I’m surprised how many people haven’t heard of Kenny Wayne Sheppard. He was huge for awhile in the '90s. Was supposed to be the next big thing, the next Stevie Ray Vaughn, save rock’n’roll, the great white bluesman, etc etc. You’d probably know him if you heard him. He did that song blue on black, tears on a river, push on shove, it don’t mean much . . . ok I can’t sing as good as him but you get the idea.
To be totally fair, Jack DeJohnette plays piano as well; I’ve never heard of him doing an entire concert without his drums there, but he does play.
I’m surprised so many people do not know the Atlanta Rhythm Section. They were pretty big back in the day.
See if you recognize this (Youtube link): So Into You - Atlanta Rhythm Section
This was another big hit of theirs: Spooky
The Outlaws: There was the group mentioned, then the ‘supergroup’ of outlaw country stars. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Tompall Glaser and Jesse Coulter. ‘Outlaw Country’ is a genre in its own right, containing country artists of the 70’s who moved away from the nashville/grand ole’ opry scene for a more raw, more roots-style country with hints of rock and blues. These include the four mentioned, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and others. Modern descendents of the movement would be Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams.
LIttle Feat was a very influential Southern Rock band, but didn’t really have any huge hits. They were more known for the quality of their playing, their concerts, and solid albums. Sort of a southern rock version of the Grateful Dead. Their lead singer was Lowell George, who went on to have a pretty big hit with “What do you want the girl to do?”. I couldnt’ find George singing it on Youtube, but here’s Boz Scagg’s cover of it. George was headed for stardom when he died of a heart attack at a very young age.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd was huge for a while in the 90’s - seen as the second coming of Stevie Ray Vaughan. You might recall Blue on Black. He also had hits with “Somewhere, Some How, Some Way”, and “Everything is Broken”. Another person in the same category is Jonny Lang. Both of them were young phenoms. Jonny Lang did “Lie to Me” when he was 16 years old. That’s him singing, too. He has a voice that sounds about 80 years old. Kenny Wayne Shepherd did not do vocals.
Trivia note: Jonny Lang’s sister was a contestant on American Idol this year, making it fairly far in the competition but not into the top 12.
Know 'im, love 'im, in the collection. Did NOT know about the little sister.
I can’t speak for the average person, but I know a pantsload of bands. Why? because I like music. It, math, and food are the true universal languages on this planet.
Most of the bands below featured something revolutionary in music. A certain chord progression. An off-beat flam. Strings in rock music. Just Plain Fun rock and roll. Power Ballads. Cowbell. Really cheesy or stupid band name. Untimely Death. Precursors to the crap that passes for music in 2009.
Age is a factor. My musical tastes run from the 1940’s to the year 2000 (when, in my opinion, music jumped the shark), primarily thanks to parents that loved music from the 40s to the 70’s.
These are the ones I recognize.
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Climax Blues Band
Blue Oyster Cult
Foghat
Tommy Tutone
Joan Jett
Golden Earring
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Zebra
Dokken
Survivor
Yngwie Malmsteen
the Motels
Robin Trower
Guess Who
Heart
Fabulous Thunderbirds
Foghat
Atlanta Rhythm Section
Outlaws
Dave Mason
Little Feat
Jeff Beck
Buddy Guy
Eric Johnson
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Kenny Wayne Sheppard
Joe Cocker
I encourange those of you who don’t know these bands to go to playlist.com and give them a listen. The record industry is sitting on a lot a music from that past that needs to be heard.
Try Dennis Coffey - Scorpio and Larry Graham/Graham Central Station - The Jam for some seriously old-school, real musicians playing real instruments, let it all hang out jam session funk.
I mostly know Little Feat through a long and elaborate story my high school English teacher told us that centered around her pretending to like Little Feat in order to impress a guy when she was in college, even though she had no idea who they were. Of course, I’ve looked them up since then, 'cause it was a really good story.
:eek: Wat. I did not know this. Who is that singing?
I’m NOT a guitar player, and since I intend to live to be 120, I’m not middle-aged.
Name a guitarist today (not including Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, and Joe Satriani) that could hold Yngwie or Jeff’s jock.
That person’s musical style would not have been acceptable without five aforementioned men.
The five aforementioned men’s style would not have been acceptable if Jimi hadn’t opened the door first.