The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was chatting with this guy the other day who starting saying that there are virtually no good female composers. Anyway, to cut a long story short I basically argued that just because he doesn't know any doesn't mean there aren't any good ones. But I myself couldn't think of many off the top of my head (I'm not THAT knowledgeable in regards to who wrote what except for bands that I like) so I was wondering if people could list any famous female composers or even females who have written one big chart hit or whatever. Please note I don't mean lyricists, I mean females who we know for sure composed music.

Laura Nyro. Judee Sill. Sandy Denny (?). Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

The obvious of course:

Carole King, Cynthia Weill, Ellie Greenwich, Joni Mitchell.

not sure if Jackie deShannon would fall under this category...

...but did King and Will compose the music or write the lyrics, or both? (Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann did their part).

There are some very talented modern females in modern pop: Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards), Lhasa, Joanna Newsom, Inara George. All of them write music, lyrics, and play and sing. Great is a big strong word so it's tough to lump people without long histories into that batch, but a lot of the best stuff coming out is coming from women. PJ Harvey is one who is established and I think appropriate, even though she's not my cup of tea.

Zooey Deschanel is my personal favorite.

I like her album, but more for the production (which is M Ward) and playfulness she brings to it. I wouldn't call her anything near a great composer: just enjoyable ... which is fine, considering it's just fucking pop music!

Exactly what I like about it too.

But thus only about half relevant to the thread, if we're talking great female composers.

Aretha Franklin writes songs and plays piano -- she's not well-known for it, but she did write "Think," which is an unquestionably great song.

Kate Bush?

I concur - and her impressive composing skills shouldn't overshadow the fact that she's also a great lyricist, singer and composer.

Definitely the most talented female musician in my opinion!

Wendy Carlos

I see what you did there.

New She & Him album completed and due out this spring, according to Zooey as quoted in Pitchfork today.

I concur, not only is she a great singer, but fun to look at.    ;)

YAY!!!

If by "great singer," you mean "fun to look at," then I whole-heartedly agree. (She's actually pretty bad, especially live. But she's cute. I feel bad saying this on a thread originally dedicated to great female composers. Because she's pure pop confection.)

Tori Amos.

Perhaps I should elaborate. What I meant with "great female composer" was someone that leaves me with a tune in my head, something memorable and well-crafted. Daschanel fufills those in her songs. No she isn't a serious composer, but my personal favorite at the moment currently. Of all time I think Carole King or to a lesser extent Joni Mitchell fufills it for me.

Funny you made this topic. A few months ago, I realized that I didn't have much in the way of female music in my music collection, so I worked on expanding that aspect. The Dresden Dolls have a pretty wild gothic image, but Amanda Palmer sure can write a tune on her piano. Very talented, and the percussion on songs like "Coin-Operated Boy" reminds me of "Vegetables" off of SMiLE. Fiona Apple wrote some interesting music on Extraordinary Machine, I thought, although I don't think she was that involved in the arrangements. The Raincoats self-titled debut album had some interesting compositions, sort of a Captain Beefheart meets the raw pop "we don't know how to play our instruments" simplicity of the Sex Pistols combination.

You could argue Carly Simon, Stevie Nicks (one of my faves!), and Christine Mcvie (sp?) fit into the good AND catchy, though maybe Carly isn't really good. I can't tell...

Funniest. Reply. Ever.  :lol

I don't think Gerry Goffin even played an instrument.   Carol King was a brilliant composer with out Goffin; Goffin's lyrics are drivel without Carol King. 
my personal opinion

also, this doesnt really address the question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_composers

but that said, someone on that list must have been great!

My daughter has introduced me to many, but i can't remember all of their names.   A couple..ani DiFranco...who I never really appreciated but sure cranked out a lot of albums........and one i adore......Neko Case.

And in the old days...there were several...many in country music........

Regina Spektor is very good. Well apart from the latest album which I plain don't like.

Someone also mentioned Joanna Newsom who is absolutely wonderful, her last album 'Ys', which features amazing orchestral arrangements from Van Dyke Parks, is quite frankly stunning and easily one of the best and most original albums I have ever heard, it really is that good and would urge eveyone to give it a listen.

