if america is _____ what would england be

i have immersed myself acciddentaly recently in american things. and i can trace lines of spewing words through whitman through woody guthrie and dylan (passing by beats and spewing wild words). and what's frustrating me is, you can trace loads of old england through to some blake thing, (nick drake, and some others which have suddenly gone completely from my mind) or edward lear nonsense (lennon had his debbles) and our heroic jake thackray, but i can't trace any music before the 60's.
i don't know whether it's a question of the states having no more than 300 years on its side, but i can't trace an england of eccentrics like i can of americans whose land is their land.
and the sheer weight of being not american bogs down something like the libertines is anachronism, too. anyway, what lines can we trace? go forth and suggest!