The Greatest American Band?

It's funny, Credence was the first name that popped into my head when I saw the thread title, and there they are the first band mentioned.

If it were NORTH American (and not just American), my vote would be for Rush. Otherwise, I'd have to go for Bruce Springsteen.

They seem to have covered most of the bases, though I'd toss in Elvis, Scotty and Bill, who were as much a band as any of their contemporaries.

I love the stats in the e-mail included at the end, really puts it in perspective. Beatles: Overachieving assholes!

Unfortunately too-often associated with bullshit Boomer nostalgia, but once I got past that I've had a steadily growing admiration for Three Dog Night recently. There was some fun songwriting, from novelty to anthemic stuff, and they were crafty with some covers. (Stats-wise, not too shabby: 13 gold albums, 21 top 40 hits, 3 U.S. #1s) Hard to make an argument for them as major influences or cultural impact, though.

I'd say..... The Doors

It's a shame that The Band, being almost exclusively Canadian can't be considered. A lot of their output really encapsulates the American experience.

Grand Funk Railroad comes right out and says, "We're an American band," so let's give it to them.

The first person to suggest The Eagles gets a rectal polyp from karma.

fleed?
Judas, winner, winner, chicken dinner! It's Springsteen and the E-Street Band.

I could be because I'm really, really, into them at the moment but as a Brit I view Lynyrd Skynyrd as a really great distillation of Americana and classic rock, it's a shame they came to such an untimely end because they had already produced some outstanding songs but they could have gone on to be even greater.

They take it to the limit!

It's the Beach Boys. It has always been the Beach Boys. When you're talking about an "American Beatles," it will always be the Beach Boys.

(If you count Springsteen and the E Street Band, though, that's damn close.)

LOL

Yeah, they rock.

Lamest front man of all-time? Mike Love!

I'm in no way versed in American culture, I take it they're kind of a joke/footnote over there then?

Pretty much.

While I'd give it to them for sheer durability, I must admit that my favorite American band is probably Blue Oyster Cult.

Van Halen (1978-1984)

Big hair, excess and gross sexuality. That's America at its best. John Jay said so.

Completely and utterly sig-worthy.

Not to everyone. Like a lot of bands, though, they inspired some fairly dull followers: lots of boogie guitar and Southern cliches, nothing else going on.

If you like Skynyrd, you need to know their artistic descendents, the Drive-By Truckers. IMHO, the great American band of the current century.

The 2-disk Southern Rock Opera is their magnum opus (Skynyrd themselves are actually characters in it), although either Decoration Day or The Dirty South might be more immediately accessible.

That.

And I get a kick out of picturing you cranking up and rocking out to "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Freebird".

(Their legacy has undergone a slight positive revaluation. No shame)

...And Kid Rock. Don't forget him.

Winner. I totally spaced them.

Why not? Fucker never writes to me.

Neil Young was a evidently a Skynyrd fan (he sent them a demo of "Powderfinger" before he recorded it himself, though they never did record it), though the idea that he was one of Ronnie's pallbearers is apparently an urban legend.

You can't auto-tune on paper.

Also, the fact that nobody has mentioned John Cougar Mellencamp makes me sad.

You also can't roller skate in a buffalo herd. I see your point.

I have a certain soft spot for the guy, given that I worked for his record company for a few years, and he helped pay the rent and put dinner on the table so to speak. The couple times I met him he seemed nice.

But he's a well meaning lunk without an original thought in his head. And without Kenny Aronoff he wouldn't even be much fun to listen to.

If he's saved a farmer or two in his career, more power to him. But he's well out of contention compared to the others mentioned in the thread.

A lot of the great American bands mentioned, as good as they are, mined one genre particularly well. CCR, Sly and the Family Stone, the Pixies, the Jackson 5, the Beastie Boys (c'mon, Rabin, I expect better from you).

The Beach Boys come close, but they didn't have the record of pulling off the various styles they tried like the Beatles did. The Beatles could muster up a "Helter Skelter" and an "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," but the Beach Boys had their limits when it came to the rock and didn't always have good instincts about where to hold back. Plus, "Kokomo".

Springsteen and E Street capture some of the best impulses of American pop music, from lyric-oriented folk to classic R&B. If we're talking both a Beatles-like breadth of style and a spirit representative of its country, I'd give it to them.

