Musicians you would like to bring back from the dead

[TripletDaddy]

lol @ creekster for giving reasons why someone should not be brought back from the dead.

[creekster]

lol @ creekster for giving reasons why someone should not be brought back from the dead.

Well, if there are guidlines, then we should follow them! And get off my grass, you dang hippy.

[NorthwestUteFan]

How many of the deceased were made to be legends because they died young/early?

FWIW, Pete Townshend said that Jimmy Hendrix was the greatest guitar player in the history of the world when he was playing straight sober. The problem was ALL of his recordings were made while he was either stumbling drunk or drugged out. The songs he wrote were kind of 'meh', though his covers were fantastic.

Given another couple of decades he would have been spectacular, particularly when writing songs from a more mature perspective.

Cobain was just about to burn out, and IIRC Dave and Krist were about ready to break up the band anyhow. MG will probably say something about that.

Janis Joplin, I am not quite sure what to think. Much of her power came from her throaty, scratchy, passionate delivery. She reminds me of Melissa Ethridge this way. I am not particularly a big fan of her Big Brother stuff, at least those songs I heard, but IIRC she also sang backup for the Dead on a few things and sounded more pure. In fact she may have been big because she was good friends with the Dead and dated one of the band members.

Hillel Slovak (who?) was pretty good. But I think he was greatly overshadowed by John Frusciante, who is simply brilliant.

[NorthwestUteFan]

doing whatever it was he was doing in that plane,

The fuel selector valve was hooked up backwards. He thought he was shifting to a full tank, but in fact switched to an empty tank.

On that plane the fuel selector valve is located behind the pilot's head, so it was hard to see what was happening. The switch has a shorter end and a longer end; normally the longer end is considered to be an 'arrow' to point toward the tank from which you wish to draw fuel. Unfortunately the builder set it up in the opposite direction, and that was all she wrote. He ran out of fuel, couldn't get it started again, and crashed into the ocean.

That was the speculation anyway. IIRC.

[MartyFunkhouser]

What about your fantasy band made up of the deceased?

Freddy Mercury - vocals
Jimi Hendrix - guitar
John Entwistle - bass
John Bonham - drums

This is a really tough one for me. Do I assemble a group of guys that are an allstar roster and may not mesh together or do I go with a group that I know played great together. I'll do both

All Star Group:

John Coltrane - saxophone
Eric Dolphy - saxophone/bass clarinet
Lee Morgan - Trumpet
Charlie Mingus - Bass
Thelonious Monk - Piano
Elvin Jones - Drums
Grant Green - Guitar

Other group:

John Coltrane - saxophone
Eric Dolphy - saxophone/bass
Lee Morgan - Trumpet
Elvin Jones - Drums
Jimmy Garrison - Bass
Thelonious Monk - piano (if McCoy Tyner was dead this would be a tough call. Monk is better, but I know Tyner would be great in this setting)

I can't imagine with a rhythm section of Jones, Garrison, and Monk that Dolphy and Morgan would have trouble integrating Hubbard into the mix. Dolphy obviously works with Trane as he produced some great stuff with him. Essentially, this is a huge endorsement for Trane's great quartet. Tyler, Garrison, and Jones really simply amazing with Trane during that period.

[MartyFunkhouser]

How many of the deceased were made to be legends because they died young/early?

Interesting question. A lot of the great jazz artists died young. Being a great jazz artist really was bad for your mortality. The greats that have survived really have suffered into their later years. While they are still considered great, most of their later work has been at best hit or miss and sometimes downright terrible.

Herbie Hancock has not aged well. He has put out some nice albums here and there, but some of his work has just been awful. Freddie Hubbard could still play, but if you get a high student anywhere near him he cares more about showing off his technique than playing good music. The 80's and 90's were really not kind to Miles Davis.

[DrumNFeather]

FWIW, Pete Townshend said that Jimmy Hendrix was the greatest guitar player in the history of the world when he was playing straight sober. The problem was ALL of his recordings were made while he was either stumbling drunk or drugged out. The songs he wrote were kind of 'meh', though his covers were fantastic.

Given another couple of decades he would have been spectacular, particularly when writing songs from a more mature perspective.

Cobain was just about to burn out, and IIRC Dave and Krist were about ready to break up the band anyhow. MG will probably say something about that.

Janis Joplin, I am not quite sure what to think. Much of her power came from her throaty, scratchy, passionate delivery. She reminds me of Melissa Ethridge this way. I am not particularly a big fan of her Big Brother stuff, at least those songs I heard, but IIRC she also sang backup for the Dead on a few things and sounded more pure. In fact she may have been big because she was good friends with the Dead and dated one of the band members.

Hillel Slovak (who?) was pretty good. But I think he was greatly overshadowed by John Frusciante, who is simply brilliant.

