'70s Singer/Songwriters

With the dawn of the '70s came a new breed of artist — the singer-songwriter, who turned personal experiences and raw emotion into unforgettable music. Our '70s Singer-Songwriters Basics is a veritable Who's Who from the confessional stage — the artists, and the songs, that defined an explosively creative era. From James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," filled with pangs of regret over a lost love he reached for too late, to "Tangled Up In Blue," Bob Dylan's restless saga of a romance that just wouldn't die, these songs are fused directly to the heart of the composer. Don McLean's epic "American Pie" is a nostalgic roll-call of influential figures in popular music, from the pioneers of rock 'n' roll to the '60s legends: Dylan features as "the jester."

In Next Steps, singer-songwriters experiment by creating new characters and bringing them to life.

Gazing into the campfire, acoustic guitar in hand, Texan Townes Van Zandt spins a tall tale about "Pancho and Lefty," a pair of exhausted Wild West outlaws eager to change professions, one way or another. And Steve Goodman rides the "City of New Orleans" cross-country — a railroad trek from his native Illinois to the Mississippi Delta: as the miles roll by, it's a journey filled with colorful and finely etched images of Americana. And then there's "Taxi": Accompanied by an achingly beautiful cello, Harry Chapin imagines himself a New York cabbie whose long-ago (and long-dreamed-about) lover has just climbed into his back seat, bringing up an explosion of suppressed emotion.

Our singer-songwriters paint with words — using bigger, more complex canvases — in Deep Cuts.

Wielding his pen like a sword, an angry and indignant Bob Dylan plays the avenging angel in "Hurricane," taking up the cause of imprisoned boxer Rubin Carter with a breathless track capped by Scarlet Rivera's super-heated gypsy violin. With a swinging, piano-centric band, R&B background singers, and tongue planted firmly in cheek, Jim Croce spins a yarn about "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," a gun-packin', diamond ring-flashin' Chicago gambler who rules the wrong side of the tracks. And few songs can conjure a way of life better than "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," Bruce Springsteen's bittersweet ode to his youthful innocence on the New Jersey boardwalk. With Danny Federici's swirling accordion, you can almost taste the cotton candy and smell the sea spray.

As the '60s came to a close, singer-songwriters turned away from counter-cultural chaos, retreating into themselves, their pensive, introspective songs applying a much-needed alternative to the big, the loud, and the overly commercial. Here was a new breed of artists, sensitive and honest, unafraid of sharing their innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires. From Canada's Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, to England's Cat Stevens and Joan Armatrading, to the wellspring of Americans who made up most of the '70s singer-songwriters, they weren't writing songs merely to get on the radio and sell records — they had something vital to say. Our '70s Singer-Songwriters Essentials assembles the cream of the entire crop — from "Heart of Gold" and "Piano Man" to "Cat's In the Cradle" and "Wildfire" — each song a defining classic of the era.