The AMWT's show in Los Angeles will feature performances from an odd pairing: headlining will be the sunny, clean-cut kings of SoCal surf rock, the Beach Boys. Opening for them, however, is a representative from L.A's seedy underbelly: Tom Waits.

The top 10 acts by votes were (points received in parentheses):


The Beach Boys (20)
Tom Waits (19)
X (10)
The Doors (9)
Beck (9)
Guns n' Roses (8)
Van Halen (7)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (6)
The Byrds (4)
Tim Buckley (4)

The set list for the show will be an eclectic mix of hard rock, punk rock, alt rock, surf rock, country rock and even a bit of gangsta rap. Here are your selections:

X - Los Angeles (33)
Guns n’ Roses – Sweet Child o’ Mine (25)
Eagles - Hotel California (23)
Mamas and the Papas – California Dreamin’ (22)
Everclear - Santa Monica (18)
Guy Clark - L.A. Freeway (15)
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (12)
The Beach Boys – California Girls (12)
Pavement – Unfair (12)
RHCP – Californication (8)

Footage of the gig was lost, but here is a clip from a recent Beach Boys gig with two of the numbers, "California Girls" and "California Dreamin'":

If I can play, my vote for artist :
Beck (4)
The Doors (2)
Tom Waits (2)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (1)
The Byrds (1)

The performers of this week's show in San Francisco will be two of the titans of late-60's music. Headlining will be Sly & the Family Stone, while the opening act is Creedence Clearwater Revival, both of whom never faced any real competition during voting.

This won't be the first time they've shared a bill together; on August 16, 1969 both bands appeared at the Woodstock Festival. CCR took the stage first, with fellow Bay Area artist Janis Joplin following before Sly and Co. took the stage.

These were the top ten artists in our poll (points received in parentheses):

Sly and the Family Stone (26)
Creedence Clearwater Revival (25)
Pavement (13)
Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company (9)
Faith No More (8)
Jefferson Airplane (7)
Grateful Dead (7)
Dave Brubeck (6)
DJ Shadow (6)
Green Day (5)

The setlist also saw a runaway favorite: Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" with more than double the points of the next competitor, "Folsom Prison Blues". Both the performing artists this week are also represented, along with one of last week's selections, "Unfair" by Pavement. This was the top ten (or eleven rather, due to a three-way tie for ninth):

Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues (7)
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (7)
Sly & the Family Stone - Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (7)
Pavement - Unfair (9)
Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart in San Francisco (10)
Wilco & Billy Bragg - California Stars (10)
Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San Francisco (10)
Sly & the Family Stone - Family Affair (12)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (19)
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (20)
Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay (49)

Although incarnations of both Sly & the Family Stone and CCR still exist, neither band is continuing at full strength. A nasty legal dispute between John Fogerty and his former band members has led to two competing sets at this week's show, one by Fogerty and one by Creedence Clearwater Revisited, containing former members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. You be the judge of who the better successor is:





Meanwhile the Family Stone is going strong, but lacks a few key members. Guitarist Freddie Stone, drummer Greg Errico and bassist Larry Graham are out, but trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, saxophonist Jerry Martini and of course Sylvester Stone himself are still around, although Sly has battled drug addiction for most of his life and has behaved erratically in recent years. In any case, here's the Family's performance of "Family Affair" at this week's show. (Notice Sly's San Francisco hat.)

I'm sort of surprised no one else voted for Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin).
Glad to see two of my favorite share the "stage" this week.

One of my favorites, Listyguy, and I have in the past questioned how it is not more acclaimed and why it is not more beloved on this forum.

But I've been trying to vote only for songs specifically about (or at least with lines about) the city/region, which has been more fun to try and figure out and vote for. So that's why I didn't vote for any of Sly's incredible singles.

Portland is known as one of indie's greatest cities, and that's reflected in this week's performers, headliner Elliott Smith and opening act Sleater-Kinney. Polar opposites in terms of sound, both acts nonetheless manage to be abrasive yet addictive, for entirely different reasons.

There was never any doubt that Elliott was going to win the headliner spot, but Sleater-Kinney faced a heated three-way battle for second against the Shins and the Decemberists. Here are the top five artists:

Elliott Smith (40)
Sleater-Kinney (17)
The Shins (13)
The Decemberists (13)
M. Ward (8)

The setlist this week will feature 12 songs instead of 10 as there was a five-way tie for eighth place. Both performing acts are represented along with a pair pioneers in country music: Woody Guthrie and Loretta Lynn. Your top 12:

Elliott Smith – Alameda (8)
Wipers – Over the Edge (8)
M. Ward – Epistemology (8)
Elliott Smith – Between the Bars (8)
Sleater-Kinney – Oh! (8)
Elliott Smith – Son of Sam (10)
Sleater-Kinney – Entertain (12)
Woody Guthrie – Oregon Trail (12)
Paul Revere & The Raiders – Kicks (19)
Loretta Lynn (feat. Jack White) – Portland, Oregon (27)
The Kingsmen – Louie Louie (34)
Elliott Smith – Waltz #2 (38)

