Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

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StevieFan13
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Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

I don't think it'd be impossible, but considering how many different kinds of music the USA has created/inspired, how big it is, and whatnot, it'd be harder to nail down than the region-specific lists for Canada, Australia, the UK, etc.
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andyd1010
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by andyd1010 »

These all exist on the main page of AM under Countries on the left side.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

andyd1010 wrote:These all exist on the main page of AM under Countries on the left side.
Well, yeah, of course. But I meant like a more thought-out list, as opposed to just an aggregate.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by Nassim »

If you can make a best songs/albums from the whole world list, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to narrow it to the USA.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

Given that, here are some thoughts I have for songs that should go on a list of best American songs. Again, for now, it's one song per artist

Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five | West End Blues | 1928
Chuck Berry | Johnny B. Goode | 1957
James Brown | Papa's Got a Brand New Bag | 1965
Tracy Chapman | Fast Car | 1987
The Doors | Riders on the Storm | 1971
Dr. Dre | Nuthin' but a "G" Thang | 1992
Eminem | The Real Slim Shady | 2000
Aretha Franklin | Respect | 1967
Marvin Gaye | I Heard It Through the Grapevine | 1968
Michael Jackson | Beat It | 1982
Jay Z feat. Alicia Keys | Empire State of Mind | 2009
Billy Joel | And So It Goes | 1989
Robert Johnson | Hellhound on My Tail | 1936
B.B. King | The Thrill is Gone | 1969
Carole King | It's Too Late | 1971
Little Richard | Tutti Frutti | 1955
Madonna | Like a Virgin | 1984
Metallica | One | 1988
MGMT | Time to Pretend | 2007
Nirvana | Smells Like Teen Spirit | 1991
Dolly Parton | Jolene | 1971
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | American Girl | 1976
Elvis Presley | Heartbreak Hotel | 1956
Prince and the Revolution | Purple Rain | 1984
Otis Redding | Try a Little Tenderness | 1966
R.E.M. | Driver 8 | 1985
Sleater-Kinney | You're No Rock 'N Roll Fun | 2000
Bruce Springsteen | Born to Run | 1975
The Sugarhill Gang | Rapper's Delight | 1979
Big Mama Thornton | Hound Dog | 1952
The Walker Family | Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) | 1937
Dionne Warwick | Walk On By | 1964
The White Stripes | Seven Nation Army | 2003
ZZ Top | Gimme All Your Lovin' | 1983

Of course, it isn't even scratching the surface, but it's a start.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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andyd1010
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by andyd1010 »

Plenty of good selections here, but some puzzling omissions too.

No Bob Dylan, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles or Simon & Garfunkel? Your own favorite song by your profile's namesake doesn't even make the cut?
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

andyd1010 wrote:Plenty of good selections here, but some puzzling omissions too.

No Bob Dylan, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles or Simon & Garfunkel? Your own favorite song by your profile's namesake doesn't even make the cut?
This, of course, is only a start. I've already thought to include Like a Rolling Stone, California Girls, All Along the Watchtower, The Boxer, Georgia on My Mind, and Superstition. I have a more organized plan for this that I'll elaborate on later.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

I'm thinking of separating these by genre. Which songs represent which artists (and how many per genre) is another question, but I'm thinking:
Blues
Traditional/Regional
Jazz
Folk
Early Rock
Classic Rock
R&B/Soul
Pop
Alt Rock/Indie
Hip-Hop
Country
Hard Rock/Metal
Other
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by Jirin »

Such a large amount of the most acclaimed artists are American, an American list would read so much like just the all time list sans Britpop, for it to be interesting I think it'd have to be a list of songs most crucial to American identity rather than just a list of great songs sung by Americans.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by Harold »

I keep thinking about Greil Marcus' entry on Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica in the personal-history-of-rock-and-roll "Treasure Island" appendix in the book Stranded:

"As unique and true a vision of America as rock and roll has produced, but I know one person who blames a kidney stone attack on it."
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

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Jirin wrote:Such a large amount of the most acclaimed artists are American, an American list would read so much like just the all time list sans Britpop, for it to be interesting I think it'd have to be a list of songs most crucial to American identity rather than just a list of great songs sung by Americans.
I was thinking about that. Just like upcoming "women-in-music" list, great music that just happens to be by Americans is bound to show up, but an emphasis on distinctly American genres (blues, jazz) or artists is what I'm going for, or for specifically American issues.
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

I just found a good list to use as reference:
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

I didn't even think to include more famous historic songs like America the Beautiful or Oh! Susanna. Some of these could help a great deal.
Of course, I'd probably leave out British Invasion songs like She Loves You. And is it just me, or would Strangers in the Night not even be my 25th pick for the best song of 1966, not even from America? (We're talking California Dreamin', Summer in the City, Just Like a Woman, Good Vibrations, 96 Tears...).
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Re: Can there ever be a Best USA Songs/Albums list?

Post by StevieFan13 »

And then the part with Smells Like Teen Spirit opens with a clip from a Green Day video...
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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