\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/arts/music/band-name-reunions.html
Doc Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 Well, the singer is usually the most important/distinctive part of a band, unless you have a virtuoso on guitar. 1
Gugny Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 8 minutes ago, Doc said: Well, the singer is usually the most important/distinctive part of a band, unless you have a virtuoso on guitar. I present you with Exhibit A: Fleetwood Mac. Technically speaking, even the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac were a bunch of new people/replacements. But that's the FM lineup that most people are ponying up big bucks to see. I think your "singer" comment is how the vast majority of people feel, but I also think it depends on the individual. Personally, I think Lindsey Buckingham WAS Fleetwood Mac. His writing, his dedication in the studio, his distinctive voice and definitely his guitar playing. Other than Stevie Nicks' voice rivaling Barry White for deepness, once Buckingham was out, I no longer considered getting a ticket. Thing is - I'm sure the music still sounded great. Mike Campbell is a pretty sweet replacement, so I'm sure the guitar sounded perfectly fine. And that goes back to your singer comment. Chris McVie and Stevie Nicks sang a boatload of FM hits, so someone else singing the ones Lindsey sang probably didn't faze anyone.
Doc Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 13 minutes ago, Gugny said: I present you with Exhibit A: Fleetwood Mac. Technically speaking, even the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac were a bunch of new people/replacements. But that's the FM lineup that most people are ponying up big bucks to see. I think your "singer" comment is how the vast majority of people feel, but I also think it depends on the individual. Personally, I think Lindsey Buckingham WAS Fleetwood Mac. His writing, his dedication in the studio, his distinctive voice and definitely his guitar playing. Other than Stevie Nicks' voice rivaling Barry White for deepness, once Buckingham was out, I no longer considered getting a ticket. Thing is - I'm sure the music still sounded great. Mike Campbell is a pretty sweet replacement, so I'm sure the guitar sounded perfectly fine. And that goes back to your singer comment. Chris McVie and Stevie Nicks sang a boatload of FM hits, so someone else singing the ones Lindsey sang probably didn't faze anyone. True but a band like that with multiple singers is an exception and in that case, like you said, you don't care that a couple tunes aren't sung by the original singer.
Chef Jim Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 There is a club near me (The Coach House) that has all these old bands that play there. It's usually just one guy from the original line up that has the rights to the name. It's a very small, and run down, venue but I've seen some great shows there. Gregg Allman, Al Di Meola, Little Feat, Dweezle Zappa...... 1
Logic Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 Of all the bands I can think of, the Grateful Dead have handled this the best. Once Jerry Garcia died, they went as The Other Ones. Eventually, they brought "The Dead" out of mothballs, but without the "Grateful". Later iterations that play Dead music have included Ratdog, Phil and Friends, Further, and now Dead and Company. But to their credit, they have never attempted to go out as The Grateful Dead. Even their much celebrated 50th anniversary farewell shows at Solider Field in 2015 were only billed as "Celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead". They've let the name stay...well, um....dead...since Jerry died. Kudos for that. 4
Lurker Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 The music is what matters the most to me. I realize some of the older bands still touring are more like cover outfits, but if the musicianship is high, the music speaks for itself. The same way classical or jazz does. I don't need Beethoven or Bill Evans to be there in person to enjoy Symphony No. 9 or Waltz For Debby... 1
row_33 Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 3 hours ago, Logic said: Of all the bands I can think of, the Grateful Dead have handled this the best. Once Jerry Garcia died, they went as The Other Ones. Eventually, they brought "The Dead" out of mothballs, but without the "Grateful". Later iterations that play Dead music have included Ratdog, Phil and Friends, Further, and now Dead and Company. But to their credit, they have never attempted to go out as The Grateful Dead. Even their much celebrated 50th anniversary farewell shows at Solider Field in 2015 were only billed as "Celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead". They've let the name stay...well, um....dead...since Jerry died. Kudos for that. 99% of the band for me was Jerry so Bob got to increase his third-rate long-song dominance in concerts after Jerry departed? 1
PromoTheRobot Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 I just saw Genesis tribute act The Musical Box and they were great. Rock is becoming like classical music in a way. Now you see bands that perform music from another composer, much like you'd see an orchestra do Mozart. 1
Logic Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 16 minutes ago, row_33 said: 99% of the band for me was Jerry so Bob got to increase his third-rate long-song dominance in concerts after Jerry departed? I certainly understand (but do not entirely share) your viewpoint. Jerry was DEFINITELY the majority of what was interesting/excellent about the Grateful Dead. I still enjoy gathering with the tribe and getting my boogie on, and I love me some Bobby Weir. 2
Doc Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said: I just saw Genesis tribute act The Musical Box and they were great. Rock is becoming like classical music in a way. Now you see bands that perform music from another composer, much like you'd see an orchestra do Mozart. Yesh and see instrumental performances of rock songs a la 2 Cellos or Piano Guys.
