In honor of American Independence Day, how would you rank the American States in terms of musical talent? The full lists are available in the "Artists By Country" section of the website. Here are the top contenders (based on the top 5 artists):
CALIFORNIA
1 The Beach Boys
2 The Byrds
3 The Doors
4 Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 Beck
FLORIDA
1 Lynyrd Skynyrd
2 Tom Petty
3 Gram Parsons
4 Sam and Dave
5 Cannonball Adderley
GEORGIA
1 R.E.M.
2 James Brown
3 Otis Redding
4 OutKast
5 Ray Charles
ILLINOIS
1 Miles Davis
2 Wilco
3 The Smashing Pumpkins
4 Sam Cooke
5 Kanye West
LOUISIANA
1 Jerry Lee Lewis
2 Lucinda Williams
3 Fats Domino
4 Louis Armstrong
5 Britney Spears
MASSACHUSETTS
1 Pixies
2 Aerosmith
3 Donna Summer
4 Dinosaur Jr.
5 James Taylor
MICHIGAN
1 Stevie Wonder
2 Aretha Franklin
3 Madonna
4 The Stooges
5 The White Stripes
MINNESOTA
1 Bob Dylan
2 Prince
3 Hüsker Dü
4 The Replacements
5 Judy Garland
MISSISSIPPI
1 Elvis Presley
2 Muddy Waters
3 Bo Diddley
4 Howlin' Wolf
5 B.B. King
NEW JERSEY
1 Bruce Springsteen
2 Frank Sinatra
3 Parliament/Funkadelic
4 Patti Smith
5 Paul Simon
NEW YORK
1 The Velvet Underground
2 Talking Heads
3 Public Enemy
4 Beastie Boys
5 Ramones
TENNESSEE
1 Johnny Cash
2 The Everly Brothers
3 Big Star
4 Isaac Hayes
5 Patsy Cline
TEXAS
1 Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2 Roy Orbison
3 Janis Joplin/Big Brother and The Holding Company
4 Ornette Coleman
5 Willie Nelson
WASHINGTON
1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Nirvana
3 Pearl Jam
4 Soundgarden
5 Modest Mouse
MICHIGAN
WASHINGTON
NEW YORK
NEW JERSEY
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
CALIFORNIA
ILLINOIS
GEORGIA
MASSACHUSETTS
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
LOUISIANA
FLORIDA
This was hard because I couldn't stop thinking about all the artists from these states who didn't fit into the top 5. Michigan and New York, for example, have quite a few great acts "bubbling under" the top 5 while Washington pretty much stops right there.
1. GEORGIA
2. NEW YORK
(I think these two sets of five are by far the strongest ones top to bottom.)
3. MINNESOTA (mostly b/c of #1 and #2)
4. MISSISSIPPI (ah, cradle of the Delta blues...)
5. MICHIGAN
6. TENNESSEE (Memphis + Nashville)
7. TEXAS (just so you know I'm trying to be fair)
8. ILLINOIS
9. WASHINGTON
10. NEW JERSEY
11. LOUISIANA
12. CALIFORNIA (I'm not a fan of either the Doors or CCR)
13. FLORIDA
14. MASSACHUSETTS
Hi Pontidom. Yes, I agree but its not obsession. Just a campaign for truth and justice. I love many many artists and all types of music. But The Dan are the greatest US band of all time, no contest !!
Hey, I think it's great that you love Steely Dan so much, it actually made me get one of his albums. And I have to admit; it's pretty good albeit not my favorite.
Still, can't blame the topic-starter, he merely copied the top 5's from the state-lists.
1 New York
2 New Jersey
3 Washington
4 Minnesota
5 Tennesse
6 Michigan
7 Texas
8 California
9 Florida
10 Massachusetts
11 Mississippi
12 Georgia
13 Illinois
14 Louisiana
Hi, peteevo! I don’t want to cause you any envy, but next Sunday I’ll be seeing Steely Dan playing live in Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin. I’ve got two free tickets as a present from… Donald Fagen!!!
Yes, it could sound incredible, but Fagen and I share a common friend. She lives (for work reasons) in many parts of the world, The Hague, New York, Moscow, Tanzania and Valencia (our city). Last May she knew Fagen from William Hurt (the actor), a long time friend of her. Fagen, Hurt and she had a dinner and a long interesting chat, then they played some music together (Hurt plays sax quite well). Fagen later gave her some tickets for the Steely Dan European Tour, and fortunately she thought of me.
I’m really happy to see Berlin (although only for a weekend, a very short time) and see Steely Dan live. And of course I'm happy to have such splendid friends. I’ll tell you about my experience when I come back.