I think Paul Mcartney is a good example of what I'm talking about. The fact that he outlived Lennon and Harrison (allegedly) while not taking away his genius or accomplishments, makes him kind of a "meh" act to a lot of people. Again, taking nothing away from him, he's one of the best of all time and the work he and Lennon did was fantastic. But the fact remains, old rockers are just that...old rockers, and at some point, people stop caring about them or aknowledging them...and I wonder if that would've happened with some of these acts, had they lived.

[TripletDaddy]

I think Paul Mcartney is a good example of what I'm talking about. The fact that he outlived Lennon and Harrison (allegedly) while not taking away his genius or accomplishments, makes him kind of a "meh" act to a lot of people. Again, taking nothing away from him, he's one of the best of all time and the work he and Lennon did was fantastic. But the fact remains, old rockers are just that...old rockers, and at some point, people stop caring about them or aknowledging them...and I wonder if that would've happened with some of these acts, had they lived.

It would seem impossible to answer your question. Who knows what these musicians would have done had they lived. An untimely death certainly adds to the mystique of a musician, but ultimately, most if not all of these musicians were legendary prior to death, not just afterward.

To your example, Paul McCartney headlined coachella only a few years ago. I attended and think i even provided a summary here. The show was sold out and when Macca took the stage, most of the other stages and tents emptied out. This was tens of thousands of people, most of them including me were not even born during Beatlemania.

People cared a great deal. He is the last real tie to the Beatles. Ringo is still alive but there are only so many people that count Octopuses Garden and Yellow Submarine as their favorite tunes.

Of all people to pick, you pick someone who is, in fact, a living legend.

[DrumNFeather]

It would seem impossible to answer your question. Who knows what these musicians would have done had they lived. An untimely death certainly adds to the mystique of a musician, but ultimately, most if not all of these musicians were legendary prior to death, not just afterward.

To your example, Paul McCartney headlined coachella only a few years ago. I attended and think i even provided a summary here. The show was sold out and when Macca took the stage, most of the other stages and tents emptied out. This was tens of thousands of people, most of them including me were not even born during Beatlemania.

People cared a great deal. He is the last real tie to the Beatles. Ringo is still alive but there are only so many people that count Octopuses Garden and Yellow Submarine as their favorite tunes.

Of all people to pick, you pick someone who is, in fact, a living legend.

Oh, there's no question he's a living legend, I wasn't stating otherwise. It's just that when he is tabbed for the SuperBowl halftime show or something he gets more of a "meh" reaction. And to your point...people at some point don't want to hear new music from these guys...just play the classics.

[TripletDaddy]

Oh, there's no question he's a living legend, I wasn't stating otherwise. It's just that when he is tabbed for the SuperBowl halftime show or something he gets more of a "meh" reaction. And to your point...people at some point don't want to hear new music from these guys...just play the classics.

Then by your standard, there are no legends because 1) eventually they will get old and a newer generation will care less about them than others did during the bands prime, and 2) people care more about their hits than their less popular songs.

Do you go to many shows? Which songs do the majority of people want to hear more? Popular hits or "new music."

I don't think I understand what you are asking.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Oh, there's no question he's a living legend, I wasn't stating otherwise. It's just that when he is tabbed for the SuperBowl halftime show or something he gets more of a "meh" reaction. And to your point...people at some point don't want to hear new music from these guys...just play the classics.

I can't stand most of Paul's post Beatles stuff. Band on the run? Ebony and Ivory?

[TripletDaddy]

I can't stand most of Paul's post Beatles stuff. Band on the run? Ebony and Ivory?

Wonderful X-mastime???

[Sleeping in EQ]

freddie mercury/queen

This.

[wuapinmon]

Oh, there's no question he's a living legend, I wasn't stating otherwise. It's just that when he is tabbed for the SuperBowl halftime show or something he gets more of a "meh" reaction. And to your point...people at some point don't want to hear new music from these guys...just play the classics.

Then by your standard, there are no legends because 1) eventually they will get old and a newer generation will care less about them than others did during the bands prime, and 2) people care more about their hits than their less popular songs.

Do you go to many shows? Which songs do the majority of people want to hear more? Popular hits or "new music."

I don't think I understand what you are asking.

Not as answer to what you're talking about, but as a tangential observation, I was talking with my freshman college experience class recently, and none of them had had a Zeppelin, Doors, Pink Floyd, or Beatles phase in high school. Not one of them.

They had however had a 2Pac phase. It was also a little disturbing to hear them freak out, like FREAK OUT, about how awesome it was to go see the Lion King in the theater because they loved it "back in the day."

[Jeff Lebowski]

Wonderful X-mastime???

Now I have all these tunes in my head this morning.