Old bands with just a couple of surviving members.... Mild Rant

All of those tribute/ghost bands play Gulfstream Race Track in Hallandale Fl.
Once I was driving by the marquee, it read
CREEDENCE
CLEARWATER
REVISITED

That screamed desperation.​

 

How about Wishbone Ash? There are currently 2 versions. One only has original guitarist Andy Powell and the other called Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash only has original bassist and main vocalist Martin Turner.

 

I usually don't mind if less prominent members are no longer with the band. When the lead singer changes, it's usually a no-go for me, with AC/DC and Van Halen being the two exceptions. That said, I have no problem with people enjoying Boston or Journey concerts with their new sound-alike singers. I saw Journey with the young Filipino lead vocalist that they discovered on youtube, and it was much better than I thought it would be. I never liked them in their prime, but man, I knew every single song! "Just a small town girl . . ."

 

If Stu and Cosmo want to tour as Creedence Clearwater Revisited I don't I have a problem with that. They've been playing together for decades and were an integral part of the original band. If they were billing themselves as Creedence Clearwater Revival then that would be wrong. I saw them once and everyone in the crowd had a blast. After all, it's only rock n roll.

 

Saw the New Riders of the Purple Sage last week. David Nelson and Buddy Cage are the only surviving members of the classic lineup. Both were aboard and to these ears it sounded legit.

 

Speaking as someone who wasn't around for Paul Revere and The Raiders's heyday, this is fantastic.

 

That's good to hear. I saw them back in the early 70's and it was a great concert.

 

War is an interesting case. One guy (the singer, who plays some keys but mostly one handd) tours with the original name, and the other four surviving originals get the occasional gig they can pick up as The Low Rider Band.

There is no justice in that, though I will say "War" puts on a great show.

All of them got writing credits originally.

 

I wish most of the bands would, yes. They're an embarrassment to their legacy.

But if you're into that sort of thing, OK, have fun. I know some ladies that will go see ANY classic rock band they can, regardless of who is/isn't in the band, simply because of the name attached to the performers. They don't care and always have fun.

 

Great post, and I totally agree with you !!! I might see Queen though because it is an extension of Freddie Mercury, and one of the ways that he continues to survive.

 

I think most of the time it boils down to if the lead creative force in the original band is still around or not.

 

The difference is, Evans was fired because the others felt he wasn't good enough.
(incidentally, the same fate befell Gillan in the late 80's, due to his excessive drinking)

 

Some of the bands with surviving members are good, others not as much. I enjoyed the new version of New Riders Of The Purple Save, even though Dawson passed away. The Hollies, I don't care for their latest singer because he sounds less like Allan Clarke than the previous replacement. The Guess Who has a talented replacement lead singer. The Yardbirds were a fun group in their own context, even though I believe the one original member still touring with the group was recovering from something (either surgery or pneumonia, can't remember) and they had replaced him temporarily so the show could happen.

 

Get used to the thought that like in classical music the name of a band/artist slowly changes into being a label for the music that band/artist has created. And if any group of musicians can do a tribute act, I see no point why surviving members or ex-members can't play their own music. The only thing of importance is, whether they do it in style. And in the end most important is, if there is a demand. And as long as this is the case, it's quite pointless, if certain people always complain on the internet that "they damage their legacy" - whatever that is supposed to be......

 

Seconded! Only one member left who has once played in an LRB line up that actually had original members? Ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is that the band's founders had to appear as Birtles, Shorrock and Goble in 2003 because of legal reasons.

 

It's a sad situation.

They played a in-store at Blue Note in 1995 with all of the original surviving band members minus Lee Oskar who refused to be a part of the band if Jerry "Far Out" Goldstein is in the picture, War was promoting the Peace Sign album at the time. War had a Japanese harp player in Oskar's place (who was OK), a member's son in place of Papa Dee Allen (who was fair), and a new sax player in place of Charles Miller (who was good). From what I was told and read, Goldstein owns the name and the band has to pay him to use it. After the tour folded, the group was calling themselves S.O.B (Same Ol' Band) and then the Lowrider Band. Then Lonnie Jordan left and became Goldstein's lackey with a bogus War, while the other members (Howard Scott, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, and Lee Oskar) are in the Lowrider band). They were trying to change their name back in the 80's to "The Music Band" to no success. Personally RAW would have been a better name and a big extended middle finger to Jerry Golstein.

 

I think its not that the band pays Goldstein, its that Goldstein can hire anyone he wants to perform as War and they are his employees. He could put 5 monkeys on stage and bill them as War while the 5 musicians could be playing together and not allowed to use the name.

Same situation applies vis a vis Rhino and the Monkees but Rhino hasn't abused their power.

 

I didn't realize that the real War supported that album-- They didn't all play on it.

 

I got into this same discussion with the music director of our brother station when Van Halen was about to tour after ADKOT came out. I was of the opinion that I wouldn't want to see VH, even with Roth back up front (I caught a show during the 2004 reunion with Sammy, because I love all incarnations of the band, even Cherone's five minutes). My reasoning was that it just wouldn't sound the same without Michael Anthony's backup vocals. Her opinion was that she didn't care about such things, it was the vocalist that made all the difference. GNR was an example she used. Since Axl sang all the songs, all the hits, every album, he IS GNR. She told me you can replace anyone in any given band except a singer. You could put any clown up there to play the riffs and the beats. I'm not saying I'm of that opinion on all bands, it's just different to me because of my love for VH and wanting to see the entire original line-up, and hear them as well. I saw Kiss with just Paul and Gene. I've seen Skynyrd a couple times, but they are my running joke. They'll get the neighbor's son's friend's nephew's girlfriend's sister's uncle to play in that band just to keep it going lol

 

Can anyone explain why you would continue to tour as the band Queen without Freddie Mercury? Makes no sense at all. Sure some bands members can be replaced and carry on just fine (The Rolling Stones for example) but when one member is the integral part of it why bother?

 

they have to make a living someway

 

a lot you know NOT

 

For sure! Also, quite deceiving to the casual fans of rock music. Instead of taking advantage of a profitable situation with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook should've kept going with his talented country-rock group Southern Pacific.

 

Amen Myke....Amen!!!

 

You share the same birthday as FZ