Most influential people in Rock
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The best guitarists thread got me thinking about this and thought it might make for good discussion.
Mine isn't in any real order, nor complete....just some thoughts
Elvis...The King.....not much needs to be said just as much doesn't need to be said about the Beatles
Beatles....see above
Chuck Berry...first black who was pretty mainstream with whites.
Rick Nelson....maybe not the first teen heartthrob, but nelson made RR clean in the eyes of parents and the first who was in your home every week due to his parents TV show...Ozzie and Harriet. Rick showed parents you didn't have to be somewhat seedy(in parents eyes) to play RR.
Bob Dylan....took the roots of folk and brought it to Rock
Johnny Cash...kind of branched to country as Elvis went rock.....but both infused some gospel and country in to rock
Beach Boys....Les Paul was the first to overdub....but the Boys took recording to new levels...much of what you hear today goes back to the recording techniques pioneered by the Beach Boys
Lou Reed....the king of the underground and the first branch in to Punk
Rolling Stones...the anti Beatles...sort of the rough edge of rock
Led Zeppelin...the metal sound began here
The Who....stagemanship
Greatful Dead...I suppose the first cult band....embraced the psychedelic sound.....though I might put Pink Floyd in this spot.
Barry Gordy.....Motown sound
Sam Cooke...the first soul singer in the rock era.
Chicago...horns in a rock band playing more than the rhythm or occasional solo
So....you take it from here...
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I can't argue with what 'Peen came up with, but I can add some more.
Black Sabbath - Blue Cheer had elements of metal as did Zeppelin, but Sabbath was the first TRUE Metal band. Impossible to know how many bands they inspired.
Alice Cooper - You ALL knew I'd go there. The FIRST artist to turn the show into a spectacle on a grand scale. The B$B tour in '73 was the first of it's kind. A full blown Road Carnival which pre-dated Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour which often gets the credit for being the first. Alice was also the first artist to make your parents HATE him. Toyed with gender roles and played with dead babies all the while horrifying Mom and Dad. AND the music was garage band extraordinaire. The Alice Cooper Group has NEVER been equaled for their decadent uncontrolled sound and image.
David Bowie - Rock's first chameleon. No artist has shape-shifted so often and so successfully as Bowie. From a balladeer to Ziggy Stardust to the Philly Soul crooner to the Thin White Duke, etc. etc. Bowie was a pioneer. Bonus credit should go to the late great Mick Ronson who played that incendiary guitar and arranged all those classic Spiders from Mars albums.
The Kinks - Of the Big Four (Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks) they are always unfairly forgotten. They were VERY British which played a part in their never breaking huge in America. Singing about tea and the Sunsets at Waterloo apparently doesn't translate to huge success in the states. If you listen to their late 60's output though, you'll get a good idea of where 80% of the British acts that followed got their sound as well as a good many American acts.
Dick Dale - The king of the surf guitar. The beginning of the surf sound started here. His heavy picking and heavy guage strings inspired a legion of guitar players who are still trying to figure out how he did what he did.
There's 5. I've got more, but I don't wanna hog them all.
Doug
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Les Paul: 90% of the equipment used in the recording studio was invented by him...And not too mention he invented one of the greatest guitars of all time. The Les Paul....It was the first commercial electronic guitar ever concieved.
Elvis: Like Peen said...nothing to add here...body of work speaks for itself.
The Beatles: Need I really say anything?
Jimi Hendrix: He redefined the ways you could play the guitar but not only just guitar but music in general....Listen to Jimis Band of Gypsys album...It in My mind was the first live album by a group not only that but he really showed how far ahead of his time he truly was and the grooves laid down by Buddy Miles and Billy Cox was downright phoenominal!
Eddie Kramer: Was jimi Hendrix's personal Studio Engineer at Electric Ladyland Recording studio in New York City...He redefined how Music in the recording industry was done and is done...listen to Hendrixs Electric Ladyland album...the sounds and recording technics were awesome and became the benchmark for recording throughout the years leading up to now...before that cd engineers were tryinbg to just capture sound...Jimi and eddie came along and enriched it.
I could add more but will let others chime in...
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David Bowie - Rock's first chameleon.
Good point...I thought of Bowie earlier as I was considering the "punk" angle, but figured Reed was the lead there....but you are right....Bowie did bend and shift over a 20 year span.
Nice observation.....
As a person who has lived in the south most of my life. I guess I need to add the southern branch of RR.
It funny....Creedence(Cal) and The Band(Canada) had a sound that sort of evolved and picked up by the Allmon Brothers and turned in to a southern flavor.
So, I suppose Southern rock is headed by the brothers...though the Marshall Tucker and and the CDB weren't far behind.....if behind.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. -
Jimi Hendrix: He redefined the ways you could play the guitar but not only just guitar but music in general..
No doubt....Jimmi pushed the envelope and took things to new levels.
Maybe this should go in the guitar thread, but I was reading about Hendrix and he was asked who he admired as a player, and he mentioned Terry Kath...of Chicago.
You listen to some of that old Chicago before the charts took control of them and they became a ballad band and Kath really laid down some licks.
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David Bowie - Rock's first chameleon.
Good point...I thought of Bowie earlier as I was considering the "punk" angle, but figured Reed was the lead there....but you are right....Bowie did bend and shift over a 20 year span.
Nice observation.....
As a person who has lived in the south most of my life. I guess I need to add the southern branch of RR.
It funny....Creedence(Cal) and The Band(Canada) had a sound that sort of evolved and picked up by the Allmon Brothers and turned in to a southern flavor.
So, I suppose Southern rock is headed by the brothers...though the Marshall Tucker and and the CDB weren't far behind.....if behind.
Good point...I thought of Bowie earlier as I was considering the "punk" angle, but figured Reed was the lead there....but you are right....Bowie did bend and shift over a 20 year span.
Nice observation.....
As a person who has lived in the south most of my life. I guess I need to add the southern branch of RR.
It funny....Creedence(Cal) and The Band(Canada) had a sound that sort of evolved and picked up by the Allmon Brothers and turned in to a southern flavor.
So, I suppose Southern rock is headed by the brothers...though the Marshall Tucker and and the CDB weren't far behind.....if behind.
I loves me some Southern Rock. I won't argue that CCR and The Band both have that sound, but isn't it funny that they both emerged from California and Canada? CCR in particular sounds like they grew up in the Bayou, but oddly enough came out of the Flower Power era San Francisco.
The Allman Brothers were awesome. In general I'm not into Jam bands but when it was the Allmans, I really didn't mind. The first southern band on most peoples mind would be Skynyrd and although I like them I never became a huge fan. My favorite Southern Rock band? Blackfoot! Strikes, Tomcattin' and Marauder will peel the paint off your garage. To me those are THE holy trinity of Southern Rock.
As for Modern Southern Rock, if you haven't yet heard them....check out the Drive-By Truckers. Start with Southern Rock Opera or The Dirty South. Both are classics that sound like the could have easily come out in 1975.
Doug
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I have seen the Truckers...they played our Riverbend Festival.....last year I think...on one of the side stages....nice band with a good sound.
I always liked Blackfoot....lots of good bands came out of north Fla....north and central Florida is more like south Alabama then the Fla. most people know.
Another modern group that is making some noise are the North Mississippi All Stars...have seen then a few times.....good band.
I know what you mean about Skynard...I always liked them but I think some were better.
One under rated band out of the south I always liked....though it was more that late 70's sound with some shag influence was Atlanta Rhythm Section...they could kick it in gear with the best southern rockers.....be it a slightly different sound....more the precursors to Hootie and the Blowfish...has that shag "thang" going......which is ok with me.
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