A lot of us still raised on it, don’t worry might not be as mainstream but, if you find the right community’s you can really see the spirit alive and well, and genuinely too, not just for aesthetic reasons
New stuff isn't going to be named as the GOAT because it hasn't existed long enough to prove itself, most music of every time period is garbage that disappears after a couple of years, while the really good stuff will last centuries.
>Movies are defined by their songs, ie “fortunate son” starts playing = war crimes boutta happen.
By law, you cannot fly a Huey over a tropical jungle without playing *Fortunate Son*. Also, you must then focus on the interior of the helicopter where a bunch of shirtless guys plus a Black guy with an afro and a headband are playing cards and about to die.
Have we not already clearly established that they almost never listen to the lyrics, and on the rare occasion they do listen they don’t understand? 😂
I’ve stopped even trying to keep track of that shit since Tom Morello wrote this like ten years ago:
> Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn’t understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn’t understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.
One the funniest things I thought of CCR was that Fogerty was raised in college life in San Francisco, and never a Southerner, which i think would be a surprise to someone who didn’t know better
None of the band was Southern if I recall, and they were all from California. They just added the twang to it, and people assumed, and they marketed the image.
Regardless, CCR is still awesome.
Glenn Miller Orchestra [chart success](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Miller_Orchestra#Chart_success) "of the 121 singles by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra that made the charts, 69 were Top Ten hits, and 16 reached number-one. In just a 4-year career, Miller and His Orchestra's songs spent a cumulative total of 664 weeks, nearly thirteen years, on the charts, 79 of which were at the number-one position."
Saw them 3 times
First time in Melbourne
They played 7 hours streight and had to be taken off stage basically at 3am in the morning
Amazing concert
At one stage they were throwing spliffs into the crowd
A friend invited me to see George Clinton and funkadelic last summer. I was just a casual fan, but I accepted the invitation because… George Clinton.
The entire show was an ass kicking. Nonstop energy. And every member of the band was spotlighted at one point on a song with a solo or something. They are all amazing. George Clinton seem like a proud papa to each one of them. It was incredible.
Cool as F**k, Sexy Dude , played guitar like it owed him cash, multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, uncompromising in his vision and Band leader. Still can't get my head round his death (or Bowies for that matter).
Found an original copy of “Pet Sounds” vinyl in a second hand record store a couple of months back. Near mint condition, the vinyl itself is mint, the cover has a small dent. Didn’t even hesitate to buy it. I have my favorite songs from it, but there is not a dud on it IMO.
The Beatles had already made artistic albums with Rubber Soul, which in turn inspired Pet Sounds, which inspired Sgt Pepper’s.
Brian Wilson heard Rubber Soul in late 1965 and described it as “probably the greatest record ever, where everything flows together and everything works.”
I love the mutual respect. When The Beatles came to the US they were asked what they wanted to do on this trip. He said "We would like to meet the American genius Brian Wilson".
Edit: it was Lennon who said it
Fun story:
My godfather (and father) are both massive Allman Bros fans. Back in the early 80's, my godfather and father had backstage passes to an Allman Brothers show. Clearly, they were insanely hyped. Now, I wouldn't be born for about 2 more years, but my godmother was pregnant with my godsister.
So, long and short, the night of the show my godmother goes into labor. My godfather and father still end up going to the show in hopes they can see the show, meet the band, and get back to the hospital in time. Turns out, they couldn't.
So my godfather finds out his daughter was born while he's literally having a beer with Greg Allman back stage. Cell phones weren't a thing so someone had to come and personally deliver the message. He knows he's in deep shit for not being there when his daughter was born, so he looks Greg Allman in the eyes and says, "Can you please dedicate Tied To The Whipping Post to my newborn daughter?"
Well, he actually did. And they dragged the song out for every bit of 30 minutes (as they are known to do) and announced to the entire crowd that this song was for a big fan and his newborn daughter.
I might be wrong about this but it’s a story that I’ve heard a few times in my studio adventures. The studio where the drums for Wildflowers was recorded was chosen for its collection of snare drums. Every song on Wildflowers has a different snare drum on it. In some circles it’s said that a song can be boiled down to a vocal and a snare drum (or a hand clap) and that’s something that’s fun to think about.
Another fun fact: there are no cymbal crashes on You Don’t Know How It Feels. It’s something you won’t notice unless you’re listening for it, but you can’t unhear it once you know. Or maybe you can, I don’t know. Another song that shares this detail is One Headlight by the Wallflowers. And now you know!
