bands more influential than the beatles

[ratsprayer]

leonard cohen
john fahey

[wordawg]

Muddy Waters
Willie Dixon
Howlin' Wolf
The Stones
Christy Moore
Planxty
Carla Bley
Carlos Santana
Amon Duul
Ramones
Waylon Jennings
Willie Nelson
Guy Clark
Townes van Zandt
Television

this one might run and run (in my head)


wordawg

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

oh yeah, we forgot Dylan....

[EC]

Who's the dude who wrote most of the music for hymns?  That dude was pretty influential.  (Actually, come to think of it, a lot of those are based on medieval songs...)  Actually, all the old country songs (and the form) is based on the old traditionals, which hymns were also based on, which are based on medieval dirges and stuff, and then...  damn those monks burning all the damn books.  They could've made our lives a LOT easier if they'd just THOUGHT about what they were goddamn doing.  So much of Western music is based on the chromatic scale.  But the medieval stuff was based on the.. what, pentatonic scale?  Is that right?  (I'm flying on half memories right now.)  And then there's all the ancient eastern music, which is so differently based.

And then there's prehistoric drumming.  Drumming - was that the first form of music?  Isn't the word prehistoric ridiculous?  I never thought of that.

What is the Disney movie that talks about all this.. is that Fantasia, or is there a different one...  hmmm... now I'm all thinky.  I want to remember, though, as opposed to fucking looking it up on the internet.  I think the internet is ruining my memory.  Because I no longer HAVE to remember, my brain doesn't seem to have a problem forgetting.

[Alligator Gar]

Four names that were WAY more influencial then the Beatles:

The Carter Family
Woody Guthrie
Leadbelly
Ramblin' Jack Elliot

[EC]

Interesting site: http://www.classicalscore.com/

[ratsprayer]

ohohh...guthrie, good one.  there goes the deconstrution of dylan...

[thebigbang]

"The Pharoah 'nuffs", the world's most influential band, pictured above with the original lineup.

Introduced two-part harmonies, revolving drummers, incessant infighting and groupies to the world of popular music.  Also noted for their incendiary live performances.  No recordings have ever been found, presumably because the aliens that built the pyramids took the technology with them when they parted for bigger planets.

Tablets found in caves often gave glowing reviews of their shows, frequently using terms like "passionate", "kickass", "compelling" and "genius" to describe the stage frenzy.  Also credited with the first "soul chubby", a phenomena that faded from history until being rediscovered in the year 2005 AD.

[primushead]

"The Pharoah 'nuffs", the world's most influential band, pictured above with the original lineup.

Introduced two-part harmonies, revolving drummers, incessant infighting and groupies to the world of popular music.  Also noted for their incendiary live performances.  No recordings have ever been found, presumably because the aliens that built the pyramids took the technology with them when they parted for bigger planets.

Tablets found in caves often gave glowing reviews of their shows, frequently using terms like "passionate", "kickass", "compelling" and "genius" to describe the stage frenzy.  Also credited with the first "soul chubby", a phenomena that remained undiscovered until the year 2005 AD.

HAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAH!!!! Very nice expose'.  Could you do a 'behind the music' type thing?  ya know..."Onstage, the Pharoah Nuffs were at an alltime high...but offstage, things were falling apart". :)

[goosemeister]

i doubt that there is ever going to be one band/singer/composer/artist who is going to be the most influential.  rock and roll has been around for only, and almost exactly, 50 years.  would we claim that the beatles are the most influential -- but disregard the centuries of music that came before it?  every seminal musical artist has had its own influences; therefore, would the bands that influenced the beatles the most be more influential than the beatles?  i mean, had the bands that influenced the beatles never existed, would the beatles ever formed to become, what most would recognize, the most influential pop/rock and roll band ever?

it seems that i'm getting into an ontological discussion here... rather reminiscent of aquinas and his contention of a primary mover.  the most previous post reminds of this, while being rather appropriate in its, err, tongue-in-cheekedness.

i'd be hardpressed to find a more impactful musical artist than the beatles.  they shaped not only the musical scene but also popular culture.  lest we forget elvis.  then again, elvis was a white man's black man.  elvis was merely more palatable but no more talented than, say, many of the prolific blues artists (read:  memphis slim).  

so, if we're talking about one artist, contemporarily speaking, it would have to be the beatles.  if it's a broader stroke we're painting, it would have to be, in my opinion, gospel and blues from the late 30s, 40s, and early 50s.  let's face it, there would be no rock and roll if it had been left to the white man.  

