1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. His songs are like mini-movies, each one seems to have a protagonist and a plot. Listen to "Meeting Across The River" from "Born To Run" and tell me Orson Welles could have done better. No one talks of the joys, triumphs, heartbreaks and disappointments of the working man better than this guy. His band is top notch, also.
2.(tie) The Band. Even though Robbie Robertson is Canadian, no one picked up on life in America quite as well as these guys. From "King Harvest" to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (a look back at the Civil War through Confederate eyes), these guys nailed it. To be considered Bob Dylan's back up band ain't a bad thing either.
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival. All John Fogerty needed was four chords. Easy, simple and powerful. At the height of this boy's adolescence (13-16), CCR tunes were all over the radio. I swear they had a new album every six months and it was always special to bring them home for the latest magic from these four guys. Internal struggles (including a brother to brother relationship that was never repaired), doomed this band. I challenge anyone to find a stretch of genius in American rock and roll that matched this one. No one did it better. You want anti-war? How about "Fortunate Son"? You want story telling? How about "Down On The Corner". As much as I have listened to this music, I will never tire of it. One of the great moments in my career was meeting John Fogerty. He was all I expected him to be. Ask any Vietnam vet what their music meant to them.
4. The Eagles. You want country? How about "Midnight Flyer"? You want rock and roll? Nothing better than "Those Shoes" You want a great story? "Hotel California" does it for me. How about Philly soul? "One Of These Nights" will fit the bill. Five part goose bump delivering harmonies. A great band gets better with the edition of Joe Walsh, maybe this country's best guitar player ever.
5. The Beach Boys. Summer fun and maybe the greatest album ever in Pet Sounds. This is the release that John and Paul listened to while making Sgt. Pepper. Are there any better songs than "God Only Knows", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Good Vibrations"? These guys have single handedly rescued the "oldies" format. Put the top down, hit the accelerator and have fun fun fun until her daddy takes the TBird away. One of MY first musical influences.
Honorable mention Steely Dan, The Doors, J. Giels Band, The Doobie Brothers, Allman Brothers.
(I would have posted pictures of The Eagles, and the Beach Boys, but for some reason, the blog site wouldn't post them, I will try again later.)
7 comments:
You missed quite a few. Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Guess Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Alan Parsons Project, The Byrds, America, The Hollies, The Turtles, just to name a few, not to mention artists and their bands, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton (no way is Walsh a better guitar player than Clapton!!!) the list goes on and on. Your list is way too limited I think. My two cents' worth.
The headline was "American" Bands. And Bob Seger would have made the list, but I consider him more of a solo artist. Guess Who are Canadian and most of the others you named are British. Thanks for your two cents, very highly appreciated.
I stand corrected, however, don't understand how you would view Bob Seger as a solo artist - you could say the same for Springstein since he "dismissed" his original band some time ago, so to me they are the same.
Sad news for a rock legend ...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
LONDON - Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
The spokeswoman - who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement - confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for many years.
Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, and wrote many of the band's early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and the 1967 album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" - largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar - was a commercial and critical hit.
However, Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 - five years before the release of Pink Floyd's most popular album, "Dark Side of the Moon." He was replaced by David Gilmour.
Barrett released two solo albums - "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" - but soon withdrew from the music business altogether.
He spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England, where he was a familiar figure, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store.
Despite his brief career, Barrett's fragile, wistful songs influenced many musicians, from David Bowie - who covered the Barrett track "See Emily Play" - to the other members of Pink Floyd, who recorded the album "Wish You Were Here" as a tribute to their troubled bandmate.
The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.
Anonymous is all wet. Seeger is a solo act and The E-Street Band is certainly the best American band ever. But you did leave off two band that I believe are worthy of at the very least a top 10 position. The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Los Lobos. Like the E-Street crew, you really have to see these band live to fully appreciate how they perform as a unit. Oh, and The Band was another great selection. I watch The Last Waltz on a regular basis and everytime I hear Rick Danko sing It Makes No Difference it brings tears to my eyes. Great topic and great list my friend.
Doc
According to rankopedia, the best rock bands ever are The Beatles, Led Zep and Pink Floyd.
Pearl Jam.
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