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NashvilleBlues

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Doxa
Funny to think of it, no matter how great so many American bands are, they lack something to be that great and big like those British bands. Those bands who actually created the story of rock as far as great bands go. Although almost all they did, those British dudes, they picked up from America. But The Stones, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, U2.. You name it. There is not anyone even close in America to touch those in the history of Rock'n'Roll. The British are superior. The Beach Boys, The Doors, Grateful Dead, The Eagles.. Forget it, marginal stuff compared to Brittons..

That said, J. Geils Band was a great band.

- Doxa

It becomes much closer if you include Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, etc. for America (North America, I’m guessing). I know they’re not bands. But there’s no need to dismiss them.

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DandelionPowderman

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KevinPenthouse
The only person keef went out to see live inn last 10-20 years or so was Peter Wolf and Waddy Wachtel . . . that says something

And Lisa Fisher

+ probably many gigs we don't know about.

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Doxa

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TheflyingDutchman

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Doxa

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TheflyingDutchman

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Doxa

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TheflyingDutchman
Sorry, my editing is real slow. I was more thinking in the direction of the black American blues based players, without whom Rock wouldn't even have existed.

Yeah, one could make any kind of preferences there and claim who is more important than some other. But it goes to personal preferences and snobbism. Surely, I personally think Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters are much more important than Elvis Presley, but doesn't that sound a bit stupid to say?

- Doxa

Quite stupid. I even dare to say that Robert Johnson or even Chuck Berry are more "important" than the Stones, or the Beatles,
(not entirely sure about the Beatles) as their catalogue is based on the music of the authentic American players I mentioned. But then again, 7-tees and 8-tees American Rockbands ripped off the English, and typically American style, improved it, certainly on an harmonic and technical basis.It's a patriotic issue as well.

Yeah, but there are differences in 'ripping off' in terms of originality. Let'say, it is more creatively demanding to make commercial pop music out of marginal non-pop-music by nature than to make your own version of already highly-popular music. To make Mick Jagger out of Muddy Waters is much more a big thing than making a Steve Tyler out of Mick Jagger, I think.

- Doxa

Aha.I don't deny the greatness of the Stones, The Who ec. I just think that bands like ToTo, Steely Dan or Van Halen continued where bands like the Stones reached their creative peak.Bands like Guns and Rozes or Metallica are not my cup of tea; they are the worst example of American kitsch to me. All my personal taste of course.

Well, I always have thought that the Stones are the greatest rock and roll band in the world because they never had an idea what a rock and roll would be sound like or even be like. They created the idea by themselves. It all grew up so naturally from blues, they created themselves and they never had a rock band to copy, just their blues heroes. Surely, they along their career have taken inspiration from other bands, but their true idols and heroes have never been 'rock stars'. With the Beatles, they created the whole idea what is to be a rock band. What did they say... blues had a baby and they call it rock and roll. They could also call the baby simply The Rolling Stones.

Like Dylan said, there is not more original rock and roll band in the world than the Rolling Stones. They are a true masterpiece.

- Doxa

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LeonidP

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More Hot Rocks
Centerfold and Freeze Frame. MTV schmaltz. The band lost my respect. A great band selling out. Just like ZZ Top going from a great band to doing crap like Legs. Or Steve Miller doing Abracadabra. How embarrassing.

Probably better than I give them credit for, but yes! Ceterfold & Freeze Frame were my 1st memories of them, and that's hard to get over.

I more equate them w/ Chicago, a band that some say are/were fantastic, but I knew them mainly from MTV's Hard Habit To Break, You're My Inspiration, Hard To Say Sorry -- total crap! I can't get past that to ever even attempt to listen to their earlier stuff.

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Doxa

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NashvilleBlues

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Doxa
Funny to think of it, no matter how great so many American bands are, they lack something to be that great and big like those British bands. Those bands who actually created the story of rock as far as great bands go. Although almost all they did, those British dudes, they picked up from America. But The Stones, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, U2.. You name it. There is not anyone even close in America to touch those in the history of Rock'n'Roll. The British are superior. The Beach Boys, The Doors, Grateful Dead, The Eagles.. Forget it, marginal stuff compared to Brittons..

That said, J. Geils Band was a great band.

- Doxa

It becomes much closer if you include Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, etc. for America (North America, I’m guessing). I know they’re not bands. But there’s no need to dismiss them.

Yeah, I was intentionally talking about bands. When it goes to individuals, Americans take the lead. All kudos to Mick and Keith or John and Paul or Pete or whoever, but they are not individually as artists close to people like Dylan or Hendrix. Especially those two are the biggest thing, with a huge margin, ever happened in rock music artisticwise. Dylan made rock music intellectually mature, while Hendrix did the same to instrumental credibility. The Beatles or the Stones never achieved anything like that (even though they sold more records and taught the world a cool beat). Probably it is a cultural thing: Americans love, appreciate and urge the individuals, while the Europeans are more like teamwork people.