Best American Rock and Roll Band -- Dead surging; Allmans still # 1

The bands gaining ground include the E Street Band, Doors, Replacements, Ramones, and Beach Boys. New entries incude The Eagles, REM, and Sonic Youth.

My put-down in the original post has rallied the Dead supporters -- they are trying to move the Jerrys past the Brothers. Which reminds me of a most excellent rock and roll joke:

What did one Dead Head say to the other Dead Head when the drugs ran out? "This music sucks!"

Here's the latest ranking.

Allmans
Dead
E Street Band
Doors
Replacements
Beach Boys
Ramones
Aerosmith
The Band
ZZ Top
Metallica
Velvet Underground
Nirvana
Phish
REM
Guns N' Roses
Pearl Jam
Eagles
Black Crows
Creedence
CSN&Y
Foo Fighters
Fugazi
Jefferson Airplane
Little Feat
NRBQ
Rush
Stooges
Talking Heads
Tom Petty and Heartbreakers
White Stripes
Wilco
Sonic Youth
REM
Crazy Horse (Neil Young)
Clutch
Chili Peppers 

Who is the best American rock and roll band?

Quickly: Give me your vote for the greatest American rock and roll band.

Content: A few years ago I went to an Aerosmith concert with two of my sons and some of my childhood friends. En-route, we argued about who was the greatest American rock and roll band.

There's rough consensus that the Brits dominate the overall list (The Who, Beatles, Stones, Zep, Cream, et. al.).But who would be at the top of the American list? 

We had two rules: 1) You can't choose an individual, so that eliminates Dylan, Elvis, and arguably Jimi, and Bruce. 2) We tolerated a smattering of Canadians, so that keeps The Band and Crazy Horse in the running.

I am ridiculously consistent, so I gave my impassioned case for The Allman Brothers Band (...if you come to Forrester's U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, MA, you'll find the above picture hanging in our lobby). My case for the jury: The Allmans are: 1) blues-based, a requirement in my book, 2) have an extensive catalog, 3) were/are instrumentally skilled (unlike the incompetent Dead), 4) great song writers, 5) still going/still popular, 6) complex (unlike the simplistic Skynyrd). I could go on (...and if you ever want to spend a few hours and have a few drinks, I will).

But hey, that's my opinion. Give me your comments and votes and we'll attempt to divine the top spot. A little diversion from all of the gloomy economic news...