OT: Unpopular Opinions

I also consider band leaders/conductors and songwriters different than musicians. They're all distinctly different skills, and even though one may be involved in all of them (including singing), they usually tend to be more focused/gifted in on area. 

I know of Wagoner thanks to my extended family who are all country fans. I grew up with a lot of the old stuff and still have a nostalgic fondness for it, even though I'm not really a country fan myself now. 

To me, Bob Dylan was the definitive songwriter precisely because he made the words as important as the music, but I wouldn't say MORE important. I don't think many would read Dylan the way we read Wordsworth or Shelley; but without his lyrics, his music definitely loses much of its impact. It's a true marriage of the two. Dylan was also a master at knowing how to shade lyrical meaning via music, so what might seem dry and dull on the page is given power and potency in song. One also shouldn't discount how musically versatile Dylan has been, from folk, to rock, to psychedelia, to country, to gospel, to new wave, to blues. He's a sonic chameleon, and yet has been able to make worthwhile contributions in every genre. Since Dylan, I think the only artist whose come close to his monumental legacy is Tom Waits; and as much as I love Waits, I still think there's a huge chasm between the two.