Ask the Critic: Robert Hilburn

Question: Is it possible, through a critic’s eyes, to determine an MVP of rock ‘n’ roll?

Tony Valencia

Highland

Hilburn: Tony, this is one of those impossible questions that critics love, which means potential answers start popping into my head before I even try to figure out what MVP means. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival -- all the way through Gram Parsons, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, U2, Nirvana and the White Stripes. But I realize I’m thinking about my favorite artists (and there are a lot more), and that’s far too subjective.

I’d define MVP as the artist or artists who contributed most to rock ‘n’ roll as we know it today -- not just someone who inspired others, but someone whose music serves as the most useful blueprint to making your own music.

Let’s reflect on some nominees:

* Presley. You have to start almost every discussion of rock with him because he largely defined the genre through his early Sun recordings, such as “That’s All Right” and “Baby, Let’s Play House.” Those records helped establish the electric guitar as rock’s primary instrument and his vocals conveyed a youthful and sensual urgency that was both joyful and thrilling.

* Dylan. He’s an essential factor because he helped rock evolve from a teen celebration to a thoughtful art form as he wrote about subjects with the insight and seriousness of a great novelist or filmmaker.

* Jimi Hendrix. He did for the guitar in rock what Dylan did for songwriting, demonstrating the power of music to express the deepest of feelings.

* The Beatles. Greatly influenced by the vitality and charisma of Presley as well as the songwriting ambition of Dylan, the Beatles brought all the pieces together and gave us music ultimately richer and more fully realized than anyone before or since. There were the harmonies, the healthy studio experimentation, the musicianship, the marvelous arrangements, the willingness to take chances. Above all, there were the Lennon-McCartney songs. They would get my vote for MVP.

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