A:  Eric Andersen.  According to my Spotify account's 2025 data, Eric Andersen was the artist I listened to the most in 2025, and his song "Close the Door Lightly When You Go" was the song I played the most.  If fact, I came in 31st place for the person who listened to Andersen the most on Spotify in the world! Although not a household name, his albums "Bout Changes and Things" and "Blue River" are considered landmark works in the genre of 1960's folk music.

B:  the Byrds   No doubt the majority of my generation would have placed the Beatles here, but the Byrds were evey bit as prolific.  Both bands released twelve studio albums.  Granted, the Beatles wrote a lot more of their own music, but the Byrds could take other artists' standards like "Mr. Tambourine Man" or "Eve of Destruction" and give them a whole different sound.  Furthermore, the Byrds had better musicians with  the likes of David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Clarence White and Graham Parsons.  Only George Harrison of the fab four could compete with these guys.  And the Byrds' harmonies put the Beatles' harmonies to shame.

C:  CCR  In truth I could have entered John Fogarty as my "F" entry, as he did all the writing, singing and lead guitar playing for Creedence Clearwater Revival.  His solo songs "Centerfield" and "My Rock and Roll Girl" are just as CCR as anythnig CCR did.  And CCR did a lot.  "Cosmo's Factory" is one of the best rock albums of all time, 

D:  Donovan   I have such a strong emotional tie to Donovan's music that I once wrote a blog about it. (See it here: https://supremecourtjesters.org/SCJ-Blogs/Post/255  ) I would listen to his early music when I'd come home from high school to an empty house. It was his songs that gave me an appreciation for thoughtful, meaningful lyrics.  In more recent years, I learned to appreciate his later experimentation with psychodelic and world music.  "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is pure ear-candy.  And his sound track for the 1970's Jesus freak classic "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" is delightful.  

E:  Tom Eslick   This is the most obscure artist on my list.  Eslick was a local folk singer when I was growing up in Vermont.  I caught him live several times at coffeehouses in the early 1980's.  The first time I had seen him live was at my college in Farmington, Maine, and I had just given my best friend a copy of Eslick's "Easy Country Feeling": album, which he graciously signed for her. His songs "Early Morning Eastbound Train" and  "Deer Hollow Run" have Vermont all through them, and his closest thing to a claim to fame is that he was the house musician at Vermont's Trapp Family Lodge for many years.  A concert of his form that venue is up on Spotify, and is well worth the listen.

F:  Don Francisco   Don Francisco is best known for his Gospel song of the year "He's Alive" form 1977. That song was one that was used in a mime communion service I wrote and directed in Summerton, South Carolina.  This unique event was the first racially integrated event at the Summerton Methodist Church's history! Francisco and Noel Paul Stookey  were the first Christian artists to really catch my ear after my rebirth in 1985, and his beautiful "I Could Never Promise You" was Sue's and my wedding song.  

G:  Arlo Guthrie   The first concert I ever attended was Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger held on a mountainside in Vermont.  I actaully crashed my older brother's date as I joined them at the event.  Of course everyone knows "City of New Orleans" and "Alice's Restaurant", but he has so many other songs in his catalog that are lesser known and just as good.  "Sailing Down This Golden River" (which he actually sung on the Muppett Show) is one of my absolute favorites, and his version of his dad Woody's song "Deportee" sounds just as relevant today as ever before.

H;  Emmy Lou Harris   Emmy Lou Harris is the only true country singer on this list.  I attended a concert of hers in 1982 and I still regard it as one of the two or three best concerts I've ever attended.  She sings with such emotion - without the typical country music sappy sentimentalism - on songs such as "Red Dirt Girl", "Boulder to Birmingham", "Evangeline" and "Millworker" it's impossible not to include her in my list of favorites.  And her version of Chuck Berry's "C'est La Vie" outshines the original.

I: Insingizi   This African choir is remarkable.in their harmonies, emotion and ability to keep traditional African music alive and relevent.  I use their "Mbonqane Groove" for one of my juggling routines, and if you ever get to see a video of them performing this one (or better, I would imagine, to see it in person) you will never forget it.

J:  Mahalia Jackson

K:  Phil Keaggy

L:  Ladysmith Black Mambazo / Gordon Lightfoot (tie)

M:  Melanie / Rich Mullins (tie)

N: Larry Norman

O:  Phil Ochs

P:  John Prine

Q:  Queen

R:  Rolling Stones

S:  Paul Simon

T:  Steve Taylor

U:U2

V:  Grace Van Derwaal

W:  Bob Marley and the Wailers

X: X Sinner

Y:  Neil Young

Z:  Ziggy Marley