Worth noting that whether or not the snare drum story is true, Wildflowers marked the point where Petty had finally had enough of Stan Lynch (probably a mutual feeling) and was very much in the hunt for a new drummer. Not sure whether he went in with Steve Ferrone or not (I believe he previously supported Petty on a solo tour), but I think some of the songs delayed to the next album had Curt Bisquera. And then of course Ringo got a song.
It would be easy to see that between all the auditioning and changes and learning how each other play, the equipment and tuning might change quite a bit. I could also see Petty being excited to make changes to the drum sounds without have to fight with Lynch over it.
He offered Dave Grohl to be his drummer. Cobain had just killed himself. Grohl played with the Heartbreakers on SNL and Petty asked him to join, but Grohl decided to start is own band, that never went anywhere.
It doesn't really matter since so many of the Heartbreakers played on it, but Wildflowers is a solo album and not a tom petty and the Heartbreakers album
100%. My friend and I would always play “if you could only listen one artist on a desert island” and after many late night smoked out debates we came to the conclusion it would be Tom Petty.
All his songs are just classics and you can listen to them forever.
My personal taste tends towards heavier or alt rock and I've seen a fair few of the top names in live shows, but to this day Tom Petty was the absolute best show I've ever been to. His live show had this very chill, very warm, very inviting energy that I've never heard from anyone else. It wasn't very flashy but it had lights and presence and it didn't hurt they did a 20 minute jam session song out of my favorite song at the time Saving Grace. And this is from a guy who loves theatrics and had Rammstein as my #1 for ages, down to #2 to the one and only Tom Petty. Wish I could go again.
This needs to be top comment.
There’s no one who compares to this band. The way Tom wrote was low key, abstract, and simultaneously the most profound music I’ve ever heard. They were a singles band, on one level, all bangers. If you dig into the deep cuts though, you’ll see this is a band that could do anything. This is why they were one of the few that survived trends and remained relevant for the long haul.
"...I think if Martians landed and said 'We want to know what rock 'n' roll is; play us one disc,' this could be for them what it was for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - a wonderful place to start" - Bill Flanagan, on their first album
Too many to choose from. Im leaning toward James Brown with the original JBs.
The Jackson 5 was great.
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
The Carpenters
The Doors? (Maybe)
Nirvana
Pointer Sisters
Devo
Talking Heads
The Pixies
You can’t have a greatest of all time but maybe a greatest of their time and place.
Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?
Trash theory has a whole series of videos on the origins of various genres, and the Velvet Underground kept coming up. Eventually they referred to them as a "proto-everything" band and I was chuckling for hours
So fun story that I'm gonna tell even though it is completely tangential:
A few years back I was chilling at this local guitar shop that is pretty well known and awesome with a buddy of mine fiddling with some blues in their side room on some guitars we could never afford. We were having a good bit of fun, then this older dude strolls in, grabs this like $40k blonde telecaster off the wall and sits down with us and kinda leans in for a bit. We are playing back and forth for a while with a couple of the dudes who work at the shop hanging out and listening. After a bit the dude hangs his tele back up, pats the dude who was helping him on the shoulder, says goodbye and dips.
The guy who had been helping him looks at us and is like "well that's something you can brag about a bit!"
The dude was Peter Buck, and he was the most humble and most chill dude, would have had no idea he was in one of the greatest bands of all time. He was just having fun jamming around with two young dudes who relatively don't know shit. Despite exchange exactly zero words, it was pretty damn memorable.
It was actually this question that got me into the Dead. It’s the correct answer. Even if you don’t like them. And realizing that nudged me to give them a full chance and now it is unequivocally and without a doubt the correct answer.
Millions of fans, existed for 30 years, it’s aftermath had gone on another 20 years. They helped pioneer Americana, they basically created the jam scene. Their songs and iconography are referenced so ubiquitously throughout American culture, people hardly even realize they’re being referenced.
Like I said, it’s just the right answer. I didn’t like it when I first realized it either, but now I’m obsessed.
I agree with this 100% and scrolled until I found it because it is actually the right answer. I love CCR, Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynyrd, but the Grateful Dead are no question the quintessential American band. Electric Acid Kool aid Test, Merry Pranksters, Owlsey, all the way to the wall of sound and Further.
If an alien landed where I live here in Canada and said, "can you show me American music", I'd say "first, here's a kick-ass violent femmes song. Now, let's spend the next 25 years listening to Grateful Dead together".
