Not necessarily in order:
The Eagles
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
and no one’s even mentioned Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band ??? :eek:
I envy you. You got to experience that scene.
The band that comes to my mind is Nirvana. But that was my generation.
I mentioned Heart somewhere back there. 
ETA: Post 51.
I would say Aerosmith is the iconic American rock band. They have a good repertoire, solid rock sound and they can play their own music live. Plus Steven Tyler’s Texas sized ego is as American as it gets.
I would put Santana up there but they’re in their own class of music. Rock/blues/Salsa. They are the absolute rulers of that music.
The Band.
I’m not going to read through four pages of this, but The Band grabbed rock n’ roll by its underpants and gave it a massive wedgie.
When Music from Big Pink came out, everyone from the Byrds to Clapton to the Dead stood with their jaws dropping, and switched from tutti-frutti psychedelia to Roots Music and the Old, Weird America.
Also, if The Band had lasted past 1976, they would have still been dancing rings around Brucie Sharpsteen and his E Street Jersey boys.
And “mellow” would be a misleading term to describe such music. Got it? Good.
I hear ya Ike; I mentioned the band throughout the last 4 pages you didn’t read. And they just made it in to the poll I made with 2 endorsements other than me in this thread- go vote for them if you want to::
I missed it! I guess my second mention came too late to get them on the list. And I’ve got to agree with whoever said it that Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band should definitely be on the list.
I think, but I’m not sure, that I’m the first to say:
Mountain. Great music, a few fantastic albums.
Then:
The Monkees (or whoever it was playing/singing). Excellent music, great popularity at the time.
For good reason.
I feel your pain, and recommend Big Wreck.
Bill Haley & His Comets.
Of “Rock Around The Clock” fame.
Bill, he done lit the fuse, so to speak.
You can have em as long as it’s understood they were out of Toronto.
So Dionysian and Apollonian both?
I dig that.
As long as you also agree to slap Richard Meltzer upside his head.
Until 1973, the U.S. had a military draft. Many bands probably broke up at a very formative period (when members were around 18-22) due to a key member getting drafted. Or in the case of Elvis, military service clearly took some of the steam out of his career. Of course a few musicians evaded the draft in Canada or formed new groups after returning, and one could make the argument that being in the army gave Jimi Hendrix an impetus to start his career as a rocker. But having a band under those conditions would be a challenge.
If the British had retained conscription a little longer (I think it ended around 1958 there), the future Beatles, Stones, and Who would have at least had to go through the prospect of military service (its hard to picture them all staying in long!). But I believe first wave of these rockers, born around 1940, missed being sent to the Suez or Kenya by a few months!
I’m gonna have to disagree with the one who said that The Eagles’ exorbitant ticket sales drive them over the top, and “number of gold records” still won’t bring KISS to the top.
If the criteria were number of hit records, one could reasonably compare The Doors to The Partridge Family. (As if.)
Now, “best selling” doesn’t necessarily mean “greatest…” but it is a pretty good indicator. (Just because the Grateful Dead had only one hit and NO #1 hits doesn’t mean they weren’t huge and/or influential, for instance.)
But we are not really talking about “influence,” we’re talking about “greatest.” Like, Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Who, Floyd, Yes greatest. So The Cramps, Ramones, Nirvana, et al can be cast by the wayside. (Sorry if they were your faves.)
Crunching the numbers (oh, wait, I let Wikipedia do the heavy-lifting for me) I come up with this:
The answer, as I see it (and believe) is The Eagles, hands down.
Let the infuriated hyperbole and rhetoric begin…!
That’s not depressing to you?
Sales, hits, influence are all factors. Influence can be a great measure of quality. It’s got to play a part. They are all factors and give you a ticket to the dance. The Eagles don’t dance, or swing. I would be ashamed to be american if they were the best we had.
drad dog -
No, I don’t find that depressing… on the other hand, I must confess that I am an Eagles fan. I wasn’t LOOKING to put them at the top, I was just going by the stats. Still, I think you are doing a disservice to yourself to not go back through their extensive repertoire and and somehow NOT find a “classic Americana” in everything from their (highly overated) “Lyin’ Eyes” to anything off their (final?) album, LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN.) Sure, they’re counry-influenced (and even chart well on country-hit charts), but nobody calls them a “country” band. In 1999, the Recording Industry of America honored the group with the Best Selling Album of the CENTURY for their (first) Greatest Hits album. Even as solo artists, Henley and Frey rock.
Toldya that my answer was no answer… just stirring up the pot… but I’ll still stand by my thought that The Eagles beats Van Halen, Aerosmith, KISS, or whatever else you can throw down.
Of course, I could be wrong. But I’m not. 
Well they were a hardworking successful group, and I have enjoyed them over the years on the radio and individual cuts. I’m not speaking out of not listening. And I’m not disqualifying them as “country”
My first thoughts about who I would throw down:
Beach Boys
Allman Brothers
Steely Dan
Replacements
Little Feat
All more inspiring musically, more influential and as successful as you would want. (Different eras allowed for different levels of success.) And without the overripe and overheard material. IMMHOO…
I HATE Americana though…
drad dog -
One other thing occurred to me just after I posted my “pro-Eagles” message, and it was based on what you said: "Influence can be a great measure of quality. It’s got to play a part. They are all factors and give you a ticket to the dance. The Eagles don’t dance, or swing. I would be ashamed to be American if they were the best we had. "
Then should we include Ella Fitzgerald? Billie Holliday? Bobby Darin? Duke Ellington? Artie Shaw? Count Basie? Where do you decide “influence” cuts off? I mean, the best part of Derek and the Dominos’ (Eric Clapton’s) LAYLA is “inspired by” Rachmaninoff.
Past music inspires present music. You may not LIKE the influences that make The Eagles great Americana, but you cannot deny them. Big props in my world would go out to John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen on this issue… but we are looking for a BAND.
We are the country that invented the banjo, and jazz music in general. Maybe it was WWII, or Vietnam, or whatever, but we exported rock to the UK and got it back tenfold and better. (Funny how easy it is to name 20 “greatest UK rock bands,” isn’t it?) Having to exclude non-Americans from this debate does make things hard. (I’d be lobbying for a larger place for CSNY, if Neil Young wasn’t Canadian, for instance.)
Still sticking with The Eagles as the ultimate answer here. sorry.