I can think of only a few. When I think of "genius", pertaining to musical ability, I think of those musicians who are or were not only great musicians or vocalists, but also wonderful songwriters and producers in addition to their musical ability. Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Jeff Lynne, and Prince, meet this criteria, IMO. And possibly Neil Young, as well.
That’s a good list, especially Prince. Add Zappa. Depending upon your definition of pop music, add Frank Sinatra for his phrasing innovations alone, add organist Joey Defrancesco - an absolute monster who never had any formal training and can’t read music, add Quincy Jones...maybe. He may just be amazingly skilled at arranging, producing, and developing talent. I kind of feel that way about Jeff Lynne: extraordinary talent at what he does but I don’t know if it’s genius. McCartney (and Elton) could be said to be geniuses with melody. Wilson may be in this group. I don’t think I would include Townsend on my list, though. Personally I would also add Gino Vannelli, who has an incredibly deep musical mind. Although people’s general unfamiliarity with his work would probably make them scoff.
Gershwin? I can’t say. Good stuff. Genius?
