What's your opinions of the most influentual bands in rock history

[Dave]

Of course this is the one we can all agree upon The Beatles but what about others?

My choices would be Rush as they are by far the most incrediable three man band ever. Great song writing and absolutely hands down the most incrediable drumming ever.

The Eagles have got to be the most affluent song writers ever as I would go so far as to compare them with John and Paul. Vocally untouchable, remember these boys were singing that high long before vocal harmonizers were even a wet dream and their harmonies were stellar. I don't exactly know how many #1 hits they've had off the top of my head but it has to be way up there. Sadly they seem to be often overlooked for what they truely are, fabulous musicians and wordsmiths.:D

[mcow1]

Byrds & Cream jump to mind

[Grant]

Influential? Since no one else here is going to mention some of the artists i'm about to:

Elvis Presley
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Carl Perkins
DJs the world over
Muddy Waters
Robert Johnson (the grandfather of ALL rock music!!!)
Blind Melon Chit'lin (just kidding!:D)
The Beatles
The North Alabama White Citizens Council
Jimi Hendrix
David Bowie
James Brown
Richard Milhouse Nixon
Motown
Booker T. & The MGs
Sly & The Family Stone
Black Sabbath
Van Halen
Tipper Gore
Roxy Music
Chic
Bob Dylan
The Byrds
Ronald Wilson Reagan
Prince
The Cowsills
Phil Spector
Nirvana
The Ramones
Black Flag
The Clash
Lyndon Bains Johnson
Marvin Gaye
Smokey Robinson
Ray Charles
The Jackson 5
The Isley Brothers
Curtis Mayfield
The Beach Boys
Pete Seeger
Santana
NWA
Earth, Wind & Fire

[njwiv]

To add a few obvious ones to Grant's list:

The Band
The Rolling Stones
The Everly Brothers
Led Zeppelin
Run DMC
The Bee Gees

[KLM]

Here's a quick list and doesn't include any of the Blues artists that surely were influencers of some of the following (in no particular order):


60's Bands
-The Kinks
-The Who
-The Rolling Stones
-The Beatles
-Elvis Presley
-Bob Dylan
-The Band
-Eric Clapton/Cream
-Jimi Hendrix

70's Bands
-Queen
-Yes
-Led Zeppelin
-Ramones
-Sex Pistols

80's Bands
-Duran Duran
-The Clash
-Van Halen

90's Bands
-Nirvana
-Pearl Jam
-Metalica

Please note that I may have erred on the eras of some of these bands since it was done from memory.

[Sckott]

Beatles made musicianship stronger. Even threatened other songwriters, because they wrote so many of thier own songs, a practice pop stars didn't always adhear to.

Beatles made it fun to go wild. Beatles created their own sound. Thwomped the door down for the British groups to pile in, and almost put all the American girl groups out of buisness. The Beatles taught the Byrds to use folk-rock changes in a song. the 12-string electric. Showed them how to BE a rock band (Hard Days Night).

Music suddely became more important. It wasn't something to throw away or to replace the next week. It brought a country to its knees. They showed us that art was important, that 37minutes worth of material could be a single, artform that could "Tour" itself (Sgt Pepper).

They pushed the bounderies of "GROUP".

Now, people like Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Hank Ballard, Louis Jordan, Jackie Brenston & Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" and Stick McGee's "Drinkin' Wine Spoo Dee O Dee"...... A lot of dirty, nasty R&B done right after the war by black musicians... This was much more important than the Betales in general. It wasn't folk or blues anymore.. It put the naked raw energy of movement into Rock and Roll. All that stuff makes me nuts, even to this day, and I'm 32. All that sound came from Juke Joints, Burlesque houses, the Mississippi Delta... All one big melting pot. All black heritage.

All became important to Elvis, Dylan and melted into Motown, and into the Beatles.

[Highway Star]

I'd have to say Buddy Holly and the Crickets were highly influentual. Not only for their style of music, but they also popularized the concept of a self contained band/group.

[Matt]

The Velvet Undergound. Punk, New Wave, alternative rock, a lot of college rock and indie rock bands...the Velvets have left their mark on almost every rock band after them.

