Cream

twocorgis · Nov 16, 2021

KeithKeb said:
The Robbie Robertson documentary was putrid - self serving, and dished up after Levon, Rick, and Richard were dead and couldnt refute his tale

I watched it, and mostly because I love the band and was curious. But all it did is expand on Martin Scorcese's rather bizarre man crush on Robbie, than continues from The Last Waltz.

GAD · Nov 16, 2021

adorshki said:
Rush and the Police.

And btw the veer re hiring locals as the "Core Act" toured was quite relevant, thanks.

From another perspective, a buddy of mine hosted a Japanese guy named Uji for a couple of months who was literally a freelance "stunt guitar" for touring bands, one of those guys in the shadows who added the stuff the actual band couldn't replicate with all by themselves.

He loved the lifestyle at the time, the late '80's. Lotta travel, not have to deal with a lot of rabid fans, and not married to a band or a record company...he was good enough to stay pretty well employed through the industry grapevine.

Session musicians are the unsung heroes of the music biz. I recall reading that it was fairly common for guitarists to not be able to nail the solos they'd written due to being hungover, high, drunk, or a mixture of all three, so a surprising number of famous guitar parts on records are actually hired guns who come in, nail it, get paid, and leave.

GAD · Nov 16, 2021

fronobulax said:
<veer>
I saw the Four Tops this summer, not because I am a big fan, but because their opening act was a friend. There were three distinct "units" on stage. The headliners were the four vocalists, one of which was an original member and one of which was related to an original member. Then there was the core rhythm section - guitar, bass and drums. Then there was the "music director" who played keys and also directed the remaining unit - about 9 horn players. Everybody was introduced by name at some point and there was nothing I heard that suggested recordings or offstage players were involved. I think the vocalists, rhythm section and music director toured together. The horn section was doing several East Coast gigs with them but not the whole tour. While researching the "nostalgia concert' business I discovered that there are may acts touring on the strength of a big name but everyone else on stage could be locals hired for the occasion. When I was still in school there were a lot of family friends in the musician's union and it was somewhat common for a big act to come into town and supplement the act with locals hired for the gig.

https://www.classicalbumslive.com/ is one touring band that sets out to reproduce the sound of an album live, on stage. They generally do not feel constrained to use the same number of musicians as the "band" they are covering.

</veer>

Since the driving question could be paraphrased as "best 3 person ensemble" I might consider qualifying that as "an ensemble that performed live with exactly three players" - no one hiding off stage and no prerecorded parts added to the live performance.

If I have sucked all the fun out we can decide at what point a reliance on pedals and effects constitutes an additional performer (loopers, delays, chorus, harmony?) and whether there are any acts under consideration that performed live after 1980. Alternatively we could discuss the Rise and Fall of the "Power Trio".

That's a good point, and I'm absolutely for local musicians getting gigs so perhaps I should rethink my angst.

crank · Nov 16, 2021

twocorgis said:
I watched it, and mostly because I love the band and was curious. But all it did is expand on Martin Scorcese's rather bizarre man crush on Robbie, than continues from The Last Waltz.

I see it listed and think maybe I should watch it and then I think nah RR is a dick.

walrus · Nov 16, 2021

Ha! We have veered back to another "musicians who suck as people" thread!

I must admit I own a few of Robertson's solo albums and enjoy them...

walrus

twocorgis · Nov 16, 2021

walrus said:
Ha! We have veered back to another "musicians who suck as people" thread!

I must admit I own a few of Robertson's solo albums and enjoy them...

walrus

I would never deny that RR is a major talent, but he sure does suck as a person. I'm certain a lot of his actions shortened Levon's life, and that's not to say that Levon had the healthiest lifestyle.

adorshki · Nov 16, 2021

GAD said:
Session musicians are the unsung heroes of the music biz. I recall reading that it was fairly common for guitarists to not be able to nail the solos they'd written due to being hungover, high, drunk, or a mixture of all three, so a surprising number of famous guitar parts on records are actually hired guns who come in, nail it, get paid, and leave.

In Uji's case, he was the guy who played the overdub parts the band wouldn't be able to do all by themselves live.

I did forget at least one other '80's "pure trio" act on tour, though: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

Had the great pleasure of seeing him on a "dual headliner" show back in '87 I think it was, with Jeff Beck in a pure 4-man format.
Sadly, the acoustics sucked badly and their jam on "Superstition" was the most painful concert event I've ever been at.

adorshki · Nov 16, 2021

beecee said:
I've listened to him from the beginning but dropped off after Rock of The Westies...or about 1/3rd of the way through that lp. Not sure if you're saying you disliked Tiny Dancer or the opposite but I thought that was one of his better vocal moments

Disliked it intensely. I was completely enthralled with hard rock: Zep II, Beatles, Tull's Aqualung, Live at Leeds, Jefferson Airplane, Beckola... you get the drift..