But in terms of artistic influence, it's the Velvets. They've got the breadth of style (listen to White Light/White Heat and the third album back to back and disagree) and, while they're perhaps not as distinctly American as Bruce and the band (in fact, they were, at times, practically equal parts European in attitude and fact), if we're discussing originality and artistic impact, they're truly the closest thing we've got. There have arguably been a lot more bands of the last three decades who have knowingly or unknowingly ripped off the Velvets than have taken primary inspiration from Springsteen, CCR, Brian Wilson, or virtually any of the others.

LMFAO. I'll be be-boppin and scattin' all over the place.

I'll just say Pearl Jam because they need to be at least in the discussion.

Greatest American band and American Beatles feel like two totally different titles to me, which doesn't mean I don't think the Beatles were the greatest british band.

One thing about the Byrds and the Beach Boys - apart from being from the same timeframe as the Beatles, and in the case of the Byrds sort of modelled on their format - is that they're the kinda bands were each member has a distinct musical sensibility/personality. I mean much as the Beach Boys are dominated by the myth of Brian Wilson, every moderate BB fan knows about tragic old Dennis Wilson and giant blowhard Mike Love. Same for the Byrds, whose most iconized member - Gram Parsons - wasn't even in the band's first incarnation, and Roger Mc Guinn, Gene Clarck, David Crosby and Chris Hillman had just as much influence. This is sort of something that I feel always needs to be present for a band to be the "_____ Beatles".

As far as greatest american band, well, if we're gonna go full throttle for the whole idealized America as a multicultural multiracial pursuit of happiness, I really don't think you can get any closer than early Sly & The Family Stone. and then the latter albums give you the Great Gatsby style deconstruction.

"Free As a Bird". I agree with everything else you said.

Greatest American Band? GTFO.

No love for Talking Heads? They at least deserve an honorable mention. They had a distinctly American melting-pot type sound, and you can see their influence all over the last several decade of rock and pop music, from the Pixies to the Beastie Boys to Radiohead to TV On The Radio to The Arcade Fire to things like MGMT or Passion Pit.

Says the guy who nominated fucking John Mellencamp.

Velvets and Talking Heads are both great suggestions, and you could probably make an argument for the Ramones, but I'll leave that to someone else.

But doesn't a Beatles comparison suggest a combination of influence AND popularity?

I'd also say that there's track record to consider: The Beatles turned out a dozen or so albums, and most of the others under discussion did at least as many or more. The Velvets imploded after four (or three, depending on how much of a stickler you are about personnel).

Not that I don't love 'em.

Well, the thread title says "Greatest American Band", but the article linked is discussing "Who is the American Beatles". We have to decide what we are debating, and we can move on from there.

So, does the greatest American band have to have actually been an organic, touring unit?

Because if not, then the clear winner is Bob Dylan, Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Harvey Brooks, Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, and the rest of the guys who cut Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde.

(I know, I know, it's only two albums. But still...)

I thought it was pretty self-evident that I was making a joke. Who would nominate the Cougar with a straight face?

But Pearl Jam? I mean, influential in certain circles, sure. Good band...well, I disagree, but they have plenty of fans. But Greatest American Band?

In all seriousness, I would have to throw my hat behind Springsteen. The Velvets, sure, but Spingsteen really refined the imagery. He's quintessentially American, above his talent, etc.

I don't understand why it is so outlandish. Granted, their "influence" hasn't given us anything of merit, but popularity (they were the biggest band in the world for a couple of years) ,longevity (coming up on 20 years), critical acclaim (especially as a live act), cultural relevance, the respect of their peers...I mean,okay, you don't like them, but they absolutely earned an invite to the party when you are discussing great American bands.

Great American bands, I'll grant you. That's fine. But I just can't wrap my head around their inclusion in a list with The Beach Boys, Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and The Velvets.

I mean, Metallica has the same attributes you described, but there's no way I'd put them near a "Greatest American Bands" list.

Skynyrd is the Allman Brothers retarded redneck little brother.

Well, since the question is "American BAND" not "American ARTIST", Mellencamp is moot.

Plus he kinda sucks anyway.

They are unquestionably A great American band, but I don't think they quite make the discussion for THE great American band.

Skynrd is usually shit on by wanna-be elitists and community college intellectuals who think they have a better musical taste than they actually do.

The answer to this question is The Replacements. Followed closely in second place by ZZ Top (no shit).

Is today the day where everybody has to litter posts with smileys to denote sarcasm and jokes?

If I had said "the Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar Bluegrass Band should be mentioned", would it have been more obvious?