[Mike]

Grant:

Is Blind Lemon Chitlin the guy from the Cheech and Chong albums?

Let me add a few power pop bands who have influenced subsequent generations of tunesmiths writing catchy songs with crunchy guitars:

Badfinger
Raspberries
Big Star

I was just listening to the Marvelous 3 and Butch Walker does a spot on Eric Carmen imitiation on Cigarette Lighter Love Song. If you haven't heard Readysexgo yet, please run to your store now. You probably didn't think there was anyone out there writing pop tunes this good today!

[njwiv]

Originally posted by telefunken
I'd have to say Buddy Holly and the Crickets were highly influentual. Not only for their style of music, but they also popularized the concept of a self contained band/group.

Absolutely! Can't believe I missed them.

[GoldenBoy]

Well here's my list, bands and solo artists alike, starting off with the obvious, but in no particular order:

The Beatles
The Stones
Bob Dylan
The Doors
The Velvet Underground
Lou Reed
The Stooges
David Bowie
Bruce Springsteen
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Jimi Hendrix
Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel
The Police
U2
Van Morrison
Prince
Pink Floyd
Peter Gabriel/(gabriel era) Genesis
The Ramones
Sonic Youth
Husker Du
Nirvana
Van Halen
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Metallica
James Brown
Stevie wonder
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Ray Charles
Johnny Cash
Wille Nelson
Bob Marley
Curtis Mayfield
Aretha Franklin
The Stone Roses
Jethro Tull
New Order
Depeche Mode
Run-DMC
The Beastie Boys
Public Enemy
Television
The Byrds
Muddy Waters
Willie Dixon
The Clash
Joni Mitchell
The Red Hot Chili Peppers

etc. etc. etc.

[PsychFan]

The Velvet Underground has influenced so many bands (particularly "alternative" ones of the last 10-25 years) that you couldn't possibly count them all.

I'd say the Byrds and the Who must have been huge influences on a lot of people as well.

Oh, and then there's Bob Dylan ...

[Michael]

Without Murray Wilson And The Four Freshmen no Beach Boys
Without Elvis no Beatles
Without Woody Guthrie no Dylan
Most influential....Without a doubt THE BEATLES!!!!!!

[Tony Caldwell]

Jimmie Rodgers
Robert Johnson
Willie Dixon
Elvis Presley
Johnny Cash
Chuck Berry
Lorretta Lynn
Patsy Cline
Buddy Holly
Marty Robbins
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
CCR
Jimi Hendrix
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention
Spirit
The Bee Gees
Black Sabbath
Deep Purple
Jethro Tull
Allman Brothers Band
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Spinal Tap
Rush
Queen
Blondie
The Police
James Taylor
Sex Pistols
Iron Maiden
Metallica
U2
Pearl Jam
Nirvana

I'm sure there are others that I have forgotten.

Tony

[Uncle Al]

Maybe I am the only one to answer the title in the post directly:

I think that it imperative that we all recognize our influences and respect them. Rock was born from a blend of C & W, Blues, and (often forgotten) swing jazz. By taking a step back we appreciate what we have.

As a tangent - regardless of anyones current opinion of pop, rock, alternative, jazz, classical (whatever) - the current generation of musicians appears to be keenly aware of their musical roots. Whenever I read or hear a serious interview with any modern artist - they seemed to be weel versed in the foundations of what they do.

Much more so than their fans, I'm afraid.

[Patrick M]

No one mentioned King Crimson. :confused:

[Highway Star]

And to all the guitar nuts out there it doesn't get any more influential than Link Wray and the (W)Raymen!!!
:cool:

[Chip Stylus]

I'm still knocked out with W.C. Handy as a composer and Satch as a performer. Aren't guitar solos just trying to do on strings what Louis did on the horn??

When the 50's rolled around, I think Buddy and Chuck hit ALL the bases. Buddy in 2 1/2 years did more than Elvis, his hero, did in his whole career.
And I am quite the Elvis fan too.

