Ten Greatest Rock Bands of All Time

There have been a multitude of rock bands, of course, many of them spectacular. Who can pick the best? What the heck, I'll try. I've been around for awhile, since all the oldest bands on the list have been in existence - say, 1962. The list only includes bands whose forte is good ol' rock ‘n' roll. No players of blues, rhythm and blues, funk, soul, folk, hip-hop - much less jazz or other dissimilar genres - are included on this list. Moreover, all of these bands has (or had) a distinctive sound that few can imitate, dare they try. All of the bands were together for years - or decades or still perform - and made an indelible mark on the world of rock ‘n' roll. (Please watch the videos below the text.)

1. What more can anybody say about The Beatles? John, Paul, George and Ringo became household names back in 1964 - in the UK and USA, at least. Soon they became known as the Fabulous Four or Fab Four. By the late 1960s many people thought they were sent here to save the world. Fancy that notion, eh? Perhaps their best album, Revolver, was VH1's pick for best album of all time. Back in1967, during the psychedelic era, many of us marveled at their enigmatic, post-acid lyrics. Some examples were: "The walrus was Paul . . . Lucy in the sky with diamonds . . . When ignorance and haste may mourn the dead." Yeah, right, gimme a hit! Then that Japanese artist chick Yoko Ono broke them up. Or did she? We'll probably never see their like again. But people must try to bring them back in some fashion. Currently, the Cirque du Soleil production of Love in Las Vegas is a musical production based on the Beatles' music. Hey, Strawberry Fields Forever!

2. I'll never forget listening to the first album by Led Zeppelin. This was truly incredible music! I'd never heard anything like Jimmy Page's searing, hyperkinetic guitar slinging or Robert Plant's otherworldly screaming, chanting and howling (the other musicians were decidedly above average as well). The lead riff from the song "Dazed and Confused" is forever implanted in my gray matter. And the Zep didn't let me down for the next 12 years, until 1980 when drummer John Bonham died and the band broke up -for awhile. Now they're playing and touring again with Bonham's son Jason banging the skins. Are we blessed or what?

3. The San Francisco Bay Area of the middle 1960s spawned The Grateful Dead, whose eclectic, folk/acid rock sound heralded a counterculture movement that continues to this day. I remember their first album too, particularly the 10-minute jam titled "Viola Lee Blues." Such long songs were becoming the rage. Of course, the Grateful Dead became famous for such extemporaneous marathons. The lead cut on the album, "The Golden Road," has a flower power bounce that I've always loved, though the band shunned the tune (a little too commercial perhaps?), never playing it in concert. The band's only Top 10 single was "Touch of Grey," released in 1987. The Grateful Dead created a generation of followers known as the Deadheads, who followed the group as they toured around the country. Unfortunately this itinerate lifestyle for the Deadheads ended with the death of lead guitarist/singer Jerry Garcia in 1995. However, the Grateful Dead continues in some fashion to this day. Oh, yes, the Dead will always be with us!

4. 1n 1962 Brian Jones brought together the members of a rhythm and blues band that would become The Rolling Stones. Their list of classic albums is long: Out of Our Heads, Aftermath, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Mainstreet. Unfortunately, the band transmogrified after the death of guitarist/musicologist Brian Jones in July 1969. Some rock purists think the Rolling Stones were never as good afterwards. The Stones' sponsored Altamont bummer concert in December 1969, where a Hell's Angel stabbed a black man to death, may not have helped their group psyche as well. Be that as it may, about this time, the band began trumpeting themselves as the greatest rock ‘n' roll band in the world. Evidence of this could be their live album Flashpoint, released in 1991. Rock never sounded so good. At any rate, their longevity certainly speaks for itself. They ought to be touring again any day now . . . .

5. Reputedly, blues guitarist's Eric Clapton's jaw dropped when he heard Jimi Hendrix play Howlin Wolf's "Killing Floor." I'll bet many jaws went south when The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the eponymous power trio, hit the music scene in the UK in early 1966. The group lasted only four years or so, changing bass players and drummers a time or two (Mitch Mitchell was the drummer on all albums except Band of Gypsies, on which Buddy Miles - recently deceased - played drums and sang vocals.) But the band's leader, Jimi Hendrix, quickly established himself as the most explosive and inventive guitarist around and to this day is often considered the greatest rock guitarist of all time. (Rolling Stone magazine voted him as such in 2003.) Perhaps the band's greatest songs were "Purple Haze," "Foxy Lady," "All Along the Watchtower" and "Machine Gun." In the fall of 1970, Hendrix was planning on recording an album with jazz great Miles Davis. Wouldn't that have been incredible?! Unfortunately, the band's stardom was cut short by the death of Jimi Hendrix in September 1970. Well, to use an astronomical metaphor - appropriate somehow - blue giant stars, because they're so enormous, burn out in a relatively quick and spectacular fashion, ending with a cataclysmic explosion known as a super nova. Yes, they go - BOOM! Alas, poor Jimi did likewise.

