Singer/Songwriters

There's enough pared-down brilliance on this singer/songwriter list to keep the world's buskers in business through this century and beyond. Quite simply, all these artists demonstrate feats of musical alchemy using the simple base ingredients of voice and guitar (or a sprinkling of keys). We chose every track in this collection to showcase individual genius at its most affecting, whether it's the crushing sadness of Neil Young on "After the Gold Rush", or the sweet melancholy of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", or the magnificent Bob Dylan as he offers up the definitive version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". The take-out? Each towering talent leaves you a sliver of their soul. Kate Bush carves out an artistic niche like no other, in Next Steps.

The mark of the world's greatest singer/songwriters is a voice that can be confused with no other, as unique an distinct as a skylark in a meadowful of jackdaws. Back in the mid-'70s Kate Bush was signed to EMI age 16, and set about establishing herself as one of the most captivating talents in pop — "Breathing" from 1980's Never for Ever, her first Number One album, creates an intense and beautiful vision of post-apocalyptic terror . . . from a foetal perspective. The clarion yearning of Emmylou Harris makes "Boulder to Birmingham" something really special, and Don McLean's Van Gogh tribute from 1971, "Vincent", is a thing of delicate beauty. Discover the folkie who was channelling Woody Guthrie long before Dylan, in Deep Cuts.

Just so you know the great Bob Dylan was not the first word in folk-pop, we've slipped in some Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who started recording classic Woody Guthrie material in 1955 (when Dylan was in his early teens) but delivered "Pastures of Plenty" on 1998's South Coast, a return to the studio after two decades away. Victoria Williams' love letter to "Crazy Mary" remains a standout on 1994's Loose, while the surreal poetry and sombre beauty of Jim White's "The Road That Leads to Heaven" appears on 1997's Wrong-Eyed Jesus! (Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted), on which Williams collaborated. J.J. Cale sets up a future Clapton classic with his original "After Midnight".

It's a mighty long road (in years) from Ramblin' Jack to Jason Mraz, but a heartbreakingly beautiful one. Here, in one monumental set of Essentials, we've assembled some of the greatest talents rock and pop have ever produced — the bedrock artists who will continue to inspire future musicians of all shades and hues. If you're not crushed, picked up, dusted down, uplifted and inspired by our selection of geniuses who seem to float effortlessly on the lava of pop but somehow avoid spontaneous combustion, then we throw in the towel. From Nick Drake's timeless huskiness to the rockin' country of Gram Parsons, and from the sophisticated laid-back dudeness of Leonard Cohen to the staunch folkdom of Sandy Denny, here's a list to cry for.