...and Nirvana. And the Doors. Hendrix isnt a band but he’s the greatest artist for sure. Beach Boys. In some strange ways, Kiss. The Stooges.

Black Crowes are a great American band.

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DandelionPowderman

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MisterDDDD
Don't quite agree with this writer's conclusion.. but he does show his work.

What is the Greatest American Rock Band of All Time? The Answer is Not as Easy as You Think…

At first, upon reading this, I surely thought there’d be a definitive answer, but when I started to think, I found myself scraping the bottom of the barrel – what American band can hold up against the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Stones? The answer is not as clear as you think, and some names may surprise you. Discounting singer/songwriter driven bands (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) in consideration for groups that contained individual personalities coming together to create, among popular answers were the Ramones, Guns n’ Roses, The Eagles… And after a few weeks of digesting this question, we’ve come down to a few solid names that could even hold a candle up to those British bands.
[eraofgoodfeeling.com]

Interesting!

«but maybe that’s just how American pop culture has shaped up to be. We crave and reward individual talent and personalities mainly because Americans have been programmed to do so – we are obsessed with the success of the individual»..

I think Dandy's quote from the article describes the situation best..
We Americans are much more focused on the success of individuals..

Elvis, Jimi, Dylan, Buddy Holly, Springsteen, Petty, Chuck Berry, et al.
Many had/have backing bands, but it's the individual artists that we champion.

The Black Crowes are a great band, but their sound is derivative and heavily indebted to The Faces. Their influence is debatable, although they get credit for returning a focus to guitar-driven Rock & Roll with real drums in the synth-dominated late-80’s, along with The Cult (non-U.S.) and Guns ‘n Roses.

Having mulled this over, my current Top-5 are:

The Band
The Grateful Dead
The Byrds
The Allman Brothers Band
R.E.M.

I'm going to have an honest a stab as I can:

The Beach Boys - it's unarguable, surely?
The Doors
The Velvet Underground
Guns N' Roses
Nirvana

I mentioned Green Day and Weezer in an earlier posting: Green Day, as much as I enjoy their music, still fall slightly short. Weezer, I'm still exploring; although, their debut, 'The Blue Album'. is surely an alt-rock classic.

I enjoy music by The Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful and many others; but they're just not quite good enough. If we're using British acts like The Beatles and Stones as a yardstick, that is. I really do believe that the genuinely great bands hail from the U.K. Again, as UI stated in an earlier post: we have the U.S. to thank for the beginnings; the British Isles for what followed.

Brian Wilson, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain all were at various points, very difficult, if not downright creepy individuals. Don’t really see the adulation. Respect for their work, sure, but with reservations.

Regarding The Beach Boys and them possibly being the greatest American band: am I the only one who prefers their songs about cars, girls and surfing? The bulk of Pet Sounds doesn't do it for me, and I only like their late-60's singles thereafter: Good Vibrations, Darlin', Do it Again, etc.

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Big Al
Regarding The Beach Boys and them possibly being the greatest American band: am I the only one who prefers their songs about cars, girls and surfing? The bulk of Pet Sounds doesn't do it for me, and I only like their late-60's singles thereafter: Good Vibrations, Darlin', Do it Again, etc.

Funny, I just put on Pet Sounds right now. Second song just started.
I love this album.

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Big Al
Regarding The Beach Boys and them possibly being the greatest American band: am I the only one who prefers their songs about cars, girls and surfing? The bulk of Pet Sounds doesn't do it for me, and I only like their late-60's singles thereafter: Good Vibrations, Darlin', Do it Again, etc.

I agree, Pet Sounds is kinda like a buzzkill.

Although I suggested Van Halen as the best US band of all time, I'm ok with the Doors holding that title. In any case, they both offer 6 killer albums from front to back (the Van Hagar albums aren't as good, and the Morrisson-less Doors albums are no good either)...

To me there are really only two contenders: the Grateful Dead and Little Feat, after much consideration

jb

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jbwelda
To me there are really only two contenders: the Grateful Dead and Little Feat, after much consideration

jb

Excellent choices--for me I always rocked to the J Geils Band--listening to them live, weaving their instrumentals still brings a sh*t eating grin to my face.

Thank you all for the responses, this is a very interesting and thought-provoking thread! It's fascinating to hear the bands that rock fans from outside the US first think of when asked the question.

Here's my take on the E Street Band, and maybe to a slightly lesser extent the Heartbreakers. Is there really a specific, definable difference between a Bruce Springsteen album/show and one by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band? Besides the obvious difference of doing a show completely alone, if Bruce had a backing band that wasn't the E Street Band and did a show or a tour, would there be any significant decrease in fan interest? If there was conceptually one member of the E Street Band that could have been considered irreplaceable, it would have to have been Clarence Clemons. Wouldn't everyone agree? Well, was anyone at all surprised that Bruce kept the E Street Band together after Clarence's death? If Clarence Clemons was replaceable, then anyone is. It's because, to me, there isn't really any difference between Bruce solo with a backing band and Bruce and the E Street Band. In my opinion the E Street Band only exists as Bruce's band, not as a larger entity.

And I haven't looked it up, but my recollection is that Tom Petty consistently did material that he recorded as a solo artist during Heartbreakers shows. Not all Stones fans buy Mick or Keith's solo material or attend their solo performances. I personally have a hard time imagining that the fan base for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers isn't virtually identical to that of Tom Petty recording as a solo artist.

Thanks for reminding me, I would have to add TP and HB to my list above. Three serious contenders then.

