The title I think says it all. I’ll put my choice up in a bit.
Classic Rock is basically what was Album Oriented Rock (AOR) in the 60s & 70s. So it seems like the Beatles, especially with Sgt. Peppers are the epitome.
But that said, Pink Floyd probably eclipsed them in many way, being much more invested in Album Oriented music.
If you take the other part of Classic Rock to be the Big Arena bands of the 60s & 70s then The Who and Led Zeppelin really step up to the plate.
And though I’m not much of a fan, I would be remiss to not mention The Rolling Stones.
The Beatles, without a doubt, for me. I was ten when they broke in the US (1964) and was 13 when Pepper was released (1967), which was the quintessential rock album of its time. They were on top of the charts throughout those critical years when my musical taste was being established.
Yeah, hard to choose other than Zepp, Who, or Stones. I’d probably go w/ Zeppelin. Not sure why.
I have a hard time thinking of Beatles/Floyd as “rock.”
well objectively, the Rolling Stones are the most impactful rock band and have spanned the years before ‘classic rock’ up to even now, when ‘classic rock’ has been supplanted even in the ‘oldies’ stations.
While they are not my favorite band…The Rolling Stones is the epitome of classic rock.
Led Zeppelin for sure.
Without reading any entries so as to not influence…
The first band that comes into mind is The Who.
For sheer Classic Rock, I immediately thought of Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild”, but that’s just one of two songs of theirs that I remember, and The Who had tons of solid rock hits.
Wow, the beginning of Quadrophenia…amazing.
Rolling Stones easily with Zeppelin as a backup. I’d have to think more about 3rd place, but probably not the Beatles, and definitely not Pink Floyd (too proggy). Probably The Who. If you were teaching an alien what classic rock was you’d play Gimme Shelter or Sympathy for the Devil.
The Beatles sprang to my mind immediately, but I do think their style, or range of styles, is too diverse and, at times, too poppy (and at other times too experimental) for them to be “the epitome of classic rock.” They’re certainly “classic,” and they’re unquestionably “rock” in the broad sense of the term, but for an “epitome” I’d want something more smack dab in the center—something that everyone would agree is “rock” no matter how narrowly you define it.
I’m not sure what my answer to the thread title’s question is, although many of the usual suspects that have been suggested already are the ones I thought of.
I’d agree with that. I’d say that almost all of the Top 10 Rock Bands Ever except The Beatles would be strong contenders. When Classic Rock first started as a category in the late 80s it referred to Hard Rock from the mid-60s through the early 80s, and the majority of Beatles songs are neither “hard” in a general musical sense nor are close to the codified “hard rock” genre that started to emerge in the late 60s. Now obviously there are exceptions such as She’s So Heavy.
However, of the rest of the Top 10 I’m not sure which epitomizes Classic Rock. I guess I would say Led Zeppelin, because they are tied with the Stones for the most popular Classic Rock band and I like them better than the Stones.
Eagles? I see Beatles as something other than classic rock. Stones is rock, Zeppelin is a little too heavy for classic rock.
Oh, so the dude with the Glenn Frey mustache recommends the Eagles… :~}
What I see happening here is that the Doper community is ignoring the “Classic Rock” label that got appended to “arena rock of the '80s” radio stations and playlists… Def Leppard, Boston, Aerosmith et al.
But everyone here is reaching deeper into the past, and deeper into REAL Rock ‘n’ Roll. Glad to see it.
Me? Led Zeppelin, for their fusion of power chord Rock with an underpinning of classic Blues (and plagiarism thereof), or The Who for sheer exuberance.
When I think “Classic Rock”, I think 70s, and I don’t (necessarily) think of it as a positive thing. To me, the epitome of Classic Rock would be Journey or REO Speedwagon. Popular, power ballads, not exactly substantial.
So to me the absolutely legendary bands, like the Beatles and the Stones, are kinda timeless so I don’t think of as classic rock.
The more dated 70s stuff I think of as classic rock. The Eagles, Lynard Skynard (sp?), AC DC, etc. Led Zeppelin probably straddle the line between legendary and timeless vs a bit cheesey and a product of their time.
Great answers everyone. I like all the answers. I was a huge Zep fan. Beatles of course (though I’m sort of burnt out on them)
My Wife and I play a lot of chess. And always listen to older rock. Pink Floyd always gets played. Seems to go with chess.
While they are sort of Rock/Folk I suppose, I have to say Creedence Clearwater Is the best classic rock.
I think of them as almost their own category - like light, California rock.
I find this question curious - as well as my opinion that there are so few contenders. Thinking of groups like Grand Funk, Aerosmith, BTO, BOC, Thin Lizzy, etc. Or Deep Purple or Black Sabbath. But none of them were as huge as the Stones or Zeppelin.
Led Zeppelin, followed closely by the Rolling Stones, the Who, Pink Floyd, and later-era Beatles.
I was thinking of bands in this category as well. Perhaps wrongly, I took the question to mean “the most representative example of the entire population of bands we think of as classic rock,” which would, to my way of thinking, rule out most or all of the bands that are without question among the top dogs. Go for someone in the middle of the pack. As much as I love some Zeppelin or Stones, they were at the top during that period.
The first one I thought of was Foghat. Just some good, solid, dependable rock and roll.
For me, it is Deep Purple. They were the original “heavy metal” band before Zeppelin or Black Sabbath came on the scene. That is when I discovered there was more to music than the dreck my older brother like to listen to, stuff like Herman’s Hermits and The Monkees. Of the almost 7,000 songs I have on my computer, the oldest is Dirty Water from the Standells in 1962. That is the beginning of classic rock for me. Anything before that is an Oldie Moldy, I really don’t care to listen to any of that.
Just to throw a lesser name into the pile, Mountain was straight-ahead rock with a bit of Southern flavor thrown in. “Mississippi Queen” (1970) is rightfully considered one of the best rock classics.