Greatest American Rock Band

[Runwildboys]

I agree with your list, but CCR is not from the South. They're from California. Easy mistake to make, though, they totally sound like a roots rock Cajun band from Louisiana.

Especially when they sing Born on the Bayou.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Especially when they sing Born on the Bayou.

Yeah, they got that southern sound down despite being California boys. And I love'em. They made some of my favorite music of all time. I wish they had stayed together longer, but they had a tough time getting along. John Fogerty pretty much ran the band as a dictator, writing all the music and making heavy demands on exactly how it should be played. He may not have been a very nice guy, but what he did worked. Man, John Fogerty really knew how to write a kick-*** roots rock song that would grip you right in and make you love it right away.

 

[Hardline]

Grand Funk Railroad.
Because they were "An American Band"

 

[sean10mm]

Stevie Ray could do it with ease

Yeah, but I wouldn't lump him in with "modern squiggly shredders." He was really good.

That said, while both had short careers, SRV wasn't on Hendrix's level in terms of historical importance. There is no SRV as we knew him without Hendrix.

 

[Cowpolk]

Yeah, but I wouldn't lump him in with "modern squiggly shredders." He was really good.

That said, while both had short careers, SRV wasn't on Hendrix's level in terms of historical importance. There is no SRV as we knew him without Hendrix.

SRV was a BB King Fan

 

[Runwildboys]

Yeah, but I wouldn't lump him in with "modern squiggly shredders." He was really good.

That said, while both had short careers, SRV wasn't on Hendrix's level in terms of historical importance. There is no SRV as we knew him without Hendrix.

I'm a bigger fan of SRV than I am of Jimi, but I have to agree. When you speak of innovation, combined with sheer talent, Jimi is the guitarist for the ages.

 

[sean10mm]

Hendrix's influence crossed genres. Funkadelic isn't Funkadelic without Eddie Hazel, who isn't Eddie Hazel as we know him without Hendrix. Basically all the big British rock guitarists admitted outright that Hendrix made them recalibrate how they went about playing. His impact on the music that followed is hard to overstate. This is just the low-hanging fruit. His innovations impacted everything from heavy metal to jazz.

The thing about Hendrix is that he wasn't just hitting notes, he led the way showing what kinds of sound manipulation you could do with an electric guitar, and then seamlessly integrating that "noise" into well structured songs. It's why his songs often sound more rich and dynamic than the stuff made by people with more technical playing skill and buckets of 21st century technology - even with all that, they seem like they're operating in a narrower range of sound somehow, or they lose the rhythm in the pursuit of complexity for its own sake, or both.

I'm a huge SRV fan, but he was a lot more about being a great performer of music than innovating what music as we know it even is. That's not a knock on SRV because almost nobody does that, ever. You can make a case that Eric Freaking Clapton stopped being an innovator of any consequence when Cream (who Hendrix was a fan of) broke up. After that most of what he did was about quality of performance within existing frameworks.

 

[rags747]

For me The Doors or Janes Addiction. I'd like to see any singer who gets mentioned for the greatest 'american band' sing Pigs In Zen or Had A Dad, the way Perry Farrell could do back in the day. I saw Janes back in 1989 (Portland, OR), and during Pigs In Zen Perry jumped into the slam pit and fell right on top of me. That concert changed my life.

Pigs in Zen...Never heard it before, great song. Have to ck them out further

 

[rags747]

R-A-M-O-N-E-S RAMONES! The Offspring

 

[OmerV]

Aerosmith. They started out raw and gritty, which was such an awesome rock sound, and they adapted with the times, changing their style and experiencing a longevity rarely seen. Personally, I prefer the pre-sobriety stuff, by a long shot, but it's hard to argue with fact that people keep buying their music. I also think Steven Tyler is the best American rock front man, making a great show out of every concert.

I loved 1970s Aerosmith - I would put them up against any American band. Wasn’t so fond of the ballads and more commercial bent of their work in the late 80s and beyond. It wasn’t bad, just not my preference or what I think Aerosmith did best.

 

[OmerV]

It is hard roughneck, but rules are rules.

Look at it this way, you are going to be shipwrecked on a deserted island and only allowed the music of one American band. Now, you are only going to be there for 5 years so all is not lost; however, I will be returning you to that island for another 5 years, after a conjugal visit to keep the native animals on the island safe, with only the music of a Funk band.

So, pick.

ZZ Top. Great at pure rock, great MTV era music and a great blues band, all rolled into one.

