Greatest Rock and Roll City

[BurtWorm]

[RememberJohn]

1. Macon, Georgia and Athens, Georgia...

Macon: Allmann Bros. Band, Little Richard, Otis Redding, more...
Athens: REM, more...

Even Atlanta has become a mecca for R&B artists...

[Capn Sunshine]

2. Mussel Shoals, Abalamba

Only because of the great Studios there.
Damn scary ride getting there though
"ever been in trouble before now, boy?"

[ForrestGump]

3. Memphis!

It started there, really.

Elvis

Carl Perkins
Johnny Cash
Jerry Lee Lewis
Roy Orbison
Otis Redding
Booker T and the MGs
Neil Diamond (his Memphis Sessions were possibly his best.....ditto Dusty Springfield and others)


and more! (including a bazillion or so blues singers both pre- and post-rock'n'roll-explosion)

[BurtWorm]

6. I put Memphis in in place of Manchester

[ForrestGump]

7. *high five*

Stax, Sun and American Sound....

WC handy, too, but way before rock'n'roll

Um.....I hate to bring it up now, but....Liverpool? Not that the city was overloaded with truly influential performers that stood the test of time, but this one bunch of guys did pretty well. :-)

[BurtWorm]

8. Yeah, but should I kill New York or Seattle for Liverpool?

Why do they only give you ten friggin slots to make a poll?

[ForrestGump]

9. Omigod! BurtWorm killed Seattle!

[BurtWorm]

10. I feel so powerful

It's a shame too. Truth is, I probably should have taken Boston off, except I know there are a lot of Boston music scene partisans on this board.

[BurtWorm]

4. I only have a limited time to change the poll

Make your case for a city to replace one of the ones not getting votes. Should Memphis replace any of the above? Should Texas be represented? New Orleans?

[ForrestGump]

5. oo, boy....all of the above! Texas and Nawlins have had some biggies, too

[SOteric]

11. Seattle

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Gits, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, - and for you old school types, Heart & Steve Miller.

If I were to broaden the scope to music not classified as Rock, you'd see a much longer list of names.

[BurtWorm]

12. You just missed it, SOteric

Forrest Gump made me take it off and put Liverpool on instead.

[BurtWorm]

13. Okay, I put it back on

Seattle it is.

[SOteric]

14. That, -That, - That

Gump!

[BurtWorm]

15. My feelings exactly

Did you waste your vote on other? WOuld someone who doesn't care which is the greatest rock and roll city please vote for Seattle for SOteric?

[SOteric]

16. No, no... I held my vote until Seattle showed on the panel

thank you anyway!

[BurtWorm]

22. It's a good job I put Seattle back

It has more votes than New York.

[ForrestGump]

17. Whaaaattt?

Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis woman?

[SOteric]

18. Are you

not Gump??

[BurtWorm]

19. He is

Devo.

[ForrestGump]

21. And you are

devolved.

[ForrestGump]

20. I.....am..............Gump

Or maybe Kwai Chang Caine.....

Or William................Shat....ner..........

[SOteric]

24. You ....mean...that'sa

...rug?

[ForrestGump]

26. Phasers..............on.................

in the land of China, people got no hairpieces.....

Nope, I guess it's not Shatner.

[SOteric]

27. Cool, Forrest!

Isn't that you sitting next to a member of Paul McCartney's first back-up group?!

[ForrestGump]

28. That's right, a nice young man from England. He was one of the

Quarrymen.

[SOteric]

29. Uh...yeah...

whatever.

[ForrestGump]

31. The Quarrymen!

Circa 1957.......

[BurtWorm]

34. Are you sure that's not the Clash

circa 1978?

[SOteric]

36. Looks a little like

The Stray Cats, circa 1983.

[ForrestGump]

39. Palestinians.

I'm surrounded by Palestinians.

Oh, no.....that's not the word.......is it Phyllis Steinz?

[SOteric]

41. I think I met her at a party once.

A short woman, with a face like granite...

[ForrestGump]

38. Blasphemy!

Begone with your foul-newted tongue you wenchable windsor-spiker!

[SOteric]

40. Fine.

But I'll be taking my boobie-gifs, with me!

[BurtWorm]

30. Too bad they weren't from Seattle

or we all would have heard of them.

[ForrestGump]

32. Dude.......

But, yeah, it'd have been a lot easier for John to stay in the US.

[SOteric]

33. It' might not be Seattle...

it might just be that most of us aren't as .....old...as Forrest.

[ForrestGump]

43. I heard that.

Barely.

Through my horn.

My listening horn.

I'm no petrified Forrest. Why, just the other day........um......oh, yes.....just the other day I took my walker on a stroll down to the pond.....