KeithKeb · Nov 16, 2021

twocorgis said:
I watched it, and mostly because I love the band and was curious. But all it did is expand on Martin Scorcese's rather bizarre man crush on Robbie, than continues from The Last Waltz.

I watched it for the same reason. Man crush it is.

Westerly Wood · Nov 16, 2021

The Who. If you dont count vocals.
Pete, John , Keith. What a rock in trio.

Westerly Wood · Nov 16, 2021

Nirvana had a big sound for 3 people.

walrus · Nov 17, 2021

Westerly Wood said:
The Who. If you dont count vocals.
Pete, John , Keith. What a rock in trio.

The Who with no vocals? It's like the Who without Keith Moon and John Entwistle, it's not The Who. Like Rush without Geddy Lee's vocals, as mentioned above, it's not really Rush.

Speaking of The Who, Daltrey dissed The Stones pretty good this week, calling them a "mediocre" pub band". Ouch! Of course, on their later tours, The Who fit in our category of bands that have numerous other people on stage to help them.

BTW, Paul McCartney called them a "blues cover band" last month. Double ouch!

https://loudwire.com/the-who-roger-daltrey-rolling-stones-mediocre/

walrus

beecee · Nov 17, 2021

adorshki said:
Disliked it intensely. I was completely enthralled with hard rock: Zep II, Beatles, Tull's Aqualung, Live at Leeds, Jefferson Airplane, Beckola... you get the drift..

Interesting, I also Love Zep, Tull, Beatles, Who I would go to any Allman Bros concert within 3 hours during the week. My 68 yo brother turned me on to a lot of early 60's rock as well and his album collection resides with mine.

Gimmee CBD, Tucker, NittyGritty, Nesmith, early Genesis etc but never a big fan of heavy metal or disco, (save for some Bee Gee stuff), but EJ somehow resonated with me....but not so much after Don't Shoot Me, (Save for Texas Love Song), or Yellow Brick.

Funny, I picked my daughter up from Musical try out last night and I had the classical station on. She was totally unaware that I enjoy Classical. She said ya gotta her this! She had the Air Force Orchestra on her phone...a 17 year old kid! I told her to listen to Beethoven's 7th, second movement and imagine a group of Russian soldiers marching in the forest at night in the winter....She called me this afternoon amazed!

Not my favorite rendition but not bad...

7GuildsandanSG · Nov 17, 2021

Primus

geoguy · Nov 17, 2021

Yup, this video confirms that Primus consisted of only three guys (apparently all animal lovers, to boot):

Westerly Wood · Nov 17, 2021

walrus said:
Speaking of The Who, Daltrey dissed The Stones pretty good this week, calling them a "mediocre" pub band".

Daltrey nailed it.

twocorgis · Nov 17, 2021

Westerly Wood said:
Daltrey nailed it.

I've got to disagree there. Maybe the last thirty years or so, but definitely not during the Mick Taylor era (Let it Bleed through Goat's Head Soup).

Westerly Wood · Nov 17, 2021

twocorgis said:
I've got to disagree there. Maybe the last thirty years or so, but definitely not during the Mick Taylor era (Let it Bleed through Goat's Head Soup).

To be fair, Sticky Fingers is a great album. My dis of the Stones is mostly tongue in cheek. And Sandy, I really dig Richards albums. Totally different but so good.

my favorite stones song: live version of Midnight Rambler.

walrus · Nov 17, 2021

Agreed, love their late '60's and '70's music!

But I love most of the Stones music. "Voodoo Lounge" is a great album, for example.

They are certainly "bluesy", Daltrey is correct there. I've always loved Keith's guitar work and acoustic playing. They are what they are, and they do it very well. One could argue they have become sort of a caricature of themselves on this current tour, but so has pretty much every band of their era that continues to tour. Gotta be tough to be a rocker in your mid-70's or even 80's!

I have a feeling Paul, Roger and Mick are just busting each other.

walrus

Westerly Wood · Nov 17, 2021

walrus said:
Agreed, love their late '60's and '70's music!

But I love most of the Stones music. "Voodoo Lounge" is a great album, for example.

They are certainly "bluesy", Daltrey is correct there. I've always loved Keith's guitar work and acoustic playing. They are what they are, and they do it very well. One could argue they have become sort of a caricature of themselves on this current tour, but so has pretty much every band of their era that continues to tour. Gotta be tough to be a rocker in your mid-70's or even 80's!

I have a feeling Paul, Roger and Mick are just busting each other.

walrus

Not to mention, they all helped each other. When Stones got nicked for Pot, and wet in jail, The Who played their songs. Stuff like that.

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