U2 vs the Rolling Stones

adorshki said:

Elton's band has remained the same (with original players even) and has been known as the "Elton John Band" since the first album and he is technically the piano player and vocalist in said band.
And they've never "retired" and then reformed for a re-union tour.
From "the usual source":
"Since 1970, John's band, of which he is the pianist and lead singer, has been known as the Elton John Band."
Dylan (like Springsteen) has had multiple bands, and is technically a solo artist who uses different backing bands, like Neil Young.
And Jeff Beck and tons of jazz players.
I consider that a different category of performer, that's all.

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From the usual source: "Since 1970, John's band, of which he is the pianist and lead singer, has been known as the Elton John Band.[SUP][208][/SUP][SUP][209][/SUP] The band has had multiple line-up changes, but Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone, and Ray Cooper have been members (albeit non-consecutively) since 1970 (Olsson), 1972 (Johnstone) and 1974 (Cooper). Olsson left the band in 1984 but rejoined in 2000.[SUP][210][/SUP][SUP][211][/SUP] Ray Cooper has worked on and off with the Elton John Band because he maintains obligations to other musicians as a session player and sideman as a road-tour percussionist."

But this breaks your rule, doesn't it? No Davey Johnstone until Honky Chateau! I'd put Elton in the "Bruce" category.

walrus

walrus said:

Can't have Elton John, based on your own rules:

"(Bob Dylan is) Ruled out under the rules for this discussion, has had several different backing bands.
Point was we're looking for bands not "Stars with a backing band" (which is why Springsteen don't qualify either)"

walrus

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OK, having done some more research on Elton, he IS in kind of a gray area because it seems pretty apparent that he's the boss and people only serve in the band if he wants 'em too (and they want to).
And he's gone off on side projects without the band,
Even if the name has remained the same and they've never "broken up", they wouldn't be "The Elton John Band" without him.
"The Band", on the other hand, were a complete entity even without Dylan.
And both Dylan and Elton would stand on their own and have no problem forming new backing bands no matter what happened to their current backing bands.
So I see your point.
Was just trying to be fair even about an artist I actually don't like.

walrus said:

But this breaks your rule, doesn't it? No Davey Johnstone until Honky Chateau! I'd put Elton in the "Bruce" category.
walrus

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Yeah, I think you're right.
I probably jumped the gun based on that one sentence in Wiki last night.
You were composing that while I was composing my last post, but still, it's not so much the Davey Johnstone thing since I'm ok with changing memberships, as much as a different issue which I explained above.
It's that fine line that for sure "the Elton John Band" could NOT be the Elton John Band without him.
But even the "E Street Band" could be the E Street Band without Bruce. (In fact, I think they have supported other acts, haven't they?
Bruce, Bob, and Elton are all perfectly capable of negotiating deals on the strength of their own names and then hiring (or building) a backing band to meet the commitment, that's the kind of arrangement I was trying to exclude from this list.
Even Lennon operated that way after the Beatles.