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Post by Kapitan on Mar 19, 2021 14:49:51 GMT
kds made a reference to supergroups while talking about the Wilburys in the Tom Petty thread, and that got me thinking a little about them: the good, the bad, and the awful.
The first time I was conscious of the idea was with one of two groups, and I'm not sure which.
The obvious: The Traveling Wilburys were an instant hit, so it is easy to date this: it would have been October 1988. I thought they were pleasant, and the idea of an old Beatle and these other old guys (except Tom Petty, who didn't seem "old" to me, in that he'd had big hits recently and thus was just current, which meant young to stupid 12-year-old me) was nice enough. But in 1988, I was not interested in this kind of music.
The obscure: It would have had to be around that same time when I bought a bargain-bin cassette because it had a couple names I knew: Hagar and Schon. I bought the supergroup HSAS's album Through the Fire. I'd never heard of this group, and for $2.99 (or whatever minimal price these discount bins were), I figured it was worth a shot. Turns out this 1984 album wasn't particularly memorable. In fact it was pretty much a by-numbers affair, with the most memorable song being this interesting thing called "Whiter Shade of Pale" ... which I soon learned from my guitar teacher was an old Procol Harum song!
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Post by kds on Mar 19, 2021 15:10:42 GMT
Well, fuck. I posted a long diatribe about supergroups, and it seems like the site gave me a 404 Error when I posted.
Because, I don't feel like typing the whole thing again, I'll just summarize.
Damn Yankees were probably my favorites. I love both of their albums. Although Bad Company is close
The Wilburys and Asia had great debuts, but non a ton of greatness after (to be fair, I've not heard all of Asia's catalog)
Velvet Revolver did a better job filling the GNR void than Chickenfoot did filling the Van Halen void.
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Post by jk on Mar 19, 2021 15:54:16 GMT
Well, fuck. I posted a long diatribe about supergroups, and it seems like the site gave me a 404 Error when I posted.
Because, I don't feel like typing the whole thing again, I'll just summarize.
Damn Yankees were probably my favorites. I love both of their albums. Although Bad Company is close The Wilburys and Asia had great debuts, but non a ton of greatness after (to be fair, I've not heard all of Asia's catalog) Velvet Revolver did a better job filling the GNR void than Chickenfoot did filling the Van Halen void. My commiserations. I know that feeling well! More later about my favourite supergroup.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 19, 2021 17:14:44 GMT
The obscure:It would have had to be around that same time when I bought a bargain-bin cassette because it had a couple names I knew: Hagar and Schon. I bought the supergroup HSAS's album Through the Fire. I'd never heard of this group, and for $2.99 (or whatever minimal price these discount bins were), I figured it was worth a shot. Turns out this 1984 album wasn't particularly memorable. In fact it was pretty much a by-numbers affair, with the most memorable song being this interesting thing called "Whiter Shade of Pale" ... which I soon learned from my guitar teacher was an old Procol Harum song! I guess I probably should have at least clarified who this band was! It was a so-called supergroup comprising Sammy Hagar (Montrose, solo, later Van Halen and Chickenfoot) as the singer; Neal Schon of Santana, Journey, and Bad English on guitar; Kenny Aronson of Bob Dylan, Rick Derringer, Billy Idol, Joan Jett, and many others on bass; and Michael Shrieve of Santana and many others on drum.
The group got together in 1983 and barely rehearsed before performing a few shows, two of which were recorded and edited for an MTV concert special (apparently while it aired at least once, it was never released commercially). They then released the aforementioned album in 1984, which was also basically live tracks with some overdubs added and audience noise removed. "Whiter Shade of Pale" was the lead-off single and hit #94.
And that was that. Everyone went on to other things.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 19, 2021 17:32:33 GMT
Another supergroup I became aware of was a few years later, in 1991. In those death throes of the hard rock scene that dominated the previous 6-7 years, Contraband gave it a shot with an album mostly of covers and a few songs co-written by the singer ... who was ironically probably the least-known person in the group.
That least known guy was Richard Black, the singer of Shark Island. He contributed three co-writes. (He later went on to form another supergroup, though it never released anything: the short-lived 2000 group Bourgeois Pigs included ex-Firm/Blue Murder bassist Tony Franklin and ex-Ozzy/Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee.
The other members were Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns (the guy I knew most and cared about) on guitar; Michael Schenker of UFO and Michael Schenker Group on guitar; Share Pedersen of Vixen on bass; and Bobby Blotzer of Ratt on drums.
The single "All the Way From Memphis" got some play on MTV, but the album and group were basically a flop. I bought the cassette immediately, but didn't play it much.
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Post by kds on Mar 19, 2021 18:29:18 GMT
Black Country Communion - Glenn Hughes (Trapeze / Deep Purple / Black Sabbath / Hughes Thrall / Hughes Turner Project / Solo), Joe Bonnamossa, Jason Bonham (Bonham / Led Zeppelin / UFO / Steel Dragon) and Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) - has I think four albums under their belt now. This track, Save Me, from their second album is interesting, as Jason Bonham has stated that this song originated with a jam session with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones when they were rehearsing for the LZ reunion show in 2007, but was finished by BCC when it was apparent that the Led Zeppelin reunion was a one off. So, if anyone is curious what a new Led Zeppelin song might've sounded like....
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 19, 2021 21:45:08 GMT
My favorite supergroup is The Highwaymen - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. When they "formed" in 1985, with the exception of Willie Nelson, their solo careers weren't exactly thriving. They could draw nice crowds live, but their hit-making years were pretty much behind them. Of course, that would change a few years later with Johnny Cash when he hooked up with Rick Rubin for their American Recordings.