This concert, however, can only exist in the realm of fiction; Elliott Smith tragically died in a suspected suicide in 2003 after years of struggles with depression and drug addiction while Sleater-Kinney disbanded in 2006. Here are some clips of their past performances:

Two of the greatest bands in history were borne in Seattle: both highly influential power trios fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist/superstars/27 club members who released three critically acclaimed studio albums but never continued after the deaths of their frontmen. I'm talking, of course, about the Jimi Hendrix experience and Nirvana.

Those are the two artists the AMF chose to perform in Seattle this week. The scoring, like on the Acclaimed Music artist list, saw Jimi barely eclipsing Kurt while both far outclass the field. This week's top five:


Jimi Hendrix (33)
Nirvana (26)
Pearl Jam (7)
Fleet Foxes (6)
Modest Mouse (4)

The setlist was also dominated by both artists, who combined for six of this week's eleven songs. Naturally, grunge also had a heavy influence on this week's voting, as Seattle is the style's birthplace. But the runaway winner was Hendrix' "All Along the Watchtower", which obliterated its competition, including "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which was perhaps a more obvious choice. The tally for this week:

Jimi Hendrix – Little Wing (7)
Pearl Jam – Jeremy (7)
Alice in Chains – Would? (8)
Nirvana – All Apologies (10)
Nirvana – Lithium (10)
Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal (11)
Public Image Ltd. – Seattle (11)
Pearl Jam – Alive (15)
Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze (16)
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (18)
Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower (31)

We all know this is a concert that could never really happen; Jimi Hendrix had been dead for 19 years by the time Nirvana released its debut Bleach. Nevertheless, both bands had become well-known for their performances at festivals: the Experience at Monterey (and later Woodstock, though that was sans bassist Noel Redding) and Nirvana at festivals like Reading, which formed the basis of their recent live album Live at Reading. Some clips for you all:

Western Canada is a sparsely populated part of the world, and so was our vote this week, with only 6 voters. The prairies, however, produced this week's artists: Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

The voting for this week saw Neil surge ahead early, never to relinquish his lead, but for a short while Bachman-Turner Overdrive led Joni until she eventually caught up. This week's vote:

Neil Young (32
Joni Mitchell (13)
Bachman-Turner Overdrive (7)
The New Pornographers (6)
The Guess Who (1)
K.D. Lang (1)

Neil Young also dominated this week's setlist; the Godfather of Grunge took 6 of the 11 spots and 4 of the top 5, including high vote-getter "Cortez the Killer". Indie rockers the New Pornographers managed to snag two spots at the end with the help of schleuse. The results:

The Guess Who - American Woman (4)
Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World (4)
New Pornographers - Letter From an Occupant (5)
New Pornographers - From Blown Speakers (5)
Joni Mitchell - Free Man in Paris (5)
Neil Young - My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) (8)
Ian & Sylvia, Neil Young, among others - Four Strong Winds (5)
Neil Young – Heart of Gold (9)
Neil Young – Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (14)
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (15)
Neil Young - Cortez The Killer (17)

Not only did Neil and Joni both hit the big time primarily as singer/songwriters in the early 70s, they had even met several years prior in Winnipeg in the mid-1960's. Both artists are still touring today, although Neil has been much more active in recent years.

Shit, I was determined to vote every week because I really like the premise of this game and there's clearly a lot of background work going into it.. but I just didn't get round to it. Sorry Alex D! (I guess the exciting new World Cup and Divisions games pushed this one out of the limelight this week.)

The songs are a nice line-up of rock, folk and indie, but it could've done with one or two of Caribou's (creative) electronic tracks, especially Odessa.

I'll make an effort to vote this week.

Minnesota, population 5.3 million, is responsible for 2 of the top 10 most acclaimed artists ever, a total that matches that of the other 49 states combined. Naturally those two artists, Bob Dylan and Prince, dominated the week's voting.

