George Washington's Axe & Band Member Changes

Cafe Society
21

Has there ever been a well known band that went through a complete changeover in members but was still generally considered to be the same band?

Several bands have come close (down to a single consistent member).

The original members of King Crimson were Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, and Peter Sinfield. Only Fripp stayed with the band.

The original members of the Moody Blues were Graeme Edge, Denny Laine, Michael Pinder, Ray Thomas, and Clint Warwick. Only Edge stayed with the band.

The original members of Pink Floyd were Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright (and Bob Klose although he left before the band ever recorded anything). All except Mason left the band at some point.

The original members of Yes were Jon Anderson, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, Tony Kaye, Chris Squire. Only Squire stayed with the band.

22

Before breaking up, the Christian rock band Petra eventually made it to no original founding members.

23

I remember that, it’s from Yesstory I think. I also remember when he said it I disagreed. Without the songwriting core of Anderson, Squire and Howe I couldn’t take them seriously as Yes. Witness the albums they did with that other guy when Howe was out of the band… and even ABWH, which I think is an excellent album, is still missing something.

And yes, I’m fully aware Howe is not an original member. While the first two albums are good (certainly better than the '80s stuff), IMO they didn’t really get into their groove until The Yes Album.

24

I disagree with the idea that the lead singer is what makes the band.

Genesis, Blood Sweat and Tears, Fleetwood Mac, Journey - all of these bands found much greater success with vocalists who weren’t in the original band.

25

You can add The Moody Blues to that list. And yet, such examples could be seen as supporting the idea that the lead singer is what makes the band, since you could argue that it was the new singers who made these bands what they were during the periods of their greatest success.

26

This is true, but I would say that these are some of the few bands who have managed to pull that off where most other bands who tried to do so have failed.

There certainly are some acts that are more “brand” than “band” where a revolving line-up could still be the same band. I guess Menudo is the first thing to come to mind.

27

Renaissance. No one from the original group was still around by at least their third album.

28

At any given moment, you can see “The Coasters” or “The Platters” or any number of soul vocal groups on tour, even though NONE of the current members were with the original group (and most probably weren’t born when the group was in its prime).

For that matter… are any of the original Temptations still alive?

29

I was thinking more along the lines of the “Who Are You? The Beatles?” tour.

30

Hell, the Ink Spots are still touring and their last original member died in 1995.

31

Is anybody from the original Deep Purple lineup still with the band?

I haven’t paid them any mind in a few years, but last time I looked, Ian Gillan, Steve Morse and Roger Glover (none of whom was an original member, though Gillan and Glover were in the “classic” Seventies lineup) were the backbone of the band, but Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord were gone.

IF drummer Ian Paice is still with them, he’d be the only original Deep Purple member left.

32

They’re only well-known in certain circles, but Napalm Death certainly qualifies. As this timeline shows, not only are there no original members left, but there’s only one guy there now who might’ve been in the band with an original member (we’d need months of arrival/departure to be sure). Regardless, Napalm Death is Napalm Death, and always has been.

33

Surprisingly, Carl Gardner remained the lead singer for The Coasters from 1956 to 2006, when he finally retired from performing (although he’s still listed as a member of the group). His son Carl Junior, who joined the group in 1998, now sings lead.

The Platters situation, on the other hand, would require Lord Palmerston, Prince Albert, and a crazy German professor to untangle.

Four of the original five members - Al Bryant, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams - are deceased. So’s David Ruffin, who was not a founding member of the group but belonged when they recorded most of their hits. But founding member Otis Williams is still alive and a member of the group.

34

Looking at their website, it’s:
Ian Gillan
Roger Glover
Ian Paice
Steve Morse
Don Airey

So, one founding member, two from the Mark II lineup (and one from the 90’s and one who joined in 2003 (according to Wikipedia))

35

Is it an original member of the Platters, or is it somebody else who owns the name to a Motown group who has two bands under that name?

36

Heck, there are three official Glenn Miller Orchestras still playing, even though Miller himself disappeared over the English Channel in 1944. (They’re official because they’re licensed by the Miller estate and they play the Miller arrangements.) And this is despite the original Glenn Miller Orchestra, which continued to perform after Miller went into the Army, was broken up in 1950 and not re-formed until 1956.

37

I just spent about an hour trying to write a post that sorted it all out. I’m sorry. I failed. It’s like trying to summarize all of the people that were involved in World War II.

If you want to take a look, check the wikipedia article. You can also check out this site, this site, this site, and this site which have more detailed histories of the lawsuits and memberships changes (although many of their details conflict). Suffice it to say there are at least sixteen different groups that have been credited as the Platters and a couple of hundred different people who have been members.

38

:eek: Holy Crap.

