Top 10 best American bands/artists in the last 50 years?

I am surprised to see no one has said Nine Inch Nails.

 

THE SUPERSUCKERS.:bang:

 

I can't believe I left out (the king) Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Didley, Dick Dale & Bob Dylan. These are the grandfathers of Rock and Roll.

 

I love livin in the city! :beer:

 

Record Straightening... plus more!

Ok, jeez you guys...

King Crimson are still around (they are British, not were...). Different band and feel these days, but Bob is still back there in the dark making weird sounds, as always.

Fleetwood Mac, though named after rhythm sectioners Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, was started up by soon-to-be-loony-tunes guitarust Peter Green in the late '60s. They all played with John Mayall* before forming FM.

* - I met John Mayall three or four years ago when his young teenage son(!) was playing baseball in Willie's league in Woodland Hills. Pretty trippy to see this young blond kid with "MAYALL" across his back. He was quite surprised I knew who he was -- no one else even took notice of him. He just loooked like an old hippie dad at the time. I told him Room To Move was one of my fave songs from that era. He smiled fondly at the notion.

In the late '70s/early '80s I had a sound biz I was trying to get off the ground using my band's PA. I ran sound for FEAR for a gig at a roller rink in Fullerton, renamed Mr. Bufu's for the night (*ahem*). Lee played the entire gig wincing and screaming like a banshee, even between songs. And he was in noooo mood. Angry as fvck the whole gig. At the end of the set he pulled off his shirt and he had this huge, freakin' nasty road rash across his shoulder and down his back. Crap, that thing looked like it hurt and hurt baaaad. It was all gooey and sh*t. Eeeeuw. Still, they played a GREAT gig -- Getting The Brush never sounded so good (and totally weird)! And I made 'em sound good, dammit!! Woot!

I interviewed The Ramones on Radio Warwick when I went to college in Coventry, England in 1978. They'd come over to join a bunch of Stiff bands on tour or something like that (an aside: One of my fave ever Stiff t-shirts had an outline map of the U.S. on it, with Florida bent around pointing up in the air, with the words "AMERICA GETS STIFF!" emblazoned across it - har har!). The boys in the band did not like me and were a bunch of arseholes to me on the air as a result -- they wouldn't say a farking word when I asked questions. Made for a baaaad radio show. Oh, well. I probably sucked at it, and they weren't into suffering fools gladly, I guess. Gabba Gabba Hey! *poof*

art23rockpile: Dude! Props for the Harry Partch reference!!! I actually got to see the Harry Partch Ensemble of SDSU perform on all his instruments (including the famed Diamond Marimba!) in 1981 out at the performing arts center at SDSU. It was pretty wild. "Jarring" would be a good word for it.

Here's some bands and players you may never hadve heard of, or simply overlooked as you spelled out L-E-D Z-E-P-P-E-L-I-N. #-o

My American street cred '60s picks:

MC5

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Blue Cheer

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I started playing guitar in the early '70s and got heavily into fusion and prog rock.

My American fusion/progressive '70s guitar picks:

Pat Metheny

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Al DiMeola

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​

Later on I veered away from punk and got into funk in a big way, as did the bands I played in.

My American funky '80s picks:

Prince

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(Sick picture, I know... don't hate on me!)

The Time

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(mostly cuz of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis)

The '90s saw me mellow out a bit, but I was still playing in rock bands. Whatever. And while I continued to buy every halo release Trent Reznor ever put out, I also got in touch with my instrumental side, specifically the guitarry part.

My American guitar player '90s picks:

Michael Hedges

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David Torn

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The new millennium brought MP3s, free downloads, Napster, yada yada yada. I just listen to SOMA FM and Pandora now.

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That's it for now. Check 'em all out.

- shud

P.S. to simonmtb -- My next door neighbor is Jim Morrison's niece!! That's pretty trippy. She's a real nice gal.

 

New Yorks all right if you like saxaphones

 

Or a homo- sexual

 

If you like drunks in your doorway
:?:

[youtube]1gblGY2AgV0[/youtube]

 

And I thought I was the only one!!! :bang:

 

That SUPERSUCKERS vid is great!

Note the orange amp behind the git player on the left? It's an Orange. At first I thought it might be vintage, but from looking it up it appears to be from their AD series which came out in 2000. Bad ass amps!



My guitar player in England had an Orange back in 1978. It was called a "Graphic" -- not because it had graphic EQ on it or anything... it was called a Graphic because of the 'graphics' on its face:



Gotta love the fist, huh? :bang:

- shud

 

Well, mostly from the 51st state, but nobodies mentioned The Band.

 

Let's go with categories:

Country: Johnny Cash
Blues: John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, BB King
Soul: James Brown (Forget the rest)
Jazz: John Coltrane and Miles Davis
R&B: Stevie Ray Vaughn
Classic Rock: Aerosmith, Steely Dan, The Cars, The Velvet Underground
Garage Rock: The Ramones, The Stooges
New Wave (Whatever that means): Devo, Oingo Boingo, The Plimsouls
"Real Punk Rock" not Blink 182: X, Black Flag, Agent Orange, Social Distortion, The Adolescents, The Dead Kennedys, TSOL (All California, interesting)
Rap: Public Enemy, Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, NWA, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J

The Last 20 years or so:
American Music Club, The Red House Painters, The Drive-By Truckers, Uncle Tupelo, Steve Earle, Son Volt, Wilco, Theiverery Corporation, The Crystal Method, Beck, The Black Keys, Husker Du/Bob Mould,

The Greatest of All Time (at least for now): The Hold Steady

I'm sure I have left many out, and the category thing may not be the best way to list, but so many groups and artists span many decades.

 

I used a Marshall amp (obviously) since my name is Marshall. I always was fond of the Mesa-Boogie Triple Rectifiers. I REALLY wanted one of those back when I was playing! Here is a pic of me with my old Gibson V and my Marshall JCM 800 amp....ahh, the good ol' days!

 

Partch is my musical hero... just amazing. I would have given much to see one of his performances. I've got most of his 'Gate 5' releases, including one that was his personal listening copy and another one signed by him.
He was a musical genius.

If you wanna get mugged or murdered. :bang:

I have a hard time considering anything from OC as "real" punk. :lol: lol

Punk Rock: X, Fear, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, The Gears, Germs, Adolescents, DK, Flipper, 45 Grave, Butthole Surfers
Funk: Funkadelic, Parliament, ESG

 

The Adolescents Official Website - Orange County Punk Rock
Team Goon Skateboards - Skate Scene News - Punk Rock Shows.

 

Okay I can't believe it - since no one has included them..singles and group, spanning all decades (all but the 60's):

THE EAGLES!

Then throw in a bunch of grunge rock and stuff from the 80's

(American only....remember...)

 

True! They are a rare exception!

Definitely. Under a category of "heavy music" i'd list: NIN, White Zombie, KMFDM (or are they Canadian?), Skinny Puppy, and (some) Ministry

 

You would like Glenn Branca very much then.



Yeah, that's ALL guitars. And most of them are strung with bailing wire.

.seriously.

Both Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (both of Sonic Youth) got their start with Glenn. Serious SERIOUS noise, mang.

Those two were on his 1981 release, The Ascension, with cover art by famed artist Robert Longo. Get this! You will not be disappointed.



- shud

 

Yes, I have numerous LPs by Glenn Branca. I really love the early work (Chatham Square/etc. LPs) of Philip Glass. In a different vein, but are you familiar with the German musician Peter Frohmader (i'm a avid Krautrock collector, too)?

 

KMFDM is German.