6. U2 seems to be one of the most popular musical acts in the world - and a band with a social conscience. One of their first songs, 1983's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," commemorated the slaughter of civilians during upheavals in IRA-embattled Ireland. The band was also prominent at the Live-Aid (for Africa) concerts in 1985. Bono, the lead singer of the group, remains a social activist on the world scene, visiting trouble spots with the regularity of a United Nations ambassador. Of course, U2 has written ballads too, perhaps most prominently "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," featured on their album Joshua Tree, rated number 15 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time, compiled in 2001. If any rock group lasts as long - or even longer - than the Rolling Stones, it may be U2.

7. No American rock band has won more awards and honors and sold more albums than Aerosmith. Formed in the early 1970s, this Boston-based band developed a sharp rock cutting edge that rivaled that of other hard rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC, though some critics considered them nothing more than a poor man's Rolling Stones. Perhaps the band's greatest hit was "Walk This Way," covered by numerous groups, including the hip-hop band Run D.M.C. But it has been a bumpy ride for these guys. By the middle 1980s virtually every band member ended up in drug rehab, and the band didn't rebound until every member swore off the contraband by the end of the decade. Aerosmith is still touring and recording. As for rock longevity, only the Rolling Stones top these aging, though potent, rockers.

8. Another San Francisco Bay Area group that made it big, Santana started as the Santana Blues Band, led by guitarist Carlos Santana. The band's Latin-flavored rock ‘n' roll became a quick sensation in San Francisco's concert scene. The band became famous before the release of its first album by playing at Woodstock in August 1969. Their top-grossing albums were Abraxas in 1970 and, in 1999, Supernatural, something of a comeback effort after many years of low record sales and no recording contract. Santana has undergone numerous personnel changes over the years, but Carlos Santana certainly hasn't retired to the old folks' home. He's recorded and toured with such notables as Buddy Miles, John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Alice Coltrane, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, Vernon Reid and Eric Clapton. Not bad for a guy who washed dishes before forming one of the greatest rock bands of all time!

9. A multitude of rock fans fell in love with the first album by the Seattle grunge band Pearl Jam. Ten, released in 1991, is certainly one of the greatest rock albums of all time. VH1 listed it as number 79 on the list of 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time. (Way too low, don't you think?) Members of Pearl Jam thought enough of their fans to sue Ticketmaster because they thought it was charging too much for tickets to their concerts (they wanted to keep the price below $20 per ticket). Unfortunately, the band lost the lawsuit. After many changes in personnel over the years - though lead singer Eddie Vedder remains the group's main man - the band continues touring and cutting albums. Moreover, many of their performances have been recorded and released on CDs (bootlegs of such are available too).

10. The Allman Brothers Band became a sensation after the release of the live album At Fillmore East in 1971, their blues-tinged rock sound most evident on the masterpiece "Whipping Post." But just months after the album's release lead guitarist Duane Allman (only 24) died in a motorcycle accident. Then, only a year later, bassist Berry Oakley also died in a bike crash. Such catastrophic losses could have destroyed many groups, but the band soldiered on with keyboardist/singer Gregg Allman, the surviving Allman brother, and Dickey Betts on lead guitar. (Betts has been nicknamed Mr. Clean, because of his precise, unadulterated phrasing.) Also, the band developed a new twangy, Southern rock style. Primary examples of this new sound were the mega radio hit "Ramblin' Man" and the Dickey Betts' composition, "Jessica," an instrumental. Then, during the early to middle 1980s the band essentially disappeared, or perhaps went on hiatus. Drug burn-out probably played a part. In 1989 the band reunited, adding lead guitarist Warren Haynes to the ensemble, and Gregg Allman's soulful singing was never better. At present, the Allman Brothers Band is a group of vintage rockers with considerable stature.

I hope at least some of you rockers agree with my list. Let me know what you think of it. Please check out the videos below. May all your licks be awesome!