Band Member Who Refused To Leave When Asked?

Cafe Society
1

Assuming everyone has equal power in the legal contract. If you have an example, please give us a brief story, since we don’t all know every band and/or the details.

I’ve read in interviews from Eric and Stevie that after Cream disbanded, Ginger Baker showed up to Blind Faith rehearsal and Eric Clapton nor Stevie Winwood had the guts to say they didn’t want him in the band, so they did their one album and broke up. I highly recommend the documentary “Beware of Mr. Baker” (it might still be on YouTube)

Extra Credit: A member who kept refusing to leave, and ended up staying with the band.

2

Maybe Rolling Stones co-founder, Ian Stewart? Stone’s manager Andrew Loog Oldham didn’t think Stewart (a whole half-decade older than the rest of the band) had the “look” to be a Rolling Stone. Even though he wasn’t officially a member of the band after 1963, he was their keyboard player and road manager until well into the 1980s.

3

He definitely looked out of place (and seemed like a giant compared to Brian, etc) but he was always a guy they wanted in the studio, just not on stage. I always thought Ian was a “team player” who went along with whatever management wanted.

I always felt bad for the guy.

4

Couldn’t they have just smacked a whiskey bottle across his faced and pumped him full of heroin and coke? Like the rest of the band.

5

Syd Barrett was pretty much eased out of the Pink Floyd; Syd probably didn’t notice it and once showed up during a recording session, ready to play.

6

The story I heard* was that the band was in the car and someone said “Should we pick up Syd?” “Naaah…”

…

*aha! it was here, probably in the fired band member thread…

7

And to this day, no one in Pink Floyd mentioned who said “Shall we pick up Syd” or who said “Why bother?”

Amazing he came back years later in 74’, only to be told, “The guitar is all done, Syd”… I highly recommend “The Making of WIsh You Were Here” - they even have a 20-second clip of some electric guitar playing of Syd’s.

8

In 1968, the Temptations fired their best-known member, David Ruffin, for his cocaine use, unreliability, and massive ego.

Undaunted, Ruffin kept showing up to Temptations performances. When they’d play a song he had sung lead on (like “My Girl” or “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”), he’d walk on stage and grab the microphone.

The band hated it. But the fans loved it.

After this happened a few times, the group agreed to take Ruffin back. They scheduled a performance to officially welcome him back to the group – and he showed up late. That was the last straw.

(Ruffin rejoined the group again much, much later - in 1982. It did not go well, and it did not last long.)

Ruffin and the other Temptations singing “I Wish It Would Rain”: