Musicians Who REALLY Improved

McCartney. Astonishing transformation from 'adequate' on Love Me Do to the astonishingly imaginative stuff he was doing on Revolver a mere four years later.

 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers - When they started with their self titled debut 1984 album they were a hesitant post punk garage rock band who like to funk, and the musicianship was very poor. But by the time they peaked in 1999 with their spiritual and epiphanic sounding Californication they were magnificent.

Between their debut to their 7th album you really could hear them make improvements as musicians on each album.

 

Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, both of whom needed a bit of time to arrive at where they were born to be musically.
Patsy Cline, her steady improvement in large part due to access to better material to work with as time passed.

 

He has very quietly become one of the most innovative and distinctive rhythm players of all time. He's not going to blow you away with tempo or notes but his choice of chords and timing is something else. In his most recent project "wolf brothers" is just a three piece and he has figured got out a way to play a "lead rhythm" style. I'd say he has come a long way from getting kicked out of the band in 68 (for a week) because he couldn't keep up.

 

Judas Priest. Rocka Rolla is good, but it seems to me when I listen to it that Priest then were still a considerable way off finding their true sound.

 

Norman Watt-Roy played bass on “The Magnificent Seven”, not Simonon.

 

Peter Murphy : his voice got steadily better from 1979 and by 1998 when Bauhaus reformed for a world tour, and 2002 when he recorded his IMO best work called Dust, he was at a glorious vocal state.

Brian Eno: early Roxy Music is great, but he'd go on to create a 1973 - 1985 body of work and collaborations of ridiculously high quality and influence that made his Roxy time almost totally forgettable.

David Thomas: early Pere Ubu (1975 onwards) is great, but his 1990s live shows as David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, and some later albums from them and Ubu, are something else, and IMO more original, and better.

 

I never thought much of Mick Jagger as a singer. But since taking voice lessons I feel like he’s finally learned how to really sing as opposed to just vocalise. Within the past 15 years I think.

 

Marc Bolan

 

Mick Taylor.
His playing was fluid in 67' on Crusade but by the time he left the Stones he had become a genuine virtuoso with greater feel, vibrato & authority.

 

George Harrison (in The Beatles)
Ray McGinley
Jack Casady (especially on bass)
Kelley Deal
Duane Allman (when he started playing bottleneck)

 

Keith Richards.
Good Chuck Berry copyist on debut lp in 64'.
Over the next decade he became an extraordinary songwriter and a brilliant rhythm guitarist &:riff creator.
A great teamplayer, especially onstage and a raunchy backing vocalist.
I haven't mentioned any open tuning creativity yet........

 

Like those who open a thread, and include nothing but "discuss" in the first post.

 

True but the majority did not leap that far from their debut.

 

Roger Daltrey -- His singing in the Who's debut is not very good.

The huge leap in quality from that album to "Tommy" and "Who's Next" is almost unbelievable.

 

Interesting question. A scroll through my playlist demonstrates just how many musicians arrived fully formed. Yes, folks evolve and develop, but plenty are truly astonishing from the get-go in their own way.

That said, from a technical point of view, I think Pete Townshend qualifies. As does Roger Daltrey. Early on, it was rudimentary power chording, droning feedback and taking vocals from soul/blues records.

But as Pete developed as a songwriter, so did his guitar playing. And while he’ll never be spoken of as a Clapton or Beck, he developed a forceful lead style that carried the band as a live act through their peak period in the late ‘60s and ‘70s.

And as the band progressed through Sell Out and Tommy, with all the touring at the same time, Roger found his voice and stage persona - which proved to be a long way from the tough would-be mod he was in 1965.

 

The Clash. As Joe Strummer said on a documentary about the band (and I'm paraphrased), "You can't get from The Clash to Sandinista! any faster."

R.E.M. is another one--from post-punk jangle to orchestral chamber pop in less than a decade.

 

Dweezil Zappa relearned the guitar and went from an Eddie Van Halen clone to playing more like his dad.

 

Some of us (me included) prefer the early stuff. Murmur is one of the best debut albums ever.

 

Jeff Beck.
Enormous leap from his 65' contributions to the For Your Love lp through Rave Up, Roger on up to the astonishing Blow By Blow.
Early feedback use, ever expanding, styles, technique & nuance.
Then he just kept peaking for example with eastern scales & extraordinary feel & intonation utilizing the whammy bar with volume swells and harmonics.
Who is to say if he is done yet, as at 75 years of age he is still many people's (not to mention many professional musicians) pick as the greatest living rock guitarist.

 

Pete Townshend's guitar work and Roger Daltrey's vocals both went through major transformations from adequate to superb. Of course John Entwistle and Keith Moon improved too but were already miles ahead of anyone else by 1966.
Dick Taylor's lead guitar playing matured gradually from 1965, but it really took off 40 years on.
Dave Davies was already mentioned above, but the difference between You Really Got Me and Sleepwalker is amazing.
Colin Blunstone was also mentioned earlier, but instead of losing power and range like so many other 60s singers, his vocals keep getting stronger.
At the same time, Rod Argent's keyboard work improved from very good to virtuoso.
Steve Hackett on guitar, Tony Banks on keys and Phil Collins on drums had the same transformations as Argent.

 

Had to be John (Cougar) Mellencamp in my book. I was always impressed that he hung around long enough to have a second, third, fourth(?) chance and finally get rid of that asinine "Cougar" stage name to become one of the most consistent and credible rockers of his generation. Now he's justifiably sitting in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not that I care that much about the HoF, but it does give a little perspective.

 

100% From The Jam ..to The Style Council.. to his wonderful solo work, his voice has continued to grow and mature.

 

Cream's debut (single, not album) may be the most legendarily awful debut by a legendary band.

 

Yeah. He was already great by the time he first recorded though.