[SOteric]

44. Oh..?

I'm no petrified Forrest.

Sorry to hear that, - maybe you should look a tumefacient?

[AntiCoup2K4]

23. Don't forget the best musician to ever come out of Seattle

And as for Steve Miller, he's actually a Texan, who began his musical career in San Francisco. But he did make his best albums in Seattle.

[LincolnMcGrath]

25. RockfordIL

Home/of/CheapTrick

[AngryWhiteDemocrat]

35. Easily Cleveland

If you've never been to a rock concert there, then you don't know why the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is placed there.

It's an amazing city for music.

I once saw an 8-hour George Clinton show there, and Bruce Springsteen, Chrissie Hynde and James Brown joined him on stage unannounced. (It was the weekend of the Concert For The Rock Hall)

[BurtWorm]

37. Pere Ubu's home town

That alone made me put it on the list. And wasn't Alan Freed from Cleveland?

[AngryWhiteDemocrat]

71. Yes, he was

[BurtWorm]

42. Why is Detroit getting more votes than New York?

Okay, so you got the Stooges, Detroit Cobras, and MC5. But you also got Ted :puke: Nugent.

New York: Velvet Underground, the Brill Building, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, Lou Reed, Blondie, Talking Heads, Richard Hell, Carol King, Paul Simon, the Ramones, Afrika Bambaata, hip hop, doo wop, and on and on and on.

[noonwitch]

46. You're forgetting a whole lot of Detroit bands

Motown-Diana Ross and the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Aretha, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, etc.

There's also Bob Seeger and Glenn Frye.

[BurtWorm]

50. Oh yeah

I'm not arguing against Detroit's being in the running. I'm just wondering where the hell are the NY boosters.

[5thGenDemocrat]

76. I voted for Detroit, of course

But Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw. There's a proposal to name a major street here in town (I hope Johnson -- it runs right past our civic center downtown and terminates in Steveland Morris' old neighborhood). He might even get a statue in front of the said center.
I applaud these moves -- after all, we're talking about Stevie.
Question Mark and the Mysterians ("96 Tears," a rock and roll classic) are also Saginawians (the band used to chase my buddy Mike B out of their yard on Howard Street when he was ten or so and trying to listen to the crazy Latino musicians down in the basement). And Polly (some of you know Polly), six years older than Mike B, went to school with Rudy (Q Mark).
John
Isham Jones (famous bandleader of the '20s and 30s, and Tinpan Alley composer Gerald Marks ("All of Me" and "After the Ball") were also Saginawians as was the late saxophonist Sonny Stitt.

[5thGenDemocrat]

77. I voted for Detroit, of course

But Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw. There's a proposal to name a major street here in town after him (I hope Johnson -- it runs right past our civic center downtown and terminates in Steveland Morris' old neighborhood). He might even get a statue in front of the said center.
I applaud these moves -- after all, we're talking about Stevie.
Question Mark and the Mysterians ("96 Tears," a rock and roll classic) are also Saginawians (the band used to chase my buddy Mike B out of their yard on Howard Street when he was ten or so and trying to listen to the crazy Latino musicians down in the basement). And Polly (some of you know Polly), six years older than Mike B, went to school with Rudy (Q Mark).
John
Isham Jones (famous bandleader of the '20s and 30s, and Tinpan Alley composer Gerald Marks ("All of Me" and "After the Ball") were also Saginawians as was the late saxophonist Sonny Stitt.

[XNASA]

55. Without even mentioning Motown......

Here's why:

Alice Cooper
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
The Chosen Few
MC5
Iggy & the Stooges
The Amboy Dukes
The White Stripes
Rare Earth
Wayne Kramer
Steve Hunter
Grand Funk
Marshall Crenshaw

and many others.

New York is too sophisticated to be consider a pure Rock n Roll city..

For straight ahead Rock & Roll, I think that Detroit has got everyone beat.

[catpower2000]

45. NO PHILADELPHIA???

This poll is worthless.

[BurtWorm]

49. Make a case for Philadelphia as Greatest Rock and Roll City

I dare you!

:P

[northernsoul]

47. Minneapolis aka Funkytown aka Erotic City

This is just off the top of my head:

Bob Dylan
The Trashmen
those folkie guys who did "Eve of Destruction" and "2424"
Lipps Incorporated (of "Funkytown" fame)
* PRINCE *
Morris Day and the Time (where hotshot producing duo of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis got their start)
Suicide Commandos
Husker Du / Bob Mould
The Replacements / Paul Westerberg
The Suburbs
Lori Anderson
Soul Asylum
The Jayhawks
Semisonic
Ten Cent Fun (not famous - but that was my band, dammit!)

and literally hundreds and hundreds more great artists that aren't springing to mind right now.

