For some reason, 3-piece bands are quite popular, and have been for some time. Usually – though not always - the bassist is also the singer. They’re well done enough to put out enough power to be competitive with more traditional 4 and 5 piece bands, but I don’t think of them as being MORE powerful.
Jimi Hendrix Experience. Active from 1966 to 1969. Noel Redding played bass, Mitch Mitchell played the drums, and Jimi sang and … played guitar. Fairly well, in fact. Remarkably, they only have 3 studio albums, Are You Experienced?, Electric Ladyland, and Axis: Bold As Love. Hendrix was one of those rare persons whose skill at guitar was light years more advanced, in terms of intuitive knowledge, beyond anyone else.
Blue Cheer. I did a previous blog on this band. They came out around the same time as Jimi Hendrix and Cream (1967), from San Francisco; I think of them as part of that scene, but to this date all the attention goes to the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, with BC being almost completely ignored, an unwanted stepchild or black sheep, which is a shame, because they are definitely MUCH heavier than the others, but it wasn’t – as the others claim – using excessive volume as a crutch for poor talent. The classic lineup was Dickie Peterson (bass/vocals), Leigh Stephens (guitar), and Paul Whaley (drums). Stephens retired long ago, so now Duck McDonald is the guitarist – and Dickie IS Blue Cheer. BC’s claim to fame is their cover of Eddie Cochran’s popular “Summertime Blues” – which they still play in concert.
Cream. Also a contemporary (1966-68): Eric Clapton (guitar/vocals), Jack Bruce (bass/vocals), and Ginger Baker (drums). “Crossroads”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, “Badge”, “Born Under A Bad Sign”, and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” are the top songs. Clapton went on to do Blind Faith, Derek & The Dominos, and then his solo career. While he’s definitely a good guitarist, I think he’s overrated; I also consider his solo material a bit too commercial, ironic given he quit the Yardbirds to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers because he considered the YBs were getting too commercial (!).
Mountain. Leslie West’s band, along with Corky Laing (drums) and Felix Pappalardi (Bass). They were at Woodstock. West is a big guy – not a bad guitar player, but it’s hard to get past his bulk and appreciate his skill (probably best to LISTEN to him rather than WATCH him). His most famous song was “Mississippi Queen”. We saw them open up for Deep Purple in 1985 (Perfect Strangers tour) and he forgot the words to “Nantucket Sleighride”, which didn’t impress us.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Keith Emerson (gonzo keyboardist), Greg Lake (bassist/singer – formerly with King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (drummer) – though Cozy Powell stepped in briefly in the mid-80s. We saw them play at the Cap Center in 1986, but I can’t remember anything. I’ve heard Pictures at an Exhibition, but didn’t like it – it was too much like King Crimson without a guitarist. But the first album (self-titled) and Tarkus (2nd album) are both excellent.
King Crimson. They qualify only for the Red album, which they didn’t even tour: Robert Fripp (of course) (guitar), John Wetton (bass/vocals) and Bill Bruford (drums). As I noted in my lengthy KC blog, Red was the pinnacle of a three-album streak including Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and Starless. Thankfully they did play “Red” on their most recent tour. And around the time of Thrak (1995), KC was actually a “double trio”: Fripp and Belew on guitar, Trey Gunn and Tony Levin on bass/stick, and Pat Mastelotto and Bill Bruford on drums.
Grand Funk Railroad. Mark Farner (guitar/vocals), Mel Schacter (bass), and Don Brewer (drums/vocals), from Flint, Michigan and associated with Terry Knight. They had their peak in the 70s. I never liked their top hit, “We’re An American Band”; they had so much better songs, “Walk Like A Man”, “Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother”, “Heartbreaker”, “Mean Mistreater” and “Can’t Take Too Long”. Supposedly the press hated GFR, even if Homer Simpson was a huge fan.
Rush. From Canada, starting in 1974, and with the same lineup since Neil Peart (drums) replaced John Rutsey after the first album. Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Geddy Lee (bass/vocals) are the other two. Lee’s voice took some time to get used to. My introduction was Moving Pictures and “Tom Sawyer”. Geddy doubles up on keyboards, filling out the sound a little more. They are still active, and featured in “I Love You, Man”.
Triumph. Also from Canada, coming out in the mid-70s, and accused of being Rush clones, though their sound is much heavier and more pop-oriented – far closer to Blue Oyster Cult than Rush (though with none of BOC’s quirky and obscure references). Rik Emmitt (guitar/vocals), Gil Moore (drums/vocals) and Mike Levine (bass). We saw Triumph at the Patriot Center on Halloween, 1986, with Yngwie Malmsteen opening up – front row seats. They broke up in 1988, but Rik Emmitt still tours and plays Triumph material.
Budgie. From Wales, England, starting off in the early 70s with Burke Shelley (vocals/bass), Tony Bourge (guitar), and various drummers, most consistently Steve Williams. Shelley’s voice is somewhat like Geddy Lee’s. The first four albums were heavy, even to the point of having early Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain producing them, but with the strangest song titles: “She’s As Hot As A Docker’s Armpit” and “Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman”, topping Frank Zappa and Blue Oyster Cult. The later three of seven albums with Tony Bourge (Bandolier, If I Were Britannia I’d Waive the Rules, and Impeckable) have a snappier, jazzier feel, even vaguely bossa nova, before Bourge left – to be replaced by John Thomas, at which point (1980) they turned into a New Wave of British Heavy Metal Band. Metallica resurrected their career by covering “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” (on the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP) and “Breadfan”.
Motorhead. Fresh from Hawkwind’s ill-advised sacking of him in 1975, Lemmy (bassist/vocalist) lost no time in forming this band. The classic lineup, which recorded Ace of Spades in 1980, was Lemmy, “Fast” Eddie Clarke (guitar – I always thought he looked like Ritchie Blackmore, even to the point of playing Stratocasters) and “Philty Animal” Taylor (drums). For one album, Another Perfect Day, the band had Thin Lizzy’s Brian Robertson, but that lasted almost no time. They also had Pete Gill (Saxon) for some time as well. Briefly Motorhead had two guitarists, Wurzel and Phil Campbell, but are back to a trio format with just Campbell. All their albums sound the same to me, but they do rock. Lemmy is certainly one of the more colorful characters in hard rock.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. If I included Hendrix here, SRV belongs here too. His bassist was Tommy Shannon (who used to play with Johnny Winter), his drummer was Chris Layton. The Texas blues guitarist died in a helicopter crash in 1990. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Vaughan, guitarist in the Fabulous Thunderbirds. His major hits were “Pride & Joy”. “The Sky Is Crying”, and his cover of Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”.
The Police. I’ve never been a fan of this band, though I do like “Wrapped Around Your Finger”. Sting (Gordon Sumner) (bass/vocals), Andy Summers (guitar), and Stuart Copeland (drums). In high school they were the band to see, but I passed on the Synchronicity Tour. I liked Sting in “Dune” as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Rik Emmett (as noted above) put it well, commenting on Andy Summers: “he was very much a Telecaster w/chorus kind of guitarist, and my preference was Les Paul through a Marshall.” The Edge has a similar light and fluffy touch on the guitar – and they both make Mark Knopfler sound like Pete Townshend.
Nirvana. I’ve noted them already in my grunge blog: Kurt Cobain (guitar/vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums). Grohl did a spell in the Queens of the Stone Age as well as his own band Foo Fighters.
I Thought Budgie Was Lost For All Times
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