Deuce Wrote:
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> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I interpreted the
> original question to mean the roots of the actual
> melodic rock sound, not simply music that was
> inspirational. The Beatles were certainly the
> latter, but I don't think that they ever truly had
> a "melodic rock sound" in the sense that we're
> discussing here.

That's exactly how I interpreted it as well. Anything else makes little sense, tbh. If you're looking for bands that inspired melodic rock, why not go farther back and look at what bands inspired them and what bands inspired them... That way, we could argue that the first inspiration for melodic rock was the first Neanderthal who ever clapped two stones together and made a sound with them.
I'm kidding here, but you see what I mean...