[BurtWorm]

52. Now that is a case well made

I wish there more slots. I'd have put Minneapolis, Chicago, New Orleans, Athens (GA), Manchester (UK), Phoenix, and even Salt Lake City (just to see if anyone bit). And Liverpool would have had its own slot.

[XNASA]

48. Detroit Rock City

Look, I'm from Chicago, but even I know that Detroit rocks harder than any other city.

Boston is second.

New York is third.

[Sirius_on]

73. White rap city as of late

nt

[GumboYaYa]

51. This poll has no credibility without New Orleans as a choice.

New Orleans is the breeding ground where rock n roll began. Many, many people consider Professor Longhair the founder of Rock n Roll.

There is no way to deny that rock draws on jazz and blues. New Orleans' importance in the development of both genres is well chronicled.

A tremendous number of the early stars of rock n roll either were native New Orleanians or moved there to record, including names like Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ray Charles, The Dixie Cups, and many many more. Run a search of Dave Bartholomew or Allen Touissant and you will be surprised at the vast number of hits that were produced in New Orleans.

New Orleans influence in music continued with bands like Little Feat, The Band, and John Mayhall and the Blues Breakers. All of these bands rely heavily on New Orleans musicians and New Orleans inspired music.

The Meters are considered one of the most important bands in the history of funk and now have become the inspiration for a whole new generation of jam bands.

Bob Dylan moved to New Orleans to be around the incredible array of musicians in the city. His last few albums have been recorded there, including Grammy winning "Time Out of Mind."

Norah Jones uses several New Orleans musicians on her most recent Grammy winning album.

New Orleans also has massive influence on popular music. Brittney Spears hails from a town North of New Orleans. Master P is a LA native and LL Cool J considers New Orleans a second home. The lead singer for Soul Asylum recently moved to New Orleans beacuse of the incredible amount of music in the city.

This is just a brief summary off the top of my head. I have forgotten more important musicians than most cities (including a few on the poll list) have to offer.

[BurtWorm]

53. You're absolutely right.

I wish I'd had more slots. I regretted not putting New Orleans on. But which city would you take off the above list? Maybe Boston.

[GumboYaYa]

54. I would put New Orleans above

Boston, Cleveland, Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, but thay is just my opinion. <ON EDIT> and Memphis. Memphis' greatest claim to fame was a boy from Tupelo, MS who got his start in Louisiana at the Hayride Kitchen (I'm not trying to belittle the many fine blues musicians from the city).

San Fran, England, and Detroit are hard to argue.

[BurtWorm]

56. The case for Memphis

goes beyond Elvis. Sam Phillips and Sun Records recorded Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carl Rogers, etc., etc., etc. And like New Orleans, Memphis was a cross-pollination zone between R&B and Country music. SO it really should be on there.

Other people have made the case for Seattle (Hendrix, Nirvana) and Cleveland (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame City).

New York is kind of like rock music's megaphone, as well as a breeding ground of styles: doo wop, the Brill Building sound, punk rock, glitter rock, hip hop. The Beatles stormed America from NY. John Lennon lived here and wrote songs about here (Yes, I'm from NY). Mick Jagger got all sleazy here. NY is being unfairly overlooked in this poll.

Oddly enough, I voted for Boston because I witnessed that lively scene (Boston is College Radio City) and bands like Mission of Burma, the Lyres, the Modern Lovers, the Cars, Willy Alexander, the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., the Neighborhoods, etc., etc., etc.

LA is another megaphone city, and home to a shitload of studio musicians. But on the plus side, you got Zappa, Captain Beefheart, LA punk, LA metal, the Strip, etc., etc., etc.

But I wish there'd been room for New orleans on the list.

[GumboYaYa]

59. There are cases to be made for many cities.

That is what makes this fun, but the bottom line is that without Congo Square in New Orleans there most likely would never be rock n roll.

All over America, European slave owners (mainly of British decent) prohibited slaves from playing drums or any of the other instruments brought from their native land. French colonists had a longer history with slavery, so New Orleans took a different approach to music. A place was designated (Congo Square) where every Sunday anyone who wanted could go and play music. The result was a hodge-podge of musicians and music that became the breeding ground for the roots of all American music. Without Congo Square, drums and rythmn-based music would not be as prevalent (and may not have ever existed) in America.

No city on your list can stake such a far-reaching claim to its influence on Rock music, as well as American music altogether.

[BurtWorm]

60. I should be ashamed of myself

I know about New Orleans place in the history of American popular music.

My question to you, though, is what has New Orleans done for rock lately? No doubt it did a lot for rock in the fifties, sixties and seventies. But what's going on with New Orleans' rock scene now?

