[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Sugar Mouse

Hi Joe,

I've been listening to the Lindsey Anthology for days now but will keep listening. It's actually growing on me; some really good stuff there. It's odd that you thought that I wrote that Neil said that no one else is as good a songwriter as he is. I never said that and Neil never said that in his Yale University lecture. Neil is one of the most humble musicians you'll ever meet. The lecture is on the Yale University website if you want to watch the lecture. The point that Neil was making is that it's very difficult to be a great songwriter if you're extraordinary at your chosen instrument. He described a concept where songwriters must be driven up until and beyond the boundaries of their musical talents in order to discover a great song. And this process is more difficult when an artist is already at or near the peak of musical proficiency. It's a fascinating point that elite musical talent can be a hindrance to great songwriting. Neil would be the first to admit that he's a solid, but not great, guitarist and pianist. If you think about it, most of the greatest songwriters of all-time are/were solid but not elite musicians. This concept may explain why Stevie (who's far from a great musician) has written more great songs than an extraordinary musician like Lindsey. Others who fit this are McCartney, Lennon, Dylan, and Petty who are/were phenomenal songwriters but not extraordinary musicians.

Blah, blah, blah.

Richard Thompson

(mic drop...)