Greatest California Rock Band of All Time?

Greatest California Rock Band of All Time?


  • Total voters
    33
To me, The Beach Boys ARE California. I like The Eagles, CCR and Van Halen better, but that wasn't the question. Agree with Race, but it's about California.
 
To me, The Beach Boys ARE California. I like The Eagles, CCR and Van Halen better, but that wasn't the question. Agree with Race, but it's about California.

Beach Boys are the most influential act on this list. I voted with my heart though.
 
The Beach Boys and the splinter groups are still going strong too.
 
For me, Eagles combined the harmonies of The Beach Boys with the country / bluegrass influence of the Byrds, and wrote songs about 70's California. In the 70's, The Beach Boys were an oldies afterthought to a 15-16 year old (me), and as far as I knew (then), the Byrds had two songs. IFL both of them now (have for decades), but neither made me dream of moving to the Hotel California, bagging chicks, and living Life in the Fast Lane...the Eagles did.
 
VH from 78-84 was the American version of Led Zeppelin. Something we will probably never see again.

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Only if you're willing to demean metal by categorizing it as rock.

One of the reasons I didn't vote Metallica. The other being Eddie mother fucking Van Halen. Fuck this board and it's lack of respect for VH.
 
I still really like Green Day but they don't scream California. The Beach Boys still do.
 
The Beach Boys and it's not even close.

It's complicated with the Beach Boys.

In many respects they are the most influential and important group in this list. No offense to my hatchet packer BFF @Swaye .

They were really the first self contained rock group to write their own songs who make it big in the US (pre-dating the Beatles by a bit). And they were the only US group to challenge the Beatles artistically speaking, albeit for a very brief period in 1966.

But, alas, their hey day was relatively short (i.e., 1963- 66) and they collapsed right as the classic rock era kicked off. Imagine the Beach Boys is Mike Love wasn't a square. The Beatles had two genius songwriters who weren't mentally weak. The Beach Boys had one who was a full on headcase.
 
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