ROCK & ROLL'S BEST

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prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
Rolling Stone mag (and other venues) has assembled a list of the greatest 100 to 500 rock & roll artists and their songs in order of importance. Not happy with many of the choices made by the editors of the magazine, I have compiled my own list of the ten greatest rock & roll songs of all time. Of course, you are free to disagree and present your own.

My choices are:

1. Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis Presley. Undeniably the King. His influence in rock history is immense and legendary. So much so it spurred John Lennon to say “before Elvis, there was nothing.”

2. Eleanor Rigby, The Beatles. Innovators, highly creative, irreverent, controversial. Composing songs that ran the gamut from simple ballads to psychedelic abstractions. Their influence and impact on rock is incalculable.

3. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones. The self-styled World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band created a #1 hit which placed them forever high in the pantheon of rock’s immortals seemingly forever.

4. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin. The haunting lyrics, folk-baroque acoustics leading to a screaming heavy metal jam makes this a classic to be imitated but never surpassed.

5. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry. Archetypical rocker who welded blues, country and rock into a style that has influenced virtually all musicians of rock.

6. Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys. No other all-American group could compete toe-to-toe with the British imports, and in one brilliant outpouring of inspiration recorded a song which was the height of creativity, harmony, innovation and experimentation.

7. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan. His music was relevant and influential before relevance and influence became catch words. Highly imitated, he reinvented the singer-songwriter genre.

8. Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and His Comets. Hitting No. 1 a year before Elvis, this record has sold over 22 million copies worldwide and helped to make Bill Haley one of the first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

9. Light My Fire, The Doors. Controversial, dark, obsessed, profound—these are the hallmarks that made The Doors famous and Jim Morrison a cult figure whose continued interest in and popularity still grows.

10. Thriller, Michael Jackson. Not rock per se, but highly influential as a recording artist, immensely talented singer, song writer, dancer and producer—omnipresent, much imitated, reviled by some and loved by others.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
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120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
Narrowing down to 10 songs is an impossible task. I can't argue with any of the ones you picked. Here's my list. Kind of off the top of my head so it will probably change some later. Not in any particular order.


Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
I love the Bruce quote on the opening drum part of this song. "...that snare shot that sounded like somebody kicked open the door to your mind"

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys

Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry

My Generation - The Who
One of the great rebellious songs. With the line "hope I die before I get old" and the stutter on the F in Fade Away (which sounds like it could go in a different more dangerous direction ;-D) it is one of the great middle finger songs.

That's All Right Mama - Elvis Presley

A Day In The Life - The Beatles

Respect - Aretha Franklin
Aretha probably didn't intend for this to be an anthem for civil rights and women's rights but that is what it turned into. The song was in the right place at the right time.

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
The soundtrack for the turbulence and violence that ended the 60s

Get Up, Stand Up - Bob Marley and the Wailers
A real voice for the repressed people of the world.

Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
It was before my time but from what I understand about life in 1955, Little Richard was the beginning of so many barriers being brought down. There was no one else like him (not even close) at that time.
 

Lily Sawyer

B-ReadAndWed
Jun 27, 2009
6,625
15,016
South Carolina
Rolling Stone mag (and other venues) has assembled a list of the greatest 100 to 500 rock & roll artists and their songs in order of importance. Not happy with many of the choices made by the editors of the magazine, I have compiled my own list of the ten greatest rock & roll songs of all time. Of course, you are free to disagree and present your own.

Okay, I'll bite. I agree with some of your choices...now the hard part for me is to rank them. I'm not sure what criteria to use, so I'll make it up as I go. For me, it's not about how many records were sold, how many sold-out concerts each artist had, or how many #1 songs they charted; it's about how much one particular song has resonate with other artists, musical trends, and even political movements.

1. The Beatles - Twist and Shout. Because that's the invitation of rock-'n'-roll, to get up out of your chair, cut a rug, and make noise.
2. The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction, and later, Start Me Up. One song put them on the rock map and the other ensured their continuing appeal to the next generation.
3. The Doors - Light My Fire. After you Twist and Shout, rock-'n-roll is all about sexsexsexsexsex. Groovy organ bridge a bonus.
4. Dire Straits - Money for Nothing. If M-TV wasn't already reaching every corner of the Earth like Coca-Cola, it sure was after this one, with the refrain "I want my M-TV" craftily embedded as both a music hook and product endorsement. Not Dire Strait's best tune by a longshot, but a very important one.
5. Elton John - There is no parallel to Rocket Man. Yeah, Bowie did Space Odyssey and Harry Nilssen did Spaceman, but Rocket Man delivered an emotional spark that transcended the weirdness of space travel and conveyed its perceived solitude and resulting loneliness, at a time when astronauts were regularly traveling to the moon.
6. Fleetwood Mac - Dreams. With that one song in 1977, its lead sung by the band's Stevie Nicks, the band secured its appeal to both men and women and paved the way for respect for female rockers like Chrissie Hynde, Melissa Etheridge, Joan Jett, Courtney Love and Sheryl Crow.
7. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir. Identifiable, imitated, and repeated guitar lick that builds this one to intoxicating heights of rock drama, and p.s. - no acid needed for the ride.
8. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in The Wall. "We don't need no education" became the chant of supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting racial inequities in education under the apartheid regime in South Africa, so it's no wonder the song (and album) were banned by the nation in 1980. As with Dire Straits, the tune is arguably not the band's best, but it's their most important and influential song.
9. INXS - New Sensation. Unknowingly carrying on the tradition of The Doors in the 1980's: simple, driving music with a charismatic lead singer. No one could argue Australia's contributions to rock after this band made the charts worldwide.
10. Elvis Presley - a tie between Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog. With those two songs, the gap was spanned between crooner schlock and true rock-'n-roll.
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
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59
sweden
1. A Day in the Life - Beatles
2. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
3. Paint it black - Rolling Stones
4. Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
5. Woman - John Lennon
6. Just like a woman - Bob Dylan
7. Rock'n'Roll Music - Chuck Berry (even if Beatles covern perhaps is even better...)
8. Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
9. These boots are made for walking - Nancy Sinatra
10. I'm a Believer - The Monkees

But, ohhhhh, there are so many goodies......
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
1. A Day in the Life - Beatles
2. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
3. Paint it black - Rolling Stones
4. Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
5. Woman - John Lennon
6. Just like a woman - Bob Dylan
7. Rock'n'Roll Music - Chuck Berry (even if Beatles covern perhaps is even better...)
8. Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
9. These boots are made for walking - Nancy Sinatra
10. I'm a Believer - The Monkees

But, ohhhhh, there are so many goodies......

I loved The Monkees, even watched their show :)
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
...another subjective survey from "critics"...I don't buy into any of them-because I don't need someone else, trying to influence me to choose something over and above what my ears and heart, have already told me I like...
I've listened to rock 'n roll since a young teen (many decades). Despite being a listmaker there's no way I could objectively decide which are the greatest, let alone rank them. I leave that to musical experts (and then pick their brains for anything I might've missed).

I do, however, have the gall to make certain statements of absoluteness on the subject of "Greatest Rock 'n Roll": Imho, the greatest live rock 'n roll recording is Joe Cocker and The Grease Band's Woodstock With a Little Help From My Friends; the greatest live electric guitar solo is Crossroads, on Cream's Wheels of Fire; and, the greatest studio recording is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb.

These are personal opinions, as I'm no expert. When it comes to the Arts, it's just that I know what I like when I see/hear/taste/feel it.