stuvian Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 Sadly all the great bands are now cover bands. Enjoy rock and roll while you can. Its a dying art. Algorithms will determine what we'll be listening to
LeviF Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 5 hours ago, stuvian said: Sadly all the great bands are now cover bands. Enjoy rock and roll while you can. Its a dying art. Algorithms will determine what we'll be listening to There are people who thought to write the obituary for Rock and Roll long before you thought to declare it dead. They were at least as wrong as you are.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 15 hours ago, Doc said: Well, the singer is usually the most important/distinctive part of a band, unless you have a virtuoso on guitar. Or Death Metal
Poleshifter Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 I saw The Fab Four a few years ago, and they did an amazing show of Beatles music. I mean, note for note, these guys nailed it, through multiple eras of Beatles material. They put on a great show. You can sometimes catch them on PBS.
Just Joshin' Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 15 hours ago, Gugny said: I present you with Exhibit A: Fleetwood Mac. Technically speaking, even the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac were a bunch of new people/replacements. But that's the FM lineup that most people are ponying up big bucks to see. I think your "singer" comment is how the vast majority of people feel, but I also think it depends on the individual. Personally, I think Lindsey Buckingham WAS Fleetwood Mac. His writing, his dedication in the studio, his distinctive voice and definitely his guitar playing. Other than Stevie Nicks' voice rivaling Barry White for deepness, once Buckingham was out, I no longer considered getting a ticket. Thing is - I'm sure the music still sounded great. Mike Campbell is a pretty sweet replacement, so I'm sure the guitar sounded perfectly fine. And that goes back to your singer comment. Chris McVie and Stevie Nicks sang a boatload of FM hits, so someone else singing the ones Lindsey sang probably didn't faze anyone. I saw FM last month in Austin. As they have several singers, they deemphasized Buckingham in the set. They did dig deep for several tunes from the pre rumors group. Overall a good show that would have been better with Buckingham. 1
Gugny Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 5 hours ago, Poleshifter said: I saw The Fab Four a few years ago, and they did an amazing show of Beatles music. I mean, note for note, these guys nailed it, through multiple eras of Beatles material. They put on a great show. You can sometimes catch them on PBS. I caught them last year and I was very impressed. Had a great time.
stuvian Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 7 hours ago, LeviF91 said: There are people who thought to write the obituary for Rock and Roll long before you thought to declare it dead. They were at least as wrong as you are. I love Rock and Roll and would prefer to be wrong but the quality of today's music suggests otherwise
LeviF Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 1 hour ago, stuvian said: I love Rock and Roll and would prefer to be wrong but the quality of today's music suggests otherwise There's still good music to be heard, just not normally on the radio. Brian Fallon has put out two excellent albums in the last three years. Frank Turner released his best effort yet last year. Same with Sunflower Bean. The Killers are still going. AM Taxi just released a quality (if not terribly memorable) album. Volbeat is working on their seventh album. Ghost released a good album last year (and put on an amazing show just up the street from where I live). That's just off the top of my head and is pretty limited genre-wise. If you're into the heavy stuff (which I don't know much about) I understand that there are several excellent bands putting out good death metal and hardcore type stuff.
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 You should see what they do to Doo-***** groups. The Coasters, Drifters, etc. Because they were all 4/5 part vocal harmony groups, if one member demanded more money, they'd just replace him. Every album they'd record with at least one or more member that wasn't there. So around the 70's or so, some of these guys that were in the group for a year or two would tour under the band name. There were like four band's called The Coasters. Lately, they've been finding one older black guy who can sing but was never in any of these groups, and pairing them with three or four younger guys. People will pay to see them, assume the older guy is an original member, but he isn't. They've tightened up on that a bit, but there will still be loopholes. "The Coasters Revue," "Bill Johnson's Drifters," "The Original Platters." Which doesn't necessarily mean they're the original group, it's just a technicality that that's a different band name than The Platters. The Temptations did that for a while, but Otis Williams (the only original member, and bass singer), tightened that up real quick. Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, the original bassist and drummer tour with a John Fogerty sound alike and call themselves Creedence Clearwater Revisited. I've seen them a few times, they're pretty good, but they acknolege in the show that they're not the full band. Despite the bad blood between them, they always acknoledge that most of the songs they're playing (save for a few covers CCR did), were written by their former bandmate John Fogerty. Skynyrd at one point had a deal with the surviving wives of Ronnie and Steve who died in the crash that they receive what would be their equal share of the tour money. The stipulation was that there had to be at least two pre plane crash members in the band. Recently, they got by on what to me feels like a technicality. They had Gary Rossington, who's been there since day one. Then they got Rickey Medlocke, who was their drummer. Left before they got big to form Blackfoot, and is now in the band as a guitarist. Whenever an older band that I don't follow very well announces a tour, I always go to Wikipedia. They usually have a member timeline there, and you can see just how long each band member has been there. It's crazy how many of them have one person from the bands beginning, or at least prime, with a bunch of unknown members.
Recommended Posts