I was playing my friend some music today and he was asking me who my favourite British artist / band is. And I couldn't really think of a stand out one.
It got me to thinking. If your record collection could only contain music from one location, USA or GB, which would you choose?
USA for me no question. It might have been debatable about 40 years ago, but now I feel that the vast majority of decent music comes from America.
Get voting!
Really? Off the top of my head, I can come up with more Brits than Americans... The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Police, Black Sabbath, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Cold Play, Queen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, etc, etc, etc.
(Most of those aren't recent, my bad)
Tough call. I would have to chose between my two favorite bands.
QuoteReally? Off the top of my head, I can come up with more Brits than Americans... The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Police, Black Sabbath, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Cold Play, Queen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, etc, etc, etc.
(Most of those aren't recent, my bad)
Did you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
I'm sure we can all make a case for either side, but if you had to have a music collection from one location which would it be?
I'm American, but most of my favorite music is from the UK. I do not know the exact percentage, but well over 50% of what is on my ipod is English.
Most of mainstream US music blows. Sorry, but it does. The hard part is defining what is "mainstream". MMJ is not mainstream. Use that as a gage I guess.
It all goes back to Robert Johnson anyway so the USA wins!
I've thought about this before. If I had to get stuck with one or the other for the rest of my life...I'd go with the U.S. I'd get really sick of the Beatles. One day I love'em, the other day I want to throw the radio against a wall. Same goes with Led Z and the Stones. I could never get sick of Dylan, The Dead, MMJ, and The Allman's. Most new bands I like hail from the States or Canada, not across the pond.
My vote, Stars and Bars!
brits have a higher quantity of good artists. But I think the Yanks have the better overall talent in song writing
Bob Dylan
Paul Simon
Jim James
Eat you limey bastards!
Some of my favorite bands earlier bands..Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, Sabbath are British but I hate what you would call "Britpop" Oasis, Blur and all that crap..some of the worst music ever in my opinion and it just continues now with Coldplay..so there is no question mine would be American. Early rock with Chuck Berry, Jerry lee, Elvis, Cash, Carl Perkins..on to the Dead, Dylan, Allmans, Hendrix, The Band, and Neil, yes he's Canadian but i'm counting him...most great early Blues like Muddy, Wolf, Elmore James, Buddy Guy..etc...Country Rock Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Burrito Brothers.,..then to Alt rock like Pavement, the Cure, Dino Jr and the Pixies....and more modern Americana type bands like Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Jackie Greene, Derek Trucks, Gov't Mule, MMJ, DBT, White Stripes and the Black Keys to mention a few. It's all American for me.
Well a no brainer here.
I love Floyd, Queen, Zep, Who, Ozzy (Sabbath) etc.
BUT yeah, if I didn't have my Miles and Trane collection, my Howlin' Wolf, Hound Dog Taylor and Junior Wells, Dylan, Simon, the Byrds, all my Hipity Hopity and of course MMJ, I couldn't go on. US
BUT, I love Rush, the Band, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear etc.
Where's the "Other" category?
QuoteDid you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
Both were formed in London.
I look at it this way...the UK has given us a lot of bands/artists that are at the top of my list of favorites, but the US is the originator, and has a broader pool of styles and quality to pick from...if this is a Desert Island decision, and I can only have one or the other forever, I'm going US, no question. Nobody does Soul and R&B like the US. 8-)
we have cleaner teeth
My musical tastes are so varied it might change week to week day to day....kinda like asking who your favorite band is. I am a certified member of the Otis Redding Cult of America . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQ4VrHa7fU
ELVIS....discussion over
QuoteQuoteDid you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
Both were formed in London.
There is NO WAY any band affiliated with Hendrix could be deemed more of a British band than a US band.
Did the man play the English national anthem?! I dont think so.
Despite the Brits having some heavy hitters like the Stones, Zep, Beatles, this 1 is easy for me - USA
Most people already touched on a big reason why it would be that way for me: musical diversity. You get blues, jazz, hip hop, etc., and I definitely like many more bands of teh last 10-20 years from the US than the UK.
Maybe its just me, but I find a lot of those more recent British bands to be pretty derivative. Some have their own unique sound, but a lot sounds the same to me. Either way, the music coming out of the US these days seems to be much more expansive and interesting IMO.
And for anyone who picks the UK, enjoy not having any MMJ :P
Hendrix was the experence. You could put anybody back there and get pretty close to the same results.
QuoteIt all goes back to Robert Johnson anyway so the USA wins!
It goes back farther than that since he ripped off his peers... and the USA still wins. And the Brits have nothing on Buddy Bolden.
QuoteQuoteQuoteDid you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
Both were formed in London.
There is NO WAY any band affiliated with Hendrix could be deemed more of a British band than a US band.
Did the man play the English national anthem?! I dont think so.
Um, they played "God Save the Queen."
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v.
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Yeah, not even close. Brits win
I love the Brit rock bands the most - The Who, Kinks, Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin, Yardbirds, Pink Floyd, Sabbath etc... - but they all wouldn't exist in the same way if it weren't for the USA. They all reinterpreted American pop and blues and made it the music better for the most part, but the UK as a whole can't beat the originator. And funk, jazz and blues kills the UK versions.
I look at my cd's and it's 60-40 British bands, so if i had to get rid of one it have to be the US...I couldn't give up the Stones!
QuoteI look at my cd's and it's 60-40 British bands, so if i had to get rid of one it have to be the US...I couldn't give up the Stones!
Benedict Arnold!
QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteDid you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
Both were formed in London.
There is NO WAY any band affiliated with Hendrix could be deemed more of a British band than a US band.
Did the man play the English national anthem?! I dont think so.
Um, they played "God Save the Queen."
I just kind of threw that out there, but okay.
Hendrix is as American as Nascar. There is no way any of his bands could be a British band. If teh Beatles formed in New York, would that make them an American band? ::)
QuoteQuoteDid you really just include Coldplay in your list or great British bands? Are you sure you don't want to edit the post? And would Hendrix not go in the US team?
Both were formed in London.
I think it's a no brainer that most people would put Hendrix in the US category.
And I wasn't saying that Coldplay were American. I was questioning the fact that you had them in a list of great bands.
Anyway, I'm a Brit......but the US wins easily for me on this one.
At least in this time period, the USA is the only winner. Maybe in a hundred years things will even up. Keep an eye on those Swedes though.
USA. Easy.
QuoteI look at it this way...the UK has given us a lot of bands/artists that are at the top of my list of favorites, but the US is the originator, and has a broader pool of styles and quality to pick from...if this is a Desert Island decision, and I can only have one or the other forever, I'm going US, no question. Nobody does Soul and R&B like the US. 8-)
Absolutely! The earliest Brit artists where enfluenced by American motown and the blues. Currently my favs...MMJ, M.Ward, Fiery Furnaces, Blonde Redhead are all Amercan. I vote USA!
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWWsWP9bPAg[/media]
QuoteELVIS....discussion over
My Morning Jacket......discussion over
Brits have some heavy hitters but they don't have the depth the Americas have. I mean, I might take Motown over England if it really came down to it and that's just one record company in one town at one moment in time.
QuoteBrits have some heavy hitters but they don't have the depth the Americas have. I mean, I might take Motown over England if it really came down to it and that's just one record company in one town at one moment in time.[/quote
or Stax.....or Chess...or Sun.