39

Lest someone thing I’m exaggerating, here’s a partial list of people who have been a Platter at some point: Greg Alexander, Paul B. Allen III, Laurie Anderson, Elmer Armstrong, Linda Ash, James Austin, Ylona Austin, Ron Austin, David Bacarr, John Barnes, Gerald Bell, Joan Benjamin, Willa Black, LaBuoy Blake, Charles Boyd, Alton Ray Brewster, Curtis Bridgeforth, Charles Brinkley, C.C. Bronson, Lynne Brown, Ron Alan Brown, Milton Bullock, Sonny Byers, Bruce Caesar, Billy Ray Charles, John Cheatdom, Edwin Cook, George Cox, Willie Cox, Eddie Daniels, Pam Darden, Derek David, Gary Davis, J. Michael Davis, Linda Davis, Liz Davis, Renee Davis, Sandra Dawn, Pricilla Dea, Ben Durr, Tommy Ellison, C.C. Epstein, Diane Evans, Donnie Ray Evins, Yolanda Fletcher, Lolita Fonza, Joel Gaines, Anthony Gibson, Virgil Gibson, Johnny Gomez, Charles Grant, Tony Graves, Eddie Greeley, Willie Greene, Cornell Gunter, Ghale Hambrick, Dee Dee Hamilton, Jerold Harris, Julie Harris, Everett Harrison, Gary Harvey, Linda Hayes, John Haynes, Ralph Heid, Otis Hembre, Felicia Hernandez, Tony High, Alex Hodge, Gaynel Hodge, Geri Holiday, Al Holland, John Hopkins, Elmer Hopper, Harold Howard, Billie Lee Hughes, Leon Hughes, Betty Jackson, Sherman James, Joe Jefferson, Tina Jennings, Kenn Johnson, Larry Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Orlando Johnson, Randy Jones, Ritchie Jones, Michael Kennedy, Romeo Kennedy, Mario Kinsey, Jerrel Laman, Chico Lamar, Wilkie Lee, Kathlene Lewis (aka Kristy Brooks), Willie “Chile” Lewis, Lawrence “Rooster” Lockard, David Lynch, Jack Maeby, Ray Manson, Servondojuan Mark, D.D. Martin, J.C. Martin, Darrell Mathews, Willie Nash McCall, George McCurn, Delaney McQuaid, Herb McQuay, Curtis Michael, Bernadette Miller, Wayne Miller, Bea Jaye Mitchell, Bobby Moore, Harold Moore, Willie Morrison, Ron Murphy, Nancy Nelson, Nate Nelson, William Newton, Sid Nicholas, Al Nichols, Wendell Noble, Billy Nunn, Barack Obama, Andrew Odem, Larry Ollison, Joe Palmer, J.C. Parrish, Kellee Patterson, Adrian Pepo, Monroe Powell, Van Presley, Nat Pulizzi, Donnie Radford (or maybe it’s Redford), Barbara Randolph, Herb Rawlings, Sherman Ray, Paris Red, Toni Redd, Rob Reddrick, Herb Reed, Daryl Reynolds, Kim Rhone, Duke Richardson, Roy Robbi, Franchesca Robi, Paul Robi, Arnold Robinson, Joe Robinson, Marcia Robinson, Robbie Robinson, Sharon Robinson, John Rodgers, Eugene Ross, James Sampson, Darrell Scott, Yvonne Scott, Kenny Seymour, Damon Shaw, Cybil Shepard, Andre Sheppard, R. Qurban Shurat, Jacqueline Smith, La Shunn Smith, Terry Smith, Bobby Soul, Eddie Stoval, Perry Sullivan, Tyrone Sweet, Larry Tate, Benny Taylor, Jessica Taylor, Patricia Taylor, Zola Taylor, Linda Theus, Sybil Thomas, Myles Thompkins, French E. Thompson, Ella Townsend, Mark Trotter, Sonny Turner, Gene Van Buren, Estrellita Vanterpool, Gia Von Karl, Eugene Washington, Franklin Washington, Verceal Whitaker, Gene Williams, Morris Williams, Tony Williams, Wilson Williams, Paul Wilson, Tammy Winters, Bill Woodruff, Ella Woods, Woody Woods, Nathaneal Woodson, and Ernest Wright.

40

AC/DC are a band where the key members are the guitarists. Angus Young is the only member that that has always been in the band (Malcolm Young took a leave of absence for one tour). Angus and Malcolm are the only members who are on all AC/DC records.

So it’s certainly possible for a band to maintain its identity despite changing the vocalist.

Anyway, in my opinion it isn’t the Beatles without all four of them - the Beatles were more than the sum of their parts. “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” are only sort-of Beatles songs to me.

Some bands have key members and replaceable members. Other bands are all about the chemistry of that particular set of individuals.