What band, singer/songwriter or musical influence made the greatest impact on your life?

[Mr. Ed]

For me, it was Pink Floyd. From the beginning, my go to genre of music was psychedelic and Pink Floyd fit the bill. I saw the original Dark Side of the Moon tour in Atlanta, Ga in a small venue at the Municipal Auditorium with festival seating 1973.

I moved to a city school as a new freshman in the late 60s. My art teacher as a classroom warmup project instructed students to bring into class a record/album for class discussion. I knew nothing about bands or music, but I wanted psychedelic rock. After class, I walked to the town music store and asked for help. I listened to several records and finally purchased Jefferson Airplane 45 Crown of Creation / Lather.

My love for Pink Floyd came later with the purchase of Umma Gumma. At that time I was experimenting with hallucinatory drugs thus making obscure thinking and reason all the more appealing for the exploring mind.

It is irrelevant that drug use was responsible for my mental illness. Contrary to disappointment, mental illness in many ways was and continues to be a blessing

 

[Gaer]

As a teenager,it was Buddy Holly and Duane Eddy
As i got older, it was Gene Pitney and Roy Orbison.
I'm much more fascinated by the song writer and composer than the singer.

 

[Aneeda72]

Spirituals

 

[Pinky]

Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and many other R&B/Soul/Blues artists.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

You have to define "greatest impact on your life". In my era, there's the Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Motown, etc. They gave me the music of my generation. The reason they were such huge stars was they appealed to how we felt about life and our times. So, in that sense those bands created an impact on me. You can't forget the songs that became part of your life. But, in another sense, it was more the politics of the artists that made an impression on me. In that sense, "Peter, Paul & Mary" was a conscience, and an advocate for social justice.

 

[JustBonee]

The beginning of Rock/Roll, mid 50's ... Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley

 

[ClassicRockr]

Deep Purple, Van Halen (David Lee Roth time), Boston, Yes, Styx, Steppenwolf, ELO, Tommy James & The Shondels and others. A good keyboard player and drums is what I like.

Wife loves the Motown sound and got me into it. Now I love it also and she likes Classic Rock.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Initially it was blues men like John Mayall and Alexis Korner. Later it was Pink Floyd and 'Yes'.