Greatest American Rock and Role Bands of ALL Time


I have run into several advertisements saying that Aerosmith was the greatest American R&R band. I have thought about this claim and asked around and realize it is not an easy choice. So many of the great rock bands are not American..i.e. Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Rush, etc.

But before going further, who should/should not be considered?

 I think “band” means not Elvis, Elton John, etc or other single acts, that is another thread. However I would count Ted Nugent since he really is a band but with his name as a title…same with Hendrix, since he usually played with a band.
 They need to write at least most of there own music (another thing that would preclude Elvis).
 “Rock” any thing from the 50s up to alternative (which I consider a derivative of rock). This would include pop rock, so the Monkey’s might be considered (if they were American).
 Heavy metal would be ok.
 they should sustain their appeal over a period of time even if they weren’t able to produce a lot of music…i.e. Buddy Hollie, Hendrix

Anyway, there is no perfect guide so if you have other ideas, no problem. But here are a few of the undisputed best…..(that is bait)

 Amerosmith
 Kiss
 Alice Cooper
 Ted Nugent
Journey
….hey, I don’t know, I really would have a hard time putting any of these in a top 10 list of all time worldwide so I need some help,

Who are the greatest American Rock Bands of All Time???????????? Who is THE Greatest of all time
bbtuna

Showing 8 responses by zaikesman

When Waylon Jennings died recently, I read a quote of his on why he refused to accept a Grammy once. His words were to the effect of, artists are not in competition with one another. 'Nuff said.
Yes, The Monkees are *still* American, and no, The Troggs, Supertramp, and Bad Company are not, and will *never* be!

P.S. - Bbtuna, apparently you're the only one here with an even worse case of Too Much Time On His Hands than me!
You're all wrong, here's the corrected list:
1. The Sonics
2. The Rock & Roll Trio
3. The Stooges
4. The Ramones
5. The Beach Boys
6. The Byrds
7. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
8. The Remains
9. James Brown & His Famous Flames
10. James Brown & The J.B.'s
11. Love
12. The Ventures
13. Alice Cooper (the band)
14. The Velvet Underground
15. CCR
16. Elvis & His Trio (yeah, they were a band)
17. The 13th Floor Elevators
18. The Band (well, North American - they're mostly Canadian)
19. Booker T. & The M.G.'s
18. Parliament/Funkadelic
19. Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps
20. The Seeds
21. Neil Young & Crazy Horse (yeah, I know - at least I'm not trying to list The Troggs and Pink Floyd!)
22. Bob Dylan & The Band
23. The Monkees (stop that)
24. The Modern Lovers
25. The Replacements
26. Paul Revere & The Raiders
27. The Mamas & The Papas (I consider some Pop to be R&R, and vice versa)
28. The Five Royales
29. Link Wray & His Ray-Men
30. The Flaming Lips
31. The Bad Brains
32. NRBQ
33. The Temptations
34. The Impressions
35. The Talking Heads
36. ? & The Mysterians
37. The MC5
38. Louis Jordan & The Tympani Five
39. The Meters
40. Little Richard & The Upsetters
41. The Lyres
42. Sonic Youth (for a while there, in the middle years)
43. The Standells
44. The Buddy Holly Trio
45. The Bobby Fuller Four
46. The Fleshtones
47. The Dictators
48. The Everly Brothers (hey, it only takes two mininmum to make a band)
49. The Jackson Five
50. The Cramps

All right, I'm leaving off at 50 (although honorary mentions must go to the technically disqualified Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Funk Brothers [Motown's house band]), and though they're in no particular order, you Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers/Doors types can rest assured that although they technically would have to make my list eventually, it would have been a long time more before I would've gotten around to them...after Blondie...after Sam The Sham & The Pharohs...after all the Girl Groups and a lot of the Doo Wop groups...after The Dead Kennedys...Cheers!...
You're all wrong, Pt. Deaux!
Chuck, I guess you must think George W. has already conquered the rest of the world. Trich 727, I thought of the Watch Band later on, so let's keep going (as above, the order can and should be ignored):

51. The Chocolate Watch Band
52. Public Enemy
53. The New York Dolls
54. The Beau Brummels
55. Davie Allan & The Arrows
56. Simon & Garfunkel (see comment at Everly Bros. above)
57. The Rascals
58. Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (first ablum -this is the bone I'll toss to the summer of love crowd - don't choke on it!)
59. Big Star
60. The Nazz
61. The B-52's
62. The Lovin' Spoonful
63. The Shaggs (all hail)
64. The Turtles
65. The Flamin' Groovies
66. Guided By Voices
67. The Dwight Twilley Band
68. Dick Dale & The Del-Tones
69. Redd Kross
70. Prince (proof that, actually, two or more people are not a prerequisite to become a band)
71. The Go-Go's
72. The Coasters
73. The Treniers
74. The Drifters
75. Blood, Sweat & Tears (absolutely first ablum only!)
76. Bill Haley & The Comets (give credit where it is due)
77. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
78. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
79. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
80. The Dead Boys
81. The Raspberries
82. Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns
83. Sly & The Family Stone
84. The Runaways
85. Trouble Funk (I'm from DC - wanna argue?)
86. The Left Banke
87. Cheap Trick
88. Mission of Burma

All right, I'm going to bed now...Honorable mention to The Pretenders, excluded on same technicality as The J.H.E....Steely Dan and Buffalo Springfield fans are still waiting...Journey and Chicago fans better be prepared to wait forever (there's a name for that place)...America rocks!
Do we see yet? Do we see how frivolous and futile an exercise like this really is? (Yes, Wstritt, Tommy James & The Shondells are American, but I would include B.O.C. before them - even though I like 'em - and I would think that you would too, if you don't care for The Archies or Sonny & Cher, "groups" [and I like them, too] who are closer in spirit to T.J.& T.S. than say [as you suggest] The J. Geils Band.) And yes, The Beatles are *still* British, and sorry, Gunbei, Screamin' Jay (who I have seen live, as is truly one of the Gods) is *still* not a "band", no matter how many kids he fathered! Gabba gabba hey...