# I never knew they were \*that\* good - artists with under reported skills **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 27, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663 "2022-07-27T18:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/21 "2022-07-27T22:13:22Z")
I am always pleasantly surprised when someone known for a totally different field unexpectedly (to me) displays musical ability. Even if they aren’t the _best_, but still pretty good, I think it is cool. Most recently, I was amused that John Cena (wrestler turned actor) plays piano, which they used in his HBOMax series _ **Peacemaker** _. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uZE7-0VoJto/maxresdefault.jpg "Peacemaker Soundtrack | Home Sweet Home (Official Music Video) - John Cena | WaterTower") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZE7-0VoJto) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/22 "2022-07-27T22:54:37Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Dudley Moore was an excellent jazz pianist and scored several films. Also an excellent classical pianist who went to Oxford on a Classical Organ scholarship. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/23 "2022-07-27T22:59:04Z")
John Sebastian (Lovin’ Spoonful and then solo career) is a virtuoso harmonica player, as was his lookalike father who played classical harmonica with orchestras and on record. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ADYFJhdrR2Q/hqdefault.jpg "John Sebastian Plays Harmonica") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADYFJhdrR2Q) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/24 "2022-07-28T00:26:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > From her [wiki article.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter) > > > Her drumming has been praised by fellow musicians [Hal Blaine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Blaine), [Cubby O’Brien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubby_O%27Brien) and [Buddy Rich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Rich)[[96]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt20121945%E2%80%931946-100) and by _[Modern Drummer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Drummer)_ magazine. Yeah, I saw that too. The fact that she has been praised does not, to me, indicate (or prove) that she’s one of the best drummers who ever drummed. I’m sure some may think so, but I do not. I’m not a Karen hater. FWIW I think she has the most gorgeous singing voice I’ve ever heard. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/25 "2022-07-28T02:11:59Z")
Prince was primarily known as a songwriter, singer and performer. But he was highly skilled in many instruments (drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, etc). He was supposedly proficient on 27 different instruments, and near-virtuoso on a couple. But he was really, really good on guitar. And self-taught mostly. > **[Five Examples Of Prince's Insane Guitar Skills](https://www.jambase.com/article/five-examples-princes-insane-guitar-skills)** > > Prince was not only an incredible songwriter and performer, but he was among the best guitarists in the game. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/26 "2022-07-28T06:41:24Z")
Johnny Depp has played and toured with a lot of great musicians. He’s very good on guitar. Kevin Bacon has a band with his brother Michael. They are currently touring. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/27 "2022-07-28T07:49:30Z")
Someone in a recent thread linked to [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVBclV5ps2U) from _Living in Oblivion_. It looked great so I watched the movie. It was terrific and I was surprised how good Dermot Mulroney was having never really had any opinion of him. I looked him up to see what else he had done and discovered that he is a classically trained cellist who has appeared on many soundtracks, either as a solo cellist or part of scoring orchestras for James Newton Howard and Michael Giacchino. Giacchino discusses working with him [here.](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2558039/wait-dermot-mulroney-plays-cello-on-a-bunch-of-michael-giacchino-scores) > Yes, he does. He’s an amazing guy. I met him on The Family Stone, he’s an incredible player, and I was like, ‘You play cello. Can you read music?’ He goes, ‘Yeah,’ and I was like, ‘Alright, come in. Play on Mission: Impossible III, and he did. … If he’s in town, whenever we’re recording, he’s always in on the session. He plays on almost everything, you know, as long as he’s not working on some film somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/28 "2022-07-28T11:04:18Z")
I remember seeing [this](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6hi3ph) on Saturday Night Live, waiting for the punchline that never was. I’m not a fan of opera, but I was impressed. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/29 "2022-07-28T12:14:33Z")
From Wiki. > Morris has appeared in numerous television shows and movies since the early 1970s, but is best known as one of the original cast members of [NBC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC)’s _[Saturday Night Live](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live)_.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morris#cite_note-6) Periodically on _SNL_ he sang classical music: once a [Mozart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) [aria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aria) “Dalla Sua Pace”, Don Ottavio’s aria from _[Don Giovanni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni)_ when guest-host [Walter Matthau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Matthau) designated him as a “musical guest…in place of the usual crap”, and **once a [Schubert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schubert) _[lied](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lied)_ while the titles on the screen expressed his colleagues’ purported displeasure at having to accommodate a misguided request by him.** This is what I remember seeing. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/30 "2022-07-28T12:19:05Z")
