Daddy Dom Posted July 14, 2010 Posted July 14, 2010 A bit of fun here. I realised recently that among my favourite bands are the (largely unacknowledged) backing bands of famous Artistes. I reckon too many great bands/sidemen generally go unnoticed. Without such great backing bands, I wonder where some acts would have got? (I mean regular ones, not really the Wrecking Crew or the Funk Brothers. They're great, but that's not the spirit of this thread.) Feel free to add to the list, but NO named bands! That's the condition. No Runaways, no Stooges, no Bad Seeds etc. Anyway, here are my three openers: Abba's backing band: I don't know if it's urban myth or not how tight these guys were, that after recording a backing track, they would rewind and double-track an identical take straight away to thicken the sound. http://felpin80.tripod.com/ata/id41.html Elton John's classic '70s backing band of Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray - what backing-vocal supremos those guys were! Nina Simone's long-suffering sidemen: their feel and musical sympathy with Nina is sometimes breathtaking. "Musical director and guitarist Al Schackman began working with Simone in 1957 and was implicitly trusted by the singer. Her long time sidemen were bassist Chris White, drummer Paul Robinson and percussionist Leopoldo Fleming." Cheers, DD
King Size1553552683 Posted July 15, 2010 Posted July 15, 2010 Peter Gabriel's backing bands have always been pretty good. Key members would be Drums - Jerry Marotta, Manu Katche Bass - Tony Levin Guitar - Robert Fripp, David Rhodes Keys - Larry Fast, Daniel Lanois, Peter Green, David Sancious and Shankar Also "The Section" - Carole King & James Taylor's backing band from the Troubadour concerts Drums - Russ Kunkel Bass - Leland Sklar Guitar - Danny Kortchmar Also what about John Hiatt's backing band on "Bring The Family" Ry Cooder - Guitar Bass - Nick Lowe Drums - Jim Keltner Though not a named band, probably not in the spirit of the thread...:cool: Other than the one's you mention (Funk Bros etc.) I would like to give an honourable mention to The MG's, The E-Street Band and last but by no means least "The Hawks" - who were Ronnie Hawkins backing band before going on become one of the most famous backing bands of all time and then one of the most influential bands of all time in their own right.
Neal1553552750 Posted July 15, 2010 Posted July 15, 2010 Orianthi Taking Michael Bearden Morris Pleasure Thomas Organ Alfred Dunbar Roger Johnson Jonathan Moffett Judith Hill Ken Stacey Dorian Holley Daryl Phinnessee This is it ...... Many of these keep popping up with other top names.
Daddy Dom Posted July 16, 2010 Author Posted July 16, 2010 Kingsize, I never realised Hiatt and Gabriel had such amazing bands. I can understand the excitement, but have to say I am not a JTaylor fan - though I do like most of Carole King's "Tapestry" Never saw them live, either. Georgie Fame's Blue Flames are/were another cool backing band - even though they have a name. DD
King Size1553552683 Posted July 16, 2010 Posted July 16, 2010 Have just realized I didn't complete finishing editing the Gabriel Section. Keys should probably just be Larry Fast Daniel Lanois has featured more as a guest muscian, as did David Sancious; and of course Shankar never played keys. Still an impressive line up though... not really a King / Taylor fan either but all three are great musicians...
Brian Ono Posted July 16, 2010 Posted July 16, 2010 Not actually a full band but ace side men Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter who played guitar on Lou Reed Rock n roll Animal and Berlin,Alice Coopers Billion Dollar Babies and Peter Gabriel 1.Two other names come immediately to mind and although they are named they kinda fit in as rhythm for hire,Sly and Robbie
Guest Posted July 17, 2010 Posted July 17, 2010 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers backing Johnny Cash on Unchained.
chopper30 Posted July 17, 2010 Posted July 17, 2010 Sly and Robbie. Peerless in my opinion. Not only classic reggae but Grace Jones as well. Just fantastic musicians and producers
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