Music: The Best American Artists are

[Elvis P]

The Best American Artists are ...

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[frisco]

I'd add (at least) Johnny Cash, Journey, The Doors and R.E.M. I could only vote for Presley and Springsteen in good conscience.

My Best-Carey

 

[Elvis P]

I'd add (at least) Johnny Cash, Journey, The Doors and R.E.M. I could only vote for Presley and Springsteen in good conscience.

My Best-Carey

@frisco I added all of them except Journey.

 

[bearcountry17]

It’s a lot of work and i appreciate the effort but this list is missing way too many quality artists.

Micheal Jackson, Eagles, Aerosmith, Beach Boys, Bob Seger, CCR, Pearl Jam, RHCP, Van Halen, Sinatra, Billy Joel, Sam Cooke, Grateful Dead, George Strait, Guns and Roses, Eminem, Talking Heads, James Brown, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Hank Williams, Simon and Garfunkel, Parliment Funkadelic, Earth Wind and Fire, Beastie Boys, Kiss, Tupac, Biggie.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Voted Stevie wonder, but I got Lenny Cravits probably most talented.

 

[Behn Wilson]

First two that come to my mind are Aerosmith and The Eagles and neither are on here. Will pass on this poll

 

[bearcountry17]

Voted Stevie wonder, but I got Lenny Cravits probably most talented.

You think Lenny Kravitz is more talented than Jimi Hendrix? That’s a take for sure. Wonder is well above both and I adore Hendrix. Kravitz isn’t even a top 100 IMO.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Black Flag
Slayer
Faith No More
ZZ Top
CCR
Alice In Chains
Frank Zappa

 

[Chips]

Mastodon (Remission through Crack The Skye; gems of prog metal and metal generally.)
OutKast (no bad albums, top tier)

Wu-Tang Clan (too influential)

That’s just from what I’ve been listening to recently I’m sure there’s more I forget. Never thought about how many of my favorites aren’t American though. I don’t really know or like much of the poll.


Fringe ideas:

Death Grips (a little more bias here, but I like they really do their own thing and just sound like… them)


Deftones (A little biased here. been around forever, constantly evolving sound and were one of those key 2000s bands saying you can take the core of metal and run in all sorts of weird directions with it. Modern rock influencers)

 

[TheAngryHank]

You think Lenny Kravitz is more talented than Jimi Hendrix? That’s a take for sure. Wonder is well above both and I adore Hendrix. Kravitz isn’t even a top 100 IMO.

Lenny plays every instrument on his albums,he is a massive tallent.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Frank Zappa

Thank you.

I'd probably vote Zappa and Nina Simone/Diamanda Galas for the women side, if we're only talking about artists related to music. But well, as everybody knows by now, I'd have to throw in Patton somehow, John Zorn too, and well, I guess a shitload of others would follow, from Marshall Allen to Trey Spruance...

 

[I am not exposed]

Blink182

 

[TheAngryHank]

Thank you.

I'd probably vote Zappa and Nina Simone/Diamanda Galas for the women side, if we're only talking about artists related to music. But well, as everybody knows by now, I'd have to throw in Patton somehow, John Zorn too, and well, I guess a shitload of others would follow, from Marshall Allen to Trey Spruance...

Was in a venue in Denver long ago and there was a woman act who opened a Cappella ,very much like Nina Simone .she was amazing and was carrying notes I sware I was looking at glasses on tables waiting for them to shatter, Never seen /herd anything like that before or since.

 

[Lshap]

The list samples multiple genres but does justice to none.

If you have Louis Armstrong (who I'd vote for) and Miles Davis, you need Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Sinatra, Billie Holiday, etc.

If you've got Elvis, Stevie and Prince, you have to include Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Chuck Berry, not even counting groups like The Temptations and The Supremes.

Regardless of whether you like their music or not, The Beach Boys, Springsteen and The Eagles are on every list of greatest American artists.

And how do we rank the people who actually crafted the music? Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Carole King, and other geniuses were part of New York's songwriting factory that produced some of the last century's greatest tunes.

That's the 'problem' with the US - it gave birth to so many musical pioneers who were behind so many musical pillars, we can't cram them into one poll.

 

[Mikeaveli]

Somewhat in order:

The Beach Boys
Wu-Tang Clan (including solo albums)
Sweet Trip
El-P / Company Flow
MF DOOM (counting him as being from New York)
The Velvet Underground
Parliament-Funkadelic
Sun Ra
Miles Davis
N.W.A. (including solo albums)

 

[kihei]

No John Coltrane?

My personal top eight:

Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Louis Armstrong
Billie Holiday
Woody Guthrie
Robert Johnson
Duke Ellington
Elvis Presley

HM: Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Little Richard and Chuck Berry

Any thing you like about modern rock/pop music was "borrowed" from them

Lenny plays every instrument on his albums,he is a massive tallent.

so he's a dollar store Prince

 

[Chips]

The list samples multiple genres but does justice to none.

If you have Louis Armstrong (who I'd vote for) and Miles Davis, you need Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Sinatra, Billie Holiday, etc.

If you've got Elvis, Stevie and Prince, you have to include Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Chuck Berry, not even counting groups like The Temptations and The Supremes.

Regardless of whether you like their music or not, The Beach Boys, Springsteen and The Eagles are on every list of greatest American artists.

And how do we rank the people who actually crafted the music? Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Carole King, and other geniuses were part of New York's songwriting factory that produced some of the last century's greatest tunes.

That's the 'problem' with the US - it gave birth to so many musical pioneers who were behind so many musical pillars, we can't cram them into one poll.

Poll should be best American [genre] artist because he’s only going to include stuff he likes lol. The entirety of rap is missing and that’s by far one America’s biggest cultural exports

 

[82Ninety42011]

I love Elvis Presley but find it strange he never wrote any of his songs.

 

[Terry Yake]

I love Elvis Presley but find it strange he never wrote any of his songs.

wasn't strange at all for the time. elvis was a performer and an entertainer, not a songwriter. same thing with sinatra and a lot more big names of the time. of course there were exceptions like buddy holly and bob dylan, but the concept of the singer-songwriter in rock really didn't become common until the beatles

 

[VMBM]

Delete.

 

[Terry Yake]

Actually, in addition to Holly, most of the '50s rock 'n' roll pioneers wrote/co-wrote much of their own stuff (Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Carl Perkins...). Jerry Lee Lewis didn't write a lot, but has at least some credits. So I think Elvis indeed was a bit of an exception among that bunch.

even elvis had a dozen or so songwriting credits as a result of whatever deal his publishing company would strike with the original artists. usually something like offering them a large sum of cash to surrender part of their royalties

 

[VMBM]

Delete.

 

[Lshap]

Poll should be best American [genre] artist because he’s only going to include stuff he likes lol. The entirety of rap is missing and that’s by far one America’s biggest cultural exports

You're right – add rap & hip-hop to America's immense contribution to music. I should've mentioned it, but my old brain doesn't compute anything newer than 1990.

 

[82Ninety42011]

wasn't strange at all for the time. elvis was a performer and an entertainer, not a songwriter. same thing with sinatra and a lot more big names of the time. of course there were exceptions like buddy holly and bob dylan, but the concept of the singer-songwriter in rock really didn't become common until the beatles

I did not realize this thanks for sharing.