Waylon, if he were here now, would certainly agree that Buddy trounced Elvis (laughing).

Now if that sounds eccentric, hear this: I think that Brian Eno was the backbone of 80's music and new wave. No one else came close, as far as I can see.

[Henry Love]

Quicksilver Messenger Service for twin lead guitars. Listen to Happy Trails,psychedelic with a Bo Diddley beat.

[R. Cat Conrad]

... display enough objectivity to be taken seriously, but what the hey...! For grins, here's mine along with my rationale for each:

Formative years --

Little Richard: Way ahead of his time; a flamboyant entertainer and the first genuine rock 'n roll screamer with a distinct sexuality in his lyrics. His music and style would influence many future rock musicians across all racial lines, especially from the 60's on.

Buddy Holly: One of the first singer/songwriters who was also a passionate guitar player (Fender Strat.). His sensitive emotionally compelling style of music and his non-threatening preppy image would be imitated by many lesser talents in the late 50's, but adapted with great success by some of the early British invasion bands.

Elvis Presley: Possibly over-rated as a true rocker, but he introduced a physical sexuality on stage that complimented his moody gospel-infused rockabilly music. Elvis's style would be greatly embellished by volatile "Great Balls of Fire" rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, in the late 50's and emulated by countless other front men in a plethora of bands a generation later.

Chuck Berry: Like Little Richard, this African American singer/songwriter/guitarist was a flamboyant entertainer who introduced a unique stage presence to his rock 'n roll performances. He also helped to make the guitar an instrument of reverence and inspired other musicians to add varying degrees of showmanship to their acts.

The halcyon days (British invasion) --

The Beatles: The first band where each musician really mattered and would be identified individually by their first names (this sort of public adoration occured very rarely and would only be repeated with a few so-called "super-groups" and power trios). They introduced humor in the form of irreverent cheeky wit into the American culture and used it as a technique for challanging both authority and traditional conventions. Also, they are one of the few British bands to transcend their American pop-rock roots and create highly innovative influential music as the culture transitioned from simple pop to drug enhanced psychedelia and on into harder rock.

The Rolling Stones: One of the best blues based British cover bands at the beginning of the British invasion. When they started writing and recording their own blues infused pop-rock songs they also kicked it up a notch by exploring their own impressions of life's ironies and the darker recesses of human existance. As time went by and musical styles changed, they took great pains to remain current even when their music output was less than inspired. Where the early Stones were most influential was in their movement towards individualized attire, desperate lyrics and an emphasis on the "front man" as group leader and spokesman; many bands would follow suit.

The Who: A late British invasion mod-band these blokes successfully made the transition from light pop, mid-tempo rockers and blues covers to hard rock and during the course of that transition the band managed to compose and record one of the most inspired two record sets in rock history, the highly influential rock opera "Tommy."

________________________________________ ________

Whew! It seems like I'm just getting started, but I'd better break here and give my poor fingertips a rest. I'll try to finish this later. Note: I should get to Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison & the Doors in the next phase.

Feel free to comment or make suggestions, but as Elvis might say of my critique of his accomplishments: "Don't Be Cruel!" :D

Cheers,
Robert Cat Conrad

[Paul Chang]

Sun Records' Elvis follow-up - Roy Orbison, who beat Presley in every which way but look. Sorry Springsteen, you can't possibly sing like Roy. :rolleyes: Never! :D

The original teenage idol - Rick Nelson, the pioneer of "country rock".

The Stephen Stills-Neil Young connection - Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Still-Young Band. These two guys solo careers are no less impressive.

Bands featuring the (once) teen wiz kid Steve Winwood - Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith.

The albino Winter brothers - the bluesy Johnny and the jazzy Edgar.

[jroyen]

The music from yesterday that has most profoundly influenced the music we listen to today.

20’s Louie Armstrong and the Hot Fives/Hot Sevens
30’s Louie Armstrong and his Orchestra
40’s Bing Crosby
50’s Chuck Berry
60’s The Beatles
70’s Led Zeppelin
80’s Run DMC
90’s Nirvana
00’s Britney Spears/ Backstreet Boys