Most influential 5 bands/artists/musicians from each of the 50 states

[nicodemus]

I don't want this to turn this into a pissing contest between states, but I thought it'd be interesting to see what people consider to be the most influential 5 musicians/bands from each of the 50 states. I'm sure some musicians can be classified in more than one place given the huge amount of people that flock(ed) to NYC or LA or Nashville or Detroit and other music hot spots to try to get discovered. I thought it'd be interesting to see what smaller states produced in addition to what came out of the entertainment industry powerhouse states.

I will go first for Alabama. These aren't necessarily my five favorite artists from the state, but ones that have had undeniable influence on the music industry. Mine are listed in alpha order.


ALABAMA:

Alabama - 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums. 42 #1 singles. Over 65 million albums sold. Undeniably the most popular country music group ever.

The Commodores - 30 gold, platinum or multi-platinum albums. 40 million records sold. Spun off Lionel Richie's solo career (sorry about that.)

Wilson Pickett - Soul legend that gave us songs like "Mustang Sally" and "In the Midnight Hour." Eventhough he moved away from Alabama as a teenager, I included him because many bios say his "musical personality" formed in Alabama and most of his biggest hits were recorded there.

The Temptations - Eventhough the group made their musical mark in Detroit, three of the five original members were from Alabama and two of them, Paul Williams & Eddie Kendricks, moved north together specifically to pursue a singing career (Melvin Franklin was the other Alabama-born group member.) Classic soul group had hits like "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl."

Hank Williams Sr. - 21 top 10 singles. Generally accepted as the baddest ass country singer ever.

[bojendyk]

I'd better jump in and grab my old home state, Washington.

In chronological order:

The Kingsmen: The Sonics, The Wailers, and The Raiders were all probably better and had better and longer careers, but The Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" is the song that launched a thousand bands. Still, for my money, you can't beat The Sonics.

Jimi Hendrix: Another Seattle icon. Nothing more need be said.

Green River: They sold virtually no records and only lasted a few years, but they were the first to mix Black Sabbath with Black Flag and to have elements of Zep and The Stooges. Furthermore, the core of this band went on to form Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Mother Love Bone. Without Green River, SubPop would have remained a fanzine.

Melvins: This ur-grunge band evidently started as a hardcore band, but they made their name by slowing waaaaaaaaaaay down. Without them, there is no Soungarden, no Nirvana, no stoner metal, no nothing. Their influence cannot be underestimated.

Nirvana: What need be said?

[CHICO13]

Nirvana: What need be said?
Dave Grohl is from my hometown of Springfield,Va

[firstshirt]

only bands I can think of from RI is:
John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and the Talking heads(formed in RI)

[bojendyk]

Dave Grohl is from my hometown of Springfield,Va

That's interesting, but Nirvana were around before Grohl joined.

[Lanky134]

DC

Duke Ellington

Marvin Gaye

Chuck Brown

Ian Mackaye

Nils Lofgren

[GringoTex]

Texas:

Willie Nelson
Van Cliburn
Janis Joplin
Valerio Longoria
Waylon Jennings

[CHICO13]

DC

Duke Ellington

Marvin Gaye

Chuck Brown

Ian Mackaye

Nils Lofgren
You forgot Peaches and Herb :D

[Lanky134]

You forgot Peaches and Herb :D
What can I say? I'm not a native, and my own home's most famous musicians are Billy Joel, Debbie Gibson and Dee Snider...

[Dr. Wankler]

ALABAMA:



I almost neg-repped you for not mentioning Sun Ra, but I'll let you go on the technicality that he was actually born on Saturn, if his autobiography is to be believed.

[Ghost]

only bands I can think of from RI is:
John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and the Talking heads(formed in RI)

You can throw in Throwing Muses, I believe,. And if you throw in Throwing Muses, then you can hrow in Tonya Donnelly and Kirsten Hersh as soloists. Calling Belly a Rhode Island band is probably stretching it.

