My nomination is Jerome Benton of The Time.
Yes, he gets name checked in “Jungle Love” (“Jesse… now Jerome… Oh We Oh We Oh”) and provided comic relief in the movie Purple Rain, but his role in the band is listed as valet, dancer, backing vocals, percussion.
Seems a bit off topic? He is a good B3 player and created a classic with ‘Green Onions’. I don’t know how well he plays guitar, but it seems he is something of a multi-instrumentalist.
Hardly untalented!!
I was reponding to ‘bands named after people who weren’t the lead singers’
Yeah, but Booker T and the MG’s never had a lead singer at all. They’re a mere instrumental and backing band (Stax’s house band from the start). One of the best in both regards, though. Legendary, even.
ETA: as an aside, I’ve always wondered why Booker T Jones got the name check in the band name. When they started, he was the youngest of the four at age 17.
It’s a much cooler name than Steve and the MGs and Donald Duck and the MGs might not have the right feel.
Yeeaaars ago I was in a club in Dallas watching Lightning (with Rocky Athas, who later played for Black Oak Arkansas). Zappa was in town doing a concert. Afterwards, he stopped by the club and sat in a set or two. Man, could that guy could play. It’s really kind of a shame he didn’t go more mainstream.
Nope, the Beatles needed Ringo. Although, John Bonham might have added to Helter Skelter.
Would he have also gotten blisters on his fingers, though?
Only if he used four sticks.
Well played! 
That’s it exactly. Also, Stax didn’t want to lose their most versatile session player at a time when he was having crazy ideas like going to college, so they tried to position him as a star. He went to college anyway.
Oh, all right. I don’t think that was the original topic, but never mind. We should all be lucky enough to create one classic in our playing life. ‘Summertime’ will be played long after we are gone, for example…
Have been gorging on old Genesis videos on YouTube recently, Mike was primarily bassist, but also wielded a mean Rickenbacker double-neck guitar/bass in live performances. Would be my dream guitar if I was actually capable of playing it well.
I was thinking it odd listing lead singers, as they are the face and voice of their respective bands, and good voices or not, they are what they are. Exceptions, of course, would be replacement lead singers. But I did come across a good example that ruined my opinion. This is a band that recorded albums and toured real tours. The Blues Brothers. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd had no voices at all but had some of the finest session musicians backing them that ever existed. If you go through each one, they are all legends in their own rights but aren’t very well known except among aficionados of the genre.
I dunno, I kind of think of Belushi and Aykroyd had enough charm in their delivery to sell their parts beyond their mechanical ab8lity.
Which can be said about most of the lead singers listed above. There’s just such a huge divide between their talents and the guys they have in the band, though, that it fits this topic.
And don’t forget her musical success on Knot’s Landing. Well, maybe not musical.
Yeah, but it doesn’t really put them in the Bez category.
Anything Yngwie Malmsteem was in?
Didn’t even have to stop and think about this one.
Donnie van Zant of .38 Special. Just watch the videos for “Caught Up In You” and “Hold On Loosely” to see what I mean. Having a big name was a big help.
But he always seemed like a nice guy.