The Allman Brothers Band changed their name from The Allman Joys (and before that they were “The Escorts”). I’d say the name change was a very good idea.
The Beatles went through a variety of names, starting with The Quarrymen, then Johnny and the Moondogs ( 
), The Rainbows (nope) and then The Beatals, The Silver Beetles, and The Silver Beatles, before finally ending up with The Beatles.
Whaddya got?
Before becoming the Grateful Dead, Jerry and the boys were the Warlocks. I think the Warlocks is an okay name for a band, but the Grateful Dead is certainly more attention-getting.
And the evolution of the band in its early stages includes some of them having been, at an earlier time, members of Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, which is decidedly not a rock and roll band name.
Also, Golden Earring started out as The Tornados but changed it when the found out the name was already taken.
That had to be a play on words from the “Almond Joy” candy bar.
The first release by the group ABBA was credited to “Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid”. Now that’s a terrible name.
Pink Floyd formed as Sigma 6, then changed to Meggadeaths, then The Abdabs, then The Screaming Abdabs, then Leonard’s Lodgers, then The Spectrum Five, then Tea Set, which they kept for a couple of years before changing to The Pink Floyd Sound before switching – finally! – to Pink Floyd. The name, apparently, came from the fact that Syd Barret was a fan of both Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Black Sabbath was originally the Polka Tulk Blues Band. Yeah. While I’m not much of a Black Sabbath fan, the new name was certainly a better choice.
The progressive-rock band Yes was originally “Mabel Greer’s Toyshop.” After some lineup changes, the remaining band members decided to go in a different direction musically, and changed the band’s name.
The Moody Blues were initially the “M&B5,” a name that they adopted in hopes of getting a sponsorship from Mitchells & Butlers Brewery.
Yeah, an obvious pun.
Before it was The Jimi Hendrix Experience, it was Jimmy James and The Blue Flames. Probably okay for a blues band, but not for the psychedelia that was to follow.
Maroon 5 were originally called Kara’s Flowers.
They changed their name around 2001. They also added new guitarist (James Valentine) though I don’t know how much infuence he had on the sound.
Their first album was really good IMHO: some excellent pop-rock songs which made one hope there was some life left in the genre. But I think they lost their edge after the first couple of albums and have just been coasting since?
Green Jellÿ was originally Green Jello, but the makers of Jell-O pudding sent them a cease-and-desist letter for trademark infringement.
“The Who? I was listening to them when they were the Hillbilly Bugger Boys!”
Seems like this is a thread for bands who changed their name before they hit it big, but my first thought was Jefferson Airplane changing their name to Jefferson Starship.
I always figured it was a cheesy 80s attempt to try to make the band more modern and relevant for the latter years of the 20th century, which it may have been in part, but looking it up just now the main reason was legal fighting over the rights to the band name.
Creedence Clearwater Revival started out as the The Blue Velvets and then The Golliwogs.
Country group Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A because of the negative connotations of the word.
And the Dixie Chicks changed their name to The Chicks for the same reason.
The Who were originally The Detours (then found out another group was using the name) and temporarily called themselves the High Numbers before settling on The Who.
The Warlocks would agree.
I usually don’t use profanity, but in the 1990s, Alice in Chains and KISS toured together. One reason was because they originally had the same name, and they changed it when they realized that a band called FUCK wasn’t going to go anywhere.
Some of the many names R.E.M. considered, mostly as a joke, were Slut Bank, Negro Eyes, and Cans of Piss.
Styx started out as The Tradewinds and then changed their name to TW4 before settling on their current name.
At one time, the New Originals were named The Originals. Prior to that, various members were in The Lovely Lads and The Creatures. They’re currently in the “Where are they now?” file.
There was another band in the East End called the Originals, and then they changed their name back to the Regulars.
I suppose this is as good a place as any to relate the following more-or-less apocryphal story. Jimmy Page, after collaborating with Jeff Beck and others, told friends he was forming a new version of The Yardbirds he was tentatively going to call “The New Yardbirds” until Keith Moon told him it’d go over like a lead zeppelin.
Later, manager Peter Grant changes the spelling so Americans wouldn’t pronounce the first word as “leed”, and the rest is history.