musicians/singers who were rumored to join bands but did not

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Say It Right, Jan 14, 2013.

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  1. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired Thread Starter

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Apologies if this is done before, but figured it would be fun and require some thought about lineup changes that did not materialize. A number of these have turned up in other threads (ie guitarists to replace Mick Taylor in the Stones). So, let's collect them all in one place!

    Might as well start with Mick Taylor's potential replacements. Have seen Jeff Beck, Mick Ronson and Rory Gallagher mentioned, with probably others, before Ronnie Wood got the job.

    Supposedly, Steve Marriott was Jimmy Page's first choice as singer for Led Zeppelin. Have also seen Terry Reid's name linked with 'the New Yardbirds,' and apparently, he's the one who recommended Robert Plant to Jimmy Page. Not sure if the vision was to have 2 guitarists, but the history is fascinating, nonetheless.

    Bryan Ferry and Elton John (yes, really) auditioned for vocalist jobs with King Crimson. No doubt, there are plenty of other examples from this band's history. Jerry Marotta was planned to be the drummer, before Bill Bruford returned to the fold in '94.

    Alfonso Johnson auditioned for the live bass player gig with Genesis, but Mike Rutherford & Co. wanted somebody who also played guitar. AJ suggested Daryl Steurmer get in touch.

    Before settling on Carl Palmer, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were considering Mitch Mitchell. That led to interest in Jimi Hendrix possibly joining the fold. Speaking of Hendrix, Mile Davis wanted to work with him, too. Hopefully, somebody else can share more about the details.

    OK, team, bring more on!
     
  2. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    According to Patty Smyth, she was offered the job of lead singer in Van Halen after David Lee Roth's departure, but she declined. I remember rumors about it being reported at the time.
     
  3. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    After the death of Randy Rhoads, there was a lot of speculation of who would replace him. I guess the most interesting rumor was Michael Schenker, but he wanted ridiculous money, so that was a no go. I think Schenker was supposed to replace Joe Perry in Aerosmith and might have even jammed with them, but it didn't happen either. Schenker had a great way of shooting himself in the foot, musically.

    What about rumored XYZ thing which was Page & Plant and Chris Squire & Alan White? Are there some demos floating around of that? I think I used to have some bad mp3s of something like that, but I could be wrong.

    Marriott was also considered as a replacement for the Stones after Mick Taylor quit, but apparently Jagger was intimidated by his vocal prowess and deep sixed that.
     
  4. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    Elton John didn't audition for KC - DG management booked him to sing on ITWOP but Fripp put his foot down after hearing Elton's solo albums. He got paid £250 despite not having sung a note.

    Fripp did however ask David Sylvian in late 1991 but Sylvian said no.

    (Both from Sid Smith's excellent KC biog)
     
  5. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired Thread Starter

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Eddie also tried to recruit Jeff Berlin (ex-Bruford) to handle bass duties.
     
  6. hutlock

    hutlock Forever Breathing

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    I recall that when Johhny Marr left the Smiths, Easterhouse guitarist Ivor Perry was rumored to be his replacement. Apparently they actually did record some material, but things didn't work, and everyone just moved on.
     
  7. Sordel

    Sordel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    I understand that David Sylvian was offered the singer's job in KC by Fripp; that certainly makes sense, but I suppose that we have enough Sylvian/Fripp to have a sense of where that combination would have led musically.
     
  8. hoggydoggy

    hoggydoggy Forum Resident

    Carlos Santana and the late-1995 Grateful Dead (well, we didn't say they had to be authentic rumours)
     
  9. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Wasn't Sheryl Crow rumo(u)red to join Fleetwood Mac?
     
  10. major_works

    major_works This is my Custom Title

    Location:
    Ramsey, NJ, USA
    After Fripp produced Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs, I think they were toying with the idea of starting a band. Didn't happen, but then KC with Adrian Belew did.
     
  11. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired Thread Starter

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Daryl Hall/Robert Fripp/Tony Levin/Jerry Marrotta was the proposed lineup but ostensibly not under the King Crimson banner.
     
  12. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    When Lendsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac in 1987, there were rumours (no pun intended) that Do Henley was replacing him.
     