 

[Runwildboys]

I loved 1970s Aerosmith - I would put them up against any American band. Wasn’t so fond of the ballads and more commercial bent of their work in the late 80s and beyond. It wasn’t bad, just not my preference or what I think Aerosmith did best.

Exactly my point of view. Even Rock in a Hard Place had that gritty, raw sound I loved from them, despite Joe Perry being gone, but everything from Permanent Vacation on is too commercial and orchestral, in my opinion. Still better than a lot of music, but not what I like about Aerosmith.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Has to be the Beach Boys & The Eagles at the top.

Beach Boys... 4 #1 hits. 15 top-10 singles.

The Eagles... 5 #1 hits. 10 top-10 singles.

All the rest of them fall behind these two. Aerosmith has 1 #1 hit. CCR never had a #1 hit. ZZ Top's two top songs were at #8. Motley Crue never had a #1 hit.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

98°

 

[OmerV]

SRV was a BB King Fan

And an Albert King fan. And a Freddie King fan. And a Buddy Guy fan.

 

[OmerV]

Has to be the Beach Boys & The Eagles at the top.

Beach Boys... 4 #1 hits. 15 top-10 singles.

The Eagles... 5 #1 hits. 10 top-10 singles.

All the rest of them fall behind these two. Aerosmith has 1 #1 hit. CCR never had a #1 hit. ZZ Top's two top songs were at #8. Motley Crue never had a #1 hit.

I think Coach’s criteria was the opinion of the individual poster and not jut sales and charts.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think Coach’s criteria was the opinion of the individual poster and not jut sales and charts.

Of course.

I just think if you're going to toss a hat into the ring, justifying it with record sales ain't a bad way to go.

None of the groups mentioned are pikers by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[triplets_93]

The Eagles officially took over the #1 selling album in the US with their Greatest Hits 71-75 with sales at 38M, not too shabby, But that started a minor debate in that thread about other bands so I thought a thread just about American bands should settle this and remember, the ruling by the judges will be final.

So, what band is the greatest American Rock band of all time? And this is your opinion, you don't need sales or stats, just what you think makes your band the greatest.

There's rock, there's hard rock, there's soft rock, pop rock, Southern rock, industrial rock, and everything in between.

But the emphasis is a band, over a singer and a backing band, like Elvis Presley, Billy Joel, Madonna, or Michael Jackson.

If you're going to equate Greatness with album sales, then the top American album seller would probably be The Eagles.

Next in line in sales would be Aerosmith, with Bruce Springsteen close behind.

Then we have Van Halen followed by Fleetwood Mac.

Journey then Guns N' Roses.

For me, it's a matter of personal taste and bias.

My top US Rock bands would be:

ZZ Top
Grand Funk Railroad
Alice Cooper
Cheap Trick
Chicago
Doors

 

[morasp]

Lynyrd Skynyrd.
their sound....they make you feel it.
as Elvis would say...it's gotta come from somewhere down deep.
as a band...Skynyrd's music came from the gutt.
Favorite album:Second Helping.....Call Me The Breeze and Swamp Music.....the rhythm on those 2 songs....straight outta Graceland!!!!!

Well said, I was watching the final episode of Seal Team and when they were packing up Simple Man was playing, very moving. I used to have the One More From the Road live double LP and played it all the time. Going back and watching their concerts on youtube gave me a new appreciation for how good they were on stage and how tight they were as a band. They are one of the top three American bands I wish I could have seen live along with Buffalo Springfield and Little Feat.

 

[cowboyec]

Well said, I was watching the final episode of Seal Team and when they were packing up Simple Man was playing, very moving. I used to have the One More From the Road live double LP and played it all the time. Going back and watching their concerts on youtube gave me a new appreciation for how good they were on stage and how tight they were as a band. They are one of the top three American bands I wish I could have seen live along with Buffalo Springfield and Little Feat.

they broke Elvis' attendance records at one of the outdoor parks there in Memphis.
Elvis sent flowers to them with a note congratulating them.
So they went to Graceland to thank him but he had already left for Vegas.
Elvis' uncle...who worked the guard shack,gave them a private tour of the grounds.
Inspired by that....they wrote the song Am I Losin'....for the Nuttin' Fancy album.
If you listen to Elvis' 70's concert version of Thats All Right....then listen to Swamp Music or Call Me The Breeze...you can hear an Elvis influence on them.
I wish in the mid 70's,Elvis had covered their stuff...especially the 2 I mentioned.
Simple Man is just brilliant.