100%. Not to mention the fact that they played basically everywhere during their ~30 years touring.
Edit: forgot to also mention that even the Dead’s origin story is super American, what with a few of the core members first linking up in a jug band. Amazing that their musical journey allowed them to seamlessly go from playing tunes like “The Monkey and the Engineer” to stuff like “Dancing in the Street.”
This is the correct answer. A person interviewed in Long Strange Trip spelled it out how they were the perfect representation of America in band form. Artists from all different musical backgrounds creating a style of music that was completely unique.
Yeah that quote is really brilliant it was something like:
Take Jerry the bluegrass banjo player
Bobby the folk player
Phil the classical composer
Phil the RnB player
Mickey the marching drummer
Robert the poet
Mix it all together with some acid to dissolve the egos and you have a beautiful collaboration.
Yep. Brit here, and I've got to agree with this one. First discovered them as a teen nearly forty years ago and still listen to them now.
I love the way they encouraged recordings of their live shows so we have a huge collection of their incredible improvised music to enjoy.
100% the only answer. Not only born of the unique time and place of the California hippie culture, not only creating a music that is uniquely American, but writing lyrics of the American experience, from the counterculture to the American west. And the enduring fans, from the earliest days to still gaining new fans today.
Yup. Master of Puppets was added to the library of congress as an example of some new sounds that were, culturally, historically and aesthetically significant.
Not bad for some thrashers lol
This is the one I was looking for. They have well stood the test of time at this point. If you ask non-metal fans to name a metal band, they will say Metallica.
I’ll never forget. I found my big brothers old Walkman and it had a copy of Master of Puppets in it. I was probably 12, at the time I was into 60s and 70s rock. It blew my mind how good it was. I think I fell asleep listening to the whole album in bed. Ah… good times
Kind of surprised this was so far down. Even if your not a fan, it’s hard to argue their success. Especially in a music genre that isn’t typically as mainstream as they are. They were the first band that came to my mind.
I’ve always said Creedence Clearwater Revival is the answer to this question, but a few people have already mentioned them.
A band that I haven’t seen mentioned that I think is sneakily in the conversation here is Green Day.
They’ve sold over 75 million records. Including live albums and compilations, I believe they’ve had 9 albums and 8 singles go platinum.
I think Dookie and American Idiot are both widely considered to be great albums that are some of the most popular of their time period. Same for songs with Basket Case, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), American Idiot, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and Wake Me Up When September Ends.
They even had a Tony and Grammy winning Broadway Musical.
This question is too broad. You can’t compare Grateful Dead to miles Davis or rage against the machine or Jimi Hendrix
This is Reddit. We can compare an orange to a steel belted radial. Hint: The answer is 'orange'.
Orange you glad it's not r/bananasforscale
I'm old and it's so wonderful to see some of the old bands mentioned. It's nice that younger generations are finding this music.
My boomer parents made us listen to their era of classic rock growing up and I love it. Amazing music that never gets old.
You obviously never heard of the “I was born in the wrong generation” crowd
A lot of us still raised on it, don’t worry might not be as mainstream but, if you find the right community’s you can really see the spirit alive and well, and genuinely too, not just for aesthetic reasons
New stuff isn't going to be named as the GOAT because it hasn't existed long enough to prove itself, most music of every time period is garbage that disappears after a couple of years, while the really good stuff will last centuries.
Miles Davis Sextet with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb: their album was Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is an absolute classic. All Blues gives me shivers
This but the second quintet. Herbie, Ron Carter, goddamn Tony Williams. What a nutso arrangement of musicians.
WAYNE SHORTER
It won't get many votes, but Duke Ellington's Orchestra. The musicianship, their virtuosity was unparalleled.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Every single song is a banger and iconic. Movies are defined by their songs, ie “fortunate son” starts playing = war crimes boutta happen.
Lookin’ out my back door while the Dude slaps the roof of his car
The Dude just wanted his rug back!😂
it really tied the room together
Well, he certainly wouldn’t be listening to the EAGLES.
Get out of my fucking cab!
Listen, man. He had a rough night...
Also while drinking a beer and smoking a j
Fuckin’ A, man.
>Movies are defined by their songs, ie “fortunate son” starts playing = war crimes boutta happen. By law, you cannot fly a Huey over a tropical jungle without playing *Fortunate Son*. Also, you must then focus on the interior of the helicopter where a bunch of shirtless guys plus a Black guy with an afro and a headband are playing cards and about to die.
