Who was better?

[Preacher]

Dang...

I gotta say Elvis... But that is because I have always had a seriously nasty taste in my mouth for John Lennon.

However, personally, I gotta put Led Zeppelin above both, Elvis took from the popular black music and the Beatles almost perfected an already known type.

Zepplin took blues and classical, and created what has evolved into modern day hard rock and metal. Heck, they did some things that were 20 to 30 years ahead of thier time.

Though in honesty, all three are absolute top. I can only think of one or two others (in thier own respective genres) that could be put with these...

Glen Miller band (Big band\swing)
Metallica (First fusion of rockmetal\punk)

Individually, I would have to also put B.B. King in there, but he falls in the same category as the Beatles, almost perfecting an already known type.

What is interesting, is every band or person listed above has survived a major shift in the music culture and stayed above ground... though for Elvis, some could argue that it was shaky.

[Stlrs4Life]

Elvis, but I would be biased cause he was my favorite growing up. Suspicious Minds would also be my favorite.

[GBMelBlount]

Preach,

Love the "Zep"

Bless.

[Godfather]

Elvis was the best solo act in rock and roll. Led Zep was the best band.

And Louis Armstrong is the best American musician ever.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by PisnNapalm

The Monkees

Sorry, never heard of them...
how about the Doors? or ZZ Top or Loverboy or 38 Special?..oops... got excited there for a moment..

[Mosca]

Tough call. I listen to more Beatles than I do Elvis, but I love the Elvis that I listen to as much as I do the Beatles. The Beatles burned more brightly, but Elvis' career was longer.

I'll give my nod to The Beatles, but they would never have existed if it hadn't been for Elvis. My favorite Beatles period is the Help!/Rubber Soul/Revolver trilogy. Sgt Pepper was the beginning of the end, although it didn't seem like it at the time; but even such amazing albums as Abbey Road have dreck like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Octopus's Garden".

Tom

[steelpinstripe72]

If I have to choose between Elvis and The Beatles, I'd take The Beatles any day. But beyond that, I have two words: Pink. Floyd. My top five Floyd songs (as of right now, in no particular order):

-Us and Them
-Echoes
-Learning to Fly
-See Emily Play
-Cirrus Minor

[pitt]

ELVIS......ELVIS......ELVIS.....ELVIS......ELVIS.. ......ELVIS.......ELVIS

[Buzz05]

Originally Posted by Preacher

However, personally, I gotta put Led Zeppelin above both, Elvis took from the popular black music and the Beatles almost perfected an already known type.

Zepplin took blues and classical, and created what has evolved into modern day hard rock and metal. Heck, they did some things that were 20 to 30 years ahead of thier time.

Though in honesty, all three are absolute top. I can only think of one or two others (in thier own respective genres) that could be put with these...

Glen Miller band (Big band\swing)
Metallica (First fusion of rockmetal\punk)

Individually, I would have to also put B.B. King in there, but he falls in the same category as the Beatles, almost perfecting an already known type.

What is interesting, is every band or person listed above has survived a major shift in the music culture and stayed above ground... though for Elvis, some could argue that it was shaky.

Preach on!

Led Zepplin was by far the most influencial band in terms of rock and roll. Their sound is still heard today in how bands play their music. Swan Song, Ramble On, Stairway, and Black Dog are absolute classics I would put on the top of any list.

Maybe its because I am too young to ever get into the beatles, but I just dont care for them. Other then Strawberry fields forever I dont care for their music.
They did have a huge influence in American pop culture but Zepplin was a culture all on theire own. The only other band that I can see having the influence of Zepplin would be Black Sabbath with their dreary and almost scary sound.

[Mosca]

Originally Posted by Preacher

Though in honesty, all three are absolute top. I can only think of one or two others (in thier own respective genres) that could be put with these...

Glen Miller band (Big band\swing)
Metallica (First fusion of rockmetal\punk)

With the understanding that it's all preference anyhow, and de gustibus non disputandum est,

You have Basie, Ellington, Goodman, Shaw, the Dorseys, and you picked Glenn Miller? There's no denying the appeal of "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "String of Pearls", but there's no denying the appeal of "Daydream Believer" either. That was Glenn Miller's place during his era, not as an innovator but as an adaptor and popularizer. Just like there is no denying the lasting appeal of the Monkees' brand of pop, there's no denying the appeal of Glenn Miller's; but his legacy was built on the riffs of Basie, Ellington, Goodman, et al. If you had to make the Elvis/Beatles comparison from that era, you would have to say it was Benny Goodman taking the Elvis role as bringing black music to the white audience (and forming the first interracial combo, the Benny Goodman Quartet with Lionel Hampton) and Duke Ellington as the man who took the genre and transformed it with his genius. For every Glenn Miller number you can name that has entered the corpus, I can name you three Duke Ellington compositions that you would say, "Oh, I didn't know that was his."

Satin Doll
Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Caravan
Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Mood Indigo
Ring Dem Bells
Rockin' In Rhythm
Sophisticated Lady
Take The "A" Train
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Things Ain't What They Used To Be

If you don't recognize the titles, I guarantee you that if you heard the melody you would be able to hum along with it; you know these tunes. I can understand PREFERRING Glenn Miller to the others; Miller's band was smooth as a milkshake and tight as all heck. But in no way was he like the Elvis or Beatles of the swing era.


Giving Metallica all due respect as the better band and bigger success, I'd say the FIRST fusion of punk & metal was Mot?rhead. From allmusic: "Mot?rhead wasn't punk rock -- they formed before the Sex Pistols and they loved the hell-for-leather imagery of bikers too much to conform with the safety-pinned, ripped T-shirts of punk -- but they were the first metal band to harness that energy and, in the process, they created speed metal and thrash metal." It was never a genre I could get into, I got old a little before Metallica got popular. But I did want to give Mot?rhead their due!


Tom,
who enjoys a musical argument as much as any other!