I was reading about Deep Purple the other day, and I realized that Steve Morse has been the guitarist about as long as Ritchie. Morse is certainly more than capable of handling those parts, but for me, Blackmore will always be the six-stringer in DP.
Cozy Powell (who played in Rainbow) took over for Carl Palmer in ELP. Joe Satriani played guitar for Greg Kihn. Ronnie took the place Mick who took the place of Brian.
The rock family tree is wondrously intertwined, I’m interested to see what examples you guys might have…
Todd Rundgren replacing Ric Ocasek in the Cars to form the New Cars.
It was essentially two guys from the Cars, Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes, and Rundgren and his rhythm section of Kasim Sulton and Prairie Prince (of the Tubes). Benjamin Orr had died, David Robinson wasn’t interested and Ric Ocasek didn’t want to bother. But he was the writer of the majority of the material, and the writer gets the vast majority of the money generated by any recording. He didn’t have any particular reason to tour, while Easton and Hawkes would like to keep a roof over their heads.
They did a credible job, but the tour was ill-fated, with Easton breaking his left clavicle in a tour bus accident. A damn shame, as they sounded fine.
Jim Gordon and Hal Blaine were the top session drummers of the 60s and early 70s.
David Clayton-Thomas is much better known as the singer in Blood Sweat and Tears than their original lead singer, Al Kooper – which is an injustice – Kooper was a highly influential musician, forming groups (Blues Project, BS&T), as a sessions musician (with Bob Dylan) and as a producer (Lynyrd Skynyrd).
The Allman Brothers have a long history of this, since they’ve had a lot of misfortune over the years.
Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971. The following year he was replaced by piano player Chuck Leavell.
Also in 1972, original bassist Berry Oakley died, also in a motorcycle accident. He was replaced by Lamar Williams.
The band broke up a few years later. They reformed in 1979 with a new bassist named David “Rook” Goldflies, since Lamar Williams was dying of lung problems caused by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Instead of Leavell, they hired a new guitar player named Dan Toler. His brother, Frankie, then replaced one of the band’s original drummers. This arrangement didn’t last too long.
The band gave it another go in 1989 with Warren Haynes on second guitar and Allen Woody on bass, and Jaimoe on drums again. Haynes and Woody stayed until 1997, when they struck out on their own with Gov’t Mule.
Let’s fast-forward: Haynes was replaced by Jack Pearson, who left in 1999 and was replaced by Derek Trucks. Woody was replaced by Oteil Burbridge.
In 2000, original guitarist Dickey Betts got the axe. He was replaced for the summer tour by Jimmy Herring, and then by Warren Haynes.
That’s not counting the 1993 tour, where Betts spent some time in jail and then, I think, rehab. Substitutes for him included Herring, David Grissom, I think Pearson at one point, and for one and only one show, Zakk Wylde.
Most of the people I mentioned have also played together in various combinations in their own bands or as part of the side bands headed by members of the ABB. I won’t bother listing all the permutations there; suffice to say the Allman Brothers have had way more members than Spinal Tap.
The well-known Yardbirds progression from Clapton to Beck to Page - and where all that went - Beck to the Jeff Beck Group then on his own, Page to a little something, and Clapton to a bunch of places.
Clapton becoming the guitarist in John Mayall’s band, only to move onto Cream. And to be replaced by the brilliantly gifted Peter Green (nee Greenbaum) who broke off to form Fleetwood Mac with Fleetwood, McVie, and a couple of other wonderful guitarists, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer. This doesn’t count the detour of Beck, Page, Entwhistle and Moon recording Beck’s Bolero and contemplating a first version of what became Zeppelin…
It takes a few hops, skips and insanities to get from there to the Fleetwood Mac that blew up with Rumours
All of that plays out in a number of directions - and relates to the Stones, since Peter Green’s replacement when he left Mayall’s Bluesbreakers was Mick Taylor, before HE in turn left to join the Stones. And when Rod Stewart left Beck, of course he joined the Faces featuring Ronnie Wood, who’d always wanted to be in the Stones…
On the US side of things there are ways to go.
Journey was originally a fusion band featuring Gregg Rolie on lead vocal - he and Schon met in Santana’s band. Their manager Herbie Herbert wanted to get them more commercial, so he brought in Steve Perry from another group (Alien Project, I think) to get them moving in a better direction.
Styx originally had another guitar play, John Kurelewski (or something like that) who left after Equinox. They were auditioning for rhythm players who could sing backup and stumbled onto Tommy Shaw, a legit lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. At the time, the change was seen as a big deal
The Eagles started out as Linda Ronstadt’s backing band and featured Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner alongside Henley and Frey. Meisner left and was replaced by TBSchmidt; I think Leadon may have been fired (??) and was replaced by Don Felder - I can’t remember if Joe Walsh joined as a third guitarist alongside Frey and Felder (I think that is right) or if Walsh replaced Felder who then re-joined (but was fired a few years ago for thinking The Eagles actually needed him)…
We haven’t touched on the Ramones or any other the other tangled Punk webs, e.g., Johnnie Rotten moving from the Sex Pistols to PiL with Keith Levene and the relationship to Gang of Four, etc…
You lift up the stone of any band and there’s bound to be something under there…
Just to add a little to the Warren Haynes has played with just about everybody under the sun, as the Jamband scene is even more intertwined than the rest of the rock scene. He’s played with members of the Grateful Dead, including The Dead, Dave Matthews, and a ridiculous list of others including John Scofield and (I think this is the farthest out) Corrosion of Conformity. Derek Trucks has also played with tons of people, generally more in a blues vein.