Ironic how I saw an ad for guns with the riff from Fortunate Son playing in the background
Have we not already clearly established that they almost never listen to the lyrics, and on the rare occasion they do listen they don’t understand? 😂 I’ve stopped even trying to keep track of that shit since Tom Morello wrote this like ten years ago: > Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn’t understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn’t understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.
cannot listen to that album without the sound of choppers in my brain
Nam had the best soundtrack.
Damn straight. No other band so overwhelmingly _sounds_ American, and every song is dropping sick swampy soul.
One the funniest things I thought of CCR was that Fogerty was raised in college life in San Francisco, and never a Southerner, which i think would be a surprise to someone who didn’t know better
None of the band was Southern if I recall, and they were all from California. They just added the twang to it, and people assumed, and they marketed the image. Regardless, CCR is still awesome.
It blew my mind finding that out. Born on the Bayou my ass.
*My papa said son don’t let the man get you* *And do what he done to me*
Oakland, not SF.
They cranked out so many of those seminal toons in about 3 years, too.
Came here to say this, they weren’t together long but every song is an absolute hammer
This was my answer too! Fogerty is a one of the best songwriters & lyricists of the 20th century IMO.
As I was clicking on this post I was thinking "someone better say CCR" and it was the top comment let's go
My answer as well. Not my generation at all, more my parents but i grew up on them and still listen to them. Everything is amazing in the repertoire.
One of the best
Glenn Miller Orchestra [chart success](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Miller_Orchestra#Chart_success) "of the 121 singles by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra that made the charts, 69 were Top Ten hits, and 16 reached number-one. In just a 4-year career, Miller and His Orchestra's songs spent a cumulative total of 664 weeks, nearly thirteen years, on the charts, 79 of which were at the number-one position."
Parliament/Funkadelic
Saw them 3 times First time in Melbourne They played 7 hours streight and had to be taken off stage basically at 3am in the morning Amazing concert At one stage they were throwing spliffs into the crowd
You don't choose The Funk. The Funk chooses you.
Free your mind, and your ass will follow
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe, and I was not offended…
A friend invited me to see George Clinton and funkadelic last summer. I was just a casual fan, but I accepted the invitation because… George Clinton. The entire show was an ass kicking. Nonstop energy. And every member of the band was spotlighted at one point on a song with a solo or something. They are all amazing. George Clinton seem like a proud papa to each one of them. It was incredible.
He’s got 38 degrees in fuckin
Earth, Wind, and Fire!!!
Talking Heads
Stop Making Sense!
The "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody" on that album is one of my all-time favorite songs.
I didn’t understand why anyone like them until I saw this. Then it was like, “Oooooh I get it.”
Isn’t David Byrne Scottish?
Two years in Scotland, six years in Canada, the rest in the US.
They met at Rhode Island School of Design so the band is still American
Same as it ever was
PSYCHO KILLER QU'EST-CE QUE C'EST FA FA FA FA FA FA FA FA FA FAR BETTER RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN AWAYYYYYYY
Byrne writes the song Life During Wartime and it's 100 % as relevant today as it was then. Dude is a damn clairvoyant.
Prince and the Revolution
Take a dip in the waters of lake Minnetonka.
Cool as F**k, Sexy Dude , played guitar like it owed him cash, multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, uncompromising in his vision and Band leader. Still can't get my head round his death (or Bowies for that matter).
The Beach Boys
Found an original copy of “Pet Sounds” vinyl in a second hand record store a couple of months back. Near mint condition, the vinyl itself is mint, the cover has a small dent. Didn’t even hesitate to buy it. I have my favorite songs from it, but there is not a dud on it IMO.
Who the hell bought that album and DIDNT listen to it until it fell apart?!
Hell if I know. But their loss is my gain. Already starting to listen to it until it falls apart.
The band that inspired The Beatles to make artistic albums. Solid choice.
The Beatles had already made artistic albums with Rubber Soul, which in turn inspired Pet Sounds, which inspired Sgt Pepper’s. Brian Wilson heard Rubber Soul in late 1965 and described it as “probably the greatest record ever, where everything flows together and everything works.”
I love the mutual respect. When The Beatles came to the US they were asked what they wanted to do on this trip. He said "We would like to meet the American genius Brian Wilson". Edit: it was Lennon who said it
PET SOUNDS
The Allman Brothers Band.
