My son-in-law and I were recently performing a tedious task, and to help pass the time I asked him to name the greatest rock ‘n’ roll group or artist of all time.
I suggested The Beatles should be No. 1 and probably Elvis No. 2. After that…the race is on.
Of course, that’s just one man’s opinion (and without any clearly-defined criteria to use as a filter).
Let’s set up some ground rules before pressing on with this article.
First, there will never be total agreement on any of this — but it’s a great conversation starter.
In terms of the rock ‘n’ roll era, it started in the 1950s.
Many think the first rock song was the 1951 hit “Rocket 88,” recorded by Ike Turner and made famous by the vocals and saxophone work of Jackie Brenston with the Kings of Rhythm band. It was recorded by Sam Phillips.
In 1969, at Woodstock, Sha Na Na sang “Rock ‘n’ roll will never die!” However, a United Kingdom publication called The Critic claims rock ‘n’ roll went belly-up early in the ‘80s. They contend the de-industrialization of both Detroit, Michigan and Liverpool, England — both hot beds of rock ‘n’ roll — led to the break up of the class systems that fed the rock product for years. The article went on further to claim The Clash’s “London Calling” album (December, 1979) and Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” (October, 1980) sounded the death knell for the rock era.
Those points can be argued, but let’s agree on the early days.
They called Elvis Presley “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” From 1950 to 1958, he logged 10 No. 1 hits.
But Richard Wayne Penniman, otherwise known as Little Richard, had a string of singles — and two albums — from 1955 to 1958. Songs included: “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Goods Golly Miss Molly,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Lucille,” “Rip It Up,” “Ready Teddy,” and “Jenny Jenny”.
That era also introduced us to Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, Chubby Checker, Bo Diddley, Little Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and one of my favorites….“The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” and “The Godfather,” James Brown.
Now I purposely left one early rock star out: Fats Domino.
I met him years ago at an L-K restaurant when his entourage was heading home after a concert in Columbus, Ohio, in the wee small hours of a Saturday morning. The minute he walked in with his band and singers, I knew it was Fats. So, I screwed up enough courage to go over to his table and introduce myself. I called him Mr. Domino and he said, “Nice to meet you…and it’s ‘Fats,’ not Mr. Domino.”
The man had enough rings on his hands to start a small jewelry business.
That’s my brush with fame. Today, there be an annoying, staged Facebook photo to back up my story.
There was also the rockabilly”influence in the mid-’50s with Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and even Johnny Cash.
And doo-wop spiced up the era as well. Growing up in the big cities in the ‘40s and harmonizing on street corners and around burn barrels, these doo-woppers rolled through the ‘50s and into the ‘60s with tight harmonies and minimal instruments.
Just to scratch the surface, artists included: Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Del-Vikings, The Jarmels, The Platters, The Tokens, The Marcels, and Dion and the Belmonts.
One of my youthful faves was “Little Darling” by The Diamonds in 1957.
So we’ve established a start and potential finish line to for this talk about the top rock ‘n’ roll acts of all time.
I mentioned earlier that Elvis logged 10 No. 1 hits from 1950 to 1958. He added seven more from 1958-1969.
With the British Invasion of the ‘60s, the Beatles logged 18 No. 1 hits while Motown’s The Supremes collected a dozen from 1958 to 1969.
In the ‘70s, top dog with No. 1 hits was the Bee Gees (nine) and Elton John (six). Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Wings, and the Eagles each had five while The Jackson 5 and Diana Ross (minus The Supremes) logged four each.
In the ‘80s, Michael Jackson (without his brothers) led the way with nine No. 1 hits. Madonna, Whitney Houston and Phil Collins all had seven.
I went to additional sources to determine the top rock dog.
According to Wall Street.com, 24/7 Tempo, using Spotify, Facebook, Ranker, and Billboard 200 charts, here’s what I found.
The top 10 bands were: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elvis, Guns & Roses, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Queen and U-2.
The top 10 singers? James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sam Cooke, Elvis, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
I’m still carrying a torch for Neil Sedaka. He should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That Lou Reed getting in before he did is a crime.
Just one man’s opinion. As is most of this article.
Did we answer the initial question?
Probably not, but I just wanted to get your memory banks bubbling.
John Foster anchors ‘All-News-in-the-Morning’ weekdays on 1010 WCSI-AM and 98.1 FM. You can read his weekly blog at johnnyonthespot1950.com and monthly in The Republic. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
