For sure man. I found KAAY by accident as I was listening to 1040 WHO, bumped the dial and found their far away signal.
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
That's cool, but, as I stated above, my intent was not to assume that the band would necessarily play well together as a unit, or fit together necessarily. Rather, it was more about All-Star recognition with the instrument. Actual all-star bands rarely do anything special - see Asia.WAY too many directions you could go, and you have to remember that some of these wouldn't "fit". And in some cases, as part of a band format one guy might shine, while another is just an awesome musician who can play anywhere, anytime, with anyone, no questions asked, studio or live, rehearsed or improvising.
My guitar list would break the bank before you even decide what you want for a song lineup! Do you tell John McLaughlin or Jeff Beck to sit down and shut up? And what about Carlos Santana, Chet Atkins, Steve Howe, Jimmy Page? The list could go way into the night. When it comes to rhythm guitar, though, I'm going with one guy: Freddie Greene, who played for years with Count Basie. Yes, I would tend toward jazz/blues-oriented guys, as their improv tends to be second nature.
Chris Squire did a solo during the 1979 Yes tour that was amazing, but if you said it meant leaving Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius at home, it would be one hell of a tough dilemma.
"Drum" means two names: Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Oh, and Randy Jones (played a long time with Dave Brubeck). And throw in whoever happens to be playing for Spinal Tap, knowing you'll have to replace him soon...
Keyboards, wow, very tough call. Too many possibilities.
For vocalists, you're leaving a helluva lot of amazing females off the list
Another vocalist I would have to include: David Clayton Thomas.
Santana was great at Woodstock.
When John stuck to what he did best, nobody did it better. His songs were three minute slices of Americana- it's triumphs and it's tribulations. In his book he cites Stephen Foster as a major influence. Foster could write about a part of the country the listener had never visited and within one song feel as if "Suannee River" ran through their back yard. Likewise you could feel the humidity of the delta or swamp after one Creedence song even if you hadn't been near New Orleans. Brian Jones was underappreciated and still missed. Santana was a phenomenal talent who stole plenty of shows. Great story about Jagger/Jones.