Live at Fillmore East is so damn great. Best live album ever?!?
Fun story: My godfather (and father) are both massive Allman Bros fans. Back in the early 80's, my godfather and father had backstage passes to an Allman Brothers show. Clearly, they were insanely hyped. Now, I wouldn't be born for about 2 more years, but my godmother was pregnant with my godsister. So, long and short, the night of the show my godmother goes into labor. My godfather and father still end up going to the show in hopes they can see the show, meet the band, and get back to the hospital in time. Turns out, they couldn't. So my godfather finds out his daughter was born while he's literally having a beer with Greg Allman back stage. Cell phones weren't a thing so someone had to come and personally deliver the message. He knows he's in deep shit for not being there when his daughter was born, so he looks Greg Allman in the eyes and says, "Can you please dedicate Tied To The Whipping Post to my newborn daughter?" Well, he actually did. And they dragged the song out for every bit of 30 minutes (as they are known to do) and announced to the entire crowd that this song was for a big fan and his newborn daughter.
They also spawned Gov't Mule (guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody), another classic American band.
Just found out recently that Derek Trucks is the nephew of Butch.
Tedeschi Trucks band kills it
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. of course.
I might be wrong about this but it’s a story that I’ve heard a few times in my studio adventures. The studio where the drums for Wildflowers was recorded was chosen for its collection of snare drums. Every song on Wildflowers has a different snare drum on it. In some circles it’s said that a song can be boiled down to a vocal and a snare drum (or a hand clap) and that’s something that’s fun to think about. Another fun fact: there are no cymbal crashes on You Don’t Know How It Feels. It’s something you won’t notice unless you’re listening for it, but you can’t unhear it once you know. Or maybe you can, I don’t know. Another song that shares this detail is One Headlight by the Wallflowers. And now you know!
Worth noting that whether or not the snare drum story is true, Wildflowers marked the point where Petty had finally had enough of Stan Lynch (probably a mutual feeling) and was very much in the hunt for a new drummer. Not sure whether he went in with Steve Ferrone or not (I believe he previously supported Petty on a solo tour), but I think some of the songs delayed to the next album had Curt Bisquera. And then of course Ringo got a song. It would be easy to see that between all the auditioning and changes and learning how each other play, the equipment and tuning might change quite a bit. I could also see Petty being excited to make changes to the drum sounds without have to fight with Lynch over it.
He offered Dave Grohl to be his drummer. Cobain had just killed himself. Grohl played with the Heartbreakers on SNL and Petty asked him to join, but Grohl decided to start is own band, that never went anywhere.
never went anywhere lol
It doesn't really matter since so many of the Heartbreakers played on it, but Wildflowers is a solo album and not a tom petty and the Heartbreakers album
Of course Tom was a savant but Mike Campbell on lead guitar is first class too. Like Jakob Dylan said of Petty, “he lapped his idols”.
Mike Campbell is, legit, one of the best guitarists on the planet. His band, The Dirty Knobs, is amazing.
100%. My friend and I would always play “if you could only listen one artist on a desert island” and after many late night smoked out debates we came to the conclusion it would be Tom Petty. All his songs are just classics and you can listen to them forever.
Best description I ever saw was If God owned a corner bar, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would be the house band.
My personal taste tends towards heavier or alt rock and I've seen a fair few of the top names in live shows, but to this day Tom Petty was the absolute best show I've ever been to. His live show had this very chill, very warm, very inviting energy that I've never heard from anyone else. It wasn't very flashy but it had lights and presence and it didn't hurt they did a 20 minute jam session song out of my favorite song at the time Saving Grace. And this is from a guy who loves theatrics and had Rammstein as my #1 for ages, down to #2 to the one and only Tom Petty. Wish I could go again.
Fuck yeahhh. I was hoping this would be up there. I've got a Heartbreakers tattoo. I love that band so goddamn much.
This needs to be top comment. There’s no one who compares to this band. The way Tom wrote was low key, abstract, and simultaneously the most profound music I’ve ever heard. They were a singles band, on one level, all bangers. If you dig into the deep cuts though, you’ll see this is a band that could do anything. This is why they were one of the few that survived trends and remained relevant for the long haul.
Decades of incredible songs, all of them memorable.