[XNASA]

61. Don't be so hard on yourself.

The poll states "What is the Greatest Rock & Roll City" not, "Where was Rock Invented?".

I took you question to mean, "Which city rocks the most?", not "Which city has spawned the most rock bands?" or "Which city has spawned the greatest rock bands?"

Then there's the issue of should Motown, or R&B, or Pop be included in one's selection.

I've been on stages all over the country and I'll still stick with my selection. Detroit rocks more than any place.

(Although the best music city is my hometown, Chicago.)

[BurtWorm]

62. You're right. It's actually an ambiguous question

you're supposed to grok it, so to speak. I was thinking more along the lines of which of these cities breeds rock and roll, but I was also thinking which city says "rock and roll."

New York, you're right, has lost some of its rock and roll kick. Tight ass Giuliani did that to us.

[XNASA]

66. New York is too trendy to be a good R n R city.

There have been a lot of good bands from NYC, the Dolls come to mind. but my experience in NYC has always been that the fans are mostly interested in making the scene. The music always seemed secondary somehow. LA is like that too, only more laid back.

But those kids in Detroit, they're interested in rocking hard, and that's all they care about. Boston is also a good RnR city, and they have the bands and fans to back it up. Guess it's because there's so many college aged people there.

[BurtWorm]

69. I disagree about NYC music fans

A lot of people in New York leave, breathe, eat, sleep, shit rock and roll. There's a reason why there are so many great underground bands here. It's just that the rest of New York--Giuliani's NY with the forced smile--overshadows it.

[GumboYaYa]

63. In addition to the giant influence in

pop music (L.L. Cool J, Master P, Brittney), which I don't consider to be rock n roll, New Orleans has had a massive impact on the jam-band scene. Go to any jam-band festival and it is packed with New Orleans musicians. In addition many of these bands are playing music that originated in New Orleans. Bands are also finding a musical home in the city. Bands like Widespread Panic, North Mississippi All Stars, and the Allman Brothers have all adopted New Orleans as a second home. As I said before, the lead singer for Soul Asylum lives there now, same is true for Bob Dylan. Musicians may be born in other places and they may form bands in other places, but when they experience the music scene in New Orleans they stay there. If you don't know what I am talking about you need to experience it. Daniel Lanois uses New Orleans musicians almost exclusively in his work.

Some current New Orleans rock bands include The Radiators (one of only two rock bands conmtinuously playing for 25 years plus), The Subdudes, Cowboy Mouth, and Better than Ezra.

You can not turn on the radio and not hear a Meters tune being sampled by some hip-hop artist. I hear George Porter's bass riffs all the time embedded in some rap tune.

[BurtWorm]

64. I saw North Mississippi All-Stars here in NY

Luther Dickinson Jr.s band, right? They were so much harder and nastier than their name suggests. And he's among the very best, most at home on the fretboard guitarists I've ever seen or heard.

[GumboYaYa]

67. I am seeing them next Friday

together with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. I'm pumped for that show.

I have not seen them live yet. Yes, it is Luther Dickson Jr.'s band.

[GumboYaYa]

65. I agree with XNASA.

It is hard to narrow it down to a list of cities. That is the limitation of polls. I'm just defending my hometown, beacuse i think it is frequently overlooked for its massive contribution to American music.

I actually agree that Detroit is the greatest rock n roll city.

[Kazak]

57. Chicago

C'mon man, Tortiose...The Chicago underground scene is the best right now...IMHO...

[XNASA]

58. Shhhhh...........

You know it, and I know it, but don't let anyone in on our beautiful secret.

Let them all duke it out, we're still holding the aces.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

68. Cincinnati

Stop snickering!

This year the first Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Legacy Award (given to institutions and not performers) was presented to Cincinnati's King Records, which was the birthplace of many of the legendary blues and soul performers, including the Godfather of Soul and still the hardest-working man in show biz, James Brown. The King Records studios say the first recordings of "Fever" and "Sixty Minute Man." Syd Nathan, the founder of King Records, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

Born in Cincinnati:
Ronald Isley (Isley Brothers)
Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane)
Bootsy Collins (Fundakelic)


Living in Cincinnati:
Peter Frampton
Blessid Union of Souls
Over-The-Rhine

[BurtWorm]

70. Meanwhile, London/Liverpool steamrolls merrily along

[Cocoa]

72. Berwyn, IL

home of the Ides of March and Fitzgerald's nightclub.

[Throckmorton]

74. Bay City, Mich.

Home of the Bay City Rollers.

Im getting major wood just thinking of them.

[BurtWorm]

75. That's weird

I always thought they were from Scotland.