We see them all the time, top 10...top 50...top 100 lists, etc.
So what's different about this top 100 list? It was compiled by a panel of 55 musicians, writers, and industry executives. Each of the artists had an short essay written by one of their peers. There was everyone from Booker T and the MG's (who I had honestly never heard of) to Nine inch Nails; from The Temptations to Queen; from Elvis Presley to The Grateful Dead. It covered all bases, genres, tastes and (sorry) lack of taste. Here are a few of the highlights:
Between 100 - 81:
#90 Carlos Santana, essay by Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys.
"He's a pioneer of Latin rock & roll: His music was something new, but it was intertwined with everything else that was out there at the time — Sixties rock, Latin jazz and more.... Carlos isn't the lead singer, but he is the maestro."
#88 Jay-Z, essay by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.
"Jay-Z...was (and continues to be) an exceedingly rare combination of intelligence, weirdness, seriousness and pop appeal." "Jay-Z has, by far, been the most artful and exciting musician to consistently make hits, and I mean real hits — Top 10 singles deep into his career, like "Empire State of Mind." How many artists make it 15 years without embarrassing themselves, let alone while maintaining their relevancy?"
Between 80 - 61:
#79 The Four Tops, essay by Smokey Robinson.
"They could sing like a gospel group but then do R&B like no one else. I love singers whom you can identify the first second they open their mouth, and Levi Stubbs is one of those; he's one of the greatest of all time.
#71 Frank Zappa, essay by Trey Anastasio of Phish. This is the most unusual entry on the list. I remember listening to "Broken Hearts are for Assholes" with my girlfriends in high school. But on to what Trey had to say.
"I think he was the best electric-guitar player, other than Jimi Hendrix. Zappa conceptualized the instrument in a completely different way, rhythmically and sonically. Every boundary that was possible on the guitar was examined by him."
#65 The Kinks, essay by Peter Buck, lead guitarist of R.E.M.
"The Kinks are the only major band from the Sixties I can think of that didn't go psychedelic, didn't do any of that crap that all of the other big bands did at the time." "I am amazed at how great the Kinks' records sounded — even though, when you listen closely, there is very little going on in them."
Between 60 - 41:
#59 Aerosmith, essay by Slash from Guns 'n Roses.
"My big awakening happened when I was 14 years old. I'd...listened to Aerosmith's Rocks. It hit me like a (expletive) ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over... I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed forever. Now I identified with something."
#46 Janis Joplin, essay by Roseanne Cash.
"She had an unshakable commitment to her own truth, no matter how destructive, how weird or how bad. Nothing else seemed to matter. She was such an individual in the way she dressed, the way she sang, the way she lived. She loved her whiskey and made no bones about it. This was a full-blown one-of-a-kind woman — no stylist, no publicist, no image-maker."
#42 Van Morrison, essay by Peter Wolf of The J. Geils Band.
"We were in the midst of rehearsing one day, getting ready to open for the great bluesman Howlin' Wolf, when something caught my eye, and I looked over to see a stranger looming in the doorway. I had no idea who he was or what he was doing there, so I went over to find out what he wanted...Despite the recent Top 40 success of his song "Brown Eyed Girl," he'd been having difficulty establishing his identity as a solo artist."
Between 40 - 21:
#39 David Bowie, essay by Lou Reed.
"There had been androgyny in rock from Little Richard on up, but David put his own patina on it, to say the least. He bethought hard about that Ziggy character; he'd been studying mime, and he didn't do it just for laughs. He was very aware of stagecraft. He made an entire show out of that character — and then he left it behind. How smart can you get?"
#30 Nirvana, essay by Iggy Pop.
"You could smell the talent on Kurt Cobain. He had this sort of elfin delivery, but it was not naval gazing. He was jumping around and throwing himself into every number. He'd sort of hunch over his guitar like an evil little troll, but you heard this throaty power in his voice. At the end of the set he tossed himself into the drums. It was one of maybe 15 performances I've seen where rock & roll is very, very good."
#25 Fats Domino, essay by Dr John
"Fats is old school to the max — he loved to work the house, do looooong shows and push the piano across the stage with his belly. That innocence is there in his music. He's a good man, and people respond to that goodness. I don't think it was about anything other than the tradition of working the house and what felt good to Fats."
Between 20 -1:
#14 Led Zepplin, essay by Dave Grohl.
"Led Zeppelin were more than just a band — they were the perfect combination of the most intense elements: passion and mystery and expertise. It always seemed like Led Zeppelin were searching for something. They weren't content being in one place, and they were always trying something new. They could do anything, and I believe they would have done everything if they hadn't been cut short by John Bonham's death."
#11 Bob Marley, essay by Wyclef Jean of the Fugees.
"...it's hard to compare him to other musicians, because music was just one part of what he was. He was also a humanitarian and a revolutionary. His impact on Jamaican politics was so strong, there was an assassination attempt on his life. "Redemption Song" transcends time. "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/ None but ourselves can free our minds/Have no fear for atomic energy/'Cause none of them can stop the time." It will mean the same thing in the year 3014. Today, people struggle to find what's real."
The top 5 are:
#5 Chuck Berry (essay by Joe Perry)
#4 The Rolling Stones (essay by Steven Van Zant)
#3 Elvis Presley (essay by Bono)
#2 Bob Dylan (essay by Robbie Robertson)
and #1 The Beatles, essay by Elvis Costello.
"John Lennon and Paul McCartney were exceptional songwriters; McCartney was, and is, a truly virtuoso musician; George Harrison wasn't the kind of guitar player who tore off wild, unpredictable solos, but you can sing the melodies of nearly all of his breaks. Most important, they always fit right into the arrangement. Ringo Starr played the drums with an incredibly unique feel that nobody can really copy, although many fine drummers have tried and failed. Most of all, John and Paul were fantastic singers."
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