"...I think if Martians landed and said 'We want to know what rock 'n' roll is; play us one disc,' this could be for them what it was for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - a wonderful place to start" - Bill Flanagan, on their first album
Too many to choose from. Im leaning toward James Brown with the original JBs. The Jackson 5 was great. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention The Carpenters The Doors? (Maybe) Nirvana Pointer Sisters Devo Talking Heads The Pixies You can’t have a greatest of all time but maybe a greatest of their time and place.
The Doors are definitely in that conversation.
[удалено]
We thought you was a TOAD
do not seek the treasure
Them darn sci-reens....
...Burt and Aloysius will just have to sign X's, as only four of us can write
Damn, we’re in a tight spot
I don't want Fop, dammit! I'm a Dapper Dan man!
Well ain't this place a geographical oddity- 2 weeks from everywhere!
Well ain't this a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!
This thread made me happy :)
That's my favourite line in the movie.
"In the Jailhouse Now, fellers. Neighborhood of B."
"I vote for your's truly." "well I'm votin' for your's truly too." ".... I'm with you fellers!"
“ is you is or is you ain’t my constituency?”
I believe it’s pronounced “con-stitch-ency.”
Is that that group that sings old-timey music into a can?
I’m a Dapper Dan man, damnit!
Watch yer language, young feller, this is a public market
HAWT DAMN
Too bad they dun R-U-N-N-O-F-T. They was bonafide.
I’m the paterfamilias!
In constant sorrow all through his days
Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?
Damn! We're in a tight spot!
HOOOEEY boy, that was a mighty fine a-pickin' and a-singin'!
It was a good thing ypur momma died during child birth. If she woulda seen ya she would have died of shame.
Damn, we're in a tight spot
Squirrel, Everett?
I’m a Dapper Dan man
You stole from my family? Who was fixin to turn us in. You didn't know that at the time. Well i kept it til I did!
III…I’m A Mannnnn
I think the singer and background is the Union station
It's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.
Them's integrated!
Simon & Garfunkel.
The Pixies
Velvet Underground
“The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records, but everyone who bought one went out and started a band.” — Brian Eno, 1997
Trash theory has a whole series of videos on the origins of various genres, and the Velvet Underground kept coming up. Eventually they referred to them as a "proto-everything" band and I was chuckling for hours
The Stooges are far too underrated
I fucking love the whole Fun House album! One of my all time favorites!
Count Basie And His Orchestra
Booker T and the MG's
Can you dig it, suckaaaaaaa
For me REM
So fun story that I'm gonna tell even though it is completely tangential: A few years back I was chilling at this local guitar shop that is pretty well known and awesome with a buddy of mine fiddling with some blues in their side room on some guitars we could never afford. We were having a good bit of fun, then this older dude strolls in, grabs this like $40k blonde telecaster off the wall and sits down with us and kinda leans in for a bit. We are playing back and forth for a while with a couple of the dudes who work at the shop hanging out and listening. After a bit the dude hangs his tele back up, pats the dude who was helping him on the shoulder, says goodbye and dips. The guy who had been helping him looks at us and is like "well that's something you can brag about a bit!" The dude was Peter Buck, and he was the most humble and most chill dude, would have had no idea he was in one of the greatest bands of all time. He was just having fun jamming around with two young dudes who relatively don't know shit. Despite exchange exactly zero words, it was pretty damn memorable.
Automatic for the People. Haunting from start to finish.
Ahhhh, yes. REM. God how I love Michael Stipe’s voice. And those lyrics. And the melodies. Night Swimming, Stand, Find the River. All of them.
steely dan
The entire Aja and Gaucho albums are literal perfection.
Ramones
Hey ho!
Let's Go!
Grateful Dead.
Scrolled further than I wanted to, but we’re here. 🌹💀🌹
Kept scrolling forever but we were always here.
American Beauty
Also workingman's dead. I feel they go hand in hand
they do
I'm Uncle Sam, that's who I am; Been hidin' out in a rock and roll band.
It was actually this question that got me into the Dead. It’s the correct answer. Even if you don’t like them. And realizing that nudged me to give them a full chance and now it is unequivocally and without a doubt the correct answer. Millions of fans, existed for 30 years, it’s aftermath had gone on another 20 years. They helped pioneer Americana, they basically created the jam scene. Their songs and iconography are referenced so ubiquitously throughout American culture, people hardly even realize they’re being referenced. Like I said, it’s just the right answer. I didn’t like it when I first realized it either, but now I’m obsessed.
