Best/most important American rock band

Call me crazy, but I'm gonna start with the guys who got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's first class. Most were known as individual artists, but it's not like they didn't have backing bands.

 

Eagles, Definitely one of the best American bands ever.
Lots of individuals for American rock. Jackson Brown. Simon and Garfunkle. Carole King. Carly Simon. Billy Joel. Little Richard. Elvis. Chuck Berry. The English were influenced by American R&B then owned Rock.

 

Why are we so much worse at producing rock bands than Great Britain? Is there any real explanation for that?

 

Americans don’t work well with others.

 

Hard to find good bass players on this side of the pond.

 

Which is why Starman has it right with Buddy Holly and the Crickets. They inspired the British Invasion groups and rock music went from there.

 

The Crickets were also more than just Buddy; they had a lot to do with the songwriting too.

 

Don't forget Bread, another band that belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

While not a band, Elvis was IMHO certainly the most influential American Rock artist ever, he put it in the mainstream.

 

This distinction between a "solo" artist (who has a backing band) and a group raises the opposite question: Who are the best British solo artists? Are are they better than the likes of Dylan, Jackson Browne, etc., from the U.S.?

Van Morrison, Bowie and Donovan come readily to mind.

 

Somewhere Chuck Berry is ready to rise from the grave and kick your ass.