You’ve
been tasked with putting together the Greatest One Night Rock and Roll Band Alive. Quick—you’ve gotta hire living musicians for
the following chairs:
·
MASTER
OF CEREMONIES:· LEAD VOCAL:
· RHYTHM GUITAR:
· LEAD GUITAR:
· BASS:
· KEYS:
· DRUMS / PERCUSSION:
Who ya gonna call?
Weigh in now and explain yerself
GO!
Well
the boys hemmed and hawed and clearly had spent much less time thinking about
this kind of thing than I, but did come up with some interesting
suggestions. Theirs and, of course,
mine, with editorial annotations by me, are offered below. Please share your thoughts on who to hire…
-
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: Steve Earle a rock and roll musicologist if ever there was one, from Amazing Grace to Nirvana to Bob Marley to Hip Hop to Beyonce to bluegrass to the Beatles, Stones, and everything else this guy knows it all and gets it all. Let him call the tunes, assign the parts, sit in and sing, play, or do whatever he wants to direct the evening. He’ll cover all the bases beautifully. Put yourself in Steve’s Hands and things will be fine.
- LEAD VOCAL: Mark says Tom Waits. Hard to argue with that. Certainly one of the most amazing voices and singers we’ve got, and a true American Treasure. Dave says Lowell George. First of all Dave gets a penalty flag because Lowell Left the Building many years ago. Second of all, while he was a wonderful singer and kickass guitar player, Lowell was and is, appropriately, most revered as a songwriter. He might’ve been a good MC, but to give him the vocal gig for one night—nope. Sorry Dave, sorry Lowell. Brad says Linda Ronstadt. I kinda like that—the girl can sure as hell wail. Funny enough one of my favorite stories is that after 250 arena shows in one year, the only song she still looked forward to singing every night was Lowell George’s “Willin.’” My picks are Paul McCartney (I mean, since John is dead, really no one is a better straight up rock and roll singer than Sir Paul) or Paul Westerberg, who not only has a gorgeous voice and uses it with skill and precision, but has a way of singing that is absolutely personally naked and honest.
- BACKING VOCALS: I’d’ve hired Linda Ronstadt and added Emmylou Harris here. Perhaps this is some rock and roll sexism on my part coming through, putting the ladies on backing vocals, but these 2 have gorgeous voices and a long track record of success as backup singers. Together and individually, they have graced hundreds of songs by dozens of musicians with clear, ringing harmony vocals.
- RHYTHM GUITAR: Mark says Neil Young. Actually I dunno if Mark meant to hire Neil for the Rhythm Guitar or Lead Guitar chair, but my notes show Mark placing him in the Rhythm category. Hell, hard to argue either way: the churning riffs under so much of both Neil’s acoustic and his heavy Crazy Horse work are primal lessons in the job of the rhythm guitar player, his acoustic leads are elegant and gorgeous, and his electric leads are (in the word of young William Miller in Almost Famous)…incendiary. Incendiary. Still, for me the rhythm guitar really is an easy choice: Keith Richards. Never a big guy with smoking leads, Keith’s job has always been to create the riff around which the song is built and to help his rhythm section tunnel and mine that riff for the heaviest grooves possible. If Keith is busy, you could also call Malcolm Young from AC/DC. His brother Angus thinks up the riffs, but it’s up to Malcolm to lay ‘em down hard, thick, and heavy, and drive ‘em through the whole song. Relentless, absolutely relentless for over 40 fuckin’ years. Alas, Malcolm is unwell and would probably have to pass on the gig…
- LEAD GUITAR: Rich says Lindsey Buckingham, which is an interesting, heady choice. Buckingham’s leads on classic era Fleetwood Mac albums are incredible—precise, musical, innovative, and unique. He’s not as strong live, however, and lacks the gritty, bluesy, grindy, wail that I’d want out of a lead player for a One Night Rock and Roll Band. Brad says Hoyt Axton. Like Ed, Brad first draws a penalty flag: Hoyt departed the scene here on Earth in 1999. And, while Hoyt was a fine player, if I was going for superhot lead cowboy pickers, Chet Atkins is pretty much the beginning and end of the conversation there, my friend. Still while I love country, I’m more of a rock and roll guy so I’d first call Izzy Stradlin. Izzy has that gritty, bluesy, grindy, wail that I was talkin’ about and man can he take a solo over the edge. While not quite as raucous or raw as Izzy, if Izzy’s not available, then I’d call Warren Haynes, who packs a potent blue whallop of his own, with jaw dropping slide skills to boot. For straight up electric guitar picking, there’s also Angus Young who still hammers out solos that sail over the cliff in a flurry of rock and roll rubble, lightning, and thunder.
- BASS: 2 names here: the Stones’ Bill Wyman and Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg. Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts (see below) were the foundation of some of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time: everything the Stones recorded up until 1993. Their ability to lay down a heavy, hip shaking groove around guitar riffs is unmatched. Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg helped that band (a truly unique and tragically short-lived outfit) build songs around drum and acoustic bass grooves, without heavy duty guitar riffs, that are as funky as anything laid down by Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, or anyone else on the Mothership. Either of these guys would hold down the bottom of the rhythm section in wonderfully funky and fun ways.
- KEYS: Leon Russell or Gregg Allman would have to get the call. Both of these guys are steeped in the blues and comfortable swimming, riffing, and jamming in all parts of the American Musical River: gospel, jazz, country, folk, you name it. Both can plunk out a mean honky tonk, a soulful blues, or a complex jazz solo, and can pitch in on vocals, too.
- DRUMS / PERCUSSION: The Stones’ Charlie Watts and hired gun Jim Keltner, who has recorded with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, Jackson Browne, John Hiatt, and hundreds of others, work in similar ways, using hi-hats, snares, maracas, and incredible wrists to set up shaking grooves with the bass. If one of those guys isn’t available, the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman can get it done the same way. If your promoter says you can splurge for 2 players here, you can add percussionist Steve Scales, who provides rhythmic backing for the Talking Heads, to play shakers, bongos, etc. or, instead, you can the hire the Allman’s drum duo Jaimoe and Butch Trucks who pioneered the 2-drum-kit setup that powers so much jam band work, and are still its finest practitioners, laying down lush, intricate pulsing foundations for whoever is jamming out in front of them.
Thanks
for reading…!!!
mk
