Cream

[twocorgis]

I think these bands remain three members so they don't have to give the musicians touring with them (sometimes for decades) a cut of the royalties or headline pay. Sure, the main players probably write the songs, but I hate it when bands keep the secondary players in the dark.

Agreed, much like Glenn Frey and Don Henley did with songwriting credits in the Eagles, and to an even worse extent, how Robbie Robertson pretty much screwed over his mates in The Band.. All three are pretty loathsome individuals in my book.

 

[walrus]

So many "three piece" bands really aren't. My daughter and I saw Green Day before the pandemic and they had like nine people on stage, but much like you'd see on an American Idol performance, only the main players get the big lighting.

I think these bands remain three members so they don't have to give the musicians touring with them (sometimes for decades) a cut of the royalties or headline pay. Sure, the main players probably write the songs, but I hate it when bands keep the secondary players in the dark.

Except for the "Clockwork Angels" tour when they had a string ensemble, Rush certainly was always only a trio playing live. To my knowledge, so was Cream and ZZ Top. And the Jimi Hendrix Experience definitely was.

Maybe it has to do with their vintage. More "modern" bands perhaps are under more pressure to replicate the album sound, which they can't do by themselves? Replicating an album doesn't give much room for improvisation, like Cream or Hendrix would be doing. And it has to be much less effort to have all the backup players. In Rush, for example, when they performed a song with keyboards, Geddy Lee would play keyboards with his hands, bass with his feet, and sing. Not much of that going on anymore...

It's funny that you mention this, there are a lot of bands that have added a lot of players in the shadows, not just trios. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and so on. The "American Idolization" of live music.

walrus

 

[davismanLV]

We went with my bro and sis-in-law to The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour in 2012. They sounded amazing and it was a fabulous concert, but I couldn't BELIEVE how many players there were on stage!! There had to be 20 people up there!!! Still, the results were great.

 

[dreadnut]

Never could stand Rush.

Why is Eric Clapton like coffee? They're both better with Cream.

 

[davismanLV]

Never could stand Rush.

Why is Eric Clapton like coffee? They're both better with Cream.

Eric Clapton with cream is sounding a LOT like a recipe!! Just saying....

 

[adorshki]

Ditto, and a few other things like Derek and the Dominoes and the Robert Johnson sessions. Most of the time, he just mails it in.

Blind Faith
"Presence of the Lord" (Clapton)
"Sea of Joy"(Winwood)
"Do What You Like"(Baker)

Clapton (Delaney and Bonnie era):
"Let it Rain"
"Blues Power"

And of course
"Stormy Monday" on "Beano":

Just to punch a coupla nostalgia buttons.

But Cream my favorite, especially Disreali Gears and Wheels of Fire

He lost me at "I Shot the Sheriff".

 

[twocorgis]

He lost me at "I Shot the Sheriff".

He had a couple of moments after that I think. "Slowhand" has the wonderful "The Core", and a good cover of John Martyn's "May You Never". But then again, it also has "Wonderful Tonight" on it too.

 

[Rebosbro]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Love Greg Lakes voice! The played the Richmond Coliseum in 1980 and a buddy's HS band opened for them. Very cool!
Paul

 

[LeFinPepere]

Taste! Rory Gallagher! (Did they finally give his name to the airport in Ireland?Or was it a beer?) As far as Enrique Clapoton (Yes , I like to re-name people too!) goes, Hideway and that cavernous sound he had in "I ain't got you" I find pretty cool.He should have left"Little Wing"alone, you don't pour concrete on a dragonfly! He rarely gives me goosebumps. I like his collaboration with J.J Cale. I think he has become underrated !! ("Clapton? Mmmwell...yes! Cocaïne!Not bad"!) - Now,I tried to copy some of his stuff, he is a mean player!(Better than me,sigh!))
I just love judging famous musicians, makes me forget how lousy I am!

 

[GAD]

Except for the "Clockwork Angels" tour when they had a string ensemble, Rush certainly was always only a trio playing live. To my knowledge, so was Cream and ZZ Top. And the Jimi Hendrix Experience definitely was.

Maybe it has to do with their vintage. More "modern" bands perhaps are under more pressure to replicate the album sound, which they can't do by themselves? Replicating an album doesn't give much room for improvisation, like Cream or Hendrix would be doing. And it has to be much less effort to have all the backup players. In Rush, for example, when they performed a song with keyboards, Geddy Lee would play keyboards with his hands, bass with his feet, and sing. Not much of that going on anymore...

It's funny that you mention this, there are a lot of bands that have added a lot of players in the shadows, not just trios. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and so on. The "American Idolization" of live music.

walrus

Saw ZZ-Top live a few years back. While there's only the three of them, it's funny how synth parts show up when no one's up there playing them. Some of the backing vocals, too. It's mostly on the '80s stuff where there's a lot of "stuff" going on. The '70s "real" ZZ-top stuff all seemed straight from them.

Honestly, though, while I noticed it I just didn't care.

Hell, it doesn't bother me when a band has a pile of musicians on stage to deliver the sound the audience wants. It just bugs me a bit when they're in the dark while the main "band" gets all the attention. At least musicians are getting paid.

 

[beecee]

Ok....forget the symphonic back up on the studio albums but how about Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray and Reginald Dwight..

11-17-70 comes to mind.

 

[dreadnut]

He lost me at "I Shot the Sheriff".

Me too.

 

[fronobulax]

Hell, it doesn't bother me when a band has a pile of musicians on stage to deliver the sound the audience wants. It just bugs me a bit when they're in the dark while the main "band" gets all the attention. At least musicians are getting paid.

<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".

 

[LeFinPepere]

Even the 3 Musketeers were four!

 

[crank]

Clapton's Unplugged album practically created a genre.

A couple standouts of later EC, for me, are Old Love and Change The World.

Cream to me was 3 crazy good players trying to outplay each other. And I don't like most of their songs. Love Crossroads though.

Derek and the Dominoes was my favorite EC era.

 

[Nuuska]

LeFin Pepere - like Ringo Starr + The Beatles Trio?

crank - Clapton's Unplugged was w at least 40 microphones - while one would've been enough - so - in my book far from "unplugged"

 

[KeithKeb]

Agreed, much like Glenn Frey and Don Henley did with songwriting credits in the Eagles, and to an even worse extent, how Robbie Robertson pretty much screwed over his mates in The Band.. All three are pretty loathsome individuals in my book.

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

 

[adorshki]

Ok....forget the symphonic back up on the studio albums but how about Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray and Reginald Dwight..

11-17-70 comes to mind.

"A-A-A-g-g-h!......"

OK, "Madman Across the Water", the song specifically, yes. Took me years to hear that side of him and finally give him some grudging respect, because of "Tiny Dancer".

I was devastated by John's collaboration with him for "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"

 

[adorshki]

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".

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.

 

[beecee]

"A-A-A-g-g-h!......"

OK, "Madman Across the Water", the song specifically, yes. Took me years to hear that side of him and finally give him some grudging respect, because of "Tiny Dancer".

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.

I was devastated by John's collaboration with him for "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"

Can't argue there...