Music Thread

#1DieHardHawk said:
Yeah, I'm a huge Blondie fan. Still listen to their stuff all the time.

And, yes, it's a sad fact that so many of the greats are dying off. As I posted earlier, it's very sad that the era of the great guitarist is essentially coming to an end. They are dropping like flies.
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And Tony is not doing well. One question for you. Would you consider Jimmy Page a lead guitarist or a rythym guitarist. Or just a deity.
 
Northside Hawk said:
And Tony is not doing well. One question for you. Would you consider Jimmy Page a lead guitarist or a rythym guitarist. Or just a deity.
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Lead, easy, and top 10 all time.

There really are very few well-known true rhythm guitarists. Malcom was head and shoulders above everybody IMO, because he understood the lost art of the great repetitive riff in the background, filling the gaps, and maintaining it throughout the song. He also didn't seek the fanfare and accolades that so many guitarists want. Don Felder is another I could list, but Lennon trumps him.
 
#1DieHardHawk said:
Lead, easy, and top 10 all time.

There really are very few well-known true rhythm guitarists. Malcom was head and shoulders above everybody IMO, because he understood the lost art of the great repetitive riff in the background, filling the gaps, and maintaining it throughout the song. He also didn't seek the fanfare and accolades that so many guitarists want. Don Felder is another I could list, but Lennon trumps him.
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While no Malcolm Young, Keith Richards probably deserves a shout. Especially among the British Invasion bands. When the new wave of British heavy metal bands invaded in the late seventies, early eighties they frequently abondoned the pure rythym guitarist and employed two dueling leads. The hair metal bands later in the decade followed suit. The great American indie rock bands of the pre Nirvana eighties were a mixture of both, but many of those bands only had one guitar player. (Besides bass, of course.)
 
#1DieHardHawk said:
I'm going to switch gears here a little.

For those that visit this thread, what is your "dream team?" A band, living or dead, you would put together.

For me, some choices are easy, others are really tough, but I'd go with this:

Lead vocals:
Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury
Lead guitar (boy, what a list there):
Hendrix or SRV (I really hate keeping Tony Iommi off, but what can you do?)
Rhythm guitar (lost art, IMO):
Malcom Young or John Lennon
Bass:
John Entwistle (easy choice for me) or Chris Squire
Drums:
John Bonham or Neil Peart (shoutout to Mike Portnoy, though. Probably the most underrated, along with
Clem Burke from Blondie)
Keyboard:
Keith Emerson or Jon Lord
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The actual "super group" concept didn't last very long. Finding musically compatible musicians was difficult enough, but having the creative process actually work was expecting too much. There weren't too many true super groups that were a success. I lot of the more notable efforts ended up being one off albums and collaborations, sometimes a handful of really good songs.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
The actual "super group" concept didn't last very long. Finding musically compatible musicians was difficult enough, but having the creative process actually work was expecting too much. There weren't too many true super groups that were a success. I lot of the more notable efforts ended up being one off albums and collaborations, sometimes a handful of really good songs.
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I'm sure balancing egos was one issue. Ted Nugent once made interesting comments on how he had to balance his with Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades in Damn Yankees (READ: It wasn't easy.) Getting creative but ideosyncratic writers to work together was another. John Forgerty couldn't co-write with someone to save his life, just to name one example.
 
Egos, general musical compatibility, communication, knowing your place in the band. Than you get into the creative process which is a another thing in itself. Even within a genre,some guy's are highly trained, some are polished band and session musicians, others might be highly idiosyncratic and self trained. (or untrained) Some guys don't have the chops but are really good in a band. Some that can play can't listen worth a sh*t or don't care to follow.
 
Oh, I know that just throwing great musicians together doesn't necessarily translate to great results. That wasn't really my intent.

It's just fun to ponder who would be the "all-stars" of rock and roll.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
Got you. Almost too many to count. Depends on who I'm listening to.
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Yeah, the choices aren't easy, but that's part of the fun.

Especially at lead guitar. My God, think of how many there are to choose from.

After the ones I listed, there's Page, Clapton, Van Halen, Rhoads, Rory Gallager, Blackmore, A. Young, Gilmour, Terry Kath, Knopfler, Perry, etc., and my two most underrated, Alvin Lee and Lindsay Buckingham.
 
