capable of cracking you up or reducing you to tears. I can’t think of any other songwriter to have such a powerful command of language and emotion the way he does.
I know the “right answer” is Dylan, but I prefer Young to Dylan and Waits.
This is such an excellent question, delightful in the fact that you can’t go wrong with any of the musicians in question. My two cents:
Dylan: You have to admire him historically: He really broke barriers between the Folk and Blues movement, and Rock world, in the limelight; his "Going Electric"was a barrier well broken. He’s the liason between Woody Guthrie, traditional blues musicians he loved well, and the 60’s rock musicians.
Young: Continuing in a more Rock tradition, West Coast style, often songs being in a more confrontational sense, from where he was at the time.in So Cal during the 60’s-70s .Lotta support from that, and great giutar work to keep it going.
Waits: he was doing his own thing greatly without all the crap Dylan had to endure.
Excellent lyrics, more obscure than any mass appeal would support, enough to keep an audience interested. The most least likely for mass appeal, but the best intelligent one to my mind.