Yes, I believe up_the_junction was using a bit of sarcasm there. Hendrix is indeed U.S. born and raised. He went to England to get some traction for his music career because no one quite knew what to make of him in the U.S. A woman may have been involved as well. Having formed The Experience with two Brits, his little business trip to the U.K. was a success, and he returned to the U.S. in triumphant fashion. That is, until I decided I couldn’t include The Experience in my GARBOAT poll because of the Brit majority, adding a posthumous blemish to his illustrious (but too short) career.
Without wiki or google getting involved, I think that’s the gist of it.
No doubt, Elvis is the tip of the rock n’ roll spear. The one who pushed rock n’ roll from an emerging music form to a cross-cultural phenomenon and shorthand for “teenager” in the media of the day.
But “greatest musician” feels like more than that. Songwriting, innovative production, techical ability on instruments. Owning who you are and the impact you have. People respect Elvis’s music and phenomenon, but musician’s don’t cite Elvis Presley as a musician, other than being a brilliant vocalist with two distinct registers for ballads and rock.
Michael Jackson is a similarly huge cultural phenomenon, but wrote a lot of his music and was a technically brilliant singer and dancer and producer, etc.
Bruce: I dunno. So clearly the Elder Statesman these days, alongside Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Aretha, a few others. THE guy you want leading your Hall of Fame or tribute concert. But, man, I wish he had a bit of danger. He’s dark, in a storyteller-literate sort of way. But not in a rock n’ roll danger sort of way. That’s one thing Dylan had going for him to go with his literate folk music: he sang a Fuck You in many of his songs, from groups, to specific girlfriends, etc. He was never afraid to be a dick.
As much as I love Dylan though, it’s his lyrics above all the rest of his abilities. He used too much existing music that others had collected. I’m looking for the whole musical package.
Todd Rundgren and Dave Grohl need to be in this conversation. They both can play everything and have made whole (great) albums single-handed. Time will tell.
Dude, Dylan is the pioneer / Elvis of rock music emerging as an art form, and as a political voice vs. teenybopper stuff. He’s next-stage Elvis, with cross-cultural impact and a shadow miles long. Hard to top, unless you add Hendrix’s guitar mastery, production skills…
Ditto Adrian Belew. Both Belew and Rundgren (I’m not as familiar with Grohl) shine as singers, songwriters, guitarists, multi-instrumentalists, and producers; have worked solo and in bands; and their work includes both catchy pop and esoteric artsy-fartsiness.
But they’re not as iconic or influential as the biggest names in this thread.
I’ll have to nominate Prince, even though I loathe the stuck-up selfish little bitch. It speaks volumes that Prince is even suggested for this “rock” survey, when he’s best known as an R&B/soul/funk/hip-hop artist.
The key word is “musician”, which implies mastery of a wide range of different instruments. Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix were revolutionary, but limited to electric guitar (though that’s kinda like saying Dmitri Mendeleev was “only limited to chemistry”); people like Dylan and Springsteen are great songwriters/composers, but their technical musicianship is above average, at best. As for Elvis, did he even play an instrument? I don’t think he even wrote his own songs. Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin don’t count because they have nothing to do with rock music.
If not Prince, then consider Frank Zappa – legendary singer, composer & multi-instrumentalist with a vast and diverse collection of works.
Prince’s rock bona fides is completely legitimate, though – especially during his mid-80s heyday. And he was doing a lot of rock covers during his live shows through at least the mid-90s.
And of course, this video seals it. See, Dani Harrison approves as well.
Two names that should be in the discussion that haven’t been mentioned yet are Billy Joel and Paul Simon. They may not be rock enough for some, but if we’re including Stevie Wonder among others I’d say they belong.
