Rock and Roll

Man, I love me that rock and roll.

They don't much make it any more. Psychedelic rock lost the plot in the mid-sixties, and then hard rock was the reaction. “Hard rock” killed it by taking out the roll.

But someone recently tried to do a list of five best American rock bands, and that got me thinking of my own list.

First, from the UK, the Rolling Stones have a legitimate claim to be, as they claim, the world's greatest rock and roll band. But to me they pretty much stand alone. There's no one else close in the UK, so far as I am aware.

Most American bands lean more towards country rock or folk rock. Great stuff, but not rock and roll, which is a more urban working class sound. Some American bands do got it, though.

ZZTop. Real Texas Chainsaw guitar work. 

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Springsteen is not just rock and roll. He and the E Street Band can do everything magnificently. But when they rock and roll, they rock and roll. When they do anything else, they always roll. 

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Some say she's punk, and punk is cool. It is the closest thing to rock and roll. But I say she has that rock and roll ticking-over rhythm, not the choppy start and stop of punk. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival. My brother, who likes jazz, scorns Creedence, saying they are too simple. To which I say, “yeah, that's the point.” The soul of rock is relentless repetition of some simple riff. That is the magic. It's like a mantra, dude. It's dead simple, and that's why you never get tired of it. 

That's why The Who suck. They don't get that. My Generation was their one real rock song. You got to get the rhythm down, or you have nothing. The Who never did.

The Travelling Wilburys. Bit of a surprise, perhaps. Bob Dylan can do a fantastic rock and roll song when he chooses, as good as or better than anybody-- I Want You, Gotta Serve Somebody--but he doesn't write them often. The driving force behind the Wilburys seems to have been George Harrison. His stuff with the Beatles was quite different, although a song like My Sweet Lord hints at rock power. But he and the Wilburys really knew how to crank it.