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Thread: Are the Eagles America's best band?

  1. #11
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned The Beach Boys. I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys but if there was an American band to rival the Eagles, they'd be my top choice. Are Bon Jovi and The Monkees huge in America?

    I suppose you had to be ultra ambitious to be a national success in the USA, and earn the support of a big studio. GB is so much smaller, Bands had to aim national to earn a living.

    I think mainland Europe was very welcoming to British bands too.

    There's a whole thesis in there somewhere.

  2. #12
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    I would definitely say the Eagles are the greatest American band. They did have the BIGGEST selling album of the 20th century.
    People talking about us they got nothing else to do. When it all comes down we will still come through in the long run.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Quote Originally Posted by Funk 50 View Post
    I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned The Beach Boys. I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys but if there was an American band to rival the Eagles, they'd be my top choice. Are Bon Jovi and The Monkees huge in America?

    I suppose you had to be ultra ambitious to be a national success in the USA, and earn the support of a big studio. GB is so much smaller, Bands had to aim national to earn a living.

    I think mainland Europe was very welcoming to British bands too.

    There's a whole thesis in there somewhere.
    It's been done:
    The top 20 artists, in order, are The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, AC/DC, Whitney Houston, The Rolling Stones, Queen, ABBA, The Eagles, U2, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, Aerosmith, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand. The list is perfectly split between 10 solo artists and 10 groups. Eight of the 10 solo artists are from North America, while eight of the 10 bands are from outside America, the majority being British. Remarkably, the country that invented rock and roll has not produced any of the top seven rock bands. America's strongest contender, in at No. 8, is often-derided soft-rock stalwarts The Eagles.
    (The link was to a Big Lebowski clip)

    http://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...erican/277472/

  4. #14
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Well - If we are just talking about American bands, then the Eagles are absolutely the best in my absolutely totally unbiased, objective opinion.

    So while I agree with this writer's premise, I have to disagree with most of the other bands he names except for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street band. Like F50, I would definitely include The Beach Boys along with CCR, CSNY, Aerosmith, and possibly The Doors as top contenders for the title.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Quote Originally Posted by Funk 50 View Post
    I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned The Beach Boys. I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys but if there was an American band to rival the Eagles, they'd be my top choice. .
    I also considered The Beach Boys since I love that band. They have the record for the most singles in the U.S. Top 40 for a U.S. Band, incredibly influential, honored frequently (especially Brian Wilson), and they definitely have a range of material. However, I'm thinking the article was a musing that began with The Eagles being honored by the Kennedy Center.

    I think when most people think "band" they're envisioning a scenario where band members play their own instruments (both in studio and on tour) and some (or all) of the members play a part in collaborating with songwriting and/or arranging most songs.

    The Beach Boys are different. While The Beach Boys have always played their own instruments on the road and on tour, Brian Wilson began to more and more use studio musicians (The Wrecking Crew) on the recordings. Obviously, the guys still sang their own parts on the recordings and, for those mega-fans, let me add I'm simply summarizing some very complicated info in a shorthand way -- there's a very intense debate (with musician's union sheets being researched, etc.) in their fan community to have Carl, Denny, Al, Bruce, etc. more recognized for their instrumental efforts in the studio, whether on demos or released tracks, because casual fans think The Wrecking Crew played all the tracks for every record from Surfin' onward.

    And of course, there's the issue of songwriters. Brian Wilson used many collaborators outside the band (Gary Usher, Tony Asher, Van Dyke Parks). Mike Love was recognized as songwriter on a few of the songs then sued (and won) in the '90s to to have his name included as co-writer on like dozens more mid-60s hits. And people are still debating the legitimacy of that as well. LOL.

    To me they're such a special case in the sense of "band." Often, these days, Brian Wilson is the one exclusively honored (Music Cares and Kennedy Center honor) rather than the Beach Boys as a group; and more and more, people are no longer thinking of Beach Boys as a traditional band situation.

    That being said, I love their music in all forms: surfing and racing songs, ballads, heady Smiley Smile, etc. LOL.

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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    I agree that The Beach Boys lose points for fragmenting and splintering. Joe played on the title track of their Keeping The Summer Alive album.
    CSN[Y] are only half American and arguably only half a band as they'd hire a rhythm section to accompany themselves on stage.
    The Doors, I've been told, were only semi-successful until well after they disbanded.
    CCR, like many potentially great American bands, only stuck around for a short time.

    I'd love to see how bands like The Hearbreakers, The Silver Bullet Band and The E Street Band would cope without their marquee name up front. Queen haven't done bad without Freddie and JD but I've no doubt that it's only the original line up that defines the band.

    That leaves the Eagles and Aerosmith. Despite being diluted with backing musicians since HFO, I can't opt for Aerosmith. Never-the-less, the fact that they've still got the same line up that had in 1971, makes Aerosmith truly exceptional.

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    F50 - You are right about CSNY being only half American. I didn't even think about that when I listed them because they are always thrown into mix of any discussion of American bands. Yet Fleetwood Mac is usually excluded because they are half (okay 3/5) British. It seems to me that we should either include or exclude both, depending on how you view it.

    In any event, most discussions I've seen about this topic in recent years does seem to boil down to the Eagles and Aerosmith. The Eagles usually win out based on the overall quality of their catalog and their broader appeal. And I have to respectfully agree with that.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

  8. #18
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Here are these 4 guys from different parts of the US coming to CA looking for their dream. After failures with other bands they culminate at Disneyland with Linda Ronstadt and the rest is poetic history. They perfected a sound that wasn't even heard of at the time, Country Rock! Enough said. Not just because I like them but because they searched out their dream and it came true. Perfecting a sound that was unheard, having the guts to play it in front of people and then go on to sell millions of albums, win many grammy awards and get inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The answer is Yes!

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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Quote Originally Posted by DJ View Post
    Here are these 4 guys from different parts of the US coming to CA looking for their dream. After failures with other bands they culminate at Disneyland with Linda Ronstadt and the rest is poetic history. They perfected a sound that wasn't even heard of at the time, Country Rock! Enough said. Not just because I like them but because they searched out their dream and it came true. Perfecting a sound that was unheard, having the guts to play it in front of people and then go on to sell millions of albums, win many grammy awards and get inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The answer is Yes!
    Country rock had been pioneered by the Byrds, Buffalo Springfiled & the Flying Burrito Brothers, not to mention Poco. It could even be said that a couple of Bob Dylan's country albums pioneered it. It was not 'unheard'.

  10. #20
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    Default Re: Are the Eagles America's best band?

    Well, it may not have been unheard of, but the Eagles took it to a whole new level of popularity and it was heard by a heck of a lot more people after they came along for sure.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

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