I was thisclose to hijacking the “What songs should have become hits?” thread, and then decided to start me own, even though I know it’s been done before. Who do you think are some of the best underrated bands/musicians. I gotta say Jonathan Richman (and the Modern Lovers, too, but I like his solo work more), Flipper, Public Image Limited, anything attached to Richard Hell, and Iggy Pop (although he’s not really underrated, just under appreciated).
If you mean musicians as in technical musical skill, I would put in a vote for Stewart Copeland (drummer for the Police) and Mike Mills (bassist for REM). Both exquisite masters of their craft, yet are rarely thought of as great technical musicians.
Me!
All that teenage talent, all those years of hard strumming and boozing down the tube and all I have to show is a wife, kids, and a steady job.
if you really want to get into technical skill, then we’ll be here forever listing the countless studio sessionists and music store employees who would mop the floor with most ‘known’ skilled musicians.
disregard that above quote.
but yeah, seeing as that would be both mundane and pointless, maybe listing such musicians would be appropriate.
The guys from Days of the New deserve LOTS more respect than they’ve gotten. Seriously, how many albums has “Days of the New II” sold? It’s one of the best I have. It’s incredible!
–Tim
Mickey Hart.
'Nuff said.
Lucy Pearl is dropping their first album on tuesday, and I hope they will be famous-they deserve to be (I already have all their songs from Napster ;)) The female lead is from En Vogue, the male lead is from Tony Toni Tone, and the dj/background singer is from A Tribe Called Quest. They are pure R&B, so smooth and eloquent. Like Lauryn Hill without the rap and with more soul. I adore them, but I don’t know if they will do well with this album. Hoping though.
I think Erykah Badu deserves more recognition. Her voice is exquisite and she can freestyle wonderfully. Her live album is such a masterpiece, she is unbelievably talented, but the hype and her headdressed get in the way.
Finally, Kelly Bell Band and Jah Works are two local Baltimore bands, both a mix of soul/funk/reggae/jazz/rock. I think they are so talented, KBB has been around for years and still isn’t famous. Jah Works is starting to get the recognition they’ve earned, but not enough. Both are so amazingly talented that I am blown away - and I am seeing them in concert on the 25th! Yay!
PS Everyone go to http://www.jahworks.com and listen to some soundbits. If you like it, albums are only $10!
[ul]
[li]Helios Creed - Guitarist, solo and was a founding member of Chrome and played in a revived Hawkwind.[/li][li]Bad Brains - The whole damn band, man. Original lineup, natch.[/li][li]Diamanda Galas - Amazing voice, great imagery, darker than the most gothic shit you could name.[/li][li]Brian Baker - Guitarist in bands Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Junkyard (!) and currently, Bad Religion. A sucker for a great riff going through a cheap speaker, with no pretentions as to semantics, just like me.[/li][li]Captain Beefheart[/li][li]Dave Lombardo - Former Slayer drummer, outside of metalheads, he is virtually unknown. Pity.[/li][/ul]
There are more, I’m sure…
Yer pal,
Satan
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
One month, one week, two days, 4 hours, 39 minutes and 28 seconds.
1567 cigarettes not smoked, saving $195.97.
Life saved: 5 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes.
Love put out one of my favorite albums from the late 60’s, Forever Changes. Another overlooked band is Big Star (Alex Chilton) from the early 70’s. I’ve also just started listening to Pearls Before Swine from the late 60’s.
Malcolm Young from ACDC.
picmr
- Just about any player in the world of acoustic string music. Also known as “newgrass” or “progressive bluegrass.”
I never cared one way or the other about Rosie O’Donnell, but after I heard she introduced Sam Bush and Edgar Meyer as “a couple of banjo guys you never heard of” on the Grammy Award show, I now actively despise her.
- The entire generation of jazz musicians who came up between the early 1960s and the mid 1980s. Before the '60s, there was a small but enthusiastic cadre of hipsters who followed (and bought records by) the boppers, the hard boppers, and the cool school. Over the past 10-15 years, there’ve been tens of thousands of irritating yuppies who scream approval and pump their fists in the air when second-raters like Joshua Redman squeal at them in nightclubs (and buy records).
