Who is the greatest rock musician of all time?

[arnold layne]

Hendrix fucking sucks.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Chuck Berry pretty much invented rock music. 'Chuck v Elvis'. It is an old debate concerning who got there first but regardless, Berry was doing some very innovative things at Chess in the mid-50s while Presley was doing some very innovative things at Sun. Rock n' Roll was born. And the originals still stand-up today, 'Johnny Be Good', 'You Can't Catch Me', 'That's Allright', 'Blue Moon of Kentucy' - this is some of the finest music ever recorded. Even when Presley went to RCA you still got some good stuff, 'My Baby Left Me', 'King Creole'. Berry also had a mid 60s resurgence with 'Nadine', 'No Particular Place to Go' and others. It helped that bands such as the Beatles, Stones, Animals etc. - the British invasion - were all using Berry originals. So I am sticking with Chuck and Elvis.

The guitar grew-up with Hendrix. In 1966 you were still listening to lead guitar, effectively unchanged since the heyday of Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore. Yes, there had been some tweaks, the Kinks' powerchords, the Byrds 12 string sound, but nothing revolutionary. Then Are you Experienced (1967) was released and everything changed overnight!

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend? I think it's hardly accurate to say guitar playing in rock hadn't changed since Scotty Moore and Chuck Berry. And as brilliant as Jimi was, he jacked a lot from the aforementioned. People like Dick Dale and Link Wray deserve some notice for contribution too.

Well I did say..

Yes, there had been some tweaks, the Kinks' powerchords, the Byrds 12 string sound.

Thing is with Clapton and Beck they were essentially blues-smiths. Clapton, 'Beano cover' Clapton, was delivering the most authentic Chicago Blues possible to a British audience. It wasn't original. It wasn't meant to be original (although for white audiences, it was original). Same with early Beck. By 1966 Cream were together I believe and Clapton was already breaking away from the pure blues side and introducing jazz chord progressions and other stuff. So yes, there was some innovation here but with AYE the change was seismic. Well even when Hendrix hit swinging London in 1966. Witness Beck and Clapton in the audience watching Hendrix live for the first time. Clapton leaves after a few numbers and Jeff says, ''where are you going Eric'' to which Clapton replies, ''to practice''! Hendrix completely altered the possibilities of electric guitar.

It was new to rock audiences though is kinda what i was getting at. And the story you're relaying there, Clapton was onstage with Hendrix not in the audience. Fuckin' love that story

Are you sure? I have a blues documentary in which Beck states that Clapton was in the audience. This was the night when everyone was there, Beatles, Stones. Everyone was at this club to see the arrival of this new American guitarist.

How true any of this shit or indeed the clarity of the memories of the participants are i don't know, you kinda hear versions of same myth tons around and about and i've heard a couple of times the audience version but i heard that re-telling more, perhaps cuz it's more spectacular sounding but i think it's for real cuz...y'know, Clapton says it, so does Jack Bruce...even Ginger Baker and those guys were horrible bastards, at least Baker and Bruce were, in a very direct sense, if they could've made their end look good without being called out as liars they would've done it. Baker maintains to this day that he's a better drummer than Mitch Mitchell (i agree) and that Clapton is a better guitarist than Jimi (i strongly disagree). He's of the opinion that Jimi was a very very good guitarist that presented his thing with so much showmanship that it made him look like a super guitarist whereas Clapton was just brilliant in the more classical sense of what guitar playing "should" be.

Edited September 28, 2012 by sugaraylen

[sweetness]

Hendrix

Lennon

Reznor

Mangum

Cobain

[Kill Devil Hill]

1. Bill Haley

2. Elvis Presley

3. Chuck Berry

4. One of the Beatles

5. Little Richard

Poor Bill Haley. The guy practically invented rock music, and yet he's consistently snubbed.

[Guest Satanisk_Slakt]

Probably Chuck or Elvil. But I'd like to mention one of my favourites that never get mentioned in these things. Phil Lynott. Every single song Thin Lizzy did was good.

[bran]

Probably Chuck or Elvil. But I'd like to mention one of my favourites that never get mentioned in these things. Phil Lynott. Every single song Thin Lizzy did was good.

yeah phil is amazing thin lizzy is amazing its bullshit that they are not in the hall

[classicrawker]

You won't find a bigger Lizzy fan then me, saw them live during the Robbo era, and I think they are terribly underrated but I don't agree everyone of their songs were great. They had their share of album fillers.

