Audiohifila,
Your list of early artists who fail to move you is interesting in that 3 of the 5 you list would make my top 10 list of rock music that actually survives. In fact, Chuck Berry would nail the #1 spot without a moment's hesitation. I find his music far more compelling today than almost any other rock musician's. Buddy Holly is only a half-step behind Berry and Brian Wilson is in there somewhere. IMHO, Orbison and Presley were more notable as singers than writers (and Presley was obviously a cultural phenomenon in so many ways; from sex symbol to early racial cross over music).
If you find that these musicians are more interesting as "historical artifacts", it says more about your personal preferences than it does about the music. No criticism is implied there. I like some Bel Canto opera, but can't abide more than 5 minutes of Wagner. I assure you that this fact says more about me than it does about Wagner's music.
Either way, I must admit that I find it curious that anyone who likes rock music doesn't find Berry's music essential. Rock is a reductionist/primitivist art form which isn't really complicated. You got your blues, your country, and your gospel. From the blues, I find that Berry distilled pure, nearly perfect rock n roll. From country music, Holly performs a similar transformation and for Gospel, you might look to Little Richard.
Wilson is a bit different in that his gift was expanding the "vocabulary" of rock music. He looked backward to the '50s vocal music (doo wop) and forward to incorporate exotic technology. IMHO, in this repect, he's the father of "art rock".
It's not merely that the Stones and Beatles (and just about everyone else) were inspired by this music, it's more that between Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Brian Wilson you will find the core of almost everything the Beatles and Stones produced over the course of their careers (with the possible exception of the Disco/Funk elements of the Stones which nods toward gospel music and Little Richard). And from there, you will will find that so much subsequent r'n'r music goes back to those 2 bands.
I think George Thorogood put it best. When asked why his band didn't perform any original music, he replied:
"Because Chuck Berry has already written all the great rock n roll songs".
OTOH, you're certainly entitled to not dig it and it certainly doesn't prove that Pet Sounds is a great record.
Marty