It was Mr. Zimmerman who came out on top, edging Mr. Nelson by a single point, 43-42. The next closest? The Replacements scored 10. This week's incredibly lopsided top 5:

Bob Dylan (43)
Prince (42)
The Replacements (10)
The Jayhawks (7)
The Time (2)

Prince, however, took the top two spots in the setlist with "When Doves Cry" (the only song to reach three votes) and "Uptown". ("Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)" was nowhere to be found.) Dylan did manage to snag five songs while the 'Nats, that dog. and Tom Waits also made the list, shown below:

Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna (8)
Bob Dylan - Desolation Row (9)
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone (10)
Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (10)
The Replacements - Unsatisfied (11)
that dog. - Minneapolis (12)
Tom Waits - Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis (12)
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (15)
Prince - Uptown (17)
Prince - When Doves Cry (27)

Both Dylan and Prince are still prolifically recording (with 62 studio albums between them) and touring today. Despite their longevity, they have never appeared shared a concert bill (correct me if I'm wrong, Moonbeam). The closest they ever came was likely Live Aid in 1985; Dylan closed the set at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, but Prince declined his invitation, submitting a taped performance instead. On that note, here's some awesome performances from these two:

Austin is known for its wide variety of eclectic artists, and the voting for this week's Headliner reflected that. The winners were a blend of new and old: rockers Spoon and Buddy Holly.

It was a close three-way race for the top, with Spoon taking first at the end and Buddy edging the leader for most of the week, Roy Orbison. The top 10 of Austin:

Spoon (18)
Buddy Holly (15)
Roy Orbison (14)
At the Drive-In (7)
Willie Nelson (5)
Lucinda Williams (4)
Janis Joplin (4)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (3)
Steve Earle (3)
Okkervil River (2)

The setlist for Austin is a blend of old favorites, like Buddy's "That'll Be the Day" and Roy's "In Dreams" with some more unknown choices: "Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown" as nominated by nicolas and "Laredo" as chosen by Slick, among others. The final list:

Band Of Horses - Laredo (8)
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy (8)
Bob Wills - New San Antonio Rose (9)
Lucinda Williams - Passionate Kisses (10)
Spoon - The Way We Get By (12)
Nanci Griffith - Trouble in the Fields (Live) (12)
The Kinks - Oklahoma, U.S.A. (12)
Roy Orbison - In Dreams (14)
The Flatlanders - Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown (17)
Buddy Holly - That'll Be The Day (17)

This is another of our concerts that is part of our imagination. Spoon are recording and touring in 2011, but Buddy Holly stopped on February 3, 1959, the day that has gone down in rock lore "The Day the Music Died". Your perfunctory live performances:


Buddy Holly - That'Ll Be The Day by rocknroll50

The blues has a clear influence over this week's voting, with headliner Leadbelly one of the genre's pioneers and opener ZZ Top one of its followers.

The voting gave Leadbelly a sizable lead over the competition but ZZ Top faced much narrower margins. Only 2 points separated ZZ Top and the Flaming Lips (and this is probably the first and last time ZZ Top has defeated the Lips in any kind of matchup on this forum).
Here's the top five:

Leadbelly (13)
ZZ Top (8)
Flaming Lips (6)
Erykah Badu (5)
Pantera (5)

The setlist was even more topsy-turvy. The top two songs (propelled to the top by Slick) were Geto Boys' "Mind Playin' Tricks on Me" and Pantera's "Walk", running against the grain of the roots-music trend this week. This is the top ten:

Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize (6)
Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas (6)
Leadbelly / Creedence Clearwater Revival - Midnight Special (6)
Townes Van Zandt - Pancho & Lefty (7 pts)
Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine (7)
Beyonce - Crazy in Love (9)
UGK - Int'l Players Anthem (9)
ZZ Top - La Grange (9)
Pantera - Walk (10)
Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks on Me (14)

Hudie Ledbetter passed away from Lou Gehrig's disease in 1949; that's the same year all three members of ZZ Top were born, making this a difficult concert to assemble. In any case, here's an 8-minute live version of "La Grange":

This week marks the first time an artist has appeared at two AMWT concerts - and also the first demotion from headliner to opening act.

Hudie Ledbetter will be opening this week for Louis Armstrong in a bill of the two of the most influential American musicians ever to grace the stage. Louis with 19 points cruised to an easy win while Leadbelly took second with 8. Next closest was Better than Ezra who earned the full 6 points from Slick.

The setlist was dominated by Louis and a curious presence from the other end of Highway 61, Bob Dylan. Folk retains a strong presence on the list, with Stephan giving Dylan second and third behind "House of the Rising Sun".

Better than Ezra - King Of New Orleans (5)
James Booker/Dr. John Junco Partner (5)
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras In New Orleans (5)
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World (6)
Louis Armstrong - St. James Infirmary (8)
Lil Wayne - Tie My Hands (8)
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode (9)
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue (12)
Bob Dylan - Blind Willie McTell (12)
The Animals - House of the Rising Sun (21)

Unlike most of the recent concerts, this one could actually happen. It would, however, have to take place some 75 years ago, perhaps around 1936 when Leadbelly was playing shows in Harlem and Armstrong was touring with their big band. Of course, no footage exists from the era so here are some recordings along with a late-60's TV appearance from Satchmo.

Though this week the tour stopped in Miami, North Floridians dominated this week. The performers this week are two groups from Jacksonville and Gainesville, respectively: opener Lynyrd Skynyrd and headliner Tom Petty (who will be bringing along the Heartbreakers).

