America or England

[klunderbunker]

Simple question really. Who has done more for Rock and Roll?

To me, this is not even close. Without the British, we would be without two bands known as the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. The Stones are just great rock musicians. They established the rock lifestyle, as well as have put out several of the greatest songs of all time. Then the Beatles are easily the most influential rock band ever, bar none. Throw in bands like Queen, and there is no doubt that England has done far more than America has for Rock and Roll.

Your thoughts?

 

[The Bearded One]

As hard as it is for me to say it, its the British. They gave the world the Beatles, and that alone would be enough to put them on top. But no, they had to give the world the Rolling Stones as well. If there was any doubt before, then that just crushes it. If those two bands never existed, rock music would not be the same as it is today. So the British pretty much made rock music.

 

[LigerBomb]

So the British pretty much made rock music.

Not even remotely true...

You do remember that Rock and Roll was created in America right? And that -like almost all bands in the UK at the time- the Stones n' Beatles where influenced extensively by said American acts and artists. Berry, Diddley, Holly, Haley, Little Richard, Elvis, Cash etc. as well as earlier blues acts that directly influenced them as well. Both groups have even said as much.

 

[Richard]

Without a shadow of a doubt, it has to be America.

Yes, KB, England did give us those bands, but America gave the world the 'king' of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley who, in my opinion, set the path for future Rock acts.

One other band who lots of bands I listen to also attribute American punk band, The Misfits as one of their major influence. The Misfits paved the path for not only punk bands but lots of different rock acts. They have been covered many times, wether it be by My Chemical Romance or even Metallica.

So, England was influential, but just not as influential as America.

 

[Harthan]

This is a toughy. We have to go to the roots of rock & roll, which goes past the Stones, the Beatles, Elvis...go back to guys like Roy Brown and all the other blues and gospel singers of the '40s. These guys, most of them African American, started the whole movement. They brought blues, gospel, and the other assorted bits and pieces together into the early form of rock & roll. Then take Wynonie Harris cover of Roy Brown's song, "Good Rocking Tonight", which probably was the first real rock song. Or "Rock Around the Clock", if you like (it was more commercially successful).

Now, of course, enters the King. "That's All Right", the '54 single, was a major influence into rock & roll, and all he did for the rockabilly style that furthered the music so much. I don't really need to list out what the King did, that should be clear. The world's first true rocker, and a major influence.

America also innovated a lot into the use of the electric guitar, i.e., Link Ray and Scotty Moore, not to mention the legendary Les Paul.

Now, America undoubtedly started it. But, Britain took it to a whole 'nother level. Blues music from America emigrating into Britain brought on the rise of skiffle music and the Quarry Men (later known, of course, as the Beatles). The other great thing about Britain was that there wasn't the racial separation of the music that you got in America. Cliff Richard's ushers in mainstream British Rock with "Move It", although British rock quickly devolved into pop and ballads. But in the clubs, groups were reinventing things, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were taking over.

And then it was 1964, and the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, sparking the Invasion. British rock was taking over America. Not long after, psychedelic rock came into play, and Britain threw out Pink Floyd and Cream as the US countered with the Beach Boys and Hendrix. Progressive rock comes on largely spurred by Britain, the Beatles and Pink Floyd two major innovators there.

Enter hard rock, equally spurred by America and Britain. America's major contributions include Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, and Van Halen, while Britain has heavy hitters in Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, Judas Priest, the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and the Blue Oyster Cult. Our cousins Australia and Canada send out AC/DC and Rush, but we have to ignore them for this conversation (unless you're willing to mark them down for America, as most of their fame was there). So clearly, Britain is throwing out way more for the hard rock revolution here. But don't worry, ladies and gentleman, because America is about to unleash four of the biggest players of all time. Slayer, Megadeath, Anthrax, and Metallica. Yeah, America just evened the playing field. No denying that these four reinvented heavy metal.

Let's take a brief look at arena rock, an evolution that set the precedent for the enormous rock shows of today. Here's an odd section where America completely dominates. Our natural showmanship, I guess. Boston, Styx, Foreigner, Journey, Kansas, Heart, REO Speedwagon, Bon Jovi, and more. I think bonus points go to America for "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto".

Punk rock is the next major evolution, with rockers on both sides of the pond. The Clash (as you can tell, a personal favorite), Chelsea, the Sex Pistols, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, you got a lot from Britain here. Of course, America could almost answer all of them with one, the Ramones. The Ramones are possibly the fathers of all punk. Late 70's American innovations on the West Coast include the Dead Kennedys, Fear, and Black Flag. Hardcore punk evolves here, mostly an American business. Minor Threat, Black Flag, Bad Brains lead an underground movement of hardcore.

Now the New Wave of British Heavy Metal comes in, and includes major heavy hitters Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Glam metal comes in, American mostly, Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P., Ratt, Poison, Quiet Riot, Kiss, Twisted Sister, and Guns N Roses. Big points for US there.

I could probably go on, but here we enter the "modern" period of rock where things are still playing out, really. There's big stuff going on on both sides of the pond right now, but I don't think anything has been around long enough in the last 15 years that has changed rock on a massive scale. Lots of subgenres, etc., but not a mainstream revolution so much.

So.

America invented rock. Round 1 to America.
America spawns Elvis. Round 2 to America.
America popularizes the electric guitar. Round 3 to America.
Britain spawns the Beatles. Round 4 to Britain.
Britain spawns the Rolling Stones. Round 5 to Britain.
British Invasion. Round 6 to Britain.
Hard rock. Very hard to call, but Round 7 to Britain
The Thrash Four. Round 8 to America.
Arena Rock. Round 9 to America.
Punk Rock. Another one super hard to call, comes down mostly to the Ramones versus the Sex Pistols. Probably out of bias towards the Clash, Round 10 to Britain.
The Hardcore underground movement. Round 11 to America.
New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Round 12 to Britain.
Glam Metal. Round 13 to America.

Total it up, and America has one round over Britain. Both countries have innovated so much to rock, and the evolution of it has been shared by both. Only by a marginal lead does America come out over Britain here, and it could easily be debated that another point could be added to Britain here, or one taken away from America there. But that's what I say.