Which Rock Band Had The Best Musicianship?

For certain, there are good and famous bands with a charismatic star, like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and Mountain. What rock n’ roll band do you think had the most solid COMBINATION of musicians (including singers)?

My first choice is Cream, and it’s gonna be hard to top, or even equal, that one. Eric Clapton is one of a handful of rock guitarists who are very arguably the best ever. I don’t know of a better bass player than Jack Bruce. In the realm of rock, I don’t know of anyone his equal. Ginger Baker, as I write this, is the best drummer on earth, period. He has moved on to jazz. Cream was the first supergroup, and the first power trio.

My next candidate is Traffic. Founded by Steve Winwood (vocals, and almost every instrument known to man, including saxophone and mandolin), Dave Mason (guitar), Jim Capaldi (drums) and Chris Wood (saxophone and flute), Traffic started out as a psychedelic band then branched our into jazz. They broke up and regrouped several times, because you couldn’t fit all of those egos into one room.

The Who. They had the only drummer you could name in the same sentence with Ginger Baker—Keith Moon. Moon’s drumming talent, great as it was, lacked Baker’s invention; but no musician in rock history has so epitomized the spirit of rock n’ roll as wildman Keith Moon. Speaking of spirit: who were the first punks to smash their gear onstage? The Who. Roger Daltry is one of the very few who can be argued as the best male rock singer ever, the others being Robert Plant, David Bowie and Freddy Mercury. (I love Mick Jagger in his prime, for his phrasing, but he does not have the pipes of these other guys.) John Entwhisle was a perfectly professional and serviceable bass player, but not a star. Pete Townsend was a very, very good lead guitarist, but he DID develop an unmistakable signature sound and was an excellent songwriter. On balance, I include The Who in my nominations.

Lastly, Queen. I stipulate that I can’t be objective, because I love their music. I think Freddy Mercury is the best male rock singer based on his vocal range, phrasing, purity of sound and passion. Roger Meadows-Taylor on drums and John Deacon on bass are not even close to being all time greats in those roles. Brian May has never played a wrong note on his guitar, has developed his own signature sound (right from their first eponymous album: “no synthesizers”) and has over and over again come sailing in with a bravura solo bridge that elevates the song to a new level; but he is not a Hendrix, Paige, Clapton, nor even BB King, and there’s no shame in that. Having said all that, I nominate Queen as possibly the rock band with the best musicianship because of their stellar music. Many consider William Shakespeare the best writer in the English language. British poet and novelist Robert Graves once said of Shakespeare, “He does nothing outstandingly, but so MANY things WELL.”
That also describes Queen.

Your nominations, please?