Greatest American Rock and Role Bands of ALL Time

I'm pretty sure Left Banke is UK. But how can we forget ZZ Topp's first three albums or the bands ZZ came from; The Moving Sidewalks and American Blues. Also Amboy Dukes, The Third Rail, Shadows of Knight, did you mention The Seeds? Mountain? Electric Flag? James Gang, Canned Heat? Buddy Holly, Iron Butterfly, Grand Funk, MC5, Patti Smith Group, The Barbarians? And who could forget The Nightcrawlers, and Mouse and the Traps? I think since Jimi's first band, Jimi James and the Blue Flames was US, Jimi Hendrix is as American as apple pie. "And" also puts Johnny Winter in the list. Tom trich727

Hey Paul, Buddy Holly certainly belongs on the list, but I'm afraid Los Lobos will fall by the way side as does my electee, Johnny Winter who cut his first record 42 years ago, and has a new one due out soon. If we are looking hard, Iron Butterfly was the first US band to go platinum, and CCR out sold the Beatles in the USA when together. So if we go by the criteria of who influenced R'n'R the most from the USA, that honor HAS to go to James Marshall Hendrix from Seattle. Followed closely by Elvis, Buddy Holly, Muddy Waters, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Velvet Underground, Little Richard, Robert Johnson, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan. I will argue until the cows come home or get hit by a Greyhound that these people/bands had the biggest influence on American music than any others. An interesting fact is that the Velvet Undergrounds' average sale on a new release was 3,000 copies. If you go by fewest copies sold versus affect, they are only beat by Robert Johnson. In that respect, Robert Johnson would be the clear winner of influence VS sales, and you can cash that in a UK bank. Tom trich727

Ben, what you said "after" your Doors election was right on, but you can't think the Doors had a bigger influence on American rock music than the others you mention?? To quote Lester Bangs, "Morrison was a drunken bafoon". Don't take that as though I don't like the Doors!! But Jesus, don't give them that much credit! I honestly can't think of a big name American band that has had as little affect on rock as the Doors. I have NEVER heard ANY musician give credit to the Doors as an influence other than Patti Smith. I would hate to think what could have happened at the Paramount if the Doors had been the first white act to play there. Are you from L.A.?

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...

Here is the updated list, now 146 entries. Allmond Brothers still #1

By the way Wstrit, doesn't Blue Oyster Cult deserve a nod?

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1 Allman Bros 10
2 Creedence Clearwater Revival 8
3 Velvet Underground 6
4 Eagles 6
5 Ramones 5
6 Jimi Hendrix Experience 5
7 Doors 5
8 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young 5
9 Byrds 5
10 Beach Boys 5
11 Santana 4
12 Talking Heads 3
13 Lynryd Skynyrd 3
14 Grateful Dead 3
15 Frank Zappa & The Mothers 3
16 Bob Dylan and "The Band" 3
17 Alice Cooper 3
18 Wilco 2
19 Temptations 2
20 Sonic Youth 2
21 Replacements 2
22 REM 2
23 NRBQ 2
24 Neil Young & Crazy Horse 2
25 Los Lobos 2
26 James Brown & His Famous Flames 2
27 Jackson 5 2
28 Grand Funk 2
29 Chuck Berry 2
30 Buffalo Springfield 2
31 Buddy Holly Trio 2
32 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2
33 Booker T. & The M.G.'s 2
34 Blood, Sweat and Tears (original band with Al Kooper) 2
35 B-52s 2
36 13th Floor Elevators 2
37 ZZ Top 1
38 Yo La Tengo 1
39 Ventures 1
40 Van Halen 1
41 Turtles 1
42 Trouble Funk (I'm from DC - wanna argue?) 1
43 Troggs 1
44 Treniers 1
45 Traveling Wilburys 1
46 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 1
47 The Band (well, North American - they're mostly Canadian) 1
48 Ted Nugent 1
49 Supertramp 1
50 Stooges 1
51 Stevie Ray 1
52 Steve Miller Band 1
53 Steely Dan 1
54 Standells 1
55 S-R Vaughan band 1
56 Sonics 1
57 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles 1
58 Smokey Robinson 1
59 Sly & The Family Stone 1
60 Simon & Garfunkel 1
61 Shaggs (all hail) 1
62 Seeds 1
63 Runaways 1
64 Rock & Roll Trio 1
65 Remains 1
66 Redd Kross 1
67 Raspberries 1
68 Rascals 1
69 Public Enemy 1
70 Prince 1
71 Paul Revere & The Raiders 1
72 Paul Butterfield Blues Band, w/Mike Bloomfield 1
73 Parliament/Funkadelic 1
74 nirvana 1
75 New York Dolls 1
76 Neville Brothers 1
77 Nazz 1
78 Mysterians 1
79 Muddy Water's late 50s band with Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers 1
80 Monkees (stop that)--are they american? 1
81 Modern Lovers 1
82 Mission of Burma 1
83 Meters 1
84 MC5 1
85 Martini Ranch 1
86 Marshall Tucker Band 1
87 Mamas & The Papas 1
88 Lyres 1
89 Lovin' Spoonful 1
90 Love 1
91 Louis Jordan & The Tympani Five 1
92 Little Richard & The Upsetters 1
93 Little Feat 1
94 Link Wray & His Ray-Men 1
95 Left Banke 1
96 Kiss 1
97 Journey 1
98 Johnny Winters 1
99 Janice Joplin 1
100 Jackson Five 1
101 J Airplane, J Starship 1
102 Impressions 1
103 iggy and the stooges 1
104 Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns 1
105 Hank Ballard & The Midnighters 1
106 Guided By Voices 1
107 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five 1
108 Go-Go's 1
109 Ginger Baker's Airforce 1
110 George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers 1
111 Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps 1
112 Garfunkel 1
113 Frankie Goes to Hollywood 1
114 Fleshtones 1
115 Flaming Lips 1
116 Flamin' Groovies 1
117 Five Royales 1
118 Everly Brothers (hey, it only takes two mininmum to make a band) 1
119 Elvis & His Trio (yeah, they were a band) 1
120 Dwight Twilley Band 1
121 Drifters 1
122 Dire Straits 1
123 Dictators 1
124 Dick Dale & The Del-Tones 1
125 Devo 1
126 Dead Boys 1
127 Davie Allan & The Arrows 1
128 Crickets 1
129 Cramps 1
130 Coasters 1
131 Chocolate Watch Band 1
132 Chicago 1
133 Cheap Trick 1
134 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 1
135 Camper Van Beethoven 1
136 Boston 1
137 Bodeans 1
138 Bobby Fuller Four 1
139 Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band 1
140 Blasters 1
141 Bill Haley & The Comets 1
142 Big Star 1
143 Beau Brummels 1
144 Bad Company 1
145 Bad Brains 1
146 Amerosmith 1