[dalsh327]

Chuck Berry pretty much invented rock music. 'Chuck v Elvis'. It is an old debate concerning who got there first but regardless, Berry was doing some very innovative things at Chess in the mid-50s while Presley was doing some very innovative things at Sun. Rock n' Roll was born. And the originals still stand-up today, 'Johnny Be Good', 'You Can't Catch Me', 'That's Allright', 'Blue Moon of Kentucy' - this is some of the finest music ever recorded. Even when Presley went to RCA you still got some good stuff, 'My Baby Left Me', 'King Creole'. Berry also had a mid 60s resurgence with 'Nadine', 'No Particular Place to Go' and others. It helped that bands such as the Beatles, Stones, Animals etc. - the British invasion - were all using Berry originals. So I am sticking with Chuck and Elvis.

The guitar grew-up with Hendrix. In 1966 you were still listening to lead guitar, effectively unchanged since the heyday of Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore. Yes, there had been some tweaks, the Kinks' powerchords, the Byrds 12 string sound, but nothing revolutionary. Then Are you Experienced (1967) was released and everything changed overnight!

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend? I think it's hardly accurate to say guitar playing in rock hadn't changed since Scotty Moore and Chuck Berry. And as brilliant as Jimi was, he jacked a lot from the aforementioned. People like Dick Dale and Link Wray deserve some notice for contribution too.

What does "rock music" even mean? Someone playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero or one of those Paper Jamz things is a "rock star".

Edited September 28, 2012 by dalsh327

[axlslash]

Elvis, Dylan, Springsteen, Clapton, Lennon, Vaughan, Iommi all come to mind

[Apollo]

Chuck Berry pretty much invented rock music. 'Chuck v Elvis'. It is an old debate concerning who got there first but regardless, Berry was doing some very innovative things at Chess in the mid-50s while Presley was doing some very innovative things at Sun. Rock n' Roll was born. And the originals still stand-up today, 'Johnny Be Good', 'You Can't Catch Me', 'That's Allright', 'Blue Moon of Kentucy' - this is some of the finest music ever recorded. Even when Presley went to RCA you still got some good stuff, 'My Baby Left Me', 'King Creole'. Berry also had a mid 60s resurgence with 'Nadine', 'No Particular Place to Go' and others. It helped that bands such as the Beatles, Stones, Animals etc. - the British invasion - were all using Berry originals. So I am sticking with Chuck and Elvis.

The guitar grew-up with Hendrix. In 1966 you were still listening to lead guitar, effectively unchanged since the heyday of Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore. Yes, there had been some tweaks, the Kinks' powerchords, the Byrds 12 string sound, but nothing revolutionary. Then Are you Experienced (1967) was released and everything changed overnight!

Finally, somebody who speaks the truth!!!

Johnny B Good is the best rock song of all time.

[Silent Jay]

Bon Scott

Jimmy Page

John Lennon

[Zint]

dio

Absolutely.

What qualifies that for you guys?

[chicagocoma13]

My PERSONAL favorite rock musicians are anybody in Led Zep, Rush, and Pink Floyd----

[Zeppelin]

Chuck Berry.

[Randy Lahey]

I didn't really mean for this thread to become a thread about who your favorite rock musician is, or who you think is the most influential; it is supposed to be about who you think is the single greatest rock musician of all time.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Randy Lahey

[Guest Satanisk_Slakt]

You won't find a bigger Lizzy fan then me, saw them live during the Robbo era, and I think they are terribly underrated but I don't agree everyone of their songs were great. They had their share of album fillers.

I said good, not great. Lots of their songs were fantastic, but definitely not all of them. But I do think that all songs they did were good.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Chuck Berry pretty much invented rock music. 'Chuck v Elvis'. It is an old debate concerning who got there first but regardless, Berry was doing some very innovative things at Chess in the mid-50s while Presley was doing some very innovative things at Sun. Rock n' Roll was born. And the originals still stand-up today, 'Johnny Be Good', 'You Can't Catch Me', 'That's Allright', 'Blue Moon of Kentucy' - this is some of the finest music ever recorded. Even when Presley went to RCA you still got some good stuff, 'My Baby Left Me', 'King Creole'. Berry also had a mid 60s resurgence with 'Nadine', 'No Particular Place to Go' and others. It helped that bands such as the Beatles, Stones, Animals etc. - the British invasion - were all using Berry originals. So I am sticking with Chuck and Elvis.

The guitar grew-up with Hendrix. In 1966 you were still listening to lead guitar, effectively unchanged since the heyday of Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore. Yes, there had been some tweaks, the Kinks' powerchords, the Byrds 12 string sound, but nothing revolutionary. Then Are you Experienced (1967) was released and everything changed overnight!

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend? I think it's hardly accurate to say guitar playing in rock hadn't changed since Scotty Moore and Chuck Berry. And as brilliant as Jimi was, he jacked a lot from the aforementioned. People like Dick Dale and Link Wray deserve some notice for contribution too.