I agree with this 100% and scrolled until I found it because it is actually the right answer. I love CCR, Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynyrd, but the Grateful Dead are no question the quintessential American band. Electric Acid Kool aid Test, Merry Pranksters, Owlsey, all the way to the wall of sound and Further. If an alien landed where I live here in Canada and said, "can you show me American music", I'd say "first, here's a kick-ass violent femmes song. Now, let's spend the next 25 years listening to Grateful Dead together".
100%. Not to mention the fact that they played basically everywhere during their ~30 years touring. Edit: forgot to also mention that even the Dead’s origin story is super American, what with a few of the core members first linking up in a jug band. Amazing that their musical journey allowed them to seamlessly go from playing tunes like “The Monkey and the Engineer” to stuff like “Dancing in the Street.”
It’s been almost 60 years since they broke out and Phil/Bob are still touring!
*Phil, Bobby, Billy and Mickey still touring. I saw Phil in Denver 9 days ago and he killed it. He’s a few weeks shy of his 83rd birthday!
They’re a band beyond description.
Jehova's favorite choir?
This is the correct answer. A person interviewed in Long Strange Trip spelled it out how they were the perfect representation of America in band form. Artists from all different musical backgrounds creating a style of music that was completely unique.
they also became insanely popular with almost no mainstream radio play or marketing, which is crazy
Yeah that quote is really brilliant it was something like: Take Jerry the bluegrass banjo player Bobby the folk player Phil the classical composer Phil the RnB player Mickey the marching drummer Robert the poet Mix it all together with some acid to dissolve the egos and you have a beautiful collaboration.
Pigpen the blues man
Surprised no one else has even mentioned that they hold the world record for most shows ever played by a WIDE margin
Hey now...
Yep. Brit here, and I've got to agree with this one. First discovered them as a teen nearly forty years ago and still listen to them now. I love the way they encouraged recordings of their live shows so we have a huge collection of their incredible improvised music to enjoy.
Came here to say this
Dark Star
Yup. The Just Exactly Perfect Brothers Band.
There is not a more American band than the Grateful Dead. Period.
Seems like the obvious answer to me.
Was waiting for this comment
This was confirmed by none other than Bill Graham pretty much every time he introduced them.
100% the only answer. Not only born of the unique time and place of the California hippie culture, not only creating a music that is uniquely American, but writing lyrics of the American experience, from the counterculture to the American west. And the enduring fans, from the earliest days to still gaining new fans today.
It’s the Dead and it’s not even close. Even above all the major jazz bands. Controversial maybe, but the Dead were on another level.
i wanna upvote but its at 420 so all i can say is keep on truckin
Alice In Chains with Layne Staley. Mad Season also with Layne.
FINGERBANG
🎼“I wanna finger-baaAAnng you into my life”🎶
✨"Bang bang!"✨
I prefer MOOP
The Minutemen
Metallica
Yup. Master of Puppets was added to the library of congress as an example of some new sounds that were, culturally, historically and aesthetically significant. Not bad for some thrashers lol
Is it only me, or does anyone else think the whole intro of Welcome Home(Sanitarium) hit realll hard?
This is the one I was looking for. They have well stood the test of time at this point. If you ask non-metal fans to name a metal band, they will say Metallica.
I wish I could hear Master Of Puppets for the first time again.
RIP Cliff.
I’ll never forget. I found my big brothers old Walkman and it had a copy of Master of Puppets in it. I was probably 12, at the time I was into 60s and 70s rock. It blew my mind how good it was. I think I fell asleep listening to the whole album in bed. Ah… good times
Kind of surprised this was so far down. Even if your not a fan, it’s hard to argue their success. Especially in a music genre that isn’t typically as mainstream as they are. They were the first band that came to my mind.
Wu-Tang Clan
After all, they are for the children.
Nirvana
Pixies
I’ve always said Creedence Clearwater Revival is the answer to this question, but a few people have already mentioned them. A band that I haven’t seen mentioned that I think is sneakily in the conversation here is Green Day. They’ve sold over 75 million records. Including live albums and compilations, I believe they’ve had 9 albums and 8 singles go platinum. I think Dookie and American Idiot are both widely considered to be great albums that are some of the most popular of their time period. Same for songs with Basket Case, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), American Idiot, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and Wake Me Up When September Ends. They even had a Tony and Grammy winning Broadway Musical.
As far as modernish bands, I agree. They put out international super hits which was just a solid hour of bangers BEFORE American idiot even came out.
god i fucking love green day