Vinyl Me Please Essentials

Ericj32 said:
It is wild to me how little recognition the Beach Boys and Creedence Clearwater Revival are getting in this discussion of greatest american classic rock bands.

Aerosmith arguably wins the endurance award for putting out new music in 4 different decades that was at least commercially successful (and also has the best ride at any disney park).

Maybe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, too, though having their first album in 1976 is stretching the definition of “classic,” at least for my taste. Even Aerosmith had FOUR studio albums by then.

The Byrds are every bit as influential as the Velvet Underground or the Ramones, they just weren’t from New York.
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The Beach Boys are my all time favorite band. I just think I have a narrow view on how I define “Classic Rock”. Maybe some of their 1970s albums would qualify and while I love Sunflower, Surf’s Up and Holland I don’t think many would agree. I just have a hard time putting Pet Sounds in the same category as Cream’s Wheels Of Fire or Led Zeppelin’s IV.
 
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
The Beach Boys are my all time favorite band. I just think I have a narrow view on how I define “Classic Rock”. Maybe some of their 1970s albums would qualify and while I love Sunflower, Surf’s Up and Holland I don’t think many would agree. I just have a hard time putting Pet Sounds in the same category as Cream’s Wheels Of Fire or Led Zeppelin’s IV.
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Is there any more "classic rock" song though than "I Get Around"?

Exhibit A [from Wikipedia]:
"The backing track for "I Get Around" was recorded on April 2, 1964, at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, along with "Little Honda". According to biographer Steven Gaines, manager Murry Wilson was in the control room "criticizing the song and Brian's production techniques ... rambl[ing] on about what a loser Brian was, how poor the music was, and how only Murry had the real talent in the family. At one point he insisted that Brian end the [recording] session because something was wrong with the bassline." The disagreement eventually resulted in Brian firing his dad as the band's manager. Brian would later say, "We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a [rock] group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up."

Exhibit B [also from Wikipedia]:
The song was originally credited to Brian Wilson alone until Love v. Wilson, a 1994 lawsuit by Mike Love which amended the song's copyright to include him as a co-writer. In an interview with Goldmine, published September 18, 1992, Love insisted that he and not Wilson "came up with 'round round get around'".

Exhibit C [from the authoritative songfacts.com]:
"['I Get Around'] was effusively pushed by Mick Jagger on British TV's Juke Box Jury and he personally circulated copies of it to the UK's independent pirate radio stations offshore."

Exhibit D [also from songfacts.com]:
"Fuzzed and reverbed guitar were demonstrated on this way before anyone else in rock, but too subtly for the general public to notice. It was about three years later that fuzz and reverb became a huge deal from the amplifiers of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards."

Exhibit E [also from songfacts.com]:
"Alice Cooper says that this is his favorite song. The horror rocker is a big fan of '60s pop music, especially The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He was 14 when he first heard "I Get Around," and even though he didn't surf, he did want to drive around with his friends."

Exhibit F [info from wikipedia article for "Two Sides of the Moon" ]
Keith Moon, the drummer for the Who, had a fantasy of wanting to be a Beach Boy. He recorded a solo album and got Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, Dick Dale, and members of the Turtles to play on the album. The lead single from the album was a cover of "Don't Worry Baby" - his favorite song of all time. "Don't Worry Baby" was released AS THE B-SIDE to "I Get Around."

Exhibit G:
The song itself rocks. And is a classic.
 
keylime_5 said:
....but to my original point that The Doors are arguably the greatest American rock n roll band.......you don’t see tshirts with Tom Petty’s or David Byrne’s face in Walmart everywhere like you do Jim Morrison, just saying. They are iconic and his face and their music is everywhere.
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Ericj32 said:
I think that has more to do with the mystique of him dying so young and never getting old and rich though.
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I was about to say @Ericj32 ‘s point. The dying young has definitely added to the legend. I’d argue that The Doors isn’t even the best classic rock album released in 1967 on Electra. Forever Changes is superior to my ears and Arthur Lee was a trailblazer as a black artist in rock music but it has never got the credit in his home country.
 
Has the argument changed from Greatest American Band to Greatest American Classic Rock Band. Are Steely Dan classic rock? Probably. I like The Doors fine just I prefer so many other bands. Two great albums in 1967 then a real fall off (in my opinion) until L.A. Woman. Arguably (and only sticking to bands that could be argued as classic rock) I prefer Aerosmith, Alice Cooper (the band), The Beach Boys (if you think they have one good album you haven’t listened to them - Today, Friends, Sunflowet, Surf’s Up, Holland, Love You and more. Their patchy albums are far more listenable than The Soft Parade), Blue Oyster Cult, The Byrds, Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Guns N’ Roses, Love, Moby Grape, New York Dolls, R.E.M., Steely Dan, The Stooges, Talking Heads, Television and The Velvet Underground.
I’m leaving out things like the Jimi Hendrix Experience which isn’t mainly made of American members, bands like Sonic Youth or Soundgarden who after nearly 30 years are arguably classic rock but without the capital letters or Huey Lewis & The News which might get on classic rock radio but is primarily pop based. Yes, I prefer Huey Lewis & The News to them too. I’ve heard all The Doors albums multiple times and even have four of them on record but I just feel there are so many other bands I would reach for first. I suppose the problem stems from being in my 20s and going around Amsterdam only to see Morrison’s face plastered up in every coffee shop, and the same thing when I visited Paris. I went to Morrison’s grave actually while there and had a knee jerk reaction after to go see a tribute to an artist I preferred so ended up going to Lithuania to see their statue of Frank Zappa (a man who had never visited Lithuania but they reckoned he would have liked it if he had went).
 
keylime_5 said:
Doesn’t change the fact
They are one of the most played bands on classic rock and oldies stations as well. And their influence is huge. Jim changed the game for bands to have charismatic front man lead singers.
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
The Beach Boys are my all time favorite band. I just think I have a narrow view on how I define “Classic Rock”. Maybe some of their 1970s albums would qualify and while I love Sunflower, Surf’s Up and Holland I don’t think many would agree. I just have a hard time putting Pet Sounds in the same category as Cream’s Wheels Of Fire or Led Zeppelin’s IV.
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Ericj32 said:
Is there any more "classic rock" song though than "I Get Around"?.
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I have never heard a Beach Boys song on classic rock radio. Oldies is a different story.

Hot take (?): L.A. Woman is the only great Doors album.
 
doncornelius said:
Here is an unpopular opinion I have: the Greatest American Classic Rock Band is Def Leppard.

And I am fully aware that the band is from Sheffield, England.
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I disagree with what I am about to say....but I'm surprised no arguments have been made for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
 
keylime_5 said:
Not like that with his on stage antics. He basically took what Mick started and upped the stakes
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🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻

So he was the first, but expanded on what someone else had already done. And as if Mick was even the first charismatic front man
 
keylime_5 said:
those guys were solo acts not front men in rock groups.
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If we’re talking about status as iconic front men it’s all stage presence and we’re talking live primarily. The way they hold an audience and lead a band. I don’t ever remember either being one men bands?

Without them and maybe Chuck Berry too there is no Mick Jagger stage style. Follow that through logically.
 
Joe Mac said:
If we’re talking about status as iconic front men it’s all stage presence and we’re talking live primarily. The way they hold an audience and lead a band. I don’t ever remember either being one men bands?

Without them and maybe Chuck Berry too there is no Mick Jagger stage style. Follow that through logically.
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I’m talking about the role of a lead singer on a group not billed as one person, there is certainly a difference in the roles and nature between the two.
 
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