Greatest American Band?

[marnold***]

I had thought about mentioning Dylan as well, but it begs the question of "with which lineup?" Dylan went through as many band members as Spinal Tap.

To my knowledge, though, very few of his drummers technically exploded.

[Big_Rob]

Its impossible to have just one greatest American band

While Im sticking to my guns about the Grateful Dead being #1, you could also go back in musical history and say that Cab Calloways orchestra was awesome or Lynyrd Skynryd or SRV and Double Trouble or Dean Martin or Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys or everyone could just agree with my POV and give it to Jerry and the boys

[R_of_G]

Its impossible to have just one greatest American band

While Im sticking to my guns about the Grateful Dead being #1, you could also go back in musical history and say that Cab Calloways orchestra was awesome or Lynyrd Skynryd or SRV and Double Trouble or Dean Martin or Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys or everyone could just agree with my POV and give it to Jerry and the boys

Linguistically, I'd say it's impossible to have more than one "greatest" as greatest suggests a singular entity.

That said, I agree with you, "American" music encompasses such a long time frame and so many different and incomparable genres that it is not possible to achieve a consensus #1 pick. By the criteria Marnold listed, I'd say Rob has a strong case for the Dead.

[Jampy]

Ummm..I think your forgetting

[Robert****]

I don't see the problem with mentioning the Eagles for this topic? They sure have had some huge success over the years and written some great songs.

[just strum]

They are not my style - but you want American - The Beach Boys

A number of hits, longevity, huge radio play,....

they have everything marnold notes


Longevity
Influence
Popularity
Sound
Timelessness

[tjcurtin1]

Jeez, Jampy, where do you get this stuff!

With the accent on 'American', I always think of Credence Clearwater Revival as having had a deeply rooted American sound - in the same kind of way (even if musically quite different) as Springsteen and the Dead - and thought they deserved a mention.

[Spudman***]

Who is still together?

Beach Boys? No
Eagles? Not all original members.
Skynyrd? Not around.
The Dead? Not around.
Dylan? Not original.
Elton John? Not American.
Frampton? Not original members.
The MC5? Not original, not together.
The Stooges? Not original members.
The Velvet Underground? Not together, not original.
Allman Bros? Not original.
Springsteen? Not original.
Kiss? Not original.
Alice Cooper? Not original.
Aerosmith? Not original.

ZZ Top = original members.

[Iago]

I was thinking about the Dead too.. but yeah.. not all them are around anymore..

what you guys think about CSN&Y?? or even Mr. Young and Crazy Horse?

[wingsdad]

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
30+ years of guitar-based American rock n' roll.
With American guitars by Rickenbacker, Fender & Gibson.

[Jampy]

Jeez, Jampy, where do you get this stuff!

With the accent on 'American', I always think of Credence Clearwater Revival as having had a deeply rooted American sound - in the same kind of way (even if musically quite different) as Springsteen and the Dead - and thought they deserved a mention.

Ah you know, I stumble across this stuff looking for the meaning of life..

But to be serious I would have to add Bill Haley & The Comets to the list, they may not be the "greatest" but they did alot to change and forum modern "rock & roll" as we know it..

:

[Robert****]

I was thinking about the Dead too.. but yeah.. not all them are around anymore..

what you guys think about CSN&Y?? or even Mr. Young and Crazy Horse?

Neil Young is Canadian! Of course, Canada is in "America"... namely North America....

[R_of_G]

I was thinking about the Dead too.. but yeah.. not all them are around anymore..

what you guys think about CSN&Y?? or even Mr. Young and Crazy Horse?

Since Mr. Young is candadian, I'd say no.

[R_of_G]

Frampton? Not original members.

Isn't Peter Frampton English?

[R_of_G]

Ok, I have a bit of a bone to pick on the criteria of "longevity" and "original members". For both of these I use the Beatles as my basis of comparison as most of us seem comfortable with labelling them as one of the, if not the, greatest British bands.

Firstly, the Beatles only lasted a bit longer than a decade as a functioning unit. If we're talking the longevity of their music being popular, that goes more to relevance than longevity, which I see as the duration the band lasted. So, while a lot of the American bands listed are not still active, many did surpass the amount of time the Beatles were together.

Now, to the question of "original members" and I am sure you all see where I'm going here. A lot of the American bands were subject to be discounted on the grounds that they don't have all of their original members. It could be said that when the Beatles lost Stu Sutcliffe, they no longer had their original members. Ditto when they replaced Pete Best with Ringo. Now, I understand that John, Paul, George, & Ringo constitute the Beatles as the world knows them, but the fact remains that Ringo was not an original member of the band. Obviously, I am being partially facetious here, but let's remember a lot of these bands [particularly the GD] replaced original members because those original members died.

[Spudman***]

Good points RofG.

So I guess this is just another of those pointless subjective threads? So what are the criteria? Who is going to determine who (American band) has the most influence on American music? How do you prove that?

[Big_Rob]

I would have to say that Spudman and Wingman are right,

Now I know that ZZ Top has all the original memebers but what about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers?

[wingsdad]

Petty, guitar-man Mike Campbell and keys-man Benmont Tench have been the core since before they became the Heatbreakers. Original HB Bassist Ron Blair left for 10 years & rejoined in 02 when Howie Epstein finally checked out on Horse. Original drummer Stan Lynch left after 20 years.

I kinda knew that because I've been nuts about TP since 'Damn The Torpedoes' (3rd Album). Cable network Sundance just aired the Peter Bogdanovich 4-hour documentary bio, 'Runnin' Down A Dream', 3 times last week. I managed to record it and got to watch it over the weekend.

Truly, TP & the HB are an American Band, not an American BRand, packaged & hyped to sell recordings, concert tickets and merchandise.

[Tone2TheBone]

My vote goes for the Top ah how how how how.