  13. theron d

    theron d Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore MD
    Didnt Robert Smith want to play with Siouxsie and the Banshees in the early 80s since he was so depressed and wanted to end the Cure?
     
  14. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    I remember distinctly reading an interview where Squire (or was it White?) said that they did record some material and in fact some of it can be heard on Jimmy Page's Death Wish II soundtrack. However, I don't believe that given that the soundtrack lists credits for every track and neither Squire nor White are mentioned. There is also a clear consistency in recording that suggest to me that certain sections are not from other sessions. Could be that some of the material in Death Wish II originated with XYZ but was re-recorded.

    I always found XYZ to be a clever name, meaning eX-Yes/Zep.
     
  15. jackinbox

    jackinbox Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indianapolis
    According to Gene Simmons' book, Eddie Van Halen lobbied to be Ace Frehley's replacement in Kiss. Gene's also repeated this story in interviews.

    Myles Kennedy and Steven Tyler also reportedly auditioned to be in Led Zeppelin a couple of years ago when Page was going to continue the band without Plant.

    There were also rumors of Lita Ford singing for Black Sabbath back in the mid-80s when she was dating Iommi. Considering Sabbath's revolving door of singers back then, I wouldn't be surprised if this was true.
     
  16. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    There was a rumor going around in 1975 that David Crosby was going to join the Grateful Dead. He did play with them at Bill Graham's S.N.A.C.K. benefit concert at Kezar Stadium that year but the rumors were flying long before then.

    Speaking of the Dead, the fiddle player in Jerry Garcia's bluegrass band, Old and In The Way, was Vassar Clements. That was supposed to be John Hartford's job but they couldn't work out some scheduling conflicts.
     
  17. lugnut2099

    lugnut2099 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri
    Was just about to mention this. I believe it supposedly happened in 1982 because Eddie wasn't happy about the band relations in VH at the time. No idea how much truth there is to it, but I *think* EVH has also mentioned this story in an interview or two somewhere along the line.
     
  18. lugnut2099

    lugnut2099 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri
    Back around 2000-2001ish there were a lot of rumors about NWA reforming, which did happen to some extent (a couple new tracks with Dre/Cube/Ren), but I remember that they were floating out Snoop Dogg as a possible replacement for Eazy-E. In the end, I don't think the reunion tracks were actually credited to "NWA," the reunion tour/album never happened, and while Snoop did technically appear on at least one of those songs, his input was strictly limited to an intro.
     
  19. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    For a while, there was this ugly rumor going around that the Beatles' drummer, Pete Best, was going to be replaced by Rory Storm's old drummer, Ringo Starr. Thank God that never happened.

    Pete forever! Ringo never!
     
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  20. hutlock

    hutlock Forever Breathing

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    He actually did join the Banshees and was on several recordings and at least one tour with them!
     
  21. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired Thread Starter

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Johnny Marr was a hot commodity, and was expected to become a full-time member of The Pretenders. Guessing it was late 80's? This probably was roughly around the same time that he guested on Talking Heads - Naked album.
     
  22. Bill Cormier

    Bill Cormier Forum Resident

    Location:
    Malta, New York
    Bob Dylan, it was reported around 1986, was possiby going to become a full time member af the Grateful Dead. They only ended up doing one 7 date tour together (they were all a mess at the time).
     
  23. BongRattlingBass

    BongRattlingBass Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plainfield, IL
    Jimmy Page asked Jack Bruce to join Zep sometime after the 1973 tour because John Paul Jones was getting fed up with touring.
     
  24. dbz

    dbz Bolinhead.

    Location:
    Live At Leeds (UK)
    Paul Rodgers to join Deep Purple MkIII
    Clem Clempson to join Deep Purple MKIV
    Coverdale to join Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow at outset and Paice Ashton Lord (C.L.A.P)
     
  25. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired Thread Starter

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    This has appeared in other threads. Not saying that this is being dismissed out of hand, but would like to see this substantiated beyond the joint tour. It just doesn't seem like it'd be Dylan's M.O.


    The latter probably fell apart over the name, Clap.
     
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