What does "rock music" even mean? Someone playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero or one of those Paper Jamz things is a "rock star".

Good question, to me it amounts to everything that sprung from Chuck Berrys two string stuff, which to me is kinda the bedrock of rock n roll is the purest sense of the word. Sling a bit of blues in, hey presto, rock music but yeah, generally speaking it's a very very broad term that really doesn't serve to do much except for homogenise. I mean to lump someone like Chuck Berry into "rock" music is a great disservice to the man, i think.

[GivenToFly]

Jimi Hendrix was innovative, sure, but his songs are generally pretty meh and even his guitar playing if you're not into heavy distortion is pretty hard to listen to.

[Johnny Drama]

^ This in a sense. But i'd say his albums need the Led Zep remastering treatment to sound amazing

[Kill Devil Hill]

Well, if it's one single person, then it has to be Elvis Presley. He had the image, the stage presence, the versatility, the universal appeal, and the success (he sold over a billion records worldwide). I'd go as far to say that it's a fact that he's the greatest rock musician of all-time.

[bran]

I didn't really mean for this thread to become a thread about who your favorite rock musician is, or who you think is the most influential; it is supposed to be about who you think is the single greatest rock musician of all time.

that is still subject of though their is no definitive #1.

what makes chuck berry or elvis presley any more right than RJD or phil lynott?

or hendrix over iommi.

[Apollo]

Well, if it's one single person, then it has to be Elvis Presley. He had the image, the stage presence, the versatility, the universal appeal, and the success (he sold over a billion records worldwide). I'd go as far to say that it's a fact that he's the greatest rock musician of all-time.

He didn't write any if his songs though.

Buddy Holly was 100 times better of a musician than Elvis.

Elvis got handed a song.....and he sang it.

Buddy wrote all the music and lyrics....as well as singing.

Hard to put Elvis in the same class as those who actually created music.

Elvis was one of the greatest performers of all time. Imo.

[Kill Devil Hill]

Well, if it's one single person, then it has to be Elvis Presley. He had the image, the stage presence, the versatility, the universal appeal, and the success (he sold over a billion records worldwide). I'd go as far to say that it's a fact that he's the greatest rock musician of all-time.

He didn't write any if his songs though.

Buddy Holly was 100 times better of a musician than Elvis.

Elvis got handed a song.....and he sang it.

Buddy wrote all the music and lyrics....as well as singing.

Hard to put Elvis in the same class as those who actually created music.

Elvis was one of the greatest performers of all time. Imo.

I agree with everything you wrote, but I'm not talking about "best." I'm talking about "greatest." So I'm only factoring in influence, impact, and popularity, and with those three criteria points, nobody can touch Elvis (excluding the Beatles). He was the living embodiment of rock n' roll.

Also, he may not have written his material, but I think material selection and vocal interpretation are important, too (though not as important).

[dalsh327]

^ This in a sense. But i'd say his albums need the Led Zep remastering treatment to sound amazing

The 2010 reissues were no different than the 1997 reissues. I don't know if they have plans for a possible mono box set (Kramer said the stereo mixes are the true definitive mixes, the mono versions came second), or remaster for Blu Ray. I have copies of the out of print Essential and Cry of Love on CD, and there is a big difference in the sound quality. I think tracking down the original UK vinyl or the 200 gram reissues is as good as you'll find, but Page had way more experience behind the console and took care of his own tapes over the years.

However, there is a missing tape of Side A for "Axis Bold As Love" that Hendrix lost. That's one of the holy grails (Mitch Mitchell had "Black Gold", some other Hendrix demos and they're with Experience Hendrix). They've spent years trying to figure out where everything's at, who has what, because Jimi handed out a lot of tapes to other musicians.

It is a shame what Jimi's brother went through, what he was cut out of, and an upbringing where Jimi was more of a dad to him than Al was. Granted, he had a history of drug abuse and crime, but it just sounded like an ongoing mess.

Jimi left no will, he had a horrible manager, and his dad wound up handling the estate, even though he had been critical of Hendrix as a musician from the beginning.

[DieselDaisy]

Depends on your criteria. Influence (Chuck; Elvis; Lennon), musicianmanship (Chuck; Hendrix; Jerry Lee Lewis); songwriting (Chuck; Lennon); Voice (Elvis); stage persona (Elvis - perhaps Jagger or Mercury). You notice I am choosing Berry a lot which is why I have made him my number one. But it is still immensly subjective. Guns N' Roses are my childhood band, probably my favourite band (certainly in the top 3), yet they were neither productive nor particuarly innovative. They were just a jumble of 1960s/70s rock n' roll sounds really. But I just like their music in a way which makes me a 'fan' more so than someone like Zep (who handled their career much better than Guns).