One of my recent favorites at the moment is Louise LeMay

http://www.myspace.com/louiselemay

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will definitely be checking some of this stuff out. One that nobody has mentioned and I just plain forgot about - Dolly Parton. Whether or not people think she's good, she still wrote a fair few of her famous songs.

Not really wanting to start a thread for it, I thought I'd supplement this one as they were mentioned here: She & Him (new album due in March) have a new song available now, In The Sun. http://pitchfork.com/news/37656-new-she-him-in-the-sun/

Delia Derbyshire!

She was a weird, brilliant 60s experimenter, and she gave us the Dr Who theme.

Joanna Newsom has a new album out, too. The song "Good Intentions Paving Company" reveals a new Joanna that has stronger pop sensibilities than you thought and more normal lyrics (for Newsom) than you thought possible. Like a modern indie Fleetwood Mac. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STwVx6ynYjk

I didn't see this coming.

I've heard the preview tracks from the album and am looking forward to a trip to the record store today to pick it up.

Not really overly famous due to her being the wife of Robert Schumann, but Clara Schumann left behind a decent amount of her own piano music during her lifetime. It's very underrated stuff. Her Romance in A Minor is heartbreaking.

Picked up the new Joanna Newsom (3-disc) album today and am nearly through disc 2 now. It's really all over the map stylistically, and very enjoyable in parts. Well worth the $19.

Ah, Kate!  :-D

I wish I had that huge poster of Kate Bush from 1978 (yes, the pink leotard) that my sister had on the wall in her bedroom. I used to sit there and stare at it without even knowing why, being too young to process such things. THEN I heard her voice.....  ;D

Let's not forget Chan Marshall! I know she's recently lapsed into being a cover artist almost exclusively. But she's got the goods in a big way as a composer. Aside from having a quite staggeringly lovely voice.[

Joni Mitchell

Some excellent songwriters not yet mentioned, I think, are:
Mary Lou Williams
Alice Coltrane
Patti Smith
Chrissie Hynde
Victoria Williams
Lucinda Williams

What do I do when I'm bored? I unearth an ancient topic. ;D

Six years on, there must be more to say on this subject... :hat

I don't see Ann and Nancy Wilson on here. 

How about Rosie Cunningham from the new band Purson? 

Mary Margaret O'Hara is another. She wrote (and arranged) everything on her 1988 album Miss America.

Also Aimee Mann and Kristin Hersh.
As in almost any field, the more recent, the more women, for obvious reasons.


Ooh! Loretta Lynn of course. And someone mentioned Dolly Parton above. She's an excellent melodic composer.

Anne Dudley

I don't believe Amy Winehouse has been mentioned yet...

Alia O Brien - lead singer, flute player, organ player, and song writer in the retro hard rock / progressive band Blood Ceremony. 

Lady Gaga.

How about Julia Holter...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QukVgY8I_nA

...and Imogen Heap?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXj0dF7LAyE#t

Hildegard of Bingen.

taylor swift. she writes all her stuff.

Kimya Dawson
Julie Doiron
Kevin Blechdom
Vashti Bunyan
Courtney Barnett
Amanda Lear
PJ Harvey
Patti Smith
Kate and/or Anna McGarrigle

I heard a DJ on the radio today say that her "1989" album is one of the best albums he's ever heard. 

I almost had to pull the car over for laughing so hard. 

 ;D

They aren't necessarily famous: Nico & Kirsty MacColl.

And she writes really solid music.

While I don't think the word "composers" (even if technically correct, I think in general conversation that term is more associated with serious music than pop, which would imply songwriter as the better word), or that famous is even a category worth thinking much about, I do think it's worth putting out the names of some great female songwriters. And what struck me is how many more I've been listening to in these years since the thread began.

I still would list Joanna Newsom as far and away the best, probably regardless of gender. But as I glance through my past few years' best-ofs, I'd list some other really talented women who write songs and make music. (I know tastes vary, so don't worry if I list someone you hate. Life will go on. I'm not even saying I love everything by these women. Just that they do some good stuff.)