Speaking of hired guns, Guns & Roses. As it semi-exists right now the only original member left is Axl. Slash, Duff and Matt, formerly of GnR, are now in Velvet Revolver. But Velvet Revolver just parted ways with their lead singer, Scott Weiland, who is formerly of and again with Stone Temple Pilots. Whew.
Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes (of the Buggles) replaced Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman to Record Yes’ 1980 Album Drama. They also toured to support the album.
The whole Deep Purple-Rainbow-Black Sabbath-Dio connections get rather incestuous and need a detailed genealogy chart to keep track of. Let’s see:
Richie Blackmore left Deep Purple to lead Rainbow.
Rainbow’s singer, Ronnie James Dio, quit Rainbow to replace Ozzy in Black Sabbath.
Dio left Black Sabbath to form Dio with drummer Vinnie Appice from Black Sabbath and bassist Jimmy Bain from Rainbow.
Dio was replaced in Black Sabbath by former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, who then left to rejoin Deep Purple and was replaced by Glenn Hughes, who had replaced Roger Glover as the bass player in Deep Purple.
Roger Glover eventually ended up in Rainbow after Jimmy Bain left.
Blackmore, Glover,and Gillan all ended up back in Deep Purple for a mid 1980s reunion.
Did I miss any? The Whitesnake dude was also in Deep Purple at some point.
Nick Simper {bass}
Rod Evans {vocals}
Ian Paice {drums}
Ritchie Blackmore {guitar}
Jon Lord {keyboards}
Mark Two -
Roger Glover {bass}
Ian Gillan {vocals}
Ian Paice {drums}
Ritchie Blackmore {guitar}
Jon Lord {keyboards}
Mark Three -
Glenn Hughes {bass/vocals}
Ian Paice {drums}
Ritchie Blackmore {guitar}
David Coverdale {vocals}
Jon Lord {keyboard}
Mark Four -
Same as Mark Three, except for:
Tommy Bolin {guitar}
Called it quits when Bolin dropped off twig. David Coverdale recorded a couple of solo albums, then went on to form Whitesnake. Blackmore meanwhile was in Rainbow with anyone who would still speak to him, including Cozy Powell at one point. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were in Gillan/Glover; Ian Gillan was in Gillan, and then in Black Sabbath as a result of a drunken bet. Oh, and in the late 70’s Nick Simper put together an illicit knockoff for one show called “The New Deep Purple”, staffed by himself and various lookalike session players. Got sued.
Deep Purple reformed in 1985 with Mark Two lineup. Then it gets complicated:
Gillan left, replaced by Joe Lynn Turner. Blackmore left, replaced on tour by Joe Satriani, then replaced by Steve Morse. Gillan rejoined. Jon Lord left, replaced by Jon Anderson. Ian Paice is the only constant player in 40 years. Blackmore formed Blackmore’s Night with his missus, where he pretends to be an Elizabethan minstrel.
Bob Welch put in some time before Lindsey B. showed up with Stevie.
Playing keyboards for the Grateful Dead is like playing drums for Spinal Tap. Pigpen died in '73, followed in '80 by Keith Godchaux, then Brent Mydland OD’d,. Vince Welnick died a couple of years ago. Only Bruce Hornsby has made it out alive.
David Gilmour was brought into Pink Floyd as a substitute for Syd Barrett, the original intention being to fill in for him on stage as Bruce Johnston did for Brian Wilson in the Beach Boys. (When Roger Waters eventually left Pink Floyd, he was never replaced* – which, in retrospect, was kind of a shame.)
XTC truly began to gel when they replaced their keyboardist, Barry Andrews, with a second guitarist, Dave Gregory.
I suppose mention could be made of the “Doors of the 21st Century” farrago, in which Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek tried to revive the Doors with a revolving cast of stand-ins I don’t have the patience to enumerate.
And then there’s The Heads. Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth attempted to sort-of carry on the Talking Heads without David Byrne, making up for his absence by using a dozen or so vocalists. (Johnette Napolitano took the mike full-time when the band toured.) I have yet to hear a kind word spoken of this project, though personally I kinda like Andy Partridge’s track, “Papersnow.”
(* I realize Pink Floyd hired a new bassist. But they never replaced Waters with a full-time, full-fledged fourth member of the band.)
Regarding the Allman Brothers, Duane was of course a studio musician for a while who played on all kinds of albums (including Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Herbie Mann), and later joined Eric Clapton on the Layla album (where Duane was somewhere between a real member and a one-off guest for the first studio album only).
And speaking of Eric Clapton, he went from the Yardbirds (where he was replaced by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page (we already talked about him, right?)) to the Bluesbreakers (also already covered) to form Cream to form Blind Faith which he left to sort of join Delaney and Bonnie and Friends and then formed Derek and the Dominos, after which he just went by “Eric Clapton”. In addition there were appearances live or on record with the Beatles, Lennon solo/Plastic Ono Band, Stephen Sills and others I don’t remember.
Of course, I was just using this as an excuse to mention Blind Faith, which included Steve Winwood, who started with the Spencer Davis Group, went to Traffic, then Blind Faith then back to Traffic then ended as a solo act (and looking at Wiki, it says he’s also appeared with Tito Puente and Christina Aguilera!).
Whew, now I know what it’s like to be that “Connections” guy.
(And did we mention Eddie Van Halen playing for Michael Jackson?)
There’s Molly Hatchet and Napalm Death, both bands currently having zero original members performing or recording with them. I think the same thing happened with an 80’s hair metal version of the hardcore/goth band TSOL too.