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Northside Hawk said:
While no Malcolm Young, Keith Richards probably deserves a shout. Especially among the British Invasion bands. When the new wave of British heavy metal bands invaded in the late seventies, early eighties they frequently abondoned the pure rythym guitarist and employed two dueling leads. The hair metal bands later in the decade followed suit. The great American indie rock bands of the pre Nirvana eighties were a mixture of both, but many of those bands only had one guitar player. (Besides bass, of course.)
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I thought about Richards, but I see him more as a lead. He played some rhythm, but probably only about 15% of the time.
 
We've all heard the phrase "gym rat". Guys like Jeff Lynne and Ric Ocasek and Tom Scholz were the ultimate "studio rats" .Loved to record, didn't necessarily like to tour.
 
#1DieHardHawk said:
Yeah, the choices aren't easy, but that's part of the fun.

Especially at lead guitar. My God, think of how many there are to choose from.

After the ones I listed, there's Page, Clapton, Van Halen, Rhoads, Blackmore, A. Young, Gilmour, Carl Wilson, Knopfler, Perry, etc., and my two most underrated, Alvin Lee and Lindsay Buckingham.
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"I'd love to change the world..." Untill Hendix closed the rain delayed Woodstock festival at 9am on Monday Morning Ten Years After was supposedly one of the show stealers. NOTE:. That aforementioned song didn't come out on record until the next year.
 
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Yep, know it very well. It was my class song.

Earlier in the thread I posted video of Lee performing "I'm Going Home" at Woodstock.
 
#1DieHardHawk said:
Yeah, the choices aren't easy, but that's part of the fun.

Especially at lead guitar. My God, think of how many there are to choose from.

After the ones I listed, there's Page, Clapton, Van Halen, Rhoads, Blackmore, A. Young, Gilmour, Carl Wilson, Knopfler, Perry, etc., and my two most underrated, Alvin Lee and Lindsay Buckingham.
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My unofficial list (no more than one member per band)

Robert Plant (At his peak his voice was truly an instrument onto itself)

Jimi Hendrix (STB simply the best)

Malcolm Young (Frighteningly Propulsive)

I'll go with Entwhistle on bass although I think you had to see the Who live to truly appreciate them.

Neil Peart (Near flawless technique, but didn't quite have Keith Moon's insanity or Bonham's thunder of God raw power. Remember my rule.)

Gotta go Jon Lord on Keyboards. He held his own with the flash of Ritchie Blackmore on stage.

Honorory visionary: Lou Reed. Because he took more crap for no reason than any musician who ever lived. Father of punk rock, indie rock, alternative rock or any other left of the dial genre you can imagine. He could teach Malcolm the riff to "Sweet Jane" and let Jimi add a solo to "White Light White Heat."
 
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It is rumored that Christopher Guest's Spinal Tap character was patterned after Jeff Beck. Nigel Tufnel had a similar hairstyle, his outlook on life had a similar quasi-philosophical bent, and they both liked grand prix auto racing. Look closely when they're sitting at the airport just before the air Force Base gig. Nigel is reading an auto magazine.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Can you imagine if these legendary recording artists tried to get started in the music business today. Springsteen, Seger, Petty, and Mellencamp would never have made it. As much talent as they had they never would have been allowed to grow at their own pace. Styx too. Rush was about to get dropped before they made 2112. Billy Joel would have never broke through on his fifth album because he would have been dumped after the second one. ( If a record company had even taken him seriously after the Echoes, the Hassles, and Atilla all flopped). If they ever auditioned for American Idol when they first started out Simon Cowell probably would have laughed them off the stage.Don't disdain the reverence bestowed upon these legends young'uns. They paid their dues like you wouldn't believe.
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Excellent post. Really insightful and spot on.

Most of the big names of my era started playing in dumps. Pennies a night, over and over, never giving up, until finally, somebody of importance heard them. Usually at one of those grungy clubs.

There was no youtube or internet or other viral social media then. You ham-and-egged it until you got into a recording studio (at their wishes primarily) and busted out a tape and hope some radio station picked up a song. Then you got a contract. Then maybe national TV exposure on The Midnight Special or national radio such as The King Biscuit Flour Hour, etc.

Linkin Park is a 'modern' example of this....they got turned away multiple times, three times in fact by Warner Bros. records until they got a break. LP didn't fit in with any one genre of music....nobody took a chance on them. Hybrid Theory came out and the rest is history.

Make fun of the Jean Jackets :) if you will....the late 60s and 70s were *the* formative years of rock, the best few years ever....a time in which the modern bands should be thankful for.
 
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