Who is your Favorite classic band?

[Dino Velvet]

and anything with Eric Clapton (John Mayall and Bluesbreakers, Derek and the Dominos, Blind Faith etc)

That too.

[freak]

[brad]

I'm surprised that Black Sabath is getting so many votes. I will go with Zappa, Joni Mitchel and Steely Dan with so many others deserving mention.

[Corran]

Love me some old school Genesis.

[robertlouis]

We could spend weeks debating what "classic" means without naming a single band. And my taste veers towards the melodic rather than the merely noisy.

So, using my own definition, The Beatles, without whom we wouldn't be having the discussion anyway, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful, Buffalo Springfield, The Band, The Doors, Love, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Genesis and Show of Hands.

[MdR Dave]

Steely Dan

Fuck yeah, ed_jaxon.

[LeatherTGirlLover]

The Kinks, The Byrds, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Who, Free.

[robertlouis]

Daft omission: Crosby, Stills and Nash.

[Maxim616]

Hands down the The Rolling Stones, particularly the Mick Taylor era, when they were considered the best live act at the time. Mick Taylor is an absolute beast and virtuoso guitarist. Also, I do enjoy the diversity of the Stones' sound when Brian Jones was still with the group.

Although I'm a huge fan of Zeppelin, The Beatles, Floyd, etc but where would music and art be in the past 40 years with David Bowie's influence!?

[Prospero]

I don't understand the reasoning in this post. What did the Beatles change in music? It was at the popular/selling end with the focus on songs and harmonies, and film, but while they may have started as a club band they made their reputation in the studio; surely this thread is about bands performing live not albums which has been done before? On this basis, the Beatles are easily disqualified; and even when you list the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things and so on, they were, in fact, run of the mill mediocrities. What Mayall did was attract players who developing a talent which they then used to go on to other things. There were a lot of good bands around in the 60s who never really got out of the club circuit -Chicken Shack, the Ainsley Dunbar Federation, Timebox, Junior's Eyes, Circus, Taste, they were all good to listen to in a club. Pink Floyd and Mothers of the Invention took music to a different level, that is the difference.

NO Stavros. In your usual manner of potsing something hostile to almost anything I write look at the opener on this thread i says NOTHING about Live bands and so forth. Look again. The Beatles, while as a live band were hardly relevant in their glory days, had an infuence which is still resonating today as a recording band. And the opener asked simply which bands... he did NOT say live. As a cradle for fostering talent mayall was remarkable, but as a player himself and musical innovator in the wider sense, he was second rate.