my list, in no specific order:
beatles
bob dylan
velvet underground
elvis presley
beach boys
chuck berry
carl perkins
aretha franklin
nirvana

[aMillionDreams]

Bob Dylan is the most influential artist of the past 50 years, hands down.  Dylan not only influenced rock n roll, he influenced blues, country, folk, and gospel not to mention his influence on other art forms such as film and poetry.  Dylan's influence is so essential to all modern artwork that we may overlook it.  Even if you have never heard Highway 61 Revisited all the way through, someone who you enjoy listening to did.  Most people say the Beatles are the most influential but it was Dylan who directly influence them to focus on the music and forget the teenyboppers.  There are a ton of influential bands I could name but no one would hold a candle to Bob Dylan.

[EC]

my list, in no specific order:
beatles
bob dylan
velvet underground
elvis presley
beach boys
chuck berry
carl perkins
aretha franklin
nirvana

That is a list I would agree with.  I would also agree with whoever said The Carter Family.  And I would add Hank Williams.  

And bigbang, your pharoa'nuffs is brilliant.  BRILLIANT.  :)

[goosemeister]

Bob Dylan is the most influential artist of the past 50 years, hands down.

i'm not sure that there is a "hands down" musical artist that is the most influential.  also, we can define "influential" in many different ways.  there is absolutely no question that the beatles are more impactful in popular culture.  and let's face it, we live in a popular culture, umm, culture.  look at the top 40 for the last 20 to 30 years.  like it or not, the top 40 is more attributable to the beatles than to bob dylan.  i wish it were otherwise, but it's just not the case.

furthermore, i'm guessing that you're white.  while we would hope that bob dylan's music transcends race, dylan's music is primarily that of the white person.  popular music today is much more influenced by jazz, soul, and rhythym and blues.  arguably, there are three large branches of popular music:  country, rab/r&b/soul (that's a huge swath), and pop.  2 of those 3 are largely directly derived from early jazz and soul from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

[thebigbang]

HAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAH!!!! Very nice expose'.  Could you do a 'behind the music' type thing?  ya know..."Onstage, the Pharoah Nuffs were at an alltime high...but offstage, things were falling apart". :)

We don't really want to "unearth" all that sordid stuff do we?

Of course, membership changed for centuries, keeping the act alive almost as long as the Rolling Stones, rumored to have finally ended only when one of the pharoahs, a true fan boy, decided he wanted the band serenading him for all eternity.  When the king died, the entire band was sealed in an ante-chamber to his tomb.

Alas, in the fog of history, it is not known under which pyramid they all reside.

[ratsprayer]

one just came to mind

captain beefheart & the magic band

[dragonboy]

MORE influential is a tough one.

You could argue that without the Beatles there would be no Pixies & then of course, no Nirvana etc?
Not sure...
For example, Black Sabbath is on the list but any BS fan worth their salt knows that the Beatles were the reason Ozzy started making music.

I do agree with most of the bands/artists already mentioned but I think the list has become more of influential artists list rather than more influential than the Beatles?

Anyway, great thread, Ratsprayer - really got me thinking!

Here are a few names that I think have been missed:

Billie Holiday
Nina Simone
Woody Gutherie
Bob Marley
The Stone Roses

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

yeah baby!  black sabbath!  loves me some "war pigs"...

some others I just thought of...

Hank Williams
Elvis
Bob Marley
David Bowie
BB King
Muddy Waters
Fats Domino
The Everly Brothers

[doEVILslittle]

well since carl perkins directly inspired john lennon to start his skiffle group The Quarry Men which later became the beatles AND since Dylan inspired lennon to change the motivation of the band towards solid music making, i'd say that carl perkins and bob dylan are at the top of the influential list. perkins also had a big hand in the career of johnny cash and he WROTE blue suede shoes for christ's sake. an then there's zeppelin who inspired (either way, whether you think negatively or positively) the nwobhm (new wave of british heavy metal)so that'd be my bare bones list focused directly on pop music

carl perkins
bob dylan
led zeppelin

[ycartrob]

Husker Du.

American pop/punk before Nirvana blew it up. Husker Du influenced all that stuff past 1985. You can hear actual note to note influences on Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins songs, plus a ton of others.

Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Greg Norton= Husker Du

Buy---> Zen Arcade

[doEVILslittle]

o wait yeah getting on ycartrob's husker du trip, husker du was the direct influence for the pixies, who fueled the ENTIRE alternative scene in the 90's and today