[Lanky134]

only bands I can think of from RI is:
John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and the Talking heads(formed in RI)
Velvet Crush are from Providence. (http://www.geocities.com/matttschmidt/)

[nicodemus]

I almost neg-repped you for not mentioning Sun Ra, but I'll let you go on the technicality that he was actually born on Saturn, if his autobiography is to be believed.
********ing ********! How did I forget Sun Ra? I must be slipping in my old age! Who should we bump off that list then?

[nicodemus]

Texas:

Willie Nelson
Van Cliburn
Janis Joplin
Valerio Longoria
Waylon Jennings
No Ernest Tubb?

[Dr. Wankler]

No Ernest Tubb?

re: Texas: No Bob Wills? Willie would kick someone's ass for that oversight. Or at least not share his stash with him.

As for Alabama, that's a tough one. My first impression is to dump the Commodores, but I'm not really sure it's fair to hold them responsible for Lionel Ritchie's solo career. I think it might be easier just to have Sun Ra represent Saturn.

[minorthreat]

Since I used to live in Maryland, albeit briefly:

Billie Holiday
David Byrne
Frank Zappa
Philip Glass
Tori Amos

But I really grew up in New Jersey. So, a list of New Jersey's most influential, with hometown:

Frank Sinatra (Hoboken)
The Chairman of the Board's influence is undeniable, so I don't really need to say anything here.

Bruce Springsteen (Asbury Park)
Again, there's really not much that needs to be said in this guy's case.

The Misfits (Lodi)
No, seriously. The Misfits were highly influential on a wide variety of bands, from Metallica to AFI, and have been pretty much the template from which a lot of darker acts today are still drawn from.

Queen Latifah (Irvington)
While she's frequently forgotten today for some strange reason, let's not forget tht she was the origial trailblazer for women in hip-hop.

William "Count" Basie (Red Bank)
He really should be top of the list. Big-band jazz and swing as we know it simply wouldn't have existed without him.

[minorthreat]

I tried to find someone whose 'influence' is to blame for the fact that these days New Jersey produces emo bands like Seattle produced grunge bands ten years ago, but there was no single culprit I could narrow it down to.

[LeperKhan]

For Minnesota, I'd say

Bob Dylan
Prince
The Replacements
Husker Du

are pretty solid and tough to argue. The 5th I'm having a harder time with - maybe one of:
Soul Asylum, the Jayhawks, Lipps Inc., the Trashmen, Atmosphere, the Suicide Commados or maybe the Jets. Although I feel like I'm still missing someone who should go on at least the maybe list. Oh well.

OK, I'm joking about the Jets, but I bet very few of you realized that they were from Minneapolis (or actually the beautiful suburb of Golden Valley), and were all the children of a family who had emigrated from Tonga. So I know way too much about the Jets. Sue me.

[obie]

Woo hoo, as with C-Towner I get to do New Jersey! Birthplaces only; not counting people like Billie Holiday or Stephen Foster who were born elsewhere but raised here.

1. Frank Sinatra (Hoboken)

(huge gap here)

2. Bruce Springsteen (Freehold)
3. Count Basie (Red Bank)
4. Paul Simon (Newark)
5. Paul Robeson (Princeton) -- I don't think you can fully estimate Robeson's importance in early 20th century culture, though it extends far beyond music into theater and politics.

[skipshady]

I thought about doing NY then I realized it was goign to be difficult unless I separated NYC from the rest of the state. Even then, you'd probably have to do each borough, and also count Long Island as a separate state (I'm thinking Billy Joel, Rick Rubin, De La Soul).

John Coltrane (Hamlet)
Thelonious Monk (Rocky Mount)
James Taylor (Chapel Hill)
Archers of Loaf (Chapel Hill)
Max Roach (New Land)

And if I could add a sixth, I'd add Clay Aiken, no, Fantasia Barrino, no, Ben Folds Five. I think Roberta Flack is from Cakalak as well.