The Ten Best Rock and Roll Songs of All Time

And the nominees are:

My Generation, The Who

I Want You, Bob Dylan

Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones

Memphis, Tennessee, Chuck Berry

Down on the Corner, Creedence Clearwater

Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis

Every Move You Make, The Police

Night Moves, Bob Seger

All the Day, and All of the Night, The Kinks

Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis Presley

The best rock and roll song is not necessarily the same as the best pop song; rock and roll is a more specific thing. There is also an important distinction, I belive, between rock and roll and heavy metal. A good rock song has got to tick over almost by itself, with lots of rhythm; heavy metal is forced, like iron on an anvil. “Layla” made an earlier version of this list, but on reflection, it is more heavy metal than rock and roll. Ditto Hendrix's “Hey Joe.”

For my money, there are at least a helf dozen Rolling Stones songs worthy to be on this list. They really are the World's Greatest Rock and Roll band. I can think of one or two other Who songs, and one or two other Creedence Clearwater songs, that I'd like to put here. But I have arbitrarily limited it to one for each band/performer in order to give some range.

Another note: a good bass line makes all the difference in rock and roll. Bill Wyman, Bob Dylan said, was the one thing that made the Stones more than just a typical bar band. John Entwhistle's bass was the strongest thing about The Who.