At one time I would have added Steely Dan too, but when they went for that Aja stuff, it kind of removed them from my sphere. Liked it at first but soon grew tired of it and now it just sounds tedious to my ears.

jb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-12 20:22 by jbwelda.

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Big Al
I'm going to have an honest a stab as I can:

The Beach Boys - it's unarguable, surely?
The Doors
The Velvet Underground
Guns N' Roses
Nirvana

I mentioned Green Day and Weezer in an earlier posting: Green Day, as much as I enjoy their music, still fall slightly short. Weezer, I'm still exploring; although, their debut, 'The Blue Album'. is surely an alt-rock classic.

I enjoy music by The Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful and many others; but they're just not quite good enough. If we're using British acts like The Beatles and Stones as a yardstick, that is. I really do believe that the genuinely great bands hail from the U.K. Again, as UI stated in an earlier post: we have the U.S. to thank for the beginnings; the British Isles for what followed.

If that's the yardstick, only The Doors & CCR come close, for the number of memorable songs and their huge influental power, followed by The Beach Boys, followed by The Byrds and Velvet Underground mostly for their influental power.

The Doors
Jimi Hendrix

The Black Crows
everclear
Aerosmith

Feel The Fear
And Do It Anyway

Tom petty and the heartbreakers

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jahisnotdead
Is there really a specific, definable difference between a Bruce Springsteen album/show and one by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band? Besides the obvious difference of doing a show completely alone, if Bruce had a backing band that wasn't the E Street Band and did a show or a tour, would there be any significant decrease in fan interest?

Bruce toured with the “other band” in the early ‘90’s. He played sheds, and it was really disappointing.

He toured with the Seeger Sessions band and they had to rope off part of the arenas.

When he toured solo, he played theaters.

The E Street Band show is and has always been on another level. They are the best bar band around, can turn on a dime, and have always been a thrilling live act.

(I still think The Beach Boys have had the most influence, being the model for a rock band, with multiple songwriters, a great catalog, a great live act back in the day, and a genius leader who broke new ground musically.)

Has Chicago been mentioned yet?
The first few albums are fantastic, and they were Stones fans. They shout out a few Stones songs in Feeling Stronger Every Day, if I remember correctly.

Quicksilver Messenger Service
Jefferson Airplane
Allman Brothers Band
Hot Tuna
Gov't Mule

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Big Al
Regarding The Beach Boys and them possibly being the greatest American band: am I the only one who prefers their songs about cars, girls and surfing? The bulk of Pet Sounds doesn't do it for me, and I only like their late-60's singles thereafter: Good Vibrations, Darlin', Do it Again, etc.

I with you on this. Dance, Dance, Dance has some of the most amazing harmonies ever recorded. Pet Sounds is massively overrated.

I've been pondering this since first posted... so hard to narrow down to just 1, so will do my top 5:

ABB
Grateful Dead
Poi Dog Pondering
Tedeschi Trucks Band
CSNY

I was thinking the Wino's also, with a stretch since Keith lives in Connecticut!

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Father Ted

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Big Al
Regarding The Beach Boys and them possibly being the greatest American band: am I the only one who prefers their songs about cars, girls and surfing? The bulk of Pet Sounds doesn't do it for me, and I only like their late-60's singles thereafter: Good Vibrations, Darlin', Do it Again, etc.

I with you on this. Dance, Dance, Dance has some of the most amazing harmonies ever recorded. Pet Sounds is massively overrated.

Yep: Surfin' U.S.A.,I Get Around, Fun, Fun, Fun, Wendy, Help Me Rhonda... that's the Beach Boys I like!

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jahisnotdead
Thank you all for the responses, this is a very interesting and thought-provoking thread! It's fascinating to hear the bands that rock fans from outside the US first think of when asked the question.

Here's my take on the E Street Band, and maybe to a slightly lesser extent the Heartbreakers. Is there really a specific, definable difference between a Bruce Springsteen album/show and one by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band? Besides the obvious difference of doing a show completely alone, if Bruce had a backing band that wasn't the E Street Band and did a show or a tour, would there be any significant decrease in fan interest? If there was conceptually one member of the E Street Band that could have been considered irreplaceable, it would have to have been Clarence Clemons. Wouldn't everyone agree? Well, was anyone at all surprised that Bruce kept the E Street Band together after Clarence's death? If Clarence Clemons was replaceable, then anyone is. It's because, to me, there isn't really any difference between Bruce solo with a backing band and Bruce and the E Street Band. In my opinion the E Street Band only exists as Bruce's band, not as a larger entity.

And I haven't looked it up, but my recollection is that Tom Petty consistently did material that he recorded as a solo artist during Heartbreakers shows. Not all Stones fans buy Mick or Keith's solo material or attend their solo performances. I personally have a hard time imagining that the fan base for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers isn't virtually identical to that of Tom Petty recording as a solo artist.

TP, Bob D, and Bruce - my top 3 (and I get Bob is not your classic "rock" persona, but he's got to be in my top 3, one of those things that has to be for me)

Regarding Petty, he rarely had anything recorded without Mike C by his side. Those 2 were the main fabric of all things Tom Petty (band or solo) in my view.

The Black Crowes

they could make Amorica great again, by a lot, .... if they re-released it with some unreleased tracks

Velvet Underground or REM

J Geils Band....

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

Mama Lion

The Rivingtons

I'm on a renewed quest to answer this question, so I am bumping this thread. If there are any current forum users who haven't weighed in on this, please do. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Thanks!