Some irrefutable truths about rock and roll


1) Robert Johnson invented rock and roll, and is the rightful King of it. Elvis Presley's title should be amended to "Poster Boy of Early Rock and Roll."

2) Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is infinitely better than the Rufus Wainwright version and is the definitive version of the song.

3) The Rolling Stones were and are the most overrated band in the history of rock and roll.

4) If it's too loud you are, indeed, too old.

5) The Stone Roses' self-titled debut is the best debut album ever in the history of ever.

6) John Mayer needs to stop that right now.

7) A good song is a good song, whether it's played on an Audiovox tape deck and a single factory speaker in a 1976 Buick Skylark or a complete Linn Klimax system.

8) A couple of Les Pauls, a Fender Precision bass, and a decent set of drums sound every bit as good as the most disciplined orchestra.

9) There is absolutely nothing wrong with having the occasional urge to crank "Hungry Like the Wolf" from time to time, so long as it doesn't become a habit.

Did I forget anything?

*yes, I realize everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
theraiguy
The Beatles are a remarkable influence in culture. They transcended genres with a positive progession of music both artisticaly and technologicaly with out sacrafising the roots, they extracted and expanded different cultures with out sacrafising the origins, they matured with their audience, both directing and reflecting an era, they challanged the standard business practices of using art for money to using money for art, and perhaps more importantly in our ever increasing pace of change, have stayed relevant.
irrefutable truth - Little Richard was an early r&r innovator and widely acknowledged as a major influence to a lot of other influential artists.
Eee3, that statement is beyond opinion and you already know that! If not the Beatle than who? One thing is certain, there are bands that have been together and recording for over 25 years and have not come close to the Beatles in global record sales and they stopped recording in 1970. There must be a reason for that! As I said you don't have to like them, but their legacy casts the largest shadow of any performer(s) in the music industry and probably all of show business.
Unsound...you are surely correct that the cultural impact of The Beatles was enormous in many, many ways.

OTOH, consider Chuck Berry's cultural contribution for a second. For the first time, Berry (along with a few contemporaries) brought black pop culture to white audiences on a mass basis. True, this music needed a white salesman (see Elvis per the OP), but Berry and Little Richard and a handful of peers were the primary force in this major transformation of pop culture. It's easy to forget that jump jazz was considered "jungle music" - and rock n roll was considered literally dangerous. Black cultural impact on mainstream culture was resisted at every turn.

Looking around today, I think that I'd personally argue that the original '50s rockers had the greater influence on contemporary American culture, but I'd agree it's hard to conclusively settle this question.