Title: Best THREE MAN BANDS Source:
Your Sources URL Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K72P09J7un4 Published:Jan 16, 2011 Author:Multiple Post Date:2011-01-16 16:55:34 by abraxas Keywords:None Views:3612 Comments:96
Let's get this ball rolling with the Police and Rush.......mmmmmmmmm
Each to their own. I could never tolerate the screechy vocals.
I would go with Cream and ZZ Top as my favorite two, and if I had to pick one it would be SURPRISE the greatest ever 3 man Rock Band - Cream. Each of the members were capable of making any band they played with. There was no better drummer than Ginger Baker, Clapton - well what do you say about a living legend?, and Jack Bruce was simply superlative on Bass. I don't see how you beat that line up with anything other than a fantasy band.
This comes down I guess to a matter of personal taste. Rush may have been innovative but I never found them to be "musical". I did try because I had friends who were big fans, but as far as sheer musicianship I would still go with Cream as they were innovative in adapting Jazz/Blues standards and placing them in a Rockin' Hard coating. And it was not just that each was among the top players of their chosen instruments but the synergy of the group where the sum of the total is greater than the three individually. It was like their reunion concert a couple of years ago in Madison Square Garden - Jack Bruce summed it up "the magic is still there". When they got together and played there was magic.
But to dis rush in terms of not being "musical" is just plain silly.
Well, it's still not to my taste. It turned me off fast and I just never bothered with them after that. I have a copy of one of their double albums which I think has been played once, but not all 4 sides.
It's like Eddie Van Halen. I can admire the technical skill with which he plays the instrument, but his playing lacks depth and feeling. So, he's a great guitar technician, but not a Jimi Hendrix or an Eric Clapton.
There is an indefinable something which some musicians have and some don't. There are players who, now, are technically as good or better than Jimi Hendrix, but they don't have his soul. Clapton is the same thing. He's not called "Slowhand" for nothing. Ritchie Blackmoore of Deep Purple is twice as fast, and is a great guitarist, but Clapton still has greater emotional depth in his playing.
When I think of someone I consider a great musician it is not merely based upon technical expertise with the instrument. There are pianists who are every bit as fast as Oscar Peterson, but they aren't his equal because they don't have that inner difference that makes an Oscar Peterson or a Count Basie.
Art and music is to some degree a subjective thing and the interpretation varies from person to person as does personal taste. However, the defining difference between a damn good player and a Great Musician is that ability to transcend the instrument and communicate their soul to the audience. They connect on a level we mere mortals can only admire and stand in awe of.
I see what you're saying, but I'd challenge you on tunes. Most of Claptons newer stuff is so simplistic from a guitar perspective that you can make the same comments about it.
Pick up a copy of "Just One Night" which was recorded live at the Budokan in Tokyo. It is the definition of the Blues/Rock Genre. The performance of "Blues Power" is alone worth the price of the album, but all 4 sides (2 CDs) is memorable.
Clapton doesn't play complexity for complexity's sake. He plays the music he is performing.
FWIW the double album I have is 2112. I'm sorry, but they may have their good points but the screechy vocals are not my cup of tea.
I'm with ab on this one. The Police I like and still listen to even though most of what I listen to any more is Classical or New Age.
However, I suspect our taste in Rock is probably different in other regards. One of my all time favorite groups is "The Outlaws" along with "Lynard Skynard" and "Molly Hatchet". All of which dates me nicely to the mid to late 70's. Not to mention being an avid Santana fan.