Let's play a game

[cozmik_cowboy]

OK, here's the premise - name a player who was good in a bad band; someone who constantly outshone both their bandmates & the material.
I'll start it off with Mel Schacher, bassist for Grand Funk Railroad.


Peter

[lbpesq]

Not bad bands, but individuals who were much more accomplished than their bandmates:

Janis and Big Brother.

Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin.  (Now excuse me while I run for cover - lol)

Bill, tgo

[cozmik_cowboy]

Ah yes - Jimmy Page, the 3rd best guitarist the Yardbirds ever had. He only looked good because he was in a band with Plant (but I did like his work with Donovan).

Peter (Who will go to his grave maintaining the LZ was the most over-rated band of all time - but that's another thread.)

[Philip-M-Bass]

As Bill said, "not bad bands", but the obvious star Player was;

Mark Knopfler - Dire Straits.

Mark King- Level 42.

Jamie West Oram - The Fixx.

Keith Emerson in his days with - The Nice.

Garth Hudson - The Band.

Rick Wakeman in his days with - The Strawbs.

Peter Hook - New Order.

Johnny Marr - The Smith's.

Richie Blackmore - Rainbow.

Paul Gilbert - Mr Big.

We could go on for hours!!!!

[lbpesq]

Must strongly disagree with Garth and The Band.  Levon, Richard, Rick, and Robbie were all supremely excellent musicians and three of the strongest vocals ever foumd in one band outside of CSN&Y.

Peter, I'm right there with you on Zeppelin.  They did have one good song, though: Goin' to California.  And without Stairway to Heaven, we never would have this wonderful cover:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xG2lTB-UVvs

Bill, tgo

[Philip-M-Bass]

 Fair enough,

Scratch Garth,   

[cozmik_cowboy]

I have never come across any recorded evidence to form my own opinion, but I have had people who were there tell me that pre-Janis Big Brother was a flat-out pyschedelic jam machine on a level with the Quick & the Dead; they say when Janis made them a blues band she - well, didn't ruin them, but took them out of what they did best.  I'd love to hear what they were! (Susan?  Ron?  Thoughts?)

As to the Band, I'd say that rather than one being a standout, that Robbie was a weak link; sure, he can pick a little, but those other 4 are/were monsters!

Bill, that one is wonderful - but check this one: Dread Zeppelin (still having computator problems that preclude watching vids, so I hope this is the right thing; when I heard it on the radio years ago, they called it "Heartbreaker Hotel" & described themselves as "Led Zeppelin meets Elvis on a beach in Jamaica").

Peter (who is enjoying your thoughts, but was hoping for good players in bad bands)

[Philip-M-Bass]

Peter , I will certainly give it further thought & post again!! 

[StephenR]

I saw Janis twice. First time in 1968 at the Westbury Music Fair on LI with Big Brother and the second time at Woodstock with the Full Tilt Boogie Band. I really liked Big Brother and didn't care for the Full Tilt Boogie Band. It may have also been that Janis was whacked on heroin at Woodstock to the point where she almost didn't perform but I thought leaving Big Brother was a mistake for a number of reasons. James Gurley was one of the first psychedelic guitar players, somewhat crude but none-the-less very effective at creating the vibe that was needed for the music they played. Mickey Hart talks about seeing them on acid shortly after arriving in SF (he had never dosed before moving there) and how James Gurley "blew his mind". He had never heard anyone play like that.

Agree about all members of the Band being excellent musicians, writers and vocalists.

When the first Led Zeppelin LP came out it was a game changer in a lot of ways but I thought they were a pretty terrible live act and hate Stairway to Heaven. I was already a huge Who fan when the first Zep LP came out, IMO they were one of the best live bands I ever saw and way better than any LZ live material I have heard to date . I slept through Zeppelin's set at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival, they closed out the festival, three days of tripping and I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I did see Jimmy play with the Yardbirds in early 68 and he sounded great but mainly played the parts and solos that Jeff or Eric had written. I saw him jam in a NYC recording studio in 1985 with Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Danny Kortchmar, Paul Shafer and Steve Jordan a week after Live Aid. I thought Jimmy sounded pretty lame in that context. They were playing old R&B covers and just messing around but I left four hours later with the sense that they all sounded much better playing music they had written, rehearsed and created parts for. Jimmy was quite a creative studio musician and the Zep LPs, tracks he recorded with Donovan etc. make that abundantly clear.

Interesting premise for a thread but I tend to think that you can have a great "band" without anyone in the band being a monster player. Conversely it is hard for one guy or woman to shine without a decent band which may be why I am having a hard time coming up with any examples of my own.

[rv_bass]

Stephen, you saw some cool performances! Maybe that’s the better question; who were the great supporting bands?

In that category I’ll start with REM backing up Warren Zevon.

[edwardofhuncote]

...REM backing up Warren Zevon.

I'm not at all surprised by this, but I swear I never heard about it. When was that?

[cozmik_cowboy]

Conversely it is hard for one guy or woman to shine without a decent band which may be why I am having a hard time coming up with any examples of my own.

Yeah - I heard "I'm Your Captain" on the radio  this AM for the first time in decades ("Saturday Morning Flashback" on WXRT was 1970 today), and was struck anew by how good Schacher was & how hard the rest of GFR Hooverized; I was wondering about others' thoughts on players in that (as you note) unusual situation.  Given the responses so far, it may be even rarer than I thought.

Peter

[rv_bass]

Greg, it was back in the 80s, I saw them in bars in Providence a few times.  They put out an album in the (early?) 90s called The Hindu Love Gods.

[the_home]

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. All of then outshone all the others at different times on different tunes.

[lbpesq]

Mike Nesmith and The Monkees.

Bill, tgo