Oddly, when The Highwaymen released their first two albums in 1985 and 1990, they weren't even known as the Highwaymen; they were credited to "Nelson, Jennings, Cash, Kristofferson". The albums Highwayman and Highwayman 2 are OK, satisfactory efforts, but certainly not exceptional. They have their moments. Don Was produced the third and final Highwaymen studio album, The Road Goes On Forever, again another so-so release.
What I really enjoyed about The Highwaymen were their live recordings. Each member took a turn at their hits, with a few choice Highwaymen tracks sprinkled in. They sounded like they were having a blast, singing background vocals for each others' songs. It was a little rough around the edges, with a missed part here and a flubbed lyric there, but who cared? It was just a thrill to have these four legends sharing the stage together.
The Highwaymen never officially broke up, but Cash's death in 2002 and Jennings' passing in 2003 put an end to the group. There were rumors of Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson forming another similar group; Merle Haggard and George Jones were mentioned, but nothing ever came of it. A few years ago I purchased the 2CD/DVD set - Live: American Outlaws. It's an excellent document of The Highwaymen's live shows.
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Post by jk on Mar 19, 2021 23:12:52 GMT
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Post by jk on Mar 22, 2021 11:28:56 GMT
A second supergroup that emerged at that time was Humble Pie, a band that made much less impact on me. To quote Wikipedia: "The original band line-up featured lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Marriott from Small Faces, vocalist and guitarist Peter Frampton from The Herd, former Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and a 17-year-old drummer, Jerry Shirley, from The Apostolic Intervention." I remember hearing this single, whose title tripped up many a deejay -- Natural Born Budgie, anyone? I believe they respelled it later: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Pie
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Post by kds on Mar 22, 2021 12:29:31 GMT
Reality television gave us two contrived super groups in 2006.
Vh1 aired a seven episode show called....wait for.....Supergroup. The show featured Sebastian Bach (former Skid Row), Ted Nugent, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Jason Bonham (everybody), and Evan Seinfeld (Biohazzard) forming a group called Savage Animal. The show was mostly reality TV fodder such as Nugent having a conflict with Bach's drinking and Bach and Seinfeld taking topless photos of their wives. The band played one show, and were never heard from again. I believe the show lives on YouTube.
CBS aired Rockstar: Supernova. After Rockstar: INXS relaunched that band with a new singer, CBS put together a supergroup called Supernova who would find their singer on TV. Gilby Clarke (former Guns N Roses), Jason Newsted (former Metallica), and Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) made up the group. The band settled on a singer named Lukas Rossi and released one album. He won over two far more talented female singers called Dilana and Storm Large. I suspect they opted for a male singer because of the band's drummer, but that's just a theory.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 22, 2021 12:49:31 GMT
I remember watching that Supergroup show with Nugent, Ian, Bach, etc. As you said, it was pretty bad. If there is one thing that tends to be worse than reality shows, it is reality shows with celebs, as they are even less real than so-called real people. They're just very conscious of the situation...
You've reminded me of another one-off supergroup, though, as this one also did have cameras on them. It wasn't quite a reality TV environment, more a documentary (though frankly it had a little reality TV feel to it at times).
That group was The New Basement Tapes, the group of musicians assembled by T-Bone Burnett after he had individually given each of them a cache of Bob Dylan's unrecorded "basement tapes" era lyrics. The musicians were Elvis Costello, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons).
The resulting album was Lost on the River (2014), which had the aforementioned accompanying documentary as well as a deluxe version available. The album hit #23 on the US charts. While it's not up to the standards of 1967 Bob Dylan, it is pretty damn good in spots.
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Post by kds on Mar 22, 2021 12:56:36 GMT
The one thing I like about reality TV with established celebrities is that they don't make "nobodies" famous (ie. the Snookis and Tiger Kings of the world). I remember seeing an interview with Bach, who was on several reality shows in the 2000s where he said he made those appearance to fund his new music.
I remember the clips they showed from Savage Animal's lone concert were pretty good, and I wished they'd have aired the full show.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 22, 2021 15:01:52 GMT
A second supergroup that emerged at that time was Humble Pie, a band that made much less impact on me. To quote Wikipedia: "The original band line-up featured lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Marriott from Small Faces, vocalist and guitarist Peter Frampton from The Herd, former Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and a 17-year-old drummer, Jerry Shirley, from The Apostolic Intervention." I remember hearing this single, whose title tripped up many a deejay -- Natural Born Budgie, anyone? I believe they respelled it later: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_PieI had no idea Humble Pie was a supergroup. Honestly it was always just a band name to me--and in fact a band name whose band I never bothered with, one that didn't rise to my attention out of an era full of great bands.
Also I have no idea what the hell is a bugie.
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Post by kds on Mar 22, 2021 15:13:02 GMT
I never really explored Humble Pie either. The only song of theirs that I know is I Don't Need No Doctor, and I prefer the WASP cover.
I also didn't realize that Frampton had a band prior to Humble Pie.
Ozzy Osbourne's touring band in 2003 might as well have been a supergroup. Ozzy, Zakk Wylde (Ozzy, Pride & Glory, Black Label Society, Steel Dragon), Jason Newsted (Metallica), Michael Bordin (Faith No More)
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 22, 2021 15:21:15 GMT
I never really explored Humble Pie either. The only song of theirs that I know is I Don't Need No Doctor, and I prefer the WASP cover. In looking at their wiki page, I realize that I knew their "30 Days in the Hole" ... but only because Mr. Big covered it on their 1989 debut album. (I recall learning back at that time that it was a cover, but I didn't know the original, or even who did the original.)
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