John C. Reilly is an excellent singer. He sang all of his own parts in _Walk Hard_. They recorded several albums worth of music for the movie. Much of it didn’t even make it into the film. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RYgQzCF8FcI/maxresdefault.jpg "A Life Without You by Dewey Cox (HD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYgQzCF8FcI) > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Prince was primarily known as a songwriter, singer and performer. And he could kick your ass in basketball. 😁 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ff8LEx9Mw54/maxresdefault.jpg "Chappelle's Show - Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories - Prince - Uncensored") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff8LEx9Mw54) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/31 "2022-07-28T13:22:16Z")
So you want an “artist” with under-reported skills? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Martin Mull… [https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/martin-mull](https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/martin-mull) . And back in his days of being a “Sit Down Comedian” he did a lot of tasty guitar work as well. Here he is with Glen Campbell doing his cleverly-written “Licks Off Of Records”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ifg5V9n66NM/hqdefault.jpg "Martin Mull featuring Glen Campbell - Licks Off Of Records (1980)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifg5V9n66NM) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/32 "2022-07-28T14:50:21Z")
Morris was their only serious musical talent in the original cast. Would have been nice to get to see him sing more on the show. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/33 "2022-07-28T15:12:47Z")
For the longest time, I only knew Vince Gill for his angelic voice. It was only recently that I learned that he is an extraordinary guitar player. You can go down a deep YouTube rabbit hole of clips of Gill’s picking. Here’s just one: [https://youtu.be/Stv3ugVFZD8?t=185](https://youtu.be/Stv3ugVFZD8?t=185) Apparently, Mark Knopfler asked him to join Dire Straits at some point. I would love to hear the alternate-universe music they would have created together. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/34 "2022-07-28T15:35:15Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > And he could kick your ass in basketball. 😁 The skit is hilarious, but according to [Micki Free](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umn4JuErVoQ) every bit of it was true. Truth is stranger than fiction, and I think that makes it even funnier. I think Prince even leaned into it by releasing a some small album called ‘Blouses’. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/35 "2022-07-28T16:00:24Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And back in his days of being a “Sit Down Comedian” he did a lot of tasty guitar work as well. Here he is with Glen Campbell doing his cleverly-written “Licks Off Of Records”. Glen was working hard to keep up. It must have been a short rehearsal. Martin had probably played it a hundred times in his act. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/36 "2022-07-28T20:41:15Z")
This was my introduction to Martin Mull in 1975. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mfu-1BLNQXw/maxresdefault.jpg "Martin Mull 'Soundstage: 60 Minutes to Kill' (1975)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfu-1BLNQXw) ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/37 "2022-07-28T20:47:54Z")
We often think of Phil Hartman as being a gifted comedic actor, but he started out as a graphic artist. You’ll recognize at least a few of these well known album covers he designed. [Album Covers Designed By Phil Hartman | R. ONE Creative (r1creative.net)](https://r1creative.net/feed/album-covers-designed-by-legendary-comedian-phil-hartman/) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/38 "2022-07-29T01:09:02Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > This was my introduction to Martin Mull in 1975. Thanks for sending me down a Martin Mull/ Flo & Eddie rabbit hole. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/39 "2022-07-29T01:40:50Z")
When people think of Fred Gwynne, they identify him with Herman Munster. But he is also a very talented artist. He wrote and illustrated several children’s books. He also was editor of the _Harvard Lampoon._ [![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Dlij-bzwL.jpg) ](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Dlij-bzwL.jpg) [![](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780525623175-us.jpg) ](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780525623175-us.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663/40 "2022-07-29T01:54:45Z")
[![](https://r1creative.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/3044107-slide-s-8-8-album-covers-designed-by-snl.jpg) ](https://r1creative.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/3044107-slide-s-8-8-album-covers-designed-by-snl.jpg) I had no idea that was designed by Phil Hartman! As well as so many others. Thanks for posting that! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-they-were-that-good-artists-with-under-reported-skills/968663.md?page=3)