Janelle Monae
Kelis
Robyn
Adele
Fiona Apple
Eleanor Friedberger
Aly Spaltro (Lady Lamb the Beekeeper)
Valerie June
Laura Marling
Kacey Musgraves
Meghan Trainor
Sharon Van Etten
Taylor Swift
Carrie Rodriguez
Courtney Barnett
Esperanza Spalding
Lindi Ortega
Brandy Clark
Ashley Monroe
Julia Holter
Channy Leaneagh (Polica)
Lana Del Rey
Natalie Prass
Azealia Banks
Syd tha Kyd (The Internet)

I'm sure very few people will agree with me here, but I'm throwing Lita Ford's name into the mix. 

She's a heck of a guitar player too. 

Also worth mentioning is Amy Lee from Evanesence.  Singer/pianist/songwriter.  Their first album in 2003 called Fallen was very good.  However, their follow-up album suffered from the sophomore slump, and they've had a pretty low profile since. 

I guess the idea of 'composer' is to be specific about music vs lyric writing.
I can't believe I didn't bring up a couple from The Captain's list. I hang my head in shame.

Nah, the one thing you can count on when you make a list is quickly realizing you missed something obvious. As a lifelong best-of list-maker, I can promise that much.

I thought of Kirsty.  Sam Phillips too.

I have to admit, I only know of her late 80s or early 90s stuff, a couple hits and the famous Ozzy duet. If you can point me to something specific, something worthwhile, I'd love to give it a chance.

Good call!

There was a time in the 1960s when at least three British female composers featured quite often on BBC radio----Elisabeth Lutyens, Elizabeth Maconchy and Priaulx Rainier. A later name that comes to mind is that of Judith Weir.

Don't think I saw Grace Slick here? Though admittedly she wasn't as prolific on the Plane as were Kantner and Balin.

Now for composer composers, there's always Fanny Mendelssohn.

Forgive me form getting hoity-toity, but most of the people mentioned in this thread are song writers. Not composers. Big difference.

Amy Beach and Ruth Seeger are among the two greatest which come to my mind.

I agree on the one hand, but on the other, again, I think the term is being used to distinguish music writing from lyric writing. And technically, one composes pop music as much as one does classical.

No hoity-toityness forgiveness required: no sin there. I noted a similar point, myself. But when I scanned the early posts, it was obvious that's what we were talking about (meaning songwriters), so I chalk it up to a terminology issue.

That said, the more traditional understanding of composers also struggles from a lack of appreciation for its females. (Though several have been named in the thread, too.)

I've really only scratched the surface with Lita.  I only have one of her Best of albums, and its very good. 

Didn't see anybody mention Sheryl Crow yet.  She's the definition of a great modern female composer!  Check out "The Difficult Kind"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNwlVExyHiw

Sure. And as much goes into an oil painting as a panel of a comic book. No. Technically the two are completely different skill sets.

Now if you wanted to throw the title "producer/arranger" into the mix, than you might have a case.

I'm a simple soul, so to me they're all women who create their own music.

One big omission so far is Nina Simone...

(https://orchestrationonline.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/lili_boulanger_4.jpg)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili_Boulanger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OERJAjoHRY

If we're also talking female "classical" composers, two huge names that haven't been mentioned yet are those of the 20th-century Russians Sofia Gubaidulina and Galina Ustvolskaya. Both are worth investigating. Ustvolskaya's music is in a field of one.

I'm no fan of Laurie Anderson (too twee and arty for my liking) but I was knocked out by this track of hers as heard on the way back from a brief holiday. It's the percussion that does it (played by Anderson herself). That cowbell effect batters its way into your brain. "Coolsville" comes from her 1989 album Strange Angels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxIoitgXx9g

Admittedly, these girls don't ring a bell with me. No way you could meet them on youtube as they must be written in Cyrillic. I assume you are classical music buff, right?

Have Fanny Mendelssohn or Clara Schumann been mentioned yet?

Yes, check back.

Girls? Gubaidulina is 85 and Ustvolskaya died in 2006 aged 87! And both of them are all over YouTube (in Latin characters)...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Gubaidulina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galina_Ustvolskaya

Thanks for correction. I didn't hear these names before and thought you just know them because you're classical music follower. Usually, I assumed that only Russians known worldwide get the English translit. Can you tell your favorite examples?

In Gubaidulina's case that would be the epic Johannes Passion. You're welcome to just dip into it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akk7MuJWIeg

As for Ustvolskaya, I remember being blown away when I first watched (and heard) this performance of her Symphony No. 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynhdxHOrPm4