Supergroups

by sadsongssaysomuch on March 20, 2011

28 songs 82 plays

OK, so I've had a lot of time on my hands over the weekend, and I love making playlists, so I've indulged that love over the last 2 days. This list features supergroups, which, according to Wikipedia is defined as"a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups." In 1969 Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner declared that Cream was the first supergroup, and so our list begins with them. Eric Clapton was already a graduate of The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers when he teamed up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, both of whom had played in The Graham Bond Organisation. They made 4 groundbreaking albums together that still sound fresh today over 40 years later. If you look up "power trio" in the dictionary, there's a picture of Cream. The concise version of "Crossroads" that opens this playlist is from a BBC session that was recorded some time between 1966 & 1968. Great stuff. The next track is from the first album by Crosby, Stills & Nash. David Crosby was an original member of The Byrds, Steve Stills came from Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash had been a member of The Hollies. "Wooden Ships" is a David Crosby composition that was also a radio hit for Jefferson Airplane. Blind Faith, another group that featured Eric Clapton, was only together long enough to produce one, uneven album. Ginger Baker played drums with EC again, Steve Winwood had been a member of The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic already and multi-instrumentalist Ric Grech was a member of the legendary band Family. "Presence Of The Lord" is one of my personal favorite Clapton songs and a highlight of the album. Humble Pie was another great band; they created the template that dozens of other hard rock bands were made from. Steve Marriott was known as one of the great white soul shouters from his days in The Small Faces. He was joined by Peter Frampton of The Herd, Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth, Clem Clempson of pioneering jazz-rock band Colosseum and Jerry Shirley, who got lucky. Emerson, Lake & Palmer; their photo is right next to the one of Cream when you look up supergroup in the dictionary. The band's DNA comes from The Nice, King Crimson, Atomic Rooster and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, which is a pretty impressive list. Keith Emerson's adaptation of Alberto Ginastera's "Tocatta" outdoes even "Knife Edge" from the first album as a rock band's interpretation of classical music. The next two tracks, while credited to Paul Kantner and David Crosby respectively, were really recorded by the same group. They called themselves "The Great Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra" and the ensemble on both albums included most of the members of The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Santana along with Joni Mitchell and just about every musician who was a part of the San Francisco scene around 1970-1971. Both albums are very trippy and filled with great playing. Those were the days. All I have to do is drop the needle in the groove and the trails begin. "Feel Like Making Love" is from Bad Company's first album. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had played together in Free, Mick Ralphs was an original member of Mott The Hoople and Boz Burrell was known as a solo act in addition to being in one of the many incarnations of King Crimson. "City Slang" was the first single released by Sonic's Rendezvous Band. The Sonic in question is Fred "Sonic" Smith from The MC5, accompanied by Scott Morgan of The Rationals (another of our favorite bands) Scott Asheton of The Stooges and Gary Rassmussen of The Up. "City Slang" sounds exactly like you expect it to and kicks ass. "Thirty Years" was a single by the group U.K. Talk about DNA. The 4 members of the band (John Wetton, Allan Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson and Bill Bruford) had played with Family, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Soft Machine, Curved Air, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa, 801 and Yes. That's quite a pedigree. TheGlove is another band that hung on long enough to make just one album before splitting. The band was Robert Smith of The Cure and Steve Severin of Siouxsee and The Banshees. Blue Sunshine, the one album they cut, was a solid effort that's still available and "Like An Animal" is a remixed version of the album track that got some club play when it was released in 1983. "Mannish Boy" by Hindu Love Gods is a solid recording of a tune that's been recorded hundreds of times. The band was Warren Zevon backed by the members of R.E.M. minus Michael Stipe. The album is excellent and if you've never heard it, you owe yourself a listen. The Firm was a band that sounded great on paper but only good on vinyl. The band featured Paul Rodgers of Free, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Tony Frankin who'd been playing with Roy Harper and Chris Slade who performed with Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. They turn in an adequate performance here of "Someone To Love." "In The Ghetto" is given an interesting interpretation by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds whose members include his old mate Mick Harvey from The Birthday Party and Barry Adamson of Magazine, the band that Howard Devoto formed after leaving The Buzzcocks. The slinky DNA remix of "Get The Message" by Electronic is a killer. The band consisted of Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order and Johnny Marr of The Smiths. Another gem that's been forgotten through the years. Unless I'm mistaken, "Hunger Strike" by Temple Of The Dog is the first recorded performance by Eddie Vedder. Mike McCready, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam are also featured as is Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden. Mike McCready is also a member of Mad Season along with Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts. "River Of Deceit" sounds like a jam between Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. Cork may be the most musically diverse band on this playlist. This threesome featured Corky Laing of Mountain, Eric Schenkman of Spin Doctors and Noel Redding of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. "Sin City" was the single from their first album. "Janie Jones was originally a single by The Clash. It's covered here by The Neurotic Outsiders whose members were Duff Mckagan and Matt Sorum of Guns & Roses, Steve Jones, the powerhouse guitar player from The Sex Pistols and John Taylor from Duran Duran. Liquid Tension Experiment contribute "Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure" to this wandering list. Their members are Tony Levin, who was in a later incarnation of King Crimson, Jordan Rudess of Dixie Dregs and two members of the sadly under-appreciated Dream Theatre. Lucy Pearl had 3 members: Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Tone!, Dawn Robinson of En Vogue and Ali Shaheed Muhaammad of A Tribe Called Quest. "Dance Tonight" was the first single from their only album. You can dance to it if you want. I did. Audioslave had a great single in "Like A Stone." This is another track featuring Chris Cornell playing alongside Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine. "This Place Is Like A Prison" is one of the poppier efforts by The Postal Service which features Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley. Velvet Revolver is Slash, Duff and Matt from Guns & Roses plus Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots. "Dear God" by Monsters of Folk features Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes along with Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M Ward, who needs no introduction. Tinted Windows is Taylor Hanson of Hanson, James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne and Bun E Carlos of Cheap Trick. Their version of "Nothing To Me"is very cool. Dead Weather is Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens Of The Stone Age, Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and bandmate Jack White of The Raconteurs and White Stripes. Last, but not least we have Them Crooked Vultures. The band consists of Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Josh Homme whose been associated with Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age. This is a kick ass list and I'm glad I've finished the notes cause now I'm going to bed. Enjoy

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