When Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959, things looked bleak for rock and roll. Elvis was in the Army and it seemed no one was on the horizon.

But soon there emerged The Beach Boys, whose surf and hot rod songs swept the nation and the world. The band was made up of brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, along with Alan Jardine and Mike Love.Their songs were fun and their vocals were inimitable.

Who is the greatest rock group of all time? The answer requires ground rules. First of all, it must be conceded that Elvis was/is the greatest rock star, American or otherwise, and that Little Richard is the architect of rock n’ roll. And that is with all due respect to Chuck Berry (whom Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones once said is the reason people play the guitar).

Speaking of The Rolling Stones, another ground rule has to be that the greatest rock band of all time is The Stones if it’s not The Beatles, and it’s The Beatles if it’s not the Stones. Sorry for the cop-out in not being more definite.

But who is the greatest American rock group of all time? My favorite American group is The Doors, though Aerosmith merits honorable mention. And there are dozens of other great groups.

After all is said and done, however, the best American rock group of all time has to be The Beach Boys. Editor John Freeman, who happens to be my nephew, took issue with me in a recent Facebook post. Then he encouraged me to write this piece to make my case for The Beach Boys.

Prior to Beatlemania, the number one group in America was The Beach Boys. Their sounds were new, hitting high notes and low notes at the same time and providing instrumentals which were nothing less than compelling. The Beach Boys literally forged a unique genre in music.

My case is not without bias. Seeing The Beach Boys at the Olympia in 1977 is one of my greatest memories. The disagreement between myself and my nephew might be written off as a generation related issue. But John’s favorite American group happens to be Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), a group which long predates his age group.

The Beach Boys were knocked off the number one chart upon the arrival in the United States of The Beatles. And the British invasion did not cease at the arrival of The Beatles. But The Beach Boys did not go anywhere. Their records continued to sell and they continued to play to sold-out audiences.

It has been said that The Beach Boys were slighted when they weren’t invited to Woodstock in 1969. My guess is that the crowd of 400,000 would have loved them. Look no further than the accolades for The Beach Boys expressed by British rockers like Elton John.

My column hardly settles the argument.  But my contention is that if one takes away Beatlemania (not that it could be taken away), The Beach Boys emerge as the greatest rock band in history and certainly the greatest American band.

John O’Neill is an Allen Park free-lance writer. He contributes frequent opinion pieces and reviews to MediaNews Group.