What exactly is considered a band?
To wit, would the purple paisley one, along with his frilly band The Revolution, even qualify? (again, it doesn’t matter in this instance: for our purposes the artist formerly known as Prince can currently be labeled as the poser who’s staying the hell off my list). But what of the more essential cases: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, etc.? Are these monuments of American music glorified solo artists with long-time backing groups, or legitimate bands? I recall one online commentor’s query “Bruce Springsteen is not a member of the E Street Band, is he? If so, why the phrase ‘Bruce Springsteen AND the E Street Band?” Fair question. But I don’t care. Final answer: they’re bands.
True Solo Artists
The same could not be said, however, for some of the biggest names and best solo artists in American music history. Sorry, but off the list are Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Holly (I know, The Crickets, but no), Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne Lou Reed, James Brown, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix (The J.B.’s or The Famous Flames with Brown? Big Brother & The Holding Company with Joplin? The Experience or The Band of Gypsies with Hendrix? Nah, James is James, Janis is Janis, and Jimi is Jimi).
Contemplating Musical Duos and Studio Bands
Alright, then what about some of the best musical duos? I don’t know, I don’t think I can really consider Simon & Garfunkel, Loggins & Messina, Hall & Oates, or the Everly Brothers to be true bands. They’re out. Yet, Steely Dan, who one could argue was really a two-man operation, yup, they’re a band. Count them in. As for famed studio bands like The Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers, or The Muscle Shoals “Swampers”? Huge historical significance and mammoth bodies of work, but no, not genuine “bands.”
Essential Qualities of Greatness
And now that we’re really getting into it, what’s a compulsive music obsessive to consider as proper criteria for being granted a spot among the coveted “greatest”? Well, best overall music, right, the catalog. But surely we’ve got to dig a bit deeper.
What about particular songs? Los Lobos is a band that I admire greatly and that’s had an amazing career, but what are their big hits? Is longevity a factor, and if so does a band like Aerosmith get extra credit? What about bonuses for consistency of lineup? ZZ Top has had the same exact members from 1970 to the present (yeah, it’s just three guys, but that’s still the longest uninterrupted and unchanged run of any band in history, domestic or otherwise). Do we weigh influence, say, from groundbreakers like the Velvet Underground or The Ramones? Or simply the caliber of impact from even individual albums, where Nirvana would surely reign, and, to less dramatic extents, The Cars and Boston?
The Greatest American Hero (Band)
Originally Posted by Sting
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