Reunion gigs - without the original members

[Dave W]

It depends. I tend to agree with Jon. At some point it becomes a tribute band (NTTAWWT) instead of the original group. For example, Creedence Clearwater Revisited may have Cook and Clifford, but no Fogarty = not really Creedence. They may be great, no doubt they entertain their fans. But if you go to see them, you aren't seeing CCR.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned seeing that new PBS oldies special. There was a band calling itself Jefferson Starship. The lead singer sounded just like Grace Slick (looked completely different and about half Grace's age). They certainly had Somebody To Love and White Rabbit down pat. But even if there are any original members, a Grace imitator makes it really a tribute band.

[uwe]

I agree if original members are aped. And CCR without Fogerty is really like the E-Street Band without the Boss or the Experience without Hendrix. The Talking Heads without Byrne or the Dire Straits without Knopfler are other examples. Or The Cars without Ocasek. If a band just has one songwriter and he/she leaves it becomes near impossible to remain credible and not turn tribute unless you start writing new material (as The Stranglers and Marillion have done in similar circumstances). But I don't think Journey without Steve Perry - trademarkish as his vocals were - or Foreigner (always more a Mick Jones than a Lou Gramm band) are tribute acts today. They record new stuff, play it live (along with the old hits) and are not just cabaret acts. You might not like their type of AOR, but they are not just going through the motions.

I think Queen could have gone on without Freddie Mercury if they had really tried (and needed the money), they were all writing songs and their layered vocals were more May's (listen to any May solo album for proof) than Freddie's do, the lead guitar is idiosyncratic, but they made flash in the pan-novelty choices such as George Michael, Robin Williams, Paul Rodgers and now Lady Gaga to sing with them short termrather than looking long term for someone who might let them progress to somewhere else.

[nofi]

queen without freddie? it does not matter who wrote/played what. mercury was the very public face and voice of the band. when people think of queen they think of freddie. impossible i say, but to attempt to replace him with that walking sleeping pill rogers...

[rahock]

Sleeping pill Rogers..............I like that .
A couple of years ago I caught Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown at a Reunion show. Big Brother was lacking a bit of energy, and although the girl they had fronting the band was really good,she definately wasn't Janis Joplin. Canned Heat was good, but the drummer was the only original guy. A lot was missing. They were one of the greatest live shows ever, back in the day. Arthur Brown was good too, but that fantastic organ player(forget his name) is dead and rather than try to plug another B3 player in his slot, he had it covered with a guitar player and a boatload of effects. I enjoyed them all, but make no mistake, it just wasn't the same .
Rick

[nofi]

i expect the obligatory 'duets' album with tony bennett any day now.

[rahock]

i expect the obligatory 'duets' album with tony bennett any day now.

You've got to figure that it's a done deal just waiting for a release date
Rick

[Droombolus]

Sleeping pill Rogers..............I like that .
A couple of years ago I caught Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown at a Reunion show. Big Brother was lacking a bit of energy, and although the girl they had fronting the band was really good,she definately wasn't Janis Joplin. Canned Heat was good, but the drummer was the only original guy. A lot was missing. They were one of the greatest live shows ever, back in the day. Arthur Brown was good too, but that fantastic organ player(forget his name) is dead and rather than try to plug another B3 player in his slot, he had it covered with a guitar player and a boatload of effects. I enjoyed them all, but make no mistake, it just wasn't the same .
Rick

Paul Rodgers was one of the best singers ever during his Free period, but since he visited the crossroads and formed Bad Co. he just seems to go through the motions .......

If you're talking about Fito de la Parra, he wasn't Canned Heat's original drummer ( Frank Cook was ) but he was there during their heyday .......... and with Bob Hite, Al Wilson & Henry Vestine all gone there's really no one left to front the band .....

Vincent Crane was Brown's organ player, he later founded Atomic Rooster ......

[nofi]

there is a newer version of canned heat out there. i think it's a trio with larry taylor, fito and a guy i never heard of.

[rahock]

Larry Taylor would make it all worthwhile .
Rick

[Denis]

IMO.....Reunion gigs (local or major acts) are BOGUS if they do not have the key frontperson(s) and songwriter.  Meaning, if the band was known for BOTH it's vocalist and guitarist, they BOTH need to be there. Plus, for example, if the bass player wrote most of the known songs, he would also need to be included.
The remaining members would be nice but optional. No free pass for dead members, although having your grown kid/sibling fill in on the same instrument is kind of OK. Using famous fill-in pals, NOT OK.
So....current BOGUS examples include:
Foreigner
Queen
Yes
OK examples:
Who
Led Zep

The best (and worst) example of this is Lynyrd Skynyrd. Gary Rossington is the only original member and he never even sang in the original lineup. The band exists in defiance of an agreement that the name can continue to be used as long at TWO original members were actively in the band. When Billy Powell died though, I guess something must have been worked out. I saw them only once, in 1987 during the first post-crash tour and they were really good but they still had lots of original members.

[lowend1]

The best (and worst) example of this is Lynyrd Skynyrd. Gary Rossington is the only original member and he never even sang in the original lineup. The band exists in defiance of an agreement that the name can continue to be used as long at TWO original members were actively in the band. When Billy Powell died though, I guess something must have been worked out. I saw them only once, in 1987 during the first post-crash tour and they were really good but they still had lots of original members.

As I recall, something WAS worked out, but I can't remember whether it was the Van Zant bloodline angle or the "Rick Medlocke was an original member" angle...

[Droombolus]

there is a newer version of canned heat out there. i think it's a trio with larry taylor, fito and a guy i never heard of.

It's a quartet with Harvey Mandel, he succeeded Vestine back when ......

[Dave W]

Maybe there should be an international czar to determine what's a real band and what's a tribute band. Somebody of high intelligence who can be trusted to make an informed decision. I nominate Gary Busey.

[gweimer]

Maybe there should be an international czar to determine what's a real band and what's a tribute band. Somebody of high intelligence who can be trusted to make an informed decision. I nominate Gary Busey.

This gig may turn out to be a true revisitation of the band as it was back then.  I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends, and my daughter will be able to see the band I was in before she was born.  The band itself, I will guess, will probably be the same disorganized and divided mess we were 30 years ago.  LOL.  I can't wait to see how the song list gets put together and how the rehearsal goes.

[PhilT]

The thing about tribute bands is they usually have some enthusiasm for the music. When I saw the ghost of Canned Heat it was like watching a group of session players who couldn't wait to get it over and get paid.

There's a lot of these ghost bands touring England and for the most part it's not pretty. Last time I saw The Animals there were several original members, all of whom had been in the band before it was famous. Spencer Davis with Spencer, but no Steve Winwood. The Yardbirds, more or less intact I think, except for those prima donna lead guitarists no one remembers. Herman's Hermits with permanently fixed grins and no Herman. Genesis with only Mike Rutherford, that was a depressing night. There's two versions of Wishbone Ash, but I haven't heard either of them.

For a band to survive the changes I suppose it needs at least one strong driving force - Jagger, Townsend, Anderson and Squire, Ian Anderson in Jethro Tull. John Mayall's still going strong, finding and discarding guitarists.

As well as the Tony Bennett duets album, don't you also have to jam with Joe Bonmassa?