More Sadness

The recent passings of Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, and now Glenn Frey, made me think of a blog that I wrote a few years back. I haven't changed anything. Just reposted it. Too much sadness…

Band Of Angels?

June 9, 2012

On Thursday I posted a new poll – Which Recently Deceased Musician Do You Miss Most? There are eight choices - Donald “Duck” Dunn, Barry Gibb, Levon Helm, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Davy Jones, Donna Summer and Adam “MCA” Yauch. All of these performers left us this year. Shortly after the first votes were cast I learned that we had lost another popular musician earlier that day. Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac who also had a solo career, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was 65.

Whenever a famous musician passes on you inevitably hear things like, “I bet there’s a helluva concert going on in Heaven!” or “Can you imagine the beautiful music being played in Heaven right now?”

Now, far be it from me to assume that upon dying, all musical performers immediately go to Heaven and are jamming for God. A majority of these people have died tragically young for a reason. Whether it was poor life style choices or some other demon, way too many talented people have passed away far too early and have left a void in the music world.

That being said…

What if all of the deceased gifted musicians DID get together in the Great Hereafter? Would that be cool or what? The very thought of this boggles my mind.

Because this is so intriguing, I have decided to assemble a supergroup made up entirely of deceased rock ‘n’ roll VIPs. The only criteria are that the musician is someone is on my iPod and are, regrettably, deceased.

So, without further ado, let me introduce to you, Band of Angels?, my all-star, all-dead supergroup:

Keith Moon, The Who – Drums. Passed away at age 31.

John Bonham, Led Zeppelin – Drums. Passed away at age 32.

John Entwistle, The Who – Bass. Passed away at age 57.

John Lennon, The Beatles – Vocals and Guitar. Passed away at age 40.

George Harrison, The Beatles – Guitar and Vocals. Passed away at age 58.

Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones – Guitar. Passed away at age 27.

Jimi Hendrix – Guitar. Passed away at age 27.

Janis Joplin – Vocals. Passed away at age 27.

Jim Morrison, The Doors – Vocals. Passed away at age 28.

Freddie Mercury, Queen – Vocals. Passed away at age 45.

Sweet, huh?

Can you imagine a band with both Moon AND Bonham playing drums? Just envision this duo providing the percussion for Moby Dick, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Wipeout, My Generation or Frankenstein. It’s insane!

Hendrix, Jones, Lennon and Harrison all playing guitar. Are you kidding me? What a lineup!

Hendrix was widely considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in music history. Jones’ main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other musical instruments and was a talented multi-instrumentalist. As far as Lennon and Harrison go… They were Beatles, for crying out loud!

Entwistle was nicknamed “Thunderfingers” with good reason. He was at his best when heard in concert, where he and guitarist Pete Townshend frequently exchanged roles, with Entwistle providing rapid melodic lines and Townshend anchoring the song with rhythmic chord work. I would love to see him doing the same with Hendrix.

The trio of vocalists that I have chosen for Band of Angels? is so diverse and talented, they could cover most any song written. And whatever Joplin, Morrison and Mercury needed a breather, Lennon and Harrison would fill in quite nicely. Hell, this band is so good I might even let Hendrix sing a song or two.

Maybe.

There you have it, my supergroup composed of deceased rock stars. And I do have something from each of them on my iPod; just some more than others. Here are the totals:

Moon and Entwistle (The Who) - 477 songs

Lennon and Harrison (The Beatles) - 153 songs

Mercury (Queen) – 84 songs

Jones (The Rolling Stones) – 147 songs

Bonham (Led Zeppelin) – 34 songs

Morrison (The Doors) – 18 songs

Joplin – 4 songs

Hendrix – 2 songs

Well, what can I say? I obviously like The Who more than Jimi Hendrix.

I know what comes next. It’s time for everyone to tell me whom I left out. Like Kurt Cobain. Hey, I don’t any Nirvana on my iPod!

Rather than lambasting me about my omissions, I would be interested in hearing the supergroup you come up with made up of dead musicians. Let’s see what you got! Email me, put it on my facebook page or leave a comment here on the blog.

Don’t forget to jump on my poll and vote for which recently deceased musician you miss most. Until next time…from the booth.