But during the rise of rock music and through the disco era, jazz got close to no respect and a whole helluva lot of fine musicians (Woody Shaw, Charles MacPherson, Pepper Adams, etc) did NOT get the respect or cash they would have enjoyed if they’d been born ten years earlier or later.
Wow, Satan, great picks!
I’ve never heard a better drummer than Dave Lombardo.
I also own all of Helios Creed’s albums (that’s vinyl) and he never ceases to impress me. Nice fellow, too.
Bad Brains is my favorite band, ever, and my mother’s nickname.
You know what would be a nice idea? If each Doper picked a favorite song and we made a compilation album of favorite songs, the more obscure and original, the better. I have a CD burner and would be willing to make copies for $4 a pop (cost of blank CD). Just a thought.
OK, not so much “unappreciated” as completely forgotten—Billy Murray and Ada Jones.
They were two of the top recording artists of the 1905–20 period. Billy Murray was a tenor, with a crystal-clear voice and pronunciation that made every syllable understandable even on the earliest records. He was also a great comic, and gave songs like “When Father Laid the Carpet on the Stairs” and “My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle” a really witty snap.
Ada Jones was his female counterpart (the two often did duets). She was a soprano, but her voice was much more expressive than most—again, she did great comic tunes like “She Borrowed My Only Husband” and “Everybody Works But Father.”
If you’re interested, their stuff has been reissued and can be found at http://www.tinfoil.com/cms-catt.htm
Particularly since neither plays the banjo.
In the same vein, I was going to mention Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. While they’re certainly not underrated by those in the know, they’re a fine example of popularity not being proportional to talent. I’ve seen several sworn enemies of the banjo turned completely around once they’re heard Bela. When it comes to pure bass chops, Edgar Meyer gives Victor Wooten a run for his money, but he’s about the only one. And then there’s Future Man.
Dr. J
Sonic Youth
Whoops, my mistake, sorry Rosie. I believe she actually said “FIDDLE guys.” Bush plays some fiddle, although his main axe is the mandolin, and Meyer is a bassist. Maybe O’Donnell was thinking “bull fiddle” in his case.
If you like Fleck, check out his mentor, Tony Trischka. Now THERE’S an underrated musician, with extraordinary chops.
Tony and Bela did an album of banjo duets a few years back, and I think there’s a Trischka best-of available. Trischka is a little bit loopier than Fleck…think of him as the Captain Beefheart of banjo-players.
As for Mr. Fleck, I consider his pre-Flecktones album DRIVE (1988, also includes Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and other musicians of top caliber) to be just about the best progressive bluegrass record ever made! Highly recommended for jazz fans and rock buffs who think they don’t like bluegrass…
I agree. We have one hell of an acoustic music series here in Lexington, which I just happen to volunteer for, and we had a “banjo duet night” with Bela and Tony last year. You could have more banjo talent on one stage, but I’m not sure how. (The coolest part was in the afternoon, when we brought in a few classes of third and fourth graders. They loved it–I guess they’re not old enough to hate the banjo yet.)
Jerry Douglas was also on my list–I saw him with Alison Krauss and Union Station not long ago, and was blown away. He does things to the dobro that should be illegal. (By the way, there’s an acoustic track on the new Phish album with Trey, Bela, and Jerry. Very nice.)
Dr. J
PS: Either way, Rosie is a moron. But I knew that already.
Fantastic idea. I humbly submit:
Twelfth Night - The Collector
The fact that this song (which IS my favourite, and which IS obscure) is over 22 minutes long might have an adverse affect on the total number of tracks that will appear on Greatest Dope Hits, though 
Critics tended to slam the group pretty hard for their
lack of flashy pyrotechnics, and in one sense the criticism is just. The Doors didn’t play flashy because they couldn’t
for the most part–Robbie Krieger had only first picked up
a guitar four years before the first album came out. So
there wasn’t a lot of flash there, but there was an inventive quality there that transcended his technical limitations. Similarly, Manzarek’s organ parts always
seemed to be just the same thing over and over–except that if you listened closely you discovered that the repeats
contained subtle rhythmic variations which were quite
effective. And the group definitely created a unique
sound.
I think there exists a tendency to dismiss just about
everyone who was playing back then unless they were Hendrix,
Clapton, or the Beatles.