Which band IS really America's Greatest (rock & roll band)?

Shout out for Country Joe and the Fish! Gimme an F....

Nice list -Guys
Another +vote for Aerosmith.

Oy, many of your are sadly misinformed.  U2 is from Ireland. Bruce Springsteen considers himself a solo performer who shares the stage with the E Street Band (they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame separately).

It's true that most of the greatest bands are from the British Isles; they have way out performed the US, especially by virtue of their much smaller population. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths and on and on.  That's what makes this question interesting.

When friends and I have pondered this one, we usually come up with CCR, The Doors, REM and The Grateful Dead.  Then there are outliers, like The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith and Television.  There's no clear winner, since the list depends greatly on whether record sales, longevity, influence on other bands or live performance is weighted most heavily.  Overall, I usually opt for The Doors, but CCR's popularity rivaled The Beatles back in the day.

per djones51, i'll go with ccr, byrds and velvet underground, mainly because they influenced most of the other great bands listed (tom petty, rem, television, etc.). that said, my favorites were the more alt-leaning 80s guitar bands like husker du, replacements, feelies, meat puppets, etc.

Thanks for reminding me about REM. We saw them live about five times and I was shocked when they called it quits. I have most of their albums, and listen to them a lot. For me, they are a lot like Rush, very original and unique. I don’t love everything they have done but the songs I like, I really like.

Is REM the quintessential American rock and roll band? Maybe not, but they’re in my top ten.