Voting was moderately close, with Petty edging Skynyrd by 3 points and Lynyrd Skynyrd edging Gram Parsons by 4 points. Somehow Vanilla Ice also managed to get on the board. The top 5:

Tom Petty (17)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (14)
Gram Parsons (10)
Blind Blake (7)
Sam & Dave (6)

The setlist voting resulted in a coup for Sam & Dave, whose two most acclaimed songs both reached the list, with "Soul Man" topping it. Petty also notched two songs while The Beatles make their first appearance with "Back in the USSR". The top 10:

Pearls Before Swine - The Jeweler (5)
Gram Parsons - Hickory Wind (5)
Tom Petty – American Girl (7)
Will Smith - Miami (9)
Blind Blake - Diddie Wah Diddie (11)
The Beatles - Back in the USSR (12)
Sam & Dave - Hold On I'm Coming (12)
Tom Petty - Free Fallin' (14)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird (15)
Sam & Dave - Soul Man (17)

Though both acts are still alive and touring well into the naughts (with Lynyrd Skynyrd touring with Houston act ZZ top this year), they also first got their start in the mid-seventies. The infamous plane crash that decimated Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977 occurred just as Petty was breaking the US charts with "American Girl", their first top 40 hit. Live footage of the show:





However, Tom Petty played the wrong "Diddie Wah Diddie", instead playing Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy":

Two ATLiens are headlining in Atlanta - Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast. Opening for them is a legend in the world of soul: Otis Redding.

Outkast overwhelmingly outclassed its competition; its 23 points easily defeated Otis' 14. But Otis faced stiff competition from two other soul men, Ray Charles and James Brown. The top five looked like this:

Outkast (23)
Otis Redding (14)
Ray Charles (10)
James Brown (9)
Little Richard (3)

Outkast also became the first artist since Bob Dylan in Minneapolis to notch three of their own songs on the setlist, while Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" joins Pavement's "Unfair" among songs that have appeared twice. A seven-way tie for tenth place has made this week's setlist 16 songs long:

Blind Willie McTell - "Statesboro Blues" (5)
Bob Dylan - "Blind Willie McTell" (5)
T.I. - "What You Know" (5)
James Brown - "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (5)
Outkast - "Toilet Tisha" (5)
Ray Charles - "What'd I Say" (5)
Little Richard - "Good Golly Miss Molly" (5)
Eddie Hinton - "How You Goin' To Georgia" (7)
James Carr - "Gonna Send You Back To Georgia" (7)
Little Feat - "Oh Atlanta" (7)
Outkast - "Rosa Parks" (10)
OutKast - "B.O.B." (11)
Outkast - "Hey Ya!" (11)
Otis Redding - "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" (12)
Gladys Knight - "Midnight Train to Georgia" (18)
Ray Charles - "Georgia on My Mind" (21)

Outkast, while not strictly still together, still collaborate occasionally (notably on Big Boi's latest album, Sir Luscious Left Foot), but both its members were born nearly a decade after Redding tragically died in a plane crash in late 1967. In fact the one composition of his that appears on this list, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" was never performed by Redding outside the studio, and there are no recordings of him performing any of these songs in concert. On a lighter note, here is Outkast with "Rosa Parks", from a 1998 TV appearance:

It should come as no surprise that Athens' most renowned export, R.E.M. is headlining the AMWT show there, but the opener may be a bit of a surprise: Blind Willie McTell.

R.E.M. overwhelmed the competition, scoring 30 points to Blind Willie's 10. McTell faced a more earnest competition for second from a few acts, most notably the Drive-By Truckers. Here's the top five:

R.E.M. (30)
Blind Willie McTell (10)
Drive-By Truckers(7)
Neutral Milk Hotel (6)
Matthew Sweet (6)

The setlist was also dominated by R.E.M., as they were responsible for 5 of the top 6 songs this week. For the second week in a row, Bob Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell" appears on the list, the third song to appear in two separate weeks. Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel and Matthew Sweet also made appearances:

Of Montreal - "Coquet Coqquette" (3)
Bob Dylan - “Blind Willie McTell” (6)
Neutral Milk Hotel - “Holland, 1945” (6)
Neutral Milk Hotel - “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” (6)
R.E.M. - “Fall On Me” (7)
R.E.M. - “It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (9)
R.E.M. - “Everybody Hurts” (9)
Matthew Sweet - "Evangeline" (10)
R.E.M. - “Radio Free Europe” (14)
R.E.M. - “Losing My Religion” (21)

Blind Willie McTell and R.E.M.'s careers are separated by 60 years, so this is a difficult concert to try to recreate. Not only were most of the members of R.E.M. toddlers when McTell died in 1959, but none of the songs on the setlist had even been written yet. In any case, the music of R.E.M: