# Stars that got better at playing their instruments after they got famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 18, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993 "2022-01-18T13:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/21 "2022-01-18T22:56:20Z")
Brian Eno’s skill with playing found objects has steadily increased throughout his career. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/22 "2022-01-18T22:58:00Z")
The canonical answer to this question must be Sid Vicious, who went from not knowing how to play bass at all to learning the basics over the course of one night. His bandmate Viv Albertine described it as follows: > Could Sid play bass? I don’t know, but one thing I do know was that Sid did things quickly. One night, he played the first Ramones album nonstop, all night, then next morning, Sid could play the bass. That was it; he was ready! I told you Sid did things quickly! It’s generally accepted that he never learned to play the bass particularly _well_, but everyone who worked with him agreed that he at least tried in earnest to learn and made some progress. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/23 "2022-01-18T23:00:48Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I agree his singing improved with his becoming more comfortable with being the front man singing and leading on guitar. However I find his current bluesman voice, forced and unpleasant. Sorry Eric, no matter how much you try, you’ll never have the angst and raw power of a true bluesman. I haven’t followed his career much in the last thirty years (because of artistic reasons, but also because I learned that he is a racist prick, and in latest news also a Covid-denier), but I haven’t given up on his older recordings up until 1994 or so. His singing impressed me most on his cover of Ray Charles’ “Hard Times” on the live “24 Nights” from 1991, in which his singing really is true to the blues. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8fUOVDdq-P0/maxresdefault.jpg "Hard Times (Live at Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK, 1990 - 1991)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fUOVDdq-P0) ---
**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:** [January 18, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/24 "2022-01-18T23:16:29Z")
I was thinking of both Duane and Gregg Allman, though I can’t prove it. If we can include singing, I remember reading that when Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek (?) were talking about starting a band, Morrison said you play keyboards and I’ll sing. Manzarek said, “you can sing?” to which Morrison replied, “fuck, no.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/25 "2022-01-18T23:37:03Z")
Agree that he’s a jerk, but a brilliant musician. Hey, Ginger was a complete a-hole until the day he died, but there’s no denying his skills! 😄 His singing is not bad, much better than the fake raspy voice he uses now. I think he did a decent job on _Stormy Monday_ at the Cream reunion. I spent decades following him hoping he would get back to his playing style with Cream. His _Layla_ remix nearly killed all hope and the Cream reunion and discovery of almost all the Cream bootlegs made me realize that 1966-68 was a magic moment in time that can never be rekindled. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/26 "2022-01-18T23:58:38Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > His singing is not bad, much better than the fake raspy voice he uses now. I think he did a decent job on _Stormy Monday_ at the Cream reunion. Oh, I know exactly which voice you mean. The last album of his I bought was “From The Cradle” from 1994. I was really looking forward to it because I had read that it was a studio album of only classic blues covers, and I always liked it best when he played and sang the blues. But that album sounds sterile, and he uses exactly that annoying raspy voice you mention in most of the songs. I was very disappointed and never bought a new Clapton album afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/27 "2022-01-19T00:09:02Z")
The irony is that his idol and inspiration, Robert Johnson doesn’t have that low raspy voice he tries to imitate. At least he wasn’t using that voice when he did _Me and Mr. Johnson_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/28 "2022-01-19T00:13:11Z")
Maybe he wants to go after Charley Patton or Howlin’ Wolf, I don’t know. I’m a big fan of classic blues (and thus of Robert Johnson), and the disappointment about “From The Cradle” was the reason I never gave “Me And Mr Johnson” a listen, because I was afraid that Clapton would spoil the songs. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/29 "2022-01-19T20:25:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > On the other hand, Micky Dolenz (the Monkees drummer) was primarily an actor (and singer) prior to the Monkees, and didn’t really know how to drum (though he took lessons and got better over time). So does an example like this and the Beastie Boys count if they started playing instruments _because_ they were famous. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/30 "2022-01-19T20:40:57Z")
Beastie Boys did not start playing instruments because they were famous. They had all played for years prior to diving head first into rap and hip hop. Early Beastie Boy recordings are excellent examples of early '80s NY punk rock. ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/31 "2022-01-19T21:10:08Z")
Do you have any insight into Ringo’s drum playing? I’ve seen a few remarks that he wasn’t a great player. I don’t have the expertise to judge. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/32 "2022-01-19T21:38:22Z")
He was a drummer who always played the right part. He wasn’t particularly flashy, in my opinion, but he never got in the way and he always kept the song going and solid. I didn’t include him because he was already an accomplished drummer when he joined the band. I think he was the only professional musician at the time the band was formed. His early drumming isn’t particularly complex, but it’s fast and solid. His later drumming is sometimes more complex, but astonishingly so. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/33 "2022-01-19T21:57:14Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > He was a drummer who always played the right part. He wasn’t particularly flashy, in my opinion, but he never got in the way and he always kept the song going and solid. Agreed. He has an unorthodox style, in part because he was self-taught, and in part because he is a lefty who learned to play on a right-handed kit, but his hallmark was consistency, and knowing what sort of fill or beat would best fit at a given point. And, as quoted in [Starr’s Wikipedia entry,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr#Drums) regarding his rock-solid playing: > [@](#): > > In his book _The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions_ , [Mark Lewisohn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lewisohn) says there were fewer than a dozen occasions in the Beatles’ eight-year recording career where session breakdowns were caused by Starr making a mistake, while the vast majority of takes were stopped due to mistakes by the other Beatles. One of the things that becomes clear if you watch the _Get Back_ documentary is that, compared to the other three, Ringo was the guy who is always there on time, and always ready to work. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/34 "2022-01-19T22:13:32Z")
Yes, definitely the professional of the group. Any time they started fiddling around, he would jump in with some appropriate drum beat. That said, I don’t think he improved much over the years, and certainly not like Paul and George. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/35 "2022-01-19T22:34:58Z")
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. When the band first rose to fame, Sixx’s bass playing was… not good. Now he’s just okay. But that was never really his job. He was a promoter, primarily, and he essentially created the image of Motley Crue. And he wrote a few songs. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/36 "2022-01-19T23:24:09Z")
Dave Davies of The Kinks. His solos on the early hits, recorded when he was 17-18, are gloriously sloppy and chaotic, like he’s picking out notes while falling down a flight of stairs. (That’s not a bad thing - it rocks) Listen to live versions of those same songs from the 80s and he’s much more in command of his instrument. Whether that’s better or not is up to you. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/37 "2022-01-20T03:15:23Z")
Ian Anderson’s soul has already reincarnated into [Lizzo](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/lizzos-10-best-flute-videos/). ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/38 "2022-01-20T03:20:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@RitterSport](#): > > > > He was a drummer who always played the right part. He wasn’t particularly flashy, in my opinion, but he never got in the way and he always kept the song going and solid. > > Agreed. He has an unorthodox style, in part because he was self-taught, and in part because he is a lefty who learned to play on a right-handed kit, but his hallmark was consistency, and knowing what sort of fill or beat would best fit at a given point. Not to detour this discussion too much, but Ringo’s playing is unique and seems just right. The music got more complex, so it could be argued he got better, but the hallmarks are there from the beginning. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0NCczct2ZIM/maxresdefault.jpg "What makes Ringo a Great Drummer - Tribute by Sina") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NCczct2ZIM) ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/39 "2022-01-21T12:39:29Z")
John Denver wrote in his book that touring challenged him. His late 70’s road band included guys that had played with Elvis a a few years earlier. (Elvis’ death meant his former band had to find work with Emmylou Harris and John Denver). John had played for years as a single or duo in folk clubs. He had a major adjustment after getting successful. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993/40 "2022-01-21T13:08:12Z")
Flea took a college music theory course long after the Peppers were famous. I can’t attest to whether it improved his bass playing or composing, but I’d think it probably did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-got-better-at-playing-their